Troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety will soon start helping out the Austin Police Department, which has been short-staffed.
“This partnership will improve safety and provide a runway as we recruit more officers and work to retain those currently on the force,” Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said at a news conference Monday.
Gov. Greg Abbott directed DPS to provide the department with a violent crime suppression task force. The mayor said the city is not paying for the support.
Watson said the arrangement happened shortly after he discussed the issue with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. He attributed the quick turnaround to the good relationship between local government and state leaders.
The length of the partnership and exactly how many troopers will help out is yet to be determined.
Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon said the partnership is a step forward in addressing public safety and APD's staffing challenges.
“There's a number of things that the staffing has affected,” Chacon said. “[It] has negatively impacted our community — including longer response times, fewer officers that are doing proactive policing because they are simply running call to call. We've had certainly a lot of concerns and increases in gun crime and gun violence. And importantly, traffic fatalities are up in our city. And none of these things are good.”
Chacon said while APD officers are expected to respond to the majority of 911 calls, DPS troopers will focus on violent and traffic-related crimes.
DPS and APD are working on deployment strategies now. Chacon said Austin residents should expect to see DPS troopers helping in a matter of days.
