RIP Robert Davis, SAPD (Happy: credit, felony, assessment)

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by Merovee

It is a shame that the defense attempted to pawn this off on a citizen, Darrel Lampkin, who had the right of way. They attempted to play the 'he has drug record and spent time in prison' card thinking everyone would forget facts and be outraged at this poor guy but it did not work. A detective on the case gave honest testimony to this effect instead of allowing the defense to transfer blame.

Witness In Cop Trial Disputes Defense Theory - San Antonio News Story - KSAT San Antonio (http://www.ksat.com/news/25882343/detail.html - broken link)

Witness In Cop Trial Disputes Defense Theory - Video - KSAT San Antonio (http://www.ksat.com/video/25882874/index.html - broken link)

Spoiler

Just because someone was in prison does not mean anything bad that does happen is their fault. A recent random shooting comes to mind.

What does concern me is that the city, and police department specifically, seemed to allow Seaton to hang when another officer was also involved in a fatality crash where failing to control speed and even texting were involved. Where they did pawn off some of the blame on a victim. This seems to tell every officer risking their lives on a daily basis that unless you are high up in the chain of command you might not be protected for doing your job in the same manner as other officers. Read on for clarification regarding this last comment.

Now what is disturbing is that if speeding is part of the culture for police, especially those on duty because they have so many calls and limited time to respond to them all, as the defense also brought up, why is this not being focused upon? Or why isn't policy, official or unofficial, not going to be changed so something like this does not happen again?

Also if Seaton was just a bad apple then why is there not adequate supervision coupled with a working system that would allow the police department to take steps to properly weed out the bad apples before such incidents occur?

Speeding called 'way of life' at SAPD

If true then fault does not lie solely with Seaton but also with the working culture and inadequate oversight within the police department. In a manner of speaking should not those things be on trial too?

I feel that Seaton should have not been allowed to remain a cop but that this trial was perhaps excessive.

I also hope Darrel Lampkin and his family find peace and a speedy recovery as well as the other two families. Funny how some people's good wishes and prayers are not extended to everyone involved.

I have seen many local LEO exercise poor judgement when driving. This trial should be a wake-up call for many that do so.

[Merovee]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

Merovee, an LEO is expected to exercise judgement - IOW, he was on a shoplifting call, one that didn't require immediate response at the speeds he was traveling. An "officer down" or "robbery in progress" - that would require a different response speed. He failed to exercise good judgement that resulted in a death. He deserved his day in court, and a jury found him guilty - that is the way it should work. The "way of life" speeding is there, but again - tempered with prudence and judgement, an obviously lacking component of Seaton's personality.

You must have skipped past the following, I am guessing?

Spoiler

Originally Posted by Merovee

Also if Seaton was just a bad apple then why is there not adequate supervision coupled with a working system that would allow the police department to take steps to properly weed out the bad apples before such incidents occur?

Was this the first time this officer was speeding to a minor call? Which supervisor at the police department is reviewing the GPS and speed data at the end of the day? Who is compiling the overall data to insure there are enough officers to respond to every call in a timely and safe manner?

If a proper system is not in place we cannot fully place blame on one person alone. Personal responsibility only works if the system actually holds people accountable before the fact and gives them the proper tools required to succeed.

Of course this is just my view and I understand these are fine distinctions and not so easily obvious. If we had a better system we could have averted this tragedy. I just hope they are working on correcting these inadequacies because they are glaringly obvious.

Originally Posted by MattTx

I have seen many local LEO exercise poor judgement when driving. This trial should be a wake-up call for many that do so.

As have I. Sadly though one person should not have to be sacrificed.

[Soviet]

Does anyone know when sentencing is going to be for this moron?

[RodLu]

Originally Posted by MattTx

I have seen many local LEO exercise poor judgement when driving. This trial should be a wake-up call for many that do so.

AGREED.....


But:

Originally Posted by Merovee

I feel that Seaton should have not been allowed to remain a cop but that this trial was perhaps excessive.

AGREED AS WELL.......

[Bo]

Seaton was sentenced today:

Seaton gets 15-year sentence in*crash death of fellow officer | kens5.com | San Antonio News, Weather, Sports, Traffic, Entertainment, Video and Photos

[Soviet]

Absolutely fantastic news. Let's hope there won't be any shock probation joke or anything like that.

