It's gotten this bad?


Tony Plohetski
@tplohetski
BREAKING: The Texas DPS will soon begin helping patrol Austin with as many as dozens of troopers daily in what officials say is an urgent recognition that the city needs state policing help. Details of the partnership, unprecedented for Austin, were being worked out Monday. 1/2
2:01 PM · Mar 27, 2023
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Tony Plohetski
@tplohetski
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7h
There will be no cost to the city after what officials say is the result of failed policing policies of the previous city administration that they say included cutting cadet classes and leaving the department with significantly fewer officers.-- excerpt, rest at link above --


https://mobile.twitter.com/tplohetski/st...428829356244997

State police will be patrolling the streets of Austin. What does that mean?
KUT 90.5 | By Andrew Weber
Published March 28, 2023 at 4:41 PM CDT
Updated March 31, 2023 at 4:01 PM CDT
https://www.kut.org/austin/2023-03-28/st...-does-that-mean
DPS troopers routinely patrol the area surrounding the Texas Capitol. Under a new agreement with the city, they'll support Austin police in citywide patrols.


In a few days, you may start seeing more state police patrolling the streets of Austin.

Mayor Kirk Watson on Monday announced a plan with the Texas Department of Public Safety for state troopers to assist the Austin Police Department amid a staffing shortage. Deployment plans aren't yet final, but Watson, DPS' Executive Director Steve McCraw and APD Chief Joseph Chacon all said people can expect to see more uniformed and non-uniformed troopers "around town."

Watson said the move is supplemental (and indefinite), and it's meant to address the perception that Austinites may not feel safe.

"The people of Austin deserve to be safe and feel safe," he said.
But is Austin safe?

Earlier this month, Watson said Austin was.

"If you look at the numbers, Austin is a safe city. It's a safe city by comparison," he said. "But let me be clear: If people don't feel safe, we need to take action. Just because the statistics show we're a safe city in a lot of ways, there's room for improvement."

Watson was speaking at a news conference announcing the city would extend employee pay and overtime to police officers when the city's contract with the union expires at the end of the month. Those labor discussions were scuttled after the city didn't agree to a longterm deal with the Austin Police Association. More on that later.

Austin has seen an increase in violent crime and homicides over the last few years. It's not alone. Cities across the U.S. saw increases (particularly in gun violence) since the start of the pandemic, and experts fear that may be part of a "new normal."

Austin saw a record-high number of murders in 2021, 89. That number dropped to 71 last year. Still, Austin's murder rate per capita is lower than it was in the 1980s, and it's comparatively lower than that of other large cities.

Year-over-year, the city is in a better spot than it was last year, according to Chacon's monthly update on crime statistics. Violent crimes have dropped 6%. Property crime has also dipped. There have been slightly more arrests for drug-related offenses and weapons charges, however.

And there have been more murders so far this year compared to 2022: 15 compared to 12.
Why does APD need help?

Perception aside, the Austin Police Department faces a staffing crisis — one that stems from previous City Council decisions and recent labor squabbles.

"There's little question ... that we're understaffed in our police department," Watson said Monday.

Part of that stems from the city's pause of police cadet classes in 2021. The suspension came after allegations of an aggressive "warrior" mindset within the curriculum and racism in the department's command as far back as 2018.

APD has struggled to catch up to previous staffing levels, and the recent fight over the labor contract hasn't helped. Then-City Manager Spencer Cronk negotiated a four-year deal with the police union earlier this year, but the council opted instead for a temporary extension of the existing contract. The union balked, and now the contract is set to expire at the end of this month. -- excerpt, rest at link above --

Sometimes I read an article that makes me wonder if we even live in the same world:


Local activist groups worry APD,DPS partnership is targeting communities of color
https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/local-a...nities-of-color
by Paige Hubbard
Fri, April 21st 2023, 11:08 PM CDT


AUSTIN, Texas — We’re in the third week of the partnership between the Austin Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety and local activists are expressing concerns that DPS troopers are racially profiling certain areas of the community.

Austinite Norma Resendez says since the Austin Police Department's partnership with Texas DPS began, she’s been scared to leave her apartment because of being pulled over three times in a matter of days.

“I love my mama dearly, she’s all I have. My daddy’s gone and she’s all I have. She’s 89 years old and I can’t even go spend time with her because I’m scared to get on the road,” she said.

Members of the Austin Justice Collation, NAACP, LULAC, and PODER gathered in the Montopolis neighborhood Friday to protest what they believe is racial profiling. They say Texas DPS troopers are singling out black and brown members of the community by making unjust stops. The groups are now calling for Mayor Kirk Watson and the city council to hold troopers accountable and investigate the nature of arrests.

PODER stands for (People Organized in Defense of Earth and Her Resources) and is a women-led, people-of-color grassroots social justice organization formed in 1991 to increase the participation of residents of East Austin in decisions related to the economic development and environmental protection of our communities.

“We want the data. We want to know where the stops are being made. What is the ethnicity of those persons? Why they’re being arrested,” said Susana Almanza, the executive director of PODER.

Earlier this week Austin city council questioned why that data wasn’t included in a briefing that updated them on the demographics of the APD, DPS partnership. After police chief Joseph Chacon and APD’s chief data officer had a tone of uncertainty, council members Vanessa Fuentes and José Velásquez openly expressed their concerns.

“How are we ensuring there’s not just a heavy presence along the eastern crescent? I’ve driven from both parts, and you can tell there’s a heavy presence on Montopolis, Riverside, and Oltorf,” said Velásquez.

“We as council members have to go back and explain where these troopers patrolling, why are they patrolling our particular neighborhoods, is there a disproportionate impact in our community. Those are the questions we have to be responsible for,” said Fuentes.-- excerpt, rest at link above --

just awful....