Tag Archives: police
How Ken Paxton, Twitter Celebs and National Media Botched Coverage of the Austin Bombings
As details about the bomber continue to emerge, it’s worth examining who kept us grounded in facts during the explosive saga, and who led us astray.
Mark Conditt, suspect in the series of bombings that rocked Texas’ Capital city over the last few weeks, is dead. The 23-year-old’s alleged campaign include...Read More
Oscar-Nominated Documentary Highlights the Routine Brutality of a Texas Traffic Stop
Breaion King’s arrest was quotidian to police, life-altering for her and reveals the chasm between police and the people they’re supposed to protect and serve.
“I’m in my car. Why do I have to put out my cigarette?” That’s what an irritated Sandra Bland asked the Texas Department of Public Safety trooper who pu...Read More
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo on Sanctuary Cities, Police Unions and Tommy Guns
Houston's police chief rose to the top of Texas' largest police force while inserting himself in thorny political debates.
As I enter Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo’s downtown office, he’s just wrapped up a TV interview, and the moment we finish talking, he’ll rush downstair...Read More
Austin City Council Takes a Step Toward Police Reform, Rejects Union Contract
Activists said the contract would perpetuate a broken system of citizen oversight and shield cops who engage in misconduct.
Late Wednesday night, after almost nine hours of impassioned public testimony, Austin City Council rejected a police union contract that watchdogs say would per...Read More
Dallas Grand Jury Indicts Cop Who Shot Unarmed Man Mistaken for Burglar
Former Mesquite Police Department officer Derick Wiley, who shot Lyndo Jones last month, is the third Dallas-area cop to face criminal charges for an on-duty shooting in 2017.
On Wednesday, a Dallas County grand jury indicted the officer who shot an unarmed black man who police mistook for a car burglar last month, marking the third D...Read More
How the Expiration of Austin’s Police Union Contract Could be a Rare Opportunity for Reform
Austin is the latest city where activists have sought police reform by targeting collective bargaining agreements.
For a manual on police union negotiations, Ron DeLord’s early work makes for an entertaining read. The former head of the Combined Law Enforcement Association...Read More
Meet Nueces County’s New DA, a Self-Professed ‘Mexican Biker Lawyer Covered in Tattoos’
Mark Gonzalez is listed as a gang member in police databases, has "not guilty" tattooed on his chest and is hoping to bring reform to Corpus Christi.
Early this year, border agents ran a name-check and wound up briefly detaining Mark Gonzalez as he traveled home to Corpus Christi after a vacation in Mexico. T...Read More
Excited. Delirious. Dead.
Is excited delirium syndrome a medical phenomenon, or a convenient cover for deaths in police custody?
Is excited delirium syndrome a medical phenomenon, or a convenient cover for deaths in police custody?...Read More
It’s Time to End Austin’s Failed Experiment in Police Oversight, Activists Say
APD’s refusal to act on recommendations given by a citizen review panel suggests that the city's 16-year experiment in police oversight has failed.
Richard Munroe just wanted to talk to someone when he called 911 at 3:48 a.m. on July 5, 2015. Sobbing and drunk, the 25-year-old Austin man unloaded on the dis...Read More