SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - The City of San Diego’s police oversight group is commenting on Saturday’s arrest of an SDPD officer outside of a bar in Pacific Beach.
“This is absolutely something the commission would review," said Brandon Hilpert with the Commission on Police Practices. He spoke to ABC 10News on Monday about whether the alarming weekend incident is the type of case that he and his colleagues would take on. “The charter amendment that just passed last year does say that we get to review all misconduct cases so this would naturally come as part of that,” he added.
SDPD confirmed that the incident happened on the 1100 block on Garnet on Saturday. A call reportedly came in that an off-duty officer displayed his personal firearm in what was described as a threatening matter.
According to the department, Special Operations Officer Trevor Sterling was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and brandishing a firearm.
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The nine-year SDPD veteran was immediately suspended without pay.
In 2016, there was an officer-involved shooting with an officer who has the same name. He was one of four officers who opened fire, killing a 30-year-old man after a chase took place over a stolen car.
A statement released by Police Chief David Nisleit regarding the weekend arrest reads, “This type of behavior is unbecoming of any police officer. I want the community to know this will be investigated to the fullest and sent to the District Attorney’s Office for review.”
If the Commission on Police Practices decides to review Internal Affairs' findings, in the future the commission can then advise the department on how to proceed with disciplinary action. “As a community oversight group, we'll be able to make a recommendation to the chief of police on how we feel an officer should be disciplined and of course they're not under any obligation to follow our recommendations but they would at least have to listen to our recommendations,” added Hilpert.
ABC 10News asked SDPD whether Officer Sterling is the same officer who was involved in the 2016 shooting. A spokesperson said that he could not confirm that information at this time.
