APD, DPS partnership suspended after incident with 10-year-old boy, father

Austin officials ended the Police Department's partnership with the Texas Department of Public Safety on Wednesday, citing concerns of reports that troopers pulled a gun on a 10-year-old boy and his father over the weekend.

Mayor Kirk Watson's office told the American-Statesman that he does not expect to renew the partnership.

“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. The safety of our community is a primary function of City government, and we must keep trying to get it right,” Watson said in a news release. “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.”

Although the deployment was welcomed by some citizens and law enforcement officials, others have criticized the presence of the DPS troopers, saying they do not follow certain Austin policing guidelines and that they are overpolicing communities of color. Data showed 9 out of 10 people arrested by the DPS in Austin were either Black or Hispanic, and that most patrols were on the East Side.

More: Faith leaders join in fight for more transparency regarding Austin police-DPS partnership

The original partnership was announced at the end of March in an effort to help Austin police with staffing shortages. As of the end of June, the Austin Police Department has nearly 325 vacancies.

The partnership had been paused in mid-May, when many DPS troopers were reassigned to the border, but it then began again on July 2.

The partnership has also been criticized by some for being forced onto the city without any input from City Council members. Watson struck the deal after conversations with Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Police said that the DPS helped lead to lower violent crime levels, fewer traffic fatalities, shorter response times and more seizures of drugs. However, other experts have questioned the data used by the police.

More: Texas DPS addresses Austin City Council following criticism over APD partnership

APD said it had no further comments on Wednesday's announcement.

The announcement comes after Austin's Public Safety Commission passed a nonbinding recommendation on Monday for City Council members to reevaluate the partnership with certain guidelines established and more community engagement or to discontinue the partnership.

Incidents involving Texas Department of Public Safety troopers

FOX 7 reported that troopers pulled guns on a 10-year-old boy and his father Sunday after the boy got out of a car that was being pulled over in front of his home to use the bathroom. That incident prompted Watson and interim City Manager Jesús Garza to suspend the partnership, the mayor told the Statesman.

However, FOX 7 reported Wednesday evening that DPS showed the station body camera footage of the traffic stop showing that troopers did not point their guns at the child. The footage shows that when the 10-year-old exited the car, troopers approached with their weapons drawn but pointed downward. They did, however, point their guns at the boy's father, Carlos Meza.

DPS did not respond to the Statesman's requests for comment on the suspension of the police partnership Wednesday.

Troopers have also shot civilians in the Austin area twice since the partnership began. A trooper shot someone in the arm after a chase Monday, according to KXAN. In May, a trooper fatally shot and killed a man after a chase that began in Austin and ended in Round Rock. The agency said the man fired his weapon first.

This week, DPS also did not respond to the Statesman's multiple requests for information about the Monday shooting.

Reactions from Austin officials, activists

Austin Justice Coalition Executive Director Chas Moore said he hopes this recent suspension means that the DPS will be gone for good and that in the future the mayor will involve the community before making a decision such as this.

The coalition had "predicted both the extreme racially disparate impacts and unaccountable violence that would result from it, and now demands that the City clarify that DPS troopers will never again be deployed to our city’s streets,” Moore said in a news release.

Council Member Vanessa Fuentes said the deployment of DPS troopers never felt like a "partnership" because there was no inclusion of feedback from the council or community members when it was announced in March. She added that all citizens should feel safe and that many did not when the troopers were patrolling the streets.

To address the vacancies in the Police Department, Fuentes said the city needs to be "creative" and have conversations about what it means to address public safety in Austin.

"I believe that communities are safe when they have the resources needed to thrive," Fuentes said. "We've had areas in our city that have been longtime under-invested in, that do not have adequate health care services, that do not have stable housing, that do not have access to education, all of the key components that allow and that provide for safer communities."

Council Member Mackenzie Kelly said in a written statement that the decision to stop the partnership was a "disheartening setback" and that the DPS "undeniably contributed to combating crime."

Kelly said she understands the need to evaluate the partnership and that she believes transparency is vital to establish trust between law enforcement and the community.

"I strongly encourage (the DPS and Austin Police Department) to engage in open dialogue, explore options for future partnerships, and work towards a cohesive and effective approach to addressing crime in Austin," Kelly said.

Austin police shortage

The Police Department continues to see a high number of retirements this year, with 90 so far through June. Nearly 40 of those retirements came in March, the same month that the previous four-year police contract expired.

Negotiations with the police union came to a head in February when the council announced it would not accept the four-year contract that former City Manager Spencer Cronk reached with the union before he was fired.

To increase recruitment, the Police Department is offering more cadet classes this year than in the past. However, the three most recent classes have seen their cadet numbers drop from their initial enrollment. The 148th class, set to graduate in September, started out with 34 cadets, but only 19 remained in the academy as of June 29.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin police, Texas DPS partnership suspended weeks after restarting