If you’ve been following the Leonardo Quintana arbitration hearing (Twitter hashtag #APAC), you will have found a number of surprising revelations. According to the testimony against him, he has a history of substance abuse, he posted an offensive photo of himself to Facebook after his temporary suspension ended, he once forced his way into his girlfriend’s home and his colleagues think he has a history of poor judgment.

My own personal revelation came when Austin Post contributor Debbie Russell pointed out that Leonardo Quintana had appeared in a public records report that I helped write. The Tasers and APD report analyzed all the “Use of Force” forms filed by the cops after they Tasered someone. At the time, most patrol officers had only carried Tasers for about a year. During that period, Leonardo Quintana had used his Taser five times, which put him in the upper percentile, part of a select group of twenty officers who used Tasers at a disproportionately high rate.

So I dug into my disorganized files, and in a total miracle I found all five “Use of Force” reports that Leonardo Quintana wrote out in his own hand. The terminology of the forms is a little opaque, but it seems that he was assigned to Edward sector in northeast Austin. Here are the summaries to give you a little glimpse into the life of Officer Leonardo Quintana:

April 11, 2004 – Sometime after 2 a.m., there’s a dispatched call that is also a traffic stop. A thirty-year-old Hispanic man flees and Leonardo Quintana deploys the Taser prongs. The projectiles on Tasers are barbed pieces of metal a few inches long that shoot from the Taser, embed in the skin and deliver electricity straight into the highly-conductive saline solution that we use for blood. The prongs have to be removed by paramedics using a special tool. The man Leonardo Quintana tases suffers from the prong punctures as well as scrapes that are the common result of muscle-motor control stopping suddenly while running. The supervisor writes, “Reviewed incident with officer. No policy violations @ this time. Suspect was not medically treated at scene.”

May 13, 2004 – It’s nearly 2 a.m. and Leonardo Quintana is dispatched to an incident where he meets a twenty-seven-year-old Hispanic man who is verbally abusive, non-compliant, and uses “empty hand active aggression.” Quintana deploys the Taser prongs. A jail nurse treats the man for the prong punctures and for “bleeding from right ear.” The supervisor writes, “Made scene, reviewed incident w/ officer and did not find any problems w/ deployment of taser to subdue and arrest suspect. Suspect is approximately 5’7” 170LBS Taser x26 used w/o [major?] injury to officer or suspect. Suspect was very aggressive, making threats to kill and damaged property.”

May 21, 2004 – About a week after his last Taser use, Leonardo Quintana is making a traffic stop. The twenty-five-year-old white man takes a swing at Quintana, missing. Quintana uses both “hard empty hand control” (presumably his fists), and the deployed Taser. Hitting the man gives Quintana injuries he describes as “small cuts on hands, sore left wrist.” The man has “abrasions on knee and face. Hurt right elbow.” The supervisor writes, “Reviewed incident and video w/officer. Suspect [unreadable] 6’ 185LBS attempted to flee on foot, assault the officer and was in possession of a large amount of narcotics. [Unreadable] stop for traffic w/ obvious acting nervous w/ officer. Suspect was ‘tased’ and appears to have sustained injuries from the fall and struggle. No policy violations identified at this time.”

August 15, 2004 – During a traffic stop around 10 p.m., an 18-year-old black man flees from Leonardo Quintana, jumping a fence in the process. Quintana uses the deployed Taser prongs. The supervisor writes, “Reviewed incident w/ officer. Suspect [indecipherable] Tased after fleeing from Veh[icular] pursuit. No policy violation.”

January 18, 2005 – A little after 2 a.m., Leonardo Quintana has a dispatch call that results in an eighteen-year-old Hispanic man using “empty hand” aggressive and defensive resistance. Quintana attempts to drive stun the man, but the Taser doesn’t work, so Quintana uses “hard empty hand control.” The man receives a “small cut to top of head” in the process. The supervisor writes, “Reviewed incident of officer. Suspect resisted arrest and attempted striking officer w/ handcuff. Officer’s use of taser to strike the suspect was reasonable force. No policy violated.”

You might notice that in this sampling, four of the five recipients of Leonardo Quintana’s violence are minorities. This is fairly common. APD officers patrolling the neighborhoods tend to use force on minorities at a vastly disproportionate rate. It’s an institution-wide phenomenon.

Related Posts:

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Quintana Report Revealed!

Quintana is Out

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Unsettling Settlement: City of Austin Still Hides from Accountability, but Sanders Family is Vindicated Nonetheless

Key Facts Exposed in Sanders Case: We Don’t Need a Trial to See How Deep this Cover Up Goes