The Tragedy of Bill Ecker and Jaime Esparza and Chief Wiles

Note: What follows is actually a comment posted on my blog by Sandra Watson sister of Bill Ecker. Mr. Ecker was gunned down and killed by El Paso police last August. Ms. Watson's comment is a powerful indictment on the corruption that pervades Jaime Esparza's administration and the police department embodied in the form of Chief Wiles. Ms. Watson also points out the ineptitude of the El Paso press which is ultimately responsible for corrupt government continuing without exposure. I lay Bill Ecker's body at the feet of all the lazy, stupid, weak reporters we have in this town. If they had done their job, Mr. Esparza would be looking at impeachment and Chief Wiles would not be in the final five for Chief of police in Austin, TX (see Austin American Statesman today).

This is a must read.

Posted by Sandra Watson
on May 7, 2007, 7:41 pm



Theresa:

I have been following your Blog regularly and I feel that you would be a “breath of fresh air” for the judicial system of El Paso, Texas! I am writing this response to your Blog to encourage you and the citizens of El Paso to change the course of El Paso!

I was one of the United States citizens that believed all law enforcement in our country was honorable and internally policed to maintain our trust and respect. However, after the recent shooting death of my brother, Bill Ecker of El Paso, Texas, August 28, 2006, I am no longer looking through “rose colored glasses”.

My experience with the police department’s response to my aunt’s request for “help” and the subsequent “Death by Cops”, lack of medical support at the scene, improper collection of evidence, lack of media investigative reporting of the shooting, inappropriate Grand Jury timing, which allowed no time for a proper investigation, combined with the apparent conflict of interest between the DA and the El Paso Police Department, local attorneys with “little hope” of justice via the El Paso courts, has led me on a path of initial disbelief and feelings of despair and anger at the legal system in El Paso, Texas!

Since many people read your Blog, I would like to offer the following points which demonstrate the injustice and lack of local or state ability to police the City of El Paso, Texas. I believe the citizens of El Paso should be living in fear of the current “regime”. We are taught from childhood that we can call the police for help at any time and they will respond to “OUR” needs as a priority, as opposed to their needs for force and destruction

Citizens of El Paso, Texas, you decide if your current judicial and law enforcement needs reformed!

Consider this:


Does the Chief of Police speak with integrity and accuracy?
• Chief of Police Wiles stated numerous times in the media that his officers and department acted totally within policy and procedure hours after my brother’s was gunned down by the police and before any internal investigation had occurred. However, after a shooting review investigation was completed in 2007:
o One of the officers involved in the shooting was found to have violated internal policy and procedures of improper firearm discharge and was reprimanded.
o YOU DECIDE



Can the citizens of El Paso trust the competency of the EPPD?
• One of the officers involved in my brother’s “death by cops” was found to have multiple complaints logged against them, with many of the complaints found to be in violation of department policy and procedures.
• My brother’s hands were bagged and the officers' hands were swabbed for gun shot residue. These tests were pertinent to the case and statements by the officers. However, upon request from the open records department, the response was, “No records were found”. Were the tests ever completed or were the test results “Lost”?
• YOU DECIDE!

Does District Attorney Jamie Esparza strive to maintain the integrity and purpose of the El Paso Police Department’s officer’s to “Protect & Serve”?
• DA Jamie Esparza told me on the telephone the day before the Grand Jury was to convene that, “Even if I have negative information of the officers involved in your brother’s shooting, that doesn’t mean I will present it to the Grand Jury!
• The purpose of the grand jury is to determine if there is enough evidence to go to trial. However, only one (1) week after the shooting of my brother the grand jury was convened to determine if the evidence from the shooting determined whether or not the officers involved should stand trial for their actions. (I was told it would be three months before the completed autopsy report would be released and it was 2007 before the internal affairs investigation by the police department was completed. What evidence, tests and facts did they present to the grand jury?”)
• Jamie Esparza told me on the telephone the reason his department was at the scene of my brother’s shooting was to make sure the police did “everything right”! (Implying, if the DA’s people are not at a crime scene, perhaps the police won’t do everything right?!?!?)
• The police of El Paso have no policy or procedure to test the alcohol or drug level of officers involved in a shooting - randomly or otherwise. They are simply “trusted” by the city to be in total compliance.
• The Police of El Paso have less than one typed page of policy and procedures on use of deadly force.
• The District Attorney’s office receives money from the El Paso Police Department to consult with them (A definite conflict of interest – how can you police a department you are receiving money from?)
• YOU BE THE JUDGE!

