DEPARTMENT: Police Department
DEPARTMENT HEAD: William P. McManus, Chief of Police
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT: Briefing on Request to discontinuing and banning “No-Knock” warrants and procedures in the SAPD Manual
SUMMARY:
Briefing and possible action on the Council Consideration Request (CCR) from Councilmember Andrews Sullivan for the immediate documented discontinuation and banning of “No-Knock” warrants and procedures in the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) Manual.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On June 22, 2020, Councilwoman Andrews Sullivan submitted a Council Consideration Request (CCR) requesting the immediate documented discontinuation and banning of ‘No-Knock’ warrants and procedures in the SAPD manual.
At the direction of the Chief of Police, effective June 16, 2020, the Department suspended the use of no knock warrants for both search and arrest warrants. In recent years, the Department has significantly reduced high risk forced entry warrants, as shown below:
Search warrants are commonly used during Narcotics investigations where the suspect has a violent criminal history and/or access to firearms.
Arrest Warrants run a broader spectrum, and most are used in serious violent crime offender arrests such as Murder, Aggravated Assault and Sexual Assault where the offender has a history of violent crime involving the use of firearms.
RECOMMENDATION:
At the direction of the Chief of Police, effective June 16, 2020, the Department suspended the use of no-knock warrants for both search and arrest warrants. SAPD is in the process of revising the General Manual with the updated no-knock warrant policy which will suspend no-knock warrants for the execution of search warrants, and it will restrict the execution of no-knock arrest warrants only where exigent circumstances pose a serious safety risk to the general public or officers.