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Public safety commission calls for more accountability in DPS, APD partnership

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Published  July 10, 2023 10:31pm CDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 7 Austin

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Public Safety Commission has approved a recommendation calling for more accountability around the partnership between Austin Police and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The 6-0 vote comes after heated testimony Monday night.

The recommendation states:

"Be it recommended by the Public Safety Commission of the City of Austin that: the partnership between the Austin Police Department and the Department of Public Safety be discontinued unless there is significant community engagement and an Austin City Council resolution adopting parameters and guidelines that define goals, time periods, accountability, data sharing, reporting and expectations."

DPS troopers initially came on board in late March to help APD tackle crime amid a staffing shortage. In mid-May DPS halted operations in Austin, so troopers could be diverted to the Texas-Mexico border after Title 42 expired. 

On July 2, those troopers returned to Austin streets.

APD and DPS resume controversial partnership

State troopers have returned to assist APD officers after a nearly two-month pause of the partnership between Austin police and Texas DPS.

"Under our current agreement, every brown person does feel like we're an open target. we do not feel safe," said Alicia Torres, an activist with Grassroots Leadership.

Critics point to data showing nine in 10 misdemeanor arrests by DPS in Austin during the initial deployment were of people of color—many of them in East Austin.

"Next week is my son's fifth birthday. Nobody's going to attend his birthday because they're afraid to drive to my house and celebrate," said District 3 commissioner Lauren Pena, who lives in East Austin.

But city officials argue things are different now—saying DPS is being deployed at APD’s direction.

9 out of 10 misdemeanor arrests made by DPS in Austin are people of color

City and county officials are calling this newly-released demographic data from the Travis County attorney's office extremely concerning. It's a fear they've had from the start of the partnership between DPS and APD.

"That deployment has changed. What you're talking about is what was in place five, six, seven weeks ago. People spoke, we heard it," said Austin interim assistant city manager Bruce Mills.

The Downtown Austin Alliance says DPS is especially needed amid an increase in violent crime, and property crime like an arson on Congress Avenue in March.

"We would prefer to have adequate APD resources patrolling our streets and not DPS. But right now we need DPS," said Bill Brice, senior vice president for the Downtown Austin Alliance.

"We're how many short? 350. We're really shorter than that, and we can't effectively police this city as we are," said Mills.

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.

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But many activists say DPS has got to be more transparent.

"If they just have to be there, we have to make sure DPS' policies are available to the public," said Chas Moore of the Austin Justice Coalition. "They also need to be at these meetings where we're talking about the partnership with the agency that's not here."

Indeed, DPS was not present at Monday night’s meeting, although an assistant Austin police chief was present.

Austin City Council will need to vote on the Commission’s recommendation. It’s unclear when that will happen.