Austin assistant police chief let off the hook for speeding

Austin police officer David Montalvo, pulled off-duty Assistant Chief Chris Mcilvain over on Mopac. APD says he was going 27 over the speed limit of 65.

"That's the only reason I chased you down," said Montalvo.
"We're going to Waco for the K.U. game," said McIlvain.
“Oh that'll be fun," said Montalvo.
"I apologize," said McIlvain.

Officer Montalvo let Mcilvain go with a warning. That warning came to Interim Chief Manley's attention just last week.

“I asked him would he have handled it the same way if it were a citizen or somebody else, would they have received a warning. The officer indicated that he would not have,” said Manley.

The chief issued a speeding ticket to McIlvain after learning about the incident.
Mcilvain was on his way to Waco to watch a basketball game.
Manley says it's normal to issue city cars to department leaders since they could be called in.

“I don't think traveling to Waco or San Antonio in a city car is unreasonable, because if I needed chief Mcllvain back in the city, I would have called him and he would have responded,” said Manley.  

Manley says this is a teachable moment for the department.

“Although police officers have discretion, and we should have discretion, we have to ensure we are using that discretion in a reasonable and consistent manner regardless of a person's individual characteristics or their occupation,” said Manley.

“There's favoritism with police, we know that. It happens all the time,” said Nelson Linder, Austin’s NAACP president.

Linder applauds Manley, and hopes the department can remain fair in their practices.

“He needs to tell his officers ‘Look, we're trying to be fair for everybody. Make sure, I don't care if he's your best friend, if he's speeding give him a ticket,’” said Linder.