InfuseSA in the Community: Danny Diaz and the San Antonio Police Officers Association

This month we focus on the people who sign-up to protect and serve us every single day, our San Antonio Police Officers, and the organization that represents them, the San Antonio Police Officers Association (SAPOA).  We wanted to take time to truly reflect on the amazing job they do, and truly appreciate and support them. 

We interviewed Danny Diaz, President of SAPOA. It was interesting to not be able to think of SAPOA without also thinking about the men and women who belong to SAPOA – our police officers.  Why?  Because they need someone watching their backs just as we need them watching ours.  That is worthy of deep respect. 

First things fir; who belongs to SAPOA?  Men and women whose first priority is to protect and serve our community.  While people become police officers for many reasons, a large percentage come right from our community, and some are second, third and fourth generation police officers.  It takes a unique person to want to be on the front lines to keep us and our businesses safe. 

Why?  Because you know well that signing on means they are also taking huge risks to their personal safety.  For example, just a couple of days ago Mr. Diaz said four officers were ambushed.  And yet, these unique men and women sign on and want to do right for the community.

Mr. Diaz went on to say that the dangers they face, they face willingly.  But what is truly demoralizing is when measures like PROP A are put on our city’s election ballot.  It is demoralizing and destructive because measures like this are designed to severely limit what an officer can do, and even worse, mandate that he/she disregard the oath they take to uphold the local, state, and federal laws. 

Why is this demoralizing to them?  They KNOW THEIR COMMUNITY WILL BE DEPRIVED OF THEIR PROTECTION, and they will be instructed to stand by and basically ignore their highest value, which is to protect and serve.  They know they will not be allowed to address many crimes if Prop A passes. They know that people and businesses will not be safe.

Ironically, this is a pivotal moment when we – the citizens – have to be the ones to step up to prevent this degradation of protection from happening to our first line of defense. It will be up to us to protect ourselves from this disastrous loss by going out and voting AGAINST Prop A.

As a community we also can do some important things to care for this group of people who care for us. We can and should commit to supporting them.  What was heartening was that Mr. Diaz said that overall, our police officers do feel the community does value them and what they do.  BUT, he also was greatly concerned that when there is a problem, many people are told a lot of misleading information, and since that is what is reported, that is what they believe. 

So, he asks if everyone could please “give them the benefit of the doubt” until all the facts can be obtained and shared.  Misleading information and narratives do such incredible harm.  Mr. Diaz noted that their police officers are trained “to do the right thing, and their leadership is committed to oversight of all the officers to ensure that any misbehavior is handled.” 

They don’t want “bad cops” any more than we do. He asked that they be given “grace” while the process of discovering all the facts is ongoing. 

As an aside, this is precisely the mission of InfuseSA – to bring the most accurate information to our readers about what is going on in our community.  This would include issues with our police force. 

While they do this job for us and need our support, they also need their Police Officers Association.  Its purpose is to help insure that the officers and their families receive the care and benefits they deserve.  

It was fascinating to learn that while this is definitely their principal purpose, the organization also gives them a platform to give back to the city in multiple ways.  During their free time many officers volunteer to help the less fortunate in our city.  Blue Cares is their non-profit arm that does precisely that.  Do check out their website. 

You’ll be impressed – www.sapoa.org.  Cheers and thanks, Mr.  Diaz.