A project years in the making is finally underway at the historic Black cemetery in Pflugerville. The cemetery came about in 1910. It was a part of an exclusively Black community, who were not allowed to live among their white counterparts.
When an Austin suburb wanted a police chief to shake up its male-entrenched culture, it recruited a law enforcement executive from retirement a diverse hire with a résumé that brimmed with experience and accolades.
A year after Jessica Robledo retired as an Austin police assistant chief in 2016, she was leading the Pflugerville Police Department, directed by city leaders to diversify the force and implement more modern policing standards.
“I was ready to take on the opportunity,” said Robledo, who is Hispanic and lesbian and took the job in early 2017. “I didn’t see it as a challenge because I knew that my heart and intentions were always going to be in the right place.”