More calls for chief's ouster, charges against officer
The Austin Citizen's Review Panel is facing a tight deadline if it wants to act on some of the recommendations people are asking of the Austin Police Department. The panel held a public hearing Monday to discuss issues surrounding the shooting death of Daniel Rocha by APD officer Julie Schroeder in June.
"We are asking that Julie Schroeder be fired and prosecuted for the murder of Daniel Rocha. We are also asking that Chief Stan Knee be dismissed. He needs to be fired," one speaker said.
Some of those who spoke to the panel from the podium said they don't trust the process, that their recommendations fall on deaf ears and that they don't even trust the panel.
"I do question your purpose. I'm not sure what your purpose is. I do know in my son's case, you got demoted. So you don't have as much power as you had when my son was killed," said Barbara Short, mother of Jesse Lee Owens who was shot and killed by an officer several years ago.
Still, there are some who have faith in the panel but feel it has no teeth with which to bite.
"I know you only have the power to make recommendations, which in itself is a tragedy. You should have more authority, because if this is a citizen's oversight, how can you oversee something which you have no control over," said one speaker.
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No matter how much power the panel has, many who spoke urged panel members to take a stand.
"Act! Make it stick. You men and women up there have the brains, the guts, the intelligence to do it. Now have the willpower to make things happen," said State Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D- Austin.
Even the mother of Daniel Rocha, through her attorney, asked the panel to conduct an independent investigation into the death of her son. That request was mirrored by others who added it to their own lists of recommendations.
If the panel chooses to act on any of the recommendations, especially the independent investigation, it will have to do it soon. The deadline for APD Chief Stan Knee to decide whether or not to consider the recommendations is Dec. 6.