Mayor Kirk Watson OK's deal to have state troopers patrol Austin streets.
The agreement is intended as a stopgap measure to make up for staffing shortages within thethat have existed for at least the past five years. DPS troopers and special agents will assist with “violent crime and traffic issues,” according to a news release announcing the partnership, though they will also back up Austin Police officers during “other emergency situations.
Despite APD’s inability to fill all of the officer positions the department is budgeted for, Austin remains one of the safest cities in the country. Violent and property crimes declined year-over-year in January and February, according to APD data. The number of homicides in Austin declined last year compared to the previous year – the first time that has happened in four years. Austin continues to rank as one of the safest cities of its size, according to some reports.
The fact that Austin remains safe could explain why at a press conference announcing the state-local partnership, Watson and Chacon repeatedly referred to the importance of Austin residentssafe."As mayor of Austin my top priority is that the people of Austin both are safe and feel safe,” Watson told reporters at a press conference, Monday, March 27. Later, Austin Police Chiefechoed the mayor. “It is our mission … to not only have residents be safe, but to feel safe.
Watson said that the idea for the local-state law enforcement collaboration surfaced in a conversation with Patrick Friday, March 24. Abbott and Garza were looped in and three days later, they reached a tentative agreement. Officials inhave made similar agreements, but this has never been attempted in Austin. It is a startling reversal after Mayor’s tenure, during which Abbott and other Texas Republicans regularly threatened the city with occupation by state law enforcement.
Second, and more importantly, a key motivating factor in the decision to cancel cadet classes was the mounting evidence that the culture within the Academy, and throughout APD broadly, was in need of major reform.
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