“I think we’re getting close to that point here.” “It appears to be a mirror image of what was done in Dallas and ultimately what led to a lot of people in that community - including local officials - demanding that DPS leave,” Chris Harris, policy director for the Austin Justice Coalition, said about the city’s partnership with DPS. Though there were significant drops reported in violent crime, many Black and Latino residents felt harassed, saying troopers would pull them over for almost-expired vehicle tags or to question their immigration status. Greg Abbott sent DPS into the city to address a sudden spike in homicides. The pattern is almost identical to the one Dallas City Council members and residents saw in 2019, when Gov. We want to ensure Ausitinites don’t feel racially profiled.” If there have been unintended or unwanted consequences, we must address them immediately. “The traffic enforcement, however, has been troubling. “The supplemental staffing has shown really real results in faster response times for assistance and decrease in violent crime,” Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said at a City Council discussion Tuesday. On Tuesday, DPS released a racial breakdown of its traffic stops showing Hispanic drivers are being arrested and stopped at rates disproportionate to the city’s population - accounting for 54% of all stops in the last month.Īustin’s population is 33% Hispanic and 8% Black, according to U.S. Most charges were for drunk driving or low-level drug possession cases, including marijuana, which local officials do not typically prosecute. As of Saturday, the office reported that nearly two-thirds of misdemeanor arrestees were Latino and almost a quarter were Black. Last week, the Travis County Attorney’s Office released statistics showing that nearly 90% of those arrested by DPS on misdemeanor charges since March 30 were Black or Latino. But soon after came concerns of racial profiling and overpolicing in Black and Latino neighborhoods. Police departments nationwide, including DPS, are finding it difficult to fill their ranks as retirements surge and new recruits are harder to find.Īlmost immediately after troopers hit the streets, city officials this month began celebrating a drop in violent crime, most recently reporting that such crimes have been well below averages in each of the four weeks DPS has been embedded in Austin. In late March, local and state leaders requested that the Texas Department of Public Safety help the Austin Police Department as it grappled with short staffing and long response times to 911 calls. Violent crime has dropped, but some Black and Latino residents say they feel under attack by the state troopers who largely set up shop in their neighborhoods. Similar to tensions Dallas faced four years ago, Austin officials are struggling between two conflicting results of inviting the state’s law enforcement agency to patrol their city streets. Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. “ Once again, tension builds after state police are deployed to a major Texas city” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans - and engages with them - about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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