Twenty-four hours after the radical Leftist bureaucracy of the City of Austin attempted to rid itself of Texas state troopers patrolling the streets, the city ended up with 30 more.

First, Texas DPS announced on Twitter Wednesday evening that, despite the severing of a co-policing agreement made earlier this year to compensate for a lack of police officers, state troopers would continue patrolling Austin’s streets, anyway. Strike one.

Then a Thursday afternoon order from the Texas governor’s office brought the total number of troopers patrolling Austin’s streets to 130, not including the DPS officers who work the Texas Capitol area. Strike two.

Wednesday afternoon: COA strikes policing deal with @txDPS with zero Council or public input

Wednesday evening: DPS says it will patrol anyway

Thursday afternoon: Abbott says he’ll send in more DPS troopers #HowItStarted #HowItsGoing https://t.co/iRFOnhygM3

— MOVE Candlewood (@MOVEcandlewood) July 13, 2023

Strike three may end up being retribution during ongoing special sessions of the Texas Legislature this year or rebukes by City Council members who were left in the dark regarding the abrupt decimation of the joint law enforcement deal.

The City of Austin, one of several liberal-led cities that diced its police budget (by a third, in Austin’s case) in wake of BLM riots, found itself in a pickle: Neither the average Austinite nor the Republican-led legislature wanted the police budget reduction.

The almost-immediate drop in police and safety personnel, due to budgetary concerns and recruiting difficulties, was immediately accompanied by an uptick in violent crime, theft, and even half-hour 9-1-1 pickup times. As a response, the legislature considered several bills to reign-in Austin’s “citizen police oversight” regime and restore law enforcement staffing to an adequate level. One bill even suggested turning Austin into a Washington D.C.-like district run by the state.

In late March, at the request of former Democratic Texas Senator and now Mayor Kirk Watson, Gov. Greg Abbott agreed to supplement the Austin Police Department’s waning ranks with state troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). This negated any further serious consideration of any legislative bills.

Unbeholden to many of the social justice initiatives imposed on Austin police officers, DPS cracked down successfully on crime in the Texas capital city. Violent crime — aggravated assault, murder, sexual assault, and robbery — had hit a high for the once-laid back college and tech town, with an average of 89 such crimes per week. After the first week of the Austin PD/DPS partnership, the number of violent crimes was 67 – down by a whole quarter.

Unfortunately, around 90% of those arrested for violent crime were black or Hispanic, according to the Texas Tribune. This statistic led Austin’s police abolitionists to cry “George Floyd!” Officials said in early May that DPS has largely been patrolling predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods at the request of Austin police whose leaders said the areas were chosen because they have the highest crime rates and largest number of 9-1-1 emergency calls. Nonetheless, the city manager’s office immediately began looking for a reason to rid Austin of the DPS “occupation.”

Then on Wednesday (July 12) the Left thought they had found their glowing-bright neon exit sign: video of an alleged violent traffic pullover with guns apparently drawn in the  general direction of a Hispanic child (see below). Not even Austin Council members were given a briefing before City Manager Jesus Garza pulled the plug on the co-policing partnership around the same time the video was released.

A viewing of the video, initially made available by KXAN-TV, showed that the traffic stop was due to erratic driving by a man with a small child in the passenger seat. The troopers noticed the passenger-side door was opening as the child allegedly wanted to find a bathroom. Troopers had their handguns pointed down at roughly a 45-degree angle. According to the Texas Tribune, the troopers conducted a field sobriety test, which the driver passed, and troopers then searched the vehicle. The driver was issued citations for an unregistered motor vehicle, driving without insurance, and possession of marijuana. The driver admitted to marijuana use earlier according to media sources.

Watson said today that other incidents led to the decision to scuttle the partnership but did not specify. “This will continue to be their [DPS’s] jurisdiction,” Watson said, “… but they will not be policing with Austin police … as part of an agreement.” The mayor was hopeful state troopers would learn from APD and cooperate as much as possible.

DPS said overall, there would be 80 of the original troopers that began patrolling at the beginning of the partnership in March. Additionally, 20 Criminal Investigations Division officers who were temporarily deployed to the Texas-Mexico border will re-join the Austin cadre, and now 30 new troopers will be sent. Austin’s police union indicated that they are currently around 500 officers short.

Our statement regarding the decision by @KirkPWatson to terminate the agreement with @TxDPS. @Chief_Chacon @GregAbbott_TX pic.twitter.com/6k7cT3nSGc

— Austin Police Association (@ATXPOA) July 12, 2023

 

I’ve deployed 30 additional Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to protect and serve the city of Austin.

This brings the total to 130.

We will do all we can to keep the streets of Austin safe.

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) July 13, 2023