AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- An online job posting for the Travis County District Attorney's office - and a recruiting email sent by one of the office's top lieutenants - is prompting backlash from law enforcement organizations across the state.
DA Jose Garza is looking to hire a team lead for the office's Civil Rights Unit, which is currently a team of three attorneys focused on investigating and prosecuting unlawful use of force incidents involving law enforcement, along with an investigator and a paralegal.
A recruiting email sent with the posting by Trudy Strassburger, Garza's top deputy, begins with "I am reaching out in the hopes that you may be looking to prosecute police officers, or that you know someone who is!"
Charley Wilkison, the executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, or CLEAT, calls the posting and the email an attack on Central Texas law enforcement officers.
“We call on [Garza] today to immediately remove his assistant district attorney, who either by accident or on purpose showed the true colors of this governmental office, which should be seeking facts related to criminal conduct,” Wilkison said in a video response posted to YouTube.
"This kind of didactic language is for activists and not for the benign prosecutorial powers that reside inside the wall of an elected district attorney," Wilkison added.
The job posting highlights the five indictments returned against law enforcement officers since Garza took office in January, including one for murder and two for manslaughter. "Our office ... has made a commitment to thoroughly investigate allegations of law enforcement use of force, present every case involving lethal force to a grand jury, and fully prosecute any police officer who is not justified in using excessive or lethal force," the posting continues.
Prior to her appointment as Garza's top deputy, Strassburger served as managing director of The Justice Collaborative, a national reform advocacy organization. She also served as deputy director of the Capital Area Private Defender Service, which represents Austinites who have been charged with crimes that can’t afford a lawyer.
Garza, in a response, said the posting should only concern law enforcement officers who go too far.
"If a law enforcement officer breaks the law, they will be held accountable, and it is disappointing but not at all surprising that the police union is spending their time defending misconduct by law enforcement officers instead of working with us to root it out," Garza said.