New APD-DPS partnership sparks pushback, arrests

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson cited long-standing police staffing shortages, which have led to a “decentralized” approach to traffic enforcement among other things, when he announced last week that the Texas Department of Public Safety would soon begin playing a supportive role to the Austin Police Department. But the partnership has caused consternation among criminal justice reform advocates, some City Council members and others, who worry it will exacerbate already shaky police-community relations.

Between March 30, when DPS began assisting APD, and April 3, state troopers made 83 arrests, conducted 1,570 traffic stops, wrote 765 tickets and investigated 15 crashes, according to its communications department. Troopers also recovered six stolen vehicles and seized 11 firearms as well as 40 grams of heroin, 174 grams of cocaine and 127 kilograms of methamphetamine. 

Watson said during a March 27 press conference that the partnership was forged after conversations with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and would help APD stretch its limited resources. “This is support and supplement, not override, not overtake,” he said.

But the announcement prompted mixed reviews. 

Abbott was positive, saying in a March 27 statement that he welcomed “the opportunity to work with Mayor Watson and city officials to provide the personnel and resources needed to make Austin safer.”

Council Member Mackenzie Kelly also was optimistic, as the Austin Monitor previously reported.

“There is something positive to be said about the city of Austin collaborating with the Texas Department of Public Safety since it’s not something we’ve needed with previous administrators of the city or previous iterations of City Council,” she said last week. “It’s better than the alternative of waiting for more bad things to happen before the state becomes involved.”

Others raised concerns.

The Austin Justice Coalition – which has played a pivotal role in recent police reforms, including the passage of department budget cuts in summer 2020 and the push for increased oversight in police labor contracts – questioned what the APD-DPS partnership would mean for Council’s sanctuary-city policies and its decision to deprioritize enforcement of state abortion laws.

“Given the regular harm endured by Austin residents … at the hands of Austin police and more strict rules in place, deploying potentially dozens of troopers entirely unbound by these rules represents an unacceptable risk to all Austinites, especially those marginalized and attacked by the very State leaders with which Mayor Watson struck this deal,” the organization wrote in a March 28 press release.

AJC called on city officials to provide more information about the partnership, including how long it would last, while slamming Watson’s willingness to work with “State leadership that constantly attacks Austin” without involving City Council.

“This deal provided them (state leadership) a golden opportunity to rebuke the previous policing and budgeting policies of Austin elected officials, with the full-throated support of Austin’s current mayor,” the release continued. 

Council Member Zo Qadri said he had “serious concerns regarding this new plan when it comes to transparency, accountability timelines, enforcement policies, and more” in a March 28 tweet. “It’s up to Council to make sure our community gets the high level of clarity it expects and deserves.”

APD Chief Joseph Chacon hinted at some of these issues in a March 30 memo to interim City Manager Jesús Garza.

“To help assure Austin policing values are addressed and reinforced, DPS will attend shift briefings with APD,” he wrote. “DPS will be deployed based on need.”

Still, questions remain.

Council Member José Velásquez requested a briefing on the partnership in a March 31 post to the City Council Message Board.

“As we move towards collaboration with the state to address staffing shortages, I believe we owe our communities transparency and full understanding of how this partnership will work to uphold Austin’s values,” he wrote. 

Council Member Chito Vela, who initially praised the partnership to the Monitor, seconded his request.

The city’s Public Safety Commission also took up the issue – which Commissioner Nelly Paulina Ramirez called “the elephant in the room” – during an April 3 meeting, requesting more information about the partnership from APD leadership.

To this end, AJC partnered with the ACLU of Texas to file an open records request regarding the partnership on April 4. 

“From DPS’s lethal mismanagement during the Uvalde school shooting to their anti-immigrant role in Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, they’ve shown a lack of accountability, transparency, and concern for local communities,” ACLU of Texas tweeted. “We have reason to worry that DPS’s involvement (in Austin) will lead to more stops and citations, creating unnecessary contacts with law enforcement – especially for people of color.” 

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