In a joint effort with the Austin Violent Crimes Task Force, special agents from the Texas Department of Public Safety successfully seized 67 pounds of meth during a traffic stop last week.
On March 30, state troopers apprehended Wilfredo Tecum Rodriguez and Ludvid Aroldo Gonzalez-Lopez during a traffic stop. They allegedly found 30 zip-lock bags of methamphetamine in their possession.
This operation was carried out just days after Austin Mayor Kirk Watson announced the city’s partnership with state law enforcement to tackle the growing staffing crisis at the local level on March 27, as The Dallas Express previously reported.
The staffing shortage in the Austin Police Department (APD) has been a significant issue since the summer of 2020, when the city council unanimously voted to cut the force’s budget by approximately one-third, stripping it of $150 million.
The funding was restored the following year to comply with state law and respond to citizen concerns over the rising crime rate.
“We’re suffering out here,” Bertha Rendon Delgado, president of the East Town Lake Citizens Neighborhood Association, told the Austin American-Statesman last year. “We don’t have the police here doing what they need to do to keep us safe.”
But by that time, three cadet classes had already been canceled, and many officers had already left APD.
Negotiations between the city and the police union broke down in mid-February of this year for a new contract that expired at the end of March. Although a four-year deal had been agreed upon, the city opted for a single-year extension at the last minute, passing 9-2.
This caused the police union to refuse to negotiate a shorter deal and led to roughly 40 officers resigning, per The Dallas Express.
These staffing problems came to a head during street race takeovers in downtown Austin that same month. Responding officers were attacked by participants, and bystanders were left on hold with 911 for as long as half an hour.
In late February, the city council took action on the APD staffing shortage by passing a temporary ordinance to maintain police pay and benefits even in the absence of a contract.
Interim City Manager Jesús Garza also announced several measures to retain officers.
These included a 4% pay raise for all officers below the level of assistant chief and a signing bonus for new recruits worth up to $15,000.
In the meantime, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed off on the initiative to send DPS troopers and special agents to Austin in a bid to enhance public safety.
Alongside the recent methamphetamine seizure, DPS agents also arrested a Bloods gang member and a member of the Texas Mexican Mafia that very same day.
The same operation also saw the arrest of 14 suspects on felony charges and four more on misdemeanor offenses. Small amounts of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana were also seized.
At the onset of the initiative, city officials explained in a statement that lowering the crime rate in Austin was one of its primary goals.