Personal character and empathy of Jamie Esparza, District Attorney of El Paso, Texas to the people he works for:
• Ms. Watson, frankly, I have more important matters to deal with than the death of your brother”! (This is what Jamie Esparza told me on the telephone less than one week after the death of my brother.)
• When I voiced concern to Jamie Esparza that a fair internal affairs investigation couldn’t happen because the “Police will do what is necessary to protect their own”, he agreed!
• YOU BE THE JUDGE!

Accuracy of reports by law enforcement:
• The police stated that my brother was standing upright before them with a gun pointed at them.
• According to the autopsy report, one of the wounds to his body was in his back shoulder and traveled downward approx. 4 inches. Another wound was into his neck and traveled in a 2” downward path. (Upright and before them? He was 5” 10” and the officers who shot him were 5” 7”)
• YOU BE the judge!

Does a law abiding citizen of El Paso have any rights?
• My brother was sleeping in a drunken condition in his private home
• My brother had no idea the police were on his property
• He had been drinking.
• He was frustrated and very tired after weeks of clean-up from a local flood, no help from the city and no equipment to rent to get rid of the water and damage
• He was unable to walk or stand without a cane after a recent hip replacement. He was awakened by screaming officers outside his bedroom door. He opened the door in his under-ware and socks and within minutes was shot and killed by the police.
• Did he have a right to a crisis team, professional good judgment and compassion by the police?
• YOU BE THE JUDGE!

Is proper medical treatment initiated to the injured by the El Paso Police?
• The medical team was not called in to assist my brother until after he was “Obviously DOA”, as stated to the paramedics by the officers at the scene. No attempts were made to sustain life or revive him. (Did they wait long enough? – Dead men don’t talk!)

What should YOU do if you need help with a loved one?
• This was not a distressed call by my brother’s aunt. Sallie Ricken (Age 66) did not call 911 for help. She drove to the police station concerned, went in and asked them to follow her home and go in the bedroom with her and see if my brother was OK. She did not want to enter his bedroom alone. She was concerned about my brother and his life. She was not in fear for her life or her safety. She said she will never ask for help from the El Paso Police Department again. (Would you?)
• The responding officers followed her onto her property with guns drawn on her and put her at risk of being gunned down, simply for asking for HELP! (Would you be afraid?)
• Her property was taped as a crime scene, and no crime had been committed.
• A citizen, however, became the criminal simply for needing “help”


Do the media present fair and unbiased news?
o The reporters who interviewed me voiced fear of police retaliation if they reported anything negative in the news about the DA or EPPD
o The reporters who interviewed me stated that they were not given time by management to do investigative reporting into they law enforcement agencies.
o The news outlets concentrated on my brother’s blood alcohol level and that the officer’s stated “he had a gun” but failed to verify the facts. Nothing was ever questioned by the media. If the police and DA said, it was so!
o What is the news media trying to hide?

The corruption and inappropriate relationships between the local, state and federal judicial and law enforcement agencies are so co-mingled they are unable to establish any checks and balances.

How many police shootings resulting in serious injury or death have there been in El Paso, Texas in the last 12 months? Why is the policy, shoot to kill first, ask questions and protect the force later? Do you feel comfortable with this police force and management? Would you call for help?

As a citizen of El Paso, you cannot demand that the DA, Chief of Police or Mayor be fired regardless of how illegal or unethical their actions may be. The mayor is elected and appoints the Chief of Police and the DA is elected. The DA is to investigate and bring to justice any infringements of the law by any governmental department and/or person defying the law of El Paso, Texas. However, in this case he acts as a consultant.

My brother, Bill Ecker, was at the wrong place at the right time for Jamie Esparza and Chief Wiles to “overlook” and continue “business as usual.”

I encourage you to get everyone out to vote, give contributions and make a change. Don’t wait until you experience the “system” as my brother has. He died with the truth on his lips and a desire to live in his heart!

Thank you….

Sandra
Colorado