Precinct 2 Constable’s Office is a Disaster
It doesn’t seem that the Precinct 2 Constable’s Office knows how to conduct business in a professional manner. Sometimes, in business, you need to just shut up and move on but apparently Constable Barrientes-Vela feels the need to fight back when she would be better served if she didn’t say anything. There have been multiple accusations against this new constable that include shaking down park patrons for money, demanding a blood draw without a warrant, not responding to open records requests, and delaying the booking of an individual for political purposes, to name just a few of her issues.
In every case she has denied the accusations. It doesn’t matter if there are credible witnesses, if there is a sworn affidavit, or even if there is video evidence. Constable Barrientes-Vela continues to deny what is right in front of all of our faces. So how has she decided to handle these major missteps other than denying everything? She chooses to have a press conference to claim she has proof that the reporting is in error. Does she show the proof? Of course not. You have to file an open records request to get it. You know, those things she is making difficult for the public to get, in violation of the law.
And she seems to have developed a particular loathing for investigative report Dillon Collier, calling him out by name in the press conference. Yeah, that’s sure to make him back off.
Here’s an interesting part in this mess. In the latest fiasco, the arrest and booking of her political opponent, Leonicio Moreno, Captain Marc Garcia says the Sheriff’s Office told them to move. But if you look at the statement put out by the Sheriff’s Office you’ll see that they told the constables to “relocate their planned media event,” and the Sheriff’s Office made them move because media is not allowed in the Sally Port area. This goes along with the whole claim that the constables were stalling so that the media could arrive.
At the press conference Barrientes-Vela states concerns that criminal charges would be filed against her. She claims to have heard rumors that D.A. Gonzales is investigating and could be presenting evidence to a grand jury. An investigation at this point would be the best thing that could happen to the Precinct 2 Constables Office. We would finally get answers to our questions. You can read the Defenders article and watch the video here.