SAPD ROLE CRITICAL IN DEA SHOOTING

When a 14-year-old girl is shot in the head and killed in the dark of night
by Drug
Enforcement Administration agents, emotions in the community understandably
run high.

Local passions, both for and against the agents, are thus inflamed by the
recent death of
Ashley Villarreal.

The only possible reasonable response is a thorough, systematic look at
what went wrong.

DEA agents say they were looking for Ashley's father, Joey, a cocaine
trafficking suspect, and
believed he might be trying to flee his West Side home when they fired two
shots into the car
driven by his daughter, Ashley.

The Villarreal family and many leaders in the Mexican American community,
who have a long
history of suspicion about police in their neighborhoods, want to know why
they opened fire
without determining who was in the car.

The DEA is conducting its own investigation in the case - as it must.

However, because the agency can't be expected to investigate itself
objectively, the burden
is on the San Antonio Police Department to conduct a thorough and
independent probe of what
happened during this failed federal narcotics action.

Some people have called for the Texas Rangers or the U.S. Justice
Department to step into the
case. The Rangers typically enter investigations if incidents occur in
smaller municipalities.

In this case, the SAPD is better equipped to conduct the probe.

The public will hold the Police Department accountable for the fairness and
accuracy of its report.

The Justice Department may have a role in the future.

If it is determined that the federal agents who conducted the stakeout at
the Villarreal home
committed any crimes in the course of their professional duties, they may
have immunity from
state prosecution. In that event, the Justice Department would handle the
cases.

For now, the public's focus should be on the SAPD's investigation.

Among the issues to be determined by local investigators: Why did DEA
agents not have a warrant
for Joey Villarreal's arrest? What exactly happened at the scene? Why did
Ashley drive the family's
car without headlights in the direction of DEA agents?

Unanswered questions cannot be allowed to fester in the community.