Texas DPS to patrol Austin streets amid 911 response delays

State troopers will help the Austin Police Division with patrolling the town amid staffing shortages that police say have led to 911 response delays and fewer officers on the streets.

Driving the information: In a Monday afternoon information convention, Mayor Kirk Watson and different metropolis officers mentioned the transfer comes without charge to the town.

• Officers wouldn’t disclose what number of troopers can be tasked to Austin policing.

Why it issues: The partnership between APD and the Texas Division of Public Security is uncommon, and displays the extra hand-in-hand posture towards Republican state officers promised by a pragmatic-minded Watson, who was narrowly elected in a December runoff.

The large image: How one can method public security stays a lightning rod within the post-George Floyd period, with Austinites divided about police spending.

What they’re saying: Watson mentioned the plan will cut back site visitors fatalities, response occasions and enhance police presence throughout the town.

• “My prime precedence is that the individuals of Austin each are protected and really feel protected,” Watson mentioned. “This can be a recognition that the police division wants extra workers and we’ve a companion that may help us. This partnership will enhance security and supply a runway as we recruit extra officers and work to retain these presently on the power.”

Between the traces: Metropolis officers and the police union stay at odds over civilian oversight and pay as negotiations over a brand new police labor contract proceed.

• Watson insisted that the plan occurred organically from a dialog he had with Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
• “That is assist and complement,” Watson mentioned. “Not override and overtake.”

Flashback: Two years in the past Austin voters rejected Proposition A, which might have put extra officers on the road.

• Metropolis finance officers mentioned Prop A would have value as a lot as $600 million over 5 years, and critics of the measure mentioned it could not have offered complete public security reform.
• Prop A opponents additionally mentioned spending extra on regulation enforcement would take away from different metropolis packages.

By the numbers: Police chief Joe Chacon instructed KVUE final fall that APD has 1,534 officers on the power, down 65 officers from one yr prior.

• The division acquired funding for 1,812 officers in 2022, though it had greater than 1,900 officers only a few years in the past.
• In the meantime, 167 officers had resigned or retired throughout the earlier yr, Chacon instructed KVUE.
• 911 response occasions have elevated from 7 minutes in 2018 to 10 minutes in 2022, interim metropolis supervisor Jesús Garza mentioned Monday.

Of notice: DPS, which is chargeable for the safety of the Capitol advanced and different state buildings, has helped different Texas cities, together with Dallas and San Antonio, and the division helped Austin police make arrests in February’s unlawful “road takeovers.”

What’s subsequent: Residents ought to anticipate to see a rise in DPS troopers throughout the coming days, DPS director Steve McCraw mentioned.

• “We purposely do not discuss what number of troopers, however you may definitely see a bigger variety of these uniforms round city,” McCraw mentioned.
• There isn’t a set time for when the settlement will finish, in accordance with Watson.