Proclaiming San Antonio to be “on the forefront of police reform,” SAPD Chief William McManus heads to the nation’s capital this week to describe to federal officials the city’s policing initiatives and training.

McManus will be in Washington, D.C., today and Wednesday for meetings with representatives of the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Programs Diagnostic Center and the Police Executive Research Forum.

“We’re going to talk about what we’ve done so far in terms of police reforms. We’re going to look at how we can possibly use data better to control crime,” McManus said Monday.

The chief said the city embarked on improvements almost a decade ago, new policies such as updated rules on pursuing suspects.

“We just want to continue doing better,” he said. “I believe we are on the forefront of this, and I want to keep us there. I want us to be a model for the country.”

McManus asked to meet with the federal officials after a presidential task force issued a report calling for police reforms — some of which are already taking hold in San Antonio, such as training to acquaint officers with the concept of “procedural justice.”

“After reviewing it, after looking at what we were doing versus what’s in this report, I wanted to meet with the folks from DOJ,” McManus said.

An important new police accountability tool is about to hit the streets here, McManus added. Body-worn cameras could be deployed initially on SAPD bike patrol officers later this month, before they’re phased in for patrol and other officers, he said.

“They were actually due to roll out in December, but because they (vendor) came out with a brand-new model prior to us receiving them, we delayed shipment so we can get the brand-new model,” McManus said.

jgonzalez@express-news.net

Twitter: @johnwgonzalez