It took six years to see an independent police auditor report on the incident where a team of Palo Alto police officers came to the home of Gustavo Alvarez -- suspected of driving on a suspended license.
Alvarez is grabbed by officers, and Sergeant Wayne Benitez is seen slamming his head into the windshield.
“It was a low point for the department,” Michael Gennaco of the Palo Alto Independent Police Auditor’s Office said.
The office said administrative reviews slowed the process, but says Sergeant Benitez and other officers caused the major delay by essentially hiding the uniform camera tape for more than a year.
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The IPA is recommending mandatory police procedures so citizen claims, such as Alvarez’s, are investigated quickly.
“If there had been, I think, the use of force certainly would have been detected and the department would have been in better shape because they would have been able to identify and respond through an internal investigation,” said Gennaco.
Alvarez’s attorney, Cody Salfen, says the audit validates Alvarez’s claim but wants procedure changes police must follow since the city allowed Benitez to retire with his pension and took too long to take action against other officers.
“The Palo Alto Police Department is incapable of investigating themselves in considering an objective and justice ridden outcome,” Salfen said.
Salfen points out even though Alvarez got a money settlement, he wants the audit to do more to stop police violence.
“You’re going to have residual trauma and stress that lasts, perhaps, throughout the victim’s life. For Mister Alvarez that rings true absolutely,” Salfen said.
The audit will be presented to the city council in the first week of May and the auditor’s office says the police department will have to be there to discuss the report and especially the recommendations.
