July-August Public commenters call for the ending of “Live PD” and resignation of Chody in his handling of WSCO Commander Steve Deaton for controversial social media posts and comments.
April Chody welcomed camera crews to join WCSO Lt. Grayson Kennedy on a vehicle patrol for the purposes of being on “Live PD.”
2020
2021
Sept. 2 Deaton resigns.
Sept. 25 Chody is indicted by a grand jury for evidence tampering in the Ambler case. Sept. 28 Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick speaks publicly on Chody’s indictment. Sept. 30 Chody petitions to keep sworn testimony sealed from the public in a contract dispute with commissioners.
Oct. 7 In a statement posted on Twitter, Chody said he has proof that his indictment was not based on evidence tampering but on political opposition.
Nov. 3 Chody loses his re- election bid to Mike Gleason 43.94% to 56.06%. Nov. 10 Commissioners drop the lawsuit against Big Fish Entertainment. Nov. 30 First evidence tampering hearing held.
Aug. 20 Commissioners vote unanimously to end the “Live PD” contract. Aug. 24 Williamson County makes its nal approved contract appearance on “Live PD.”
April 28 Four commissioners vote to send a cease-and- desist letter to all “Live PD” a liates after Chody ignored their decision to terminate its contract.
May 5 Commissioners vote to hire an attorney to handle “Live PD” matters. May 19 Commissioners vote 4-0 to issue a lawsuit against Chody for continuing to allow “Live PD” to lm after the court ordered him to stop.
June 8 News of Ambler’s death while in WCSO custody breaks. June 9 Commissioners and local state o cials call for Chody’s resignation. June 10
A&E Network cancels “Live PD” following
live TV? We are demonstrating to Williamson County and the world we have nothing to hide.” While the court was hesitant to greenlight the show, it agreed to initiate a six-month contract with Big Fish Entertainment on Jan. 16, 2018. The contract expired in July 2018. An agenda item to re-establish the contract with Big Fish Entertainment did not appear on a commissioner agenda until May 2019 when the court voted 3-2 to allow the show to continue in Williamson County. But during that summer, several issues within the WCSO
Dick added he believes it will take at least a year or more before the evidence tamper- ing case goes to trial, as the court system is also dealing with complications related to the coronavirus pandemic. This could fur- ther delay the start of the trial, and from
protests on police misconduct against Black men and people of color.
the direction of Chody. After issuing a cease-and-desist order, the commis- sioners decided to take legal action. “You just dissed the Commissioners Court,” Cook said during an April 28 court meeting. “We’re in the middle of a pandemic crisis, and you want to throw
there it could be a multiyear process, he said. During a Nov. 30 hearing, the team of Dick, Dee McWilliams and Mike Waldman as well as the defense attorneys for Chody and Nassour agreed to a Jan. 4 date for a pretrial conference hearing to work through several motions led on each side, including a motion to quash led by Chody and Nassour. As for a “Live PD” return to Williamson County, both Gravell and Gleason said there is no future for it as long as they are in o ce. State Rep. James Tala- rico, D Round Rock, has led a bill in the 87th state Legislature that would ban police contracts with reality TV shows. “[The WCSO is] just going to go back to provid- ing the services that taxpayers want,” Gleason said. “What theywant is to see patrol cars in their neighbor- hood, and they want to see community involvement, and when they call 911, or 311, they want a quick, e - cient, professional response. They don’t want a pro- duction. They don’t want to be told, ‘Sorry, we don’t have the resources because [deputies are] out doing something that doesn’t bene t the taxpayer.’”
came to light—includ- ing those of WCSO Commander Steve Deaton, who has since resigned, for chal- lenging deputies in a meeting to have sex with a female “Live PD” producer and posting graphic and racist images on a per- sonal Facebook page. Two WCSO training
noncritical personnel into vehicles to travel around the county when we have stay home, stay safe orders.” What now?
TIME AND TIME AGAIN THE WCSO HEARS ABOUT TRANSPARENCY ISSUES. ... HOWMUCHMORE TRANSPARENT CANWE GET THAN WILLING TO BE ON LIVE TV? ROBERT CHODY, WILLIAMSON COUNTY SHERIFF JANUARY 2018
In Travis County where Chody could also face charges, a grand jury was called, former Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore said Sept. 28. The grand jury will begin to hear evidence in the case at the start of the new year, she added. “We believe that there are facts supporting tamper- ing in Travis County as well,” Moore said at that time. In Williamson County, Dick said he fully intends to continue to prosecute Chody even though he leaves o ce in the new year, adding that he cannot antici- pate Chody’s election loss will change anything.
academy o cers were also reprimanded by the TCOLE for the use of racial slurs and the bullying of cadets. Following this, the court decided to formally end its contract with the show on Aug. 20, 2019, and the matter appeared settled. But in April, as the coronavirus pandemic began to pick up in Central Texas, the court learned the county continued to appear on episodes of “Live PD” under
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ROUND ROCK PFLUGERVILLE HUTTO EDITION • DECEMBER 2020
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