UVALDE, Texas — Officials with Uvalde CISD now want to fight to keep embattled former Police Chief Pete Arredondo from upgrading his employment record with the district.
The development comes after KENS 5 reported Arredondo won a case to touch up his exit from the district, months after he was fired for his failed law enforcement response at the Robb Elementary mass shooting last May. The school didn't show up to object when he sought to upgrade his discharge status.
On Friday, however, interim Superintendent Gary Patterson told the Uvalde Leader News that district staff missed emails about the case—and didn't know they needed to fight the appeal.
Uvalde CISD has now asked for a second chance, filing a motion of rehearing with the state to "uphold the original discharge," according to state records. If Texas agrees, the district will ague that Arredondo's employment record should be red-flagged in a system that tracks police officers' performance.
When law enforcement officials separate from their employers, the employers must designate their discharge as "honorable," "general" or "dishonorable." The designation is visible in a state database which tracks officers' training and conduct.
In theory, the discharge designation should prevent officers with questionable records from escaping accountability when they move jobs.
"The idea is that a general and a dishonorable discharge would serve as a red flag for future law enforcement employers," said Luis Soberon, a policy adviser at Texas 2036. "Something bad must have happened."
But the vague designations don't specify why the law enforcement agency separated from an employee. The discharge status doesn't distinguish between police officers fired for criminal conduct and officers fired for backtalk, for example.
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