Here’s What You Missed in the First Three Days of Officer Christopher Taylor’s Murder Trial

Court is in session

"...re-creation of what Ramos saw, produced by the digital forensics company Visual Law Group. Using video footage captured by..."

Oct. 27, 2023 News Feature by Austin Sanders

APD Chief Joseph Chacon’s Legacy

Assessing the final years of a career that saw a rise from beat cop to chief of police

"...floor at APD during a period in which the Forensics Department was so poorly managed that its DNA lab..."

Aug. 25, 2023 News Feature by Austin Sanders

City Council Gets Some Breathing Room on the Budget

Austin bounced back from COVID with what City Manager Spencer Cronk called “spectacular economic growth.” How spectacular?

"...Court $18.9 million Housing and Planning $17.6 million Animal Services $13.1 million Forensics (moved from APD in 2021) $97.4 million Internal charges and..."

July 22, 2022 News Feature by Mike Clark-Madison

Council Makes Last-Minute Changes to $4.5 Billion Budget Plan

A budget is born

"...waiver from Gov. Greg Abbott's office to keep the Forensics Department and Emergency Com­munications Department separate from the APD..."

Aug. 13, 2021 News Feature by Austin Sanders

Austin Police Funding Restored; Is It Too Much, or Not Enough?

The 2020 city budget finds itself coming full circle

"...not "real"; it comes from returning civilian-driven departments, particularly Forensics and Emergency Communications (the combined 911 call center), to..."

July 30, 2021 News Feature by Austin Sanders

City Manager Presents $4.5 Billion City Budget

2021-22 FY proposal earmarks funds for police, parks, homelessness response

"...account for the $130 million – most notably the Forensics Department and the 911 call center – were not..."

July 16, 2021 News Feature by Austin Sanders

Republicans Vow to “Re-Fund the Police” by Seizing Local Control

State grabs power to dictate local public safety budgets

"...not clear, for example, how Austin's reclassification of its forensics division, 911 call center, and police administrative functions like..."

June 4, 2021 News Feature by Austin Sanders

The Ugly End to Jason Dusterhoft's Police Career Was Only the Beginning for APD

Three chiefs gone in Austin

"...police budget; the overhauling of the police academy, the forensics department, and 911; and the work of the Reimagining..."

May 7, 2021 News Feature by Brant Bingamon

Death Watch: A Hard Life, A Disabled Man, A Death Sentence

Ibarra's lawyer cites IQ test, family history in last-ditch appeal for death row case

"...Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, in addition to the forensics claims, cites Ibarra's score of 65 on an IQ..."

Feb. 26, 2021 News Feature by Brant Bingamon

Headlines / Quote of the Week

"...Forensics Flies Free: Last week City Council voted to create..."

Feb. 12, 2021 News Feature

Finally, Forensics Flies Free From APD

Council approves “decoupling” of police crime lab

"...resolution and in the current fiscal year’s adopted budget; Forensics was one of the programs that accounted for $80..."

Feb. 10, 2021 News Post by Austin Sanders

APD Kills Again

Driver fatally wounded after alleged road rage incident

"...gather more information on the shooting, Webber hired a forensics specialist to perform an independent autopsy on Gonzales, in..."

Jan. 15, 2021 News Feature by Austin Sanders

Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir by Natasha Trethewey

In her book, Natasha Trethewey is a daughter who returns to her mother's crime scene to reclaim herself

"...The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet uses metaphor to investigate the forensics of unfathomable loss: her mother's death at the hands..."

Nov. 6, 2020 Arts Feature by Barbara Purcell

Austin at Large: Truth and Reconciliation

“Reimagining” public safety will involve more than just technocratic change

"...technocratic fixes to many of APD's problems – from forensics to 911 dispatch to the police academy – feel..."

Aug. 28, 2020 News Column by Mike Clark-Madison

APD Starts Shrinking

Council set to make cuts now, plan for more to come

"...part of APD's budget and structure – for example, forensics, victim services, or the Internal Affairs and Special Investigative..."