[Merovee]

The prosecutor displayed GPS data of previous incidents of speeding while on patrol. They accused him of having a 'reputation' of being a speeder.

I hope this is a wake up call for the city to insure a proper system is in place that reviews this data and disciplines officers well before another incident. If he had a 'reputation' for this then it was common knowledge and the current system drastically failed to acknowledge, address, or remedy that. Will it be fixed so another officer won't be harmed or cause harm to another?

This officer most likely also had psychological problems. He has already served this country once as a veteran, who knows what he went through there that contributed to this.

Hopefully this is a wake up call for SAPD to also have a system in place that allows and enables supervisors and coworkers on the force to recognize the symptoms of psychological issues and refer any more 'bad apples' for treatment. These sort of things can be helped before an officer feels the stress of the job is too much by over blowing minor incidents into something more than they are.

For those who believe that officers are not human and some type of supermen that are immune to stress, or that their jobs do not subject them to excessive stress, or that these proper systems as suggested are unnecessary, you are not alone for such beliefs also contributed to this accident and could lead to another.

As stated, Seaton, as a veteran, served our country once in the armed forces, and again chose to serve his country once again as a law enforcement officer, and maybe he was suffering because of the nature of those dual roles, maybe he was not, in either case he is going to continue to suffer, because sending a police officer to prison will just subject him to more psychological damage, more than the average prisoner.

It is an excessive punishment for an accident. There was no intention on his part to cause this. It seems that not just the city, but the media, and the citizenry have left him hanging. I can only wonder how if the media had taken a different tone would the citizenry have shown more support?

I can only hope such support is forthcoming even in the form of prayers, that his sentence is reduced, and that healing is not just afforded to him but all the other victims that resulted from this tragic incident where blame should not solely fall on one man.

For those who just usually have issues with law enforcement and just want to see the system stick it to this man. I hope you guys are also able to come to terms with those issues. Healing if needed and a balanced mind to understand for all the faults of law enforcement they are drastically outweighed by the positive they contribute.

Sorry for the essay and for any sentiments I might have offended. I do not mean to offend and just have many thoughts over this incident.

[mmac12]

Well said Merovee. This was a terrible accident and many lives were affected by this officer's judgement . With that being said I know that as a cop, one goes to work each tour trying to serve and protect the public. They don't put on their badge, continue to risk their lives and do this day in and day out and think what the hell , today I'll do whatever I feel like. No they do their job the best that they can.
This officer did not intend to hurt others or kill his partner( which he will live with until the day he dies) he was trying to do his job... You know when I first heard this story I thought he was off duty or driving drunk, but no he was on duty doing his job and while this is a tragedy for everyone involved, putting him in jail for doing his job is not justice by any means. If this officer was responding to help you or your family, I know you would have wanted him to get there fast as he could. Just a few thoughts... No I don't know him or his family, just IMO

[Soviet]

I am one of those people that one may label "anti-law enforcement" at first glance. I am not such a person, in real life. I am "anti-incompetent law enforcement". There is a massive difference between the two, and unfortunately, when we hear the latter rather than the former, it is often heard much louder.

I personally believe that this is not in any way, shape or form excessive. The man was on the job. He was responding to a low-priority call and yet chose to drive triple-digit speeds on POTRANCO (not 151, not IH-10 or 281, but POTRANCO ROAD), run a red light and continue driving. If there was a massive hostage situation or a deranged man literally shooting people left and right, I could see where this could be warranted, but just barely. Maybe not even. But there it would at least be understandable.

In this case....it was simply stupidity and possibly a moronic "gung-ho" attitude, and that is simply unacceptable. Irresponsible at best, a suicide/manslaughter wish at worst. And the worst is what happened.

This sentencing will do well to show those individuals who choose to do the same what the consequences can be and will be. As such, I applaud this decision, and I hope it has positive effects on the community.

[majormadmax]

All I can add is that a jury of 12 of his peers heard all the evidence and this was their decision. Second guess it all you want, but in a court of law that ruling stands.

Seaton's family claim he was a scapegoat, Davis' family say justice was served. Believe what you want, but it takes a lot of convincing for a jury to come back with a conviction of manslaughter and aggravated assault.

Seaton has thirty days to file an appeal, but honestly I don't see either the verdict or sentencing changing...