“The position of constable is essentially one step above a security guard.” John Yeackle said.
by Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian
Top picture captured from the SWTJC livestream
Uvalde County Commissioner John Yeackle spoke as a citizen at February’s Southwest Texas Junior College Board Of Trustees Meeting on Thursday, February 15th concerning SWTJC
Law Enforcement Academy Coordinator Johnny J. Field and Law Enforcement Academy Instructor Emmanuel Zamora concerning their departures from a candidate forum sponsored by SWTJC and the
Uvalde Leader-News and their respective roles and accountability at Robb School on May 24th, 2022.
“My perception having been in the room with them, was that a certain point early in the event, staff from the college came and just notified them (Field and Zamara)… that there was… potentially an emotional conflict in the room with some of the folks who might be upset by their presence. I think they made the decision, as I understood it, to leave in the best interest of the event itself,” Yeackle said.
“For the two individuals in question here, that would be an instructor, Emmanuel Zamora and the Director Johnny Field, both individuals also happen to be constables; elected offices. In the scenario in which they were involved May 24th, their involvement…the position of constable is essentially one step above a security guard.
They serve civil paperwork. They act as a bailiff in a JP court and they assist other agencies. There is no scenario, by which regardless of their previous history, experience or education are
ever in a position where they give direction or take control of any event. There is no scenario in which a sheriff or a police chief would defer to a constable,” Yeackle said.
Law Enforcement Academy Instructor Picture from SWTJC
Yeackle continued saying, “At the end of the day, the people that have to be held accountable primarily was the shooter, the person that caused the act which was so heinous; he is criminally culpable; the individuals who were in charge or their relevant organizations that day, are accountable to the institutions that employ them, or in case of the county where I am your representative, to the voters since we do not supervise or control those individual offices.”
“I feel like the bulk of the gentlemen and women were there that day, regardless of what they wish they could have done. It is a paramilitary organization and you follow the rules and you follow orders and you don’t have the luxury of making your own decisions no matter how awful the outcome is,” Yeackle said.
