Interim metropolis supervisor Jesús Garza and Mayor Kirk Watson introduced {that a} partnership between the Austin Police Division and the Texas Division of Public Security is once more suspended after its reinstatement earlier this month.
Initially created to deal with staffing shortages at APD and enhance group security, the partnership garnered a lot controversy following experiences that almost all of these arrested have been Black and Latino.
The suspension was prompted by a DPS trooper reportedly pointing a gun at a father and his son on July 9 and one other trooper reportedly taking pictures a person within the arm on the morning of July 10 after a automobile chase.
“Now we have heard Mayor and Council’s considerations about current occasions and agree that we will need to have absolute certainty that any answer we put in place maintains the belief and well-being of our group members and that every one regulation enforcement officers working to maintain our metropolis secure are on the identical web page with regards to policing practices,” Garza stated in a press launch.
Vanessa Fuentes, District 2 metropolis council member who represents many individuals feeling focused by the partnership, stated she hopes the partnership isn’t solely suspended but in addition ceased.
“We’ve been elevating the flag that many in our group didn’t really feel secure, and the disproportionate influence this ‘partnership’ was having on our east aspect communities,” Fuentes stated in a Tweet. “It’s unlucky it took comprising the protection of a kid for this to occur.
