Activists call on City Council to denounce alleged racial profiling by DPS troopers
AUSTIN, Texas - Civil rights activists in Austin called an immediate call for action Friday afternoon for Mayor Kirk Watson and Austin City Council to denounce alleged racial profiling by DPS troopers.
"There are more troopers in Montopolis than we have schools," said Susana Almanza, director of People Organized in Defense of Earth and Her Resources (PODER). "There are more troopers in Montopolis than we have playgrounds."
District 3 is a large Hispanic community, and those who live there say they have seen more DPS stops.
"This is something we see all the time," Almanza said. "People don't know that and they don't live in this community."
"I'm not saying the DPS is not welcome," community member Monica Alan said. "I don't agree with what the mayor did. This was completely uncalled for."
Data from first two weeks of APD, Texas DPS partnership presented to city council
Chief Chacon says there are more than 300 vacant officer positions and that number grows every day. He says this partnership between APD and DPS is proving to be extremely valuable when it comes to keeping Austin safe during the staffing shortage.
Earlier this week, APD data from the first two weeks of the partnership between Texas DPS and APD was presented to Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and council members.
"We're looking forward to more transparency as it relates to the numbers," said Chris Harris with the Austin Justice Coalition.
RELATED: Texas DPS troopers make over 90 felony arrests since joint operation with APD
City members asked the police department if they could release stats on who was pulled over. The department said, at the time, that they don't have that information.
"Therefore, we are forced to judge this program based on purely on the experience on those impacted," said Harris.
When asked why they believe DPS is racially profiling:
"We know history has taught us and that crime has not been objective," said Almanza. "But as required, crime is being used as a weapon to harass and racial profile our community."