AUSTIN (KXAN) — As the Texas Department of Public Safety continues its patrols in Austin, there’s a new focus on downtown deployments.
“When we technically ended the partnership, that was one of the areas we added troopers to have a bigger impact on the overall crime,” DPS Regional Director Vincent Luciano said during a forum with the Downtown Austin Alliance this month. “We’re looking at historical data, typically late night was one of the big issues, we have more troopers that are downtown late night when [there’s] a lot of the crime.”
Over the weekend, DPS troopers assisted Austin Police when a gun accidentally went off inside a Sixth Street bar. The agency said troopers primarily assisted with crowd control while APD worked the scene itself. DPS said troopers also helped administer first aid to one of the people who got hurt.
DPS has always had a presence in Austin, but in March, 80 additional troopers and 20 additional Criminal Investigation Division (CID) agents deployed in the city to supplement APD amid the department’s staffing shortage.
This initiative, the Austin Violent Crimes Task Force (AVCTF), was originally launched as a partnership between the City and DPS. Two weeks ago, the mayor and city manager ended the partnership, citing concerns about a traffic stop that involved troopers pulling over a man and his young son.
Gov. Greg Abbott directed the enhanced DPS patrols to stay in Austin and added an additional 30 troopers to the mix.
At the beginning of the initiative, APD deployed DPS to areas of higher crime statistics with the hopes of deterring violent crime. This brought forth concerns from community members who believed the move targeted communities of color.
Luciano said the increased downtown patrols began this month. The area was not originally determined to be a crime hot spot, and troopers initially focused more on the Riverside and Rundberg neighborhoods, for example.
He said the focus is still rooted in supplementing Austin Police.
“If we can deter some of that crime that [APD] would probably consider minor crime that the city has to deal with… if we’re deterring it by an overwhelming presence, [it] allows [APD] to be more effective on the things that are really effecting the community,” Luciano said.
How people feel about DPS being downtown
We took this topic to a downtown employee, a tourist and a community advocate.
“I’d say for tourists, it might make them feel safer, but for locals, it might turn them off from coming downtown,” said Jadon Sharp, a Sixth Street bartender, about more DPS troopers patrolling downtown.
A tourist we spoke with said he felt there were pros and cons to the deployment.
“Crime rate has been a little higher lately, so I can see an increased police force can be good, but at the same time, no one wants to feel like they live in a police state,” he said.
Nyeka Arnold, who runs the community advocate nