A month after the Texas Dept. of Public Safety began patrolling Austin streets, city officials have both praised a drop in violent crime and condemned the operation’s disparate impact on Latino and Black residents.
a Black man who was holding a handgun after the officer pulled him over for failing to use a turn signal. Harris said he feared a similar incident would happen in Austin.With increasing pushback from local officials and residents, APD Chief Joseph Chacon said Tuesday his department was going to push DPS troopers into other parts of the city.
“You see an up in the number of Hispanic drivers, Latino drivers,” McCraw told the council Tuesday. “But again, that’s reflected in the area that we operate. And we operate in the area that APD wants us to.” McCraw emphasized the felony arrests Tuesday, noting that his officers have seized guns and drugs — including pounds of deadly fentanyl. Troopers have also nabbed dangerous suspects, he said, including a man who was pulled over for a traffic violation and arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting his 14-year-old passenger.
“When we know that over 90% of the stops that the troopers are making are not resulting in arrests … I’m having a hard time making a connection to how this is reducing violent crime,” she said.
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