City of Del Rio press release
Del Rio, Texas – The City of Del Rio issues this press release regarding the status of the City’s investigation into the Police actions involving an incident at the Del Rio Police Department jail on February 8.
The Internal Affairs investigation on the jail incident has been completed. The matter is under review by Interim Chief Busken.
As previously noted, there are two outside criminal investigations being conducted. The original investigation by the FBI as well as the Department of Justice for civil rights violations is ongoing. The Department of Public Safety- Texas Rangers has also been advised to investigate any potential state law violations, which is also ongoing. The City has provided additional information and the City now has reason to believe that these investigations could in fact take longer than anticipated.
The City continues to fully cooperate with these criminal investigations for both incidents.
Interim Chief Busken has not made any determinations as to disciplinary actions for the jail incident due to the ongoing criminal investigations. The Internal Affairs investigation is complete and shall remain confidential as required by law and not subject to disclosure, as well as in compliance with the procedural and substantive provisions of the collective bargaining labor agreement between the City and its police officers.
The City through Interim Chief Busken has advised the Attorney General under Local Government Code Section 143.056(h) of the ongoing criminal investigations and additional time for disciplinary action in accordance with the civil service statute beyond the 180-day deadline. If at the conclusion of the pending criminal investigations the Interim Chief determines disciplinary action is warranted, the action will be filed with the civil service commission pursuant to the law, rules, and regulations. Until that time, the officers remain on Administrative Leave with pay during the pendency of the ongoing investigations.
