Manley apologizes for not acting faster on racism allegations

Austin Police Chief Brian Manley has apologized for not addressing more quickly allegations of racism by an assistant chief. Manley said he missed several chances to do so before the incidents sparked a firestorm.

“I was focused so much on the process of handling the issue that I lost sight of impacts this had on so many in our community and within our department,” Manley said in a message Monday night to the Police Department. “While we all strive for perfection, that is a goal that is rarely achievable as the human condition is such that we all make mistakes along the way, including myself.”

Manley said he had reasons for how he handled allegations against Assistant Chief Justin Newsom, who abruptly retired as accusations began to surface. However, Manley said, “I also recognize I had opportunities along the way to take additional steps sooner, and, hindsight being what it is, I see that I missed some of those opportunities.”

Manley made his comments Saturday night at a gala honoring officers, then followed up by sending his remarks in an email to the department.

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The chief has been criticized for focusing on internal procedures about how complaints are often handled instead of moving quickly to address the matter, including by confronting Newsom, who Manley had promoted to his executive team in July 2017.

Manley’s handling of the issue is the subject of an independent investigation by San Antonio attorney Lisa Tatum, who will also look into other claims by the Austin Police Association, the police union, that Manley has not previously acted on other allegations of various types of other misconduct involving other officers.

The allegations involving Newsom became public in early November after a complaint to the Office of Police Oversight said that he had routinely used the N-word and cited instances in which he referred to former President Barack Obama, former Council Member Ora Houston and other officers using the term.

Newsom has said he doesn’t recall making those statements but, he said, “I have used inappropriate language in private conversations with friends.”

The issue had begun bubbling up inside the department five weeks earlier, Manley acknowledged in another recent email to officers. Manley said that Newsom told him in late September that attorneys representing a fired commander planned to ask him during an arbitration hearing about a text message they believed he had sent.

Manley has said he did not ask Newsom about the contents of the message and instead referred Newsom to city attorneys.

About a week later, on Oct. 7, Manley and other city officials received an email from a sender who appeared to use a fake name that said Newsom used racist language and called upon Manley to address the matter.

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Manley referred the email to the police monitor’s office, noting the significance of the allegation but adding that the department needed more information. Manley was out of the country when the department got word that a person had filed an anonymous complaint with the police oversight office with additional allegations against Newsom.

Manley previously has said that his chief of staff had a meeting the following morning with other city officials to discuss next steps. Then, Newsom retired.

Union and some community leaders have said Manley should have immediately asked Newsom about the matter or launched an internal affairs investigation, instead of allowing Newsom to retire honorably and receive a payout of about $137,000 in unused sick time.

Nelson Linder, president of the Austin NAACP, said he accepts Manley’s apology but said it doesn’t address his inaction.

“If you are a police chief in a city of almost a million people that has a history of police (and) black community relations, you can’t miss that,” he said. “If you don’t catch those issues, you are going to lose confidence. And once you lose confidence, you are going to be ineffective.”

Ken Casaday, president of the police union, said that because his organization requested the independent investigation, he wants to respect “due process for the chief” and declined to comment further.

EDITORIAL: Racist remarks demand urgent APD response