• Police chief Art Acevedo was issued an apology today over statements he made in a press conference yesterday
  • Acevedo yesterday defended police behavior in the arrest of jogger Amanda Jo Stephen
  • He said the police are sexually assaulting people in other cities ‘so I thank God that this is what passes for a controversy in Austin’
  • Today he said he was trying to put the situation into context
  • He added that the press conference came at the end of an emotional week, after cop Brandon Daniel was convicted of the murder of Austin officer Jaime Padron

 

By Alex Greig

 

 

Austin police chief Art Acevedo has issued an apology for comments he made during a pressconference yesterday concerning the arrest of a female jogger near the University of Texas campus on Thursday.

Acevedo dismissed the controversy over police handling of a jaywalking jogger, saying ‘Cops are actually committing sexual assaults on duty so I thank God that this is what passes for a controversy in Austin, Texas.’

Today, he released a statement saying that he was trying to put the arrest of jogger Amanda Jo Stephen ‘into context by bringing attention to the fact that law enforcement deals with many acts of serious misconduct’ including recent cases of police officers sexually assaulting civilians.

‘In hindsight I believe the comparison was a poor analogy, and for this I apologize,’ reads his statement.

 

Acevedo says the press conference was ‘the culmination of an emotional week,’ referring to the conviction of Brandon Daniel for killing Austin police officer Jaime Padron in 2012.

Stephen was taken into custody while out running on Thursday morning after she illegally crossed the street and allegedly refused to give her name to police officers.

A bystander, Chris Quintero captured Stephen’s dramatic arrest marked by sobbing and yelling on film whose video went viral after being posted on YouTube.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2565873/Police-chief-forced-apologize-comments-saying-jogger-didnt-deal-police-sexually-assaulted-her.html#ixzz2uNAy6NMl