The Daily Hustle: 10/21/10

By now, you've probably heard that fired officer Leonardo Quintana got his job back.

Jordan Smith has more below, but we have a few initial thoughts of our own.

Briefly suspended following the shooting death of Nathaniel Sanders II, Quintana was terminated a few months back for a DWI infraction. Now an arbitration judge has deemed him worthy to go back on the force – possibly saying more about our failed disciplinary system than this case in general, or the after-the-fact sacking of Quintanta for a lesser offense when it was clear his killing of Sanders loomed over the firing.

With our junked arbitration system, spelled out in a police contract that arguably makes APD cops the highest paid in the nation to the detriment of everything else in the budget, to the union’s naked bragging that they “can exert much more political muscle than most politicians ever thought," it’s painstakingly clear, to the Hustle at least, that our disciplinary system is broken.

HEY! Sign up for the Hustle's weekly e-mail newsletter, recapping news, politics and more every Friday. Don't worry, we'll never spam or sell your address. Visit here, enter your info, and click 'City Hall Hustle.'

Got something you wanna show the Hustle? Email it to wells [at] austinchronicle.com, tweet it @CityHallHustle, drop by the Hustle's Facebook or Tumblr page, or leave a comment in the section below.