District Attorney Joe Gonzales, left, offers his hand to Police Chief William McManus at a town hall meeting last month. Both made efforts Tuesday to improve their evidence-sharing systems.
Billy Calzada/Staff photographer
San Antonio Express-News
Raul Trey Lopez, Staff writer
San Antonio police and the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office are upgrading their evidence systems after several officer-involved shootouts with men who have been in and out of jail for years.
Police Chief William McManus called out District Attorney Joe Gonzales in September because some of the shooters involved had cases dismissed against them. Gonzales said his office constantly has to request additional evidence from the police department, and if they don’t get it, they have to dismiss the case.
McManus presented a plan Tuesday to the city’s public safety committee to upgrade law enforcement’s in-car video to Axon Enterprise, the system used for its body cameras.
At the same time, the Bexar County Commissioners Court gave the district attorney permission to negotiate with Axon Enterprise for a new evidence management system — Axon also is used by the sheriff’s office.
Gonzales said he was looking for a system that would work with those of the 60 different law enforcement agencies in the county.
“The challenge that we find ourselves in is that evidence submission and review is much more complicated than before,” Gonzales said, noting the increase of video used by police over the years.
“There are times when they’re not compatible,” Gonzales added.
The cost of the new system at the county is estimated at $133,000 to implement and $750,000 annually. County budget officers said the cost is included in the budget for the current fiscal year.
On the city side, the in-car video system will cost $830,000 annually, and the body-worn camera system will cost $2.4 million.
During his briefing, McManus said the current system that provides evidence to the DA’s office is “somewhat problematic,” but the new cloud-based interface with Axon Enterprise could give them expedient access.
Disagreements between McManus and Gonzales began after the two-week span of officer-involved shootings that saw six officers injured in late August and early September.
McManus publicly criticized the DA’s office following the arrest of a suspect involved in a shooting that left multiple officers wounded. He questioned why the man hadn’t been in jail after being out on two bonds while committing more crimes and having three arrest warrants.
One of the concerning aspects surrounding the shooting of our ofcs last nite… the susp was out on 2 bonds for almost a yr despite committing more crimes & being re-arrested & wanted on 3 diff warrants. Why wasn’t he in jail? Why were’t his bonds increased? People want to know.
— Chief Bill McManus (@Chief_McManus) August 25, 2023
“All I know is that we should be putting people in that jail who have violent repeat histories,” McManus later said.
Gonzales went on the defense. In a meeting with the San Antonio Express-News editorial board, he went through individual cases of the shooters involved, explaining why each case was dismissed — several were from lack of evidence, he said.
“The digital technology has never worked to where we are reliably getting that evidence that police have,” added Christian Henricksen, first assistant district attorney. “Our people who used to just review cases now spend about half of their time trying to get the evidence that should just come over easily.”
The five officer-involved shootings occurred on four different occasions, two within hours of each other.
On Aug. 28, three officers were shot during the arrest of Jesse Garcia Jr., who was out on two bonds and wanted on outstanding warrants for felon in possession of a firearm, evading arrest in a vehicle and burglary of a vehicle. Garcia was arrested following a standoff with authorities.
Two days later, two officers were shot in two separate shootings.
The first officer was shot during the attempted arrest of Michael Kirkland, who was wanted on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault on a public servant. Kirkland was later shot and killed by police.
A second officer was shot during the arrest of Victor Andres Fernandes, who was suspected to be linked to a string of car burglaries. Fernandes was shot and killed during an altercation with officers.
It was later discovered the detective on the scene shot himself during the arrest.
On Sept. 4, officers were attempting to arrest Jacob String, who was wanted for an aggravated robbery. During the arrest, String pulled a gun out and pointed it at the officers. Both officers on the scene shot and killed String.
The following day, an officer was shot with a sawed-off shotgun while searching for Dominick Rubio, who was wanted on two felony warrants. Rubio later surrendered to the police without further incident.
SAPD has released the footage of the shootings that happened Aug. 30 and Sept. 4.
The City Council and Commissioners Court must approve the respective contracts before implementing the new systems.
“There have been a lot of high-profile disagreements and frustrations recently,” Emily Angulo, assistant criminal district attorney, told county leaders Tuesday. “One thing that all of us — all law enforcement and all prosecutors — can agree on is that we want to focus on public safety. We want our community to be safe. The real job should be fighting crime and not fighting outdated technology.”