July 12, 2023
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Austin has suspended its controversial partnership with the Texas Department of Public Safety to police the streets of the capital city, an official announced Wednesday.
The program, aimed at helping fill staffing shortages and decrease 911 call response times, is being suspended. Earlier this week, a state trooper pointed a gun at a 10-year-old who exited a vehicle during a traffic stop Sunday, reported Fox station KTBC. On Monday, another state police officer shot a man in the arm after a car chase, reported NBC station KXAN.
DPS is still patrolling Austin, taking calls for service - I've seen them. On the first go-round DPS was there got interrupted by a deployment to the border for a number of weeks. After they came back the whining going on from the usual suspects got louder and more ridiculous - the most pathetic was the white blonde soccer mom who blubbered in front of the city council that her children were afraid to go out because of the scary DPS. So the official coordination deal was off again - but the governor said they're not going anywhere, they're there to stay until he says otherwise. And now the city and police department are back to coordinating with the DPS again, maybe not officially, but they're doing it. Austin news media has even been admitting crime has taken a 58% drop since the DPS has taken up the slack.
