The Rise and Fall of Jason Dusterhoft (and His Frenemies)

Since "Tales from the Fifth Floor" – home of the executive team of the Austin Police Department – is such a long-running soap opera, we've had a chance to visit with its characters more than once over the decades. (All dates below are when we published, either in print or online, not when the events actually occurred.)

2004:

May 28: Sgt. Jason Dusterhoft figures in a kerfuffle within the Austin Police Association. A push to recall the union's then-president Mike Sheffield cites his ratting out Dusterhoft, then APA board secretary, for using his official city email and not the union's to communicate with officers.

2011:

March 4: Sgt. Justin Newsom is the Internal Affairs investigator in the case of APD Officer Leonardo Quintana, who after escaping discipline for a fatal police shooting in 2009 was fired, then won his job back, then was fired again in 2010 after allegations of drunk driving and violence against a former girlfriend (also an APD officer); this story is about Quintana's second arbitration.

2012:

Feb. 4: Cmdr. Dusterhoft leads the APD "special response team" evicting Occupy Austin protesters from City Hall Plaza. One arrestee is hospitalized.

2013:

Aug. 2: Assistant Chief Manley briefs reporters on the fatal shooting of Larry Jack­son by APD Det. Charles Kleinert, and acknowledges that APD's previous account of the encounter was inaccurate. The city eventually settled a wrongful-death suit with Jackson's mother for $1.85 million.

2014:

May 2: Dusterhoft is promoted by APD Chief Art Acevedo, who defended him when we asked about his two prior suspensions: "I guarantee you, he will be successful as an assistant chief." He'll appear in the Chronicle in subsequent stories about South by Southwest safety measures, the adoption of officer-­worn body cameras, and plans for what is now the Downtown Sobering Center.

2016:

Nov. 25: Manley is named interim chief to replace the departing Acevedo. Among his first moves: the permanent closure of APD's crime lab.

2018:

March 16: Assistant Chief Newsom, ­elevated by Manley after Dusterhoft's July 2017 demotion for then-undisclosed reasons, talks to us about the yearlong Downtown K2 epidemic.

March 23: Just after the three-week Austin bombing spree where Manley's leadership was widely praised, CM Delia Garza proposes that Council urge new City Manager Spencer Cronk to name Manley as permanent police chief, which he does in April.

June 8: Newsom goes to the city's Public Safety Commission to argue against repealing Austin's camping ban and no-sit/no-lie ordinances, which Council would do a year later, and which Propo­si­tion B's victory last week partially reversed.

June 19: Manley is named as a defendant in a class action filed in federal court by survivors of sexual assault, who allege APD's mishandling of these cases violated their constitutional rights.

Oct. 12: We first report that Dusterhoft has been placed on leave since August, after allegations he assaulted his then-girlfriend at the Yellow Rose strip club.

Dec. 7: Manley asks the DPS to audit how APD ­handled­­ rape cases, including its use of "exceptional clearance" to close cases without arrests.

2019:

Jan. 4: "APD Holds Little Back in Duster­hoft Fir­ing" reports on Manley's Dec. 20 "indefinite suspension" of Dusterhoft and on the extensive details Manley revealed about Dusterhoft's sex life.

Nov. 8: Everything blows up this week, when we report on Newsom's abrupt retirement, the opening of the investigation that would lead to the Tatum report, the connection with Dusterhoft's arbitration hearings six weeks earlier, and the press conference that day where CM Natasha Harper-Madison says she hopes the city can move beyond "slaps on the wrist" for racist behavior.

Nov. 29: One of the officers described by Newsom as "stupid fucking n____rs" files suit, alleging systemic bias against Black officers.

Dec. 6: Council approves a resolution calling for multiple reviews of APD's training and culture and an eventual halt to police academy cadet classes.

2020:

Jan. 24: Manley refuses to implement Council's unanimous resolution to end low-level marijuana busts; he eventually backs down in July.

April 17: The Tatum report lays out a years-long pattern of racism and sexism at APD – "some real cultural issues that are in need of attention" – but does not confirm specific allegations made against Manley and Newsom in an anonymous complaint that we now know came from Dusterhoft.

May 1: After the fatal shooting of Michael Ramos on April 24, justice advocates demand Manley be fired, a call later joined by a majority of City Council.

June 5: A week of protests, met with an outburst of police violence, leaves Manley's job even further in jeopardy, with even his boss, City Manager Cronk, decrying some officers' "disgusting abuse of power, authority, and trust."

Aug. 13: Council unanimously adopts the city's fiscal 2021 budget, calling for $150 million in cuts to APD's funding over the course of the year.

2021:

Feb. 12: Manley announces his retirement, effective March 28.