Texas DPS to Resume Partnership With Austin Police Next Month

Austin Police investigate a homicide shooting that occurred at a demonstration in Austin, Texas, on July 25, 2020. (Stephen Spillman/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) will resume its partnership with the City of Austin Police Department on July 2, after temporarily halting the collaboration.

The joint operation—which officials said helped improve safety, decrease traffic fatalities, and enable faster responses to calls for help in the capital city—began in March but ended in mid-May.

During that time, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott asked that additional DPS officers be deployed in border cities ahead of the expiration of the Trump-era Title 42 immigration policy. The policy allowed Border Patrol agents to turn illegal immigrants back to Mexico if they were deemed to pose a health threat amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Experts had anticipated that the situation at the southern border would likely worsen after the policy expired, prompting additional law enforcement agents to be placed at the border.

However, the Biden administration has reported a decline in illegal crossings.

In its March announcement, DPS and city leaders said the partnership would help Austin police manage “unprecedented staffing challenges” and improve public safety while reducing crime in the capital city.

Partnership Has Reduced Crime

Police Chief Joe Chacon warned of the staff shortages in April, noting that the department had more than 300 officer vacancies, reportedly in part owing to calls to defund the police.

As a result, DPS agreed to provide state troopers and special agents with a focus on violent crime and traffic issues, but they would also provide backup for other emergency situations and increased presence throughout the community.

In a statement on Thursday, Chacon said the partnership with DPS has “already proven valuable to reducing crime and shortening response times.”

While the partnership had resulted in a reduction in crime levels, it was also widely criticized after Travis County Attorney Delia Garza’s office released statistics in April showing that nearly 9 out of 10 people arrested on misdemeanor charges by DPS in Austin were black or Latino.

The suspects were arrested on low-level drug offenses, drunk driving, and other crimes, according to the data.

At the time, Garza called the data “deeply concerning” telling the Austin-American Statesman, “If the goal is to address violent crime, this is not the right approach.”

Different Strategy

However, DPS Director Steven McCraw defended the work of the state troopers, telling city council members in May, “If people want to accuse us of racial profiling or being indiscriminate, we have body-worn cameras.”

Under the newly-revived partnership, Austin Police and DPS will “pivot their deployment strategies in response to recommendations from the mayor and City Council” and state troopers will be deployed to parts of Austin on the police’s direction and based on traffic, violent crime, and staffing levels, as opposed to focusing solely on areas of highest call volume and traffic.

“This new iteration will ensure we continue that while taking council direction into account and pivoting the deployment strategy,” Chacon said.

DPS criminal investigators and crime analysts will also support Austin Police in violent crime investigations and efforts to reduce crime involving guns, according to officials.

In order to ensure that Austin policing values are “addressed and reinforced,” the two agencies will attend shift briefings together every week, officials said.