police accountability

Human rights experts and police reform advocates criticized the department's participation in the competition because they participated alongside human rights abusers. Recently released records showed how much SAPD paid officers while they were in Dubai.

Former SAPD officer James Brennand, who shot Cantu multiple times, is currently awaiting trial over two counts of aggravated assault.

Baltasar Rodriguez died on Sept. 1, 2021, of an apparent overdose as SAPD officers attempted to detain him. His close family and friends claim officers killed him.

SAPD claimed that Darrell Zemault Sr. grabbed an officer’s gun during an attempted arrest for outstanding warrants. But the department continues to withhold body camera footage of the encounter. The killing kicked off a familiar cycle: a lack of transparency from law enforcement, muddied coverage from local news media and promises of incremental reform from elected officials.

After 18-year-old Zekee Rayford allegedly ran a traffic light, he saw flashing red and blue lights behind his car. Instead of immediately stopping, he sought safety nearby at his father’s home. When he got to the front door, Schertz police officers repeatedly tased and kicked him.Schertz is a mostly white, conservative-leaning area to the northeast of San Antonio. The sleepy city of about 41,000 doesn’t have the activist infrastructure of an urban area, so the Defund Police SA group stepped in to organize a rally. Protesters filled several rows of seats at a city council meeting on Tuesday night.

The San Antonio Police Department recently announced a new protocol for responding to mental health crisis calls, as well as the permanent end of the use of "no-knock" warrants.The changes follow a summer of protests over police brutality and racial injustice across the country, including in San Antonio.

After months of protests and difficult conversations, what is the way forward to create a more racially just and equitable San Antonio? In this locally…