Aug. 14, 2020 News Feature by Austin Sanders

Police Chief Fights Back as Council Cuts APD Budget

Chief Brian Manley remains defiant

"...are offering – like making Internal Affairs or the forensics lab more independent entities. More immediate cuts – like..."

Aug. 7, 2020 News Feature by Austin Sanders

Council Mulls Radical Changes to Police Structure

Reimagining public safety – and how to pay for it

"...idea more or less has reached consensus: Shift the forensics lab out, so it can function as an independent..."

July 31, 2020 News Feature by Austin Sanders

“Reimagining” APD and Its Huge Budget Starts Now

City Council and the city manager try to move away from policing, but is it enough?

"...action on lower-hanging fruit. For example, moving the APD forensics lab out of the department, perhaps into an independent..."

July 24, 2020 News Feature by Austin Sanders

Q&A With City Manager Spencer Cronk

In his first sit-down interview with the Chronicle, Austin's CM discusses public safety, the budget, and next steps

"...feedback and involved the appropriate stakeholders. For example, the forensics lab is one where I think there's a lot..."

July 24, 2020 News Feature by Mike Clark-Madison

Opening the Case on the American Sherlock

Kate Winkler Dawson reports on an early master of forensics

"...early days of criminal forensic investigation, American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI...."

Feb. 12, 2020 Arts Post by Mike Berry

Federal Judge Dismisses Local Sexual Assault Survivors’ Lawsuit

Yeakel cites progress by Lege in rejecting claims against APD, D.A.

"...but a major DNA testing contamination at APD’s now-shuttered forensics lab led officers to question her “truthfulness”; her attacker..."

Feb. 11, 2020 News Post by Sarah Marloff

Austin’s Sexual Assault Controversies Roil the District Attorney’s Race

Margaret Moore's controversial handling of rape cases brings opponents to the race

"...from the collapse of the Austin Police Department's DNA forensics lab and its failure to test hundreds of rape..."

Feb. 7, 2020 News Feature by Sarah Marloff

As Millions Demand Justice, Texas Prepares to Take Rodney Reed's Life

Looking back at a long road of injustice for the death row inmate

"...Reed's execution. It was set for March 5, 2015. Forensics, New Witnesses, a Stay..."

Nov. 15, 2019 News Feature by Brant Bingamon

19 Years On, Anti-Death Penalty March Sees Progress

Yet time is running out for Ruben Gutierrez, Rodney Reed

"...a trial marred by investigative bungling, prosecutorial misconduct, flawed forensics, and racial bias. His execution date is looming, but..."

Oct. 25, 2019 News Feature by Brant Bingamon

Odds and Ends from the 86th Lege Session

Progress made for rape survivors, Beer-to-Go passes, and more

"...crisis centers, expediting rape kit processing at the DPS forensics labs, analyzing assault prosecutions across justice agencies across the..."

May 31, 2019 News Feature by The 'Chronicle' News staff

APD Asks City Council for Financial Help With DNA Testing

And more news from the dais

"...firms – local Signature Science and Virginia's Bode Cellmark Forensics – have been tapped to test the bulk of..."

April 26, 2019 News Feature by Sarah Marloff

The Top 10 Austin News Milestones of 2018

Days like these

Dec. 28, 2018 News Feature by Mike Clark-Madison

Rape Kit Backlog Cleared: Now What?

Advocates still uncertain of what’s being done with the results

"...over 4,000 after the 2016 implosion of the APD forensics lab and included kits dating as far back as..."

Nov. 16, 2018 News Feature by Sarah Marloff

New to Town? Here Are Nine of the Biggest News Stories Affecting Locals.

A primer on Austin politics

"...cases. In the summer of 2016, APD shuttered its forensics lab after receiving a scathing audit from the Texas..."

Aug. 30, 2018 News Post by News Staff

Crime Lab Chronicles

City memo updates on troubled DNA lab's progress

"...over what to do with the Austin Police Department's forensics lab. In a memo sent to the mayor and..."

Aug. 24, 2018 News Feature by Sarah Marloff

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