SAN ANTONIO – Earlier this summer, San Antonio police officers began to provide Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones after-hours security at her home, records obtained by KSAT Investigates show.
The security measures, unprecedented for a San Antonio mayor, were put in place after a man was accused of posting a threat against Jones on social media back in August.
Multiple SAPD sources, who spoke with KSAT Investigates on the condition of anonymity, said the department provided Jones a ballistic vest at her request, shortly after she was elected mayor in June.
The request for the wearable vest was made prior to the August social media threat, sources told KSAT.
SAPD employs an executive security detail for Jones while she is conducting city business, which is in line with protective measures provided to previous mayors of San Antonio.
But an overnight detail made up of SAPD officers is a unique level of security offered to a San Antonio mayor, sources and a previous mayor told KSAT.
What have SAPD officers been ordered to do at the mayor’s home?
KSAT, which is not reporting Jones’ home address, obtained “Mayor Jones Residence Post Orders” containing the seal of SAPD’s Executive Protection Detail.
The document instructs SAPD officers assigned to the mayor’s home to do the following:
- A hard key is issued to the first officers on shift by an Executive Protection Unit (EPU) officer
- Officers must pass the key from shift/officer to shift/officer
- Return the key to an EPU officer by morning
Two officers are assigned to the post at any given time, the records show.
The officer assigned to the interior post is required to do the following:
- Must always remain stationed in the hallway during shift
- A chair is available for use but must remain in the hallway during shift
- The chair used in the hallway must be returned to the lobby before the last officer leaves in the morning
A second officer assigned to the exterior patrol must do the following:
- Remain outside the property
- Conduct regular patrols of the property perimeter and surrounding blocks
- Remain visible, alert and professional
The post orders also include protocol for if/when the mayor leaves her residence and expectations for conduct while assigned there.
If Jones leaves her residence to go for a walk or to walk her dogs, an officer is instructed to “accompany her at a respectful distance, ensure she feels safe and supported and to remain discreet and professional,” the orders state.
If Jones drives to a restaurant or another location, an officer is required to follow her in a patrol vehicle and to “maintain discreet surveillance, from your vehicle only, as much as you can,” the orders state.
Multiple sources told KSAT Investigates the orders were created after the August arrest of 24-year-old Marcos Olvera.
Olvera, according to SAPD investigators, commented on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, “we need to kill the mayor.”
The comment was made under a post discussing Project Marvel, the nickname for the still-evolving downtown development plan that would include a new arena for the San Antonio Spurs.
Olvera was charged with felony retaliation but has since been released on bond, jail officials confirmed to KSAT.
Olvera is scheduled for a pre-indictment hearing on Nov. 10.
His pretrial supervision requirements include GPS monitoring and a no-contact order, court records show.
The residence post orders, which do not name Olvera, state a photo of the “restricted individual” has been provided to officers and that the suspect is GPS-monitored.
Officers are instructed to not rely solely on that technology and to “remain vigilant and report any sighting immediately.”
Earlier this year, Jones unsuccessfully attempted to pause negotiations on the development project.
Jones had asked to hold off considering the funding deal until the city had received an “independent” economic impact report and held two community feedback meetings in each council district.
The mayor’s call for a strategic pause angered some fans of the NBA franchise, which has called San Antonio home since 1973.
Bexar County voters on Nov. 4 will decide whether to allow the county to partially fund the arena using an estimated $311 million in venue taxes.
The funding deal includes the city kicking in up to $489 million for the proposed arena.
The Spurs would contribute at least $500 million, plus any cost overruns.
Jones pushed back on effort to beef up number of SAPD patrol officers, weeks after overnight security detail began
Weeks after SAPD officers were assigned to provide overnight security to the mayor, Jones publicly pushed back on requests from multiple city council members to add more police patrol positions than had been budgeted for next year.
During a Sept. 16 budget work session, a coalition of North Side council members, including District 10 councilman Marc Whyte, pressed city officials to include an amendment to the budget that would increase the number of new SAPD patrol positions from 25 to 65.
“We need more police officers,” Whyte said. “The fact that we’re questioning it really, really disturbs me.”
During the same budget session, Jones weighed in and said, “So, when we are thinking about things like public safety, and I can certainly appreciate the comments of Chief (William) McManus, what I want to make sure that we don’t do is make an assumption that an increase in police officers is going to mitigate the risks created by defunding some of these other very critical services. That’s a critical assumption underlining that entire argument.”
Two days later, city council passed a $4.06 billion that included 40 new patrol positions — 15 more than had been initially budgeted for — but far fewer than the 65 total positions Whyte and other council members had requested.
Project Marvel expert not surprised by increased security for mayor
Dr. Geoffrey Propheter, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs, told KSAT he is not surprised by security around Jones increasing as the Project Marvel vote moves forward.
“In this day and age? No. It’s a shame that sports, which is supposed to be this unifying factor, even if people disagree, brings that out of people,” said Propheter, an expert on the nexus of sports facilities and public policy.
An interim spokeswoman for Jones declined to make the mayor available for an interview for this story and referred all inquiries from KSAT to “the chief of police.”
SAPD officials did not respond to a request from KSAT asking if Chief William McManus had a comment on the increased security measures.
Officials have not said if the increased security is permanent or will end at a particular date.
Past mayors received threats, did not receive same level of security
Mayor Ivy Taylor, a University of North Carolina professor who served as San Antonio mayor from 2014 to 2017, confirmed to KSAT Investigates that she did not have SAPD officers assigned inside or outside of her home while she was in office.
In late 2014, a vehicle belonging to Taylor and her husband was struck by gunfire during a drive-by shooting near her husband’s bail bonds business.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who served as mayor of San Antonio from 2017 to June 2025, received temporary SAPD patrol-bys of his home if there was an active threat, a source close to Nirenberg confirmed to KSAT Investigates.
In 2019, Adam Converse was arrested after investigators said he sent Nirenberg a series of Facebook messages that included statements that he was going to stab the mayor and wanted “to see people dead.”
Converse was later given pretrial diversion in the case, court records show.
Converse was arrested in August 2025 on the same criminal charge, after investigators said he threatened via email multiple Trinity University professors where Nirenberg now works.
Converse is scheduled for a pre-indictment hearing in his latest case on Nov. 3, court records show.
After conflict between Israel and Hamas flared late in Nirenberg’s time in office, SAPD parked a patrol vehicle near the then-mayor’s home for a single eight-hour shift, a source told KSAT.
Pro-Palestinian protestors demanded Nirenberg and city council pass a cease-fire resolution and interrupted several public events and other gatherings.
One incident included Nirenberg being screamed at by protestors as he attempted to eat lunch with former mayor Phil Hardberger at a San Antonio restaurant.
City has repeatedly delayed release of records showing how much overnight security detail costs taxpayers
On Sept. 4, KSAT Investigates requested records showing the weekly cost to provide SAPD staffing for the Mayor Jones Residence Post Orders.
A city open records employee sent KSAT an update on Sept. 19 stating that the city anticipated releasing the information by Sept. 24.
Sept. 24 came and passed without the records being released.
After multiple requests from KSAT for an update on when the delayed records would be provided, a city records open employee sent KSAT an email late Tuesday night stating a status update would be provided on Wednesday.
No status update was provided on Wednesday.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
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