War on Police: SAPD Lieutenant Steven Velasquez

The Case Against Velasquez

While the case is closed, this is the latest example of the liberal/leftist, anti-police politics that has been played out in San Antonio since the George Floyd riots in June 2020.

Steven Velasquez, 56, was indicted last year, in 2025 accused of accessing SAPD's internal affairs computer program and removing himself as an "involved employee" the night Melissa Perez was shot and killed by SAPD officers in June 2023. The allegation was considered felony tampering which resulted in his third indefinite leave from the department.

Politically Motivated Punishment

However, as usual, the leftist politically motivated San Antonio leadership, including the SAPD management, the George Soros-funded Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales, and the local liberal news media were anxious to punish police officers for the shooting. All three organizations combined portray the police badly and punish them regardless of the facts.

In September 2025, the case against three former SAPD officers accused of shooting and killing Melissa Perez was dismissed. The court records showed Perez was out of control and an immediate danger to an innocent person in the apartment, and she attacked the police.

Velasquez was also blamed because he oversaw the southside sector where the incident happened. Many officers felt he was another scape goat and a sacrifice to the leftists in the city government and the liberal news media.

He was indefinitely suspended by SAPD management in late 2023 after an internal affairs investigation determined he and a sergeant left their assigned shifts early the night Perez was shot and killed inside her Southwest Side apartment. He was also punished for making unauthorized alterations and modifications to the Perez report. However, what he did was correct the report by removing names of people who were not at the scene.

"There Was Absolutely No Evidence"

Ben M. Sifuentes Jr., Velasquez' attorney, said on Thursday that his client should never have been charged.

"This indictment is a gross betrayal of the public trust," Sifuentes said. "There was absolutely no evidence to support any of the allegations in the indictment."

Sifuentes said the department knew the computer entry and the paper case file at internal affairs had the same case number.

"The paper case file never named Velasquez as an 'involved officer,' and no new case number ever named Velasquez an 'involved officer.' Consequently, Velasquez's entry in the computer reflected the truth by matching the paper file."

Velasquez plans to appeal his suspension and seek arbitration to be reinstated with the Police Department, Sifuentes said.

The War on Police Continues

The liberal/leftist war on police is real and continues in San Antonio and Bexar County. Police officers work in a hostile work environment caused by liberal/leftist politicians and the news media.

Citizens need to defend those who protect them.