Governor Abbott Designates Howard And McDaniel To Texas Violent Gang Task Force

February 22, 2019 | Austin, Texas | Appointment

Governor Greg Abbott has designated Jabari Howard and Katherine McDaniel to the Texas Violent Gang Task Force for terms to expire at the pleasure of the Governor. The Task Force forms strategic partnerships among local, state, and federal criminal justice, juvenile justice, and correctional agencies to better enable those agencies to take a proactive stance towards tracking gang activity and the growth and spread of gangs statewide.

Jabari Howard is a Detective in the Gang Unit of the Dallas Police Department and a Task Force Officer with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. He is the North Regional Director of the Texas Gang Investigators Association and a member of the Texas Narcotics Officers Association, National Latino Law Enforcement Officers Association-CLEAT, National Black Police Association, and the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas. Howard graduated from the Dallas Police Department basic training academy.

Katherine McDaniel of Boerne is the First Assistant Kendall County Criminal District Attorney.  She is a current member of the National Association of Technical Investigators, State Bar of Texas and the Kendall County Bar Association and a former member of the Texas Gang Investigators Association. She volunteers as on the board of the Kendall County Women’s Shelter. McDaniel received a Bachelor of Arts in history from The University of Texas at Austin and her Juris Doctor degree from Texas Tech University School of Law.