DA, police chief finally find common ground

Five weeks ago, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales and San Antonio Police Chief William Mcmanus shook hands during a public-safety town hall at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church and promised to work together.

Last week, we got a tangible example of that promised cooperation.

On the same day Mcmanus presented a plan to City Council’s Public Safety Committee to upgrade his department’s in-car video system to Axon Enterprise — the company already used by SAPD for its body cameras — Gonzales went before county commissioners and requested permission to proceed with negotiations with Axon for a new evidence-management system

This is a bigger deal than it might appear to be.

Mcmanus and Gonzales have feuded recently over the issue of repeat offenders being out on the street and committing violent crimes. Over a two-week period in August and September, five San Antonio police officers were shot in the act of duty and Mcmanus began voicing his frustration with the district attorney’s office.

After a four-hour Aug. 24 standoff in which two police officers were shot, Mcmanus noted that the alleged gunman, Jesse Garcia, 28, had been out on two bonds for nearly a year, despite committing additional crimes, being rearrested and wanted on three warrants.

“Why wasn’t he in jail? Why weren’t his bonds increased? People want to know,” Mcmanus said.

Much of the discussion surrounding the Mcmanus-gonzales rift has been concentrated on the question of whether bonds for arrestees are being set too low by Bexar County. Ultimately, however, this is not an issue over which Gonzales and his office have control. They can make recommendations, but bonds are set by magistrate judges.

The true conflict between Mcmanus and Gonzales involves the handling of evidence and how cases are being prosecuted.

Mcmanus has suggested the DA’S office is overwhelmed by the approximately 55,000 cases it deals with annually and has consequently rejected or dismissed too many cases.

Gonzales has rebutted that point by saying that in the modern era, with the existence of footage from body cameras and cellphones, his office deals with unprecedented mountains of evidence, and SAPD has been chronically slow in providing the evidence needed by prosecutors.

Gonzales and Mcmanus may have incompatible philosophies — Gonzales is a criminal justice reformer at heart, while Mcmanus, like most police chiefs, just wants to get lawbreakers behind bars — but it is incompatible technology that has exacerbated the problems between them.

The district attorney’s office’s current evidence management system is archaic and incompatible with every local law enforcement agency. That means police officers have to spend countless hours manually uploading evidence that they then transfer to prosecutors.

Emily Angulo, intake chief for the district attorney’s office, told county commissioners last week that “a lot of times we’re fighting outdated systems rather than fighting crime.”

If SAPD and the DA’S office receive their requested system changes, evidence files can be easily shared between the police department and prosecutors.

Hopefully, what that means for the rest of us is that police officers will spend less time sitting in front of their computers and more time working to fight crime. It should also mean that prosecutors will be better equipped to move quickly on cases.

In response to a question from County Judge Peter Sakai about whether the technological upgrade would improve the criminal justice system in Bexar County, Gonzales said, “This would be a huge game changer for us,”

In response to a similar question from Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda about whether SAPD’S proposed new in-car video system would help keep repeat offenders off the streets, Mcmanus said, “Yes.”

Coordination, integration and interfacing. Those were the buzzwords from Gonzales and Mcmanus last week. They were talking about computer systems, but hopefully, that connection will carry over into their working relationships.

Agreement on upgrade to evidence system may lead to better partnership