Written by Incident: In July 2018, veteran officer Timothy “Tim” Garcia repeatedly hurled a racial slur at a young Black man during an arrest downtown. Body-worn camera footage captured Garcia using the N-word multiple times and cursing at the suspect
. The blatant racism and unprofessional conduct led Chief McManus to issue an indefinite suspension. Garcia was formally fired in January 2019 for violating departmental conduct policies.
Outcome: Garcia challenged his firing, and by November 2019 an arbitrator had awarded him his job back, converting the termination into a 10-month unpaid suspension
. In arbitration, Garcia argued he didn’t deserve to be fired for the outburst. The arbitrator’s decision, over the chief’s objection, meant Garcia was reinstated to SAPD after serving the suspension
. McManus publicly disagreed, saying such behavior “erodes trust” and that he stood by the original firing
. Garcia’s case, however, became another example of an officer using arbitration to return to duty despite serious misconduct. (No criminal charges applied, as this was a policy violation; Garcia was back in uniform in late 2019
.) Notably, during the interim, Garcia had been picked up as a reserve officer by a nearby department (Leon Valley) to maintain his peace officer license, but he rejoined SAPD once reinstated
## Officer Forum Links:
– [Officer Tim Garcia](https://watchaudits.com/forums/topic/officer-tim-garcia/)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkdltZ6kPdo