Troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety will continue to patrol the streets of Austin despite city leaders backing out of a public safety partnership.
DPS responded to the city’s decision on Twitter, saying, “DPS will continue patrol operations in [Austin] as part of its responsibility to protect and serve Texas.”
As reported by The Dallas Express, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Interim City Manager Jesús Garza ended the partnership after reports claimed DPS officers pointed a gun at a 10-year-old boy who had fled a traffic stop after his dad allegedly told him to run home.
Mayor Watson said, “From the start of this partnership with DPS, I said I wanted Austinites to feel safe and be safe. Recent events demonstrate we need to suspend the partnership with DPS.”
“This partnership was an innovative approach to address acute staffing shortages that were years in the making. However, any approach must be in sync with Austin values,” he added.
However, body camera footage released by DPS since then seemingly disproves the claim that the officers pointed their weapons at the child.
Gov. Greg Abbott backed DPS’s call to continue its public safety mission in the state’s capital, explaining, “The mission of the Texas Dept. of Public Safety is to serve and protect. Their jurisdiction is every square inch of Texas.”
Public safety advocates applauded the decision, with Save Austin Now co-founder Matt Mackowiak saying, “If City Hall won’t take public safety seriously, the State of Texas will. Thank god.”
The Austin Police Association, which has been in a lengthy battle to get sufficient resources and officers to effectively protect the community, similarly stated, “Thank you for remaining committed to the city of Austin despite our city government’s failure to recognize the important work you’re doing during an unprecedented staffing crisis at APD.”
However, anti-police activists lamented the continued presence of state law enforcement in the Texas capital.
State Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin) called DPS’s insistence on remaining in the capital city “deeply concerning.”
“Our communities are put in jeopardy when law enforcement is working against our community instead of in collaboration with,” she added. “Working on getting answers.”
Currently, the City of Dallas is also struggling to staff its police department with enough officers, falling short by hundreds of personnel. Like Austin, Dallas previously worked with Texas DPS to increase public safety.
Dallas partnered with Texas DPS in June 2019 due to skyrocketing murders. By the following month, the crime rate had decreased by 29%.
However, the partnership was opposed by some Dallas activists; similarly to those in Austin, they claimed that it over-policed minority communities.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, who has been vocal in his support of public safety initiatives, has extended an open offer to any Austin police officers who feel unsupported by their city, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Johnson’s offer was likely generated in part by Dallas’ struggles against a substantial shortage of police. Dallas lacks approximately 900 of the estimated 4,000 officers needed to fully staff its police department, according to a City document.
“Because of [the shortage], that customer service that we have long given to the city of Dallas … we just can’t do anymore. And I think we’re actually hurting our relationship with the community more than helping it by not changing to doing something different,” said Dallas Police Association President Mike Mata, per the Dallas Observer.
Murders in Dallas were up more than 20% in the first four months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. More recent data have been billed as unreliable by City officials, allegedly due to the purported ransomware attack that hit Dallas’ servers in May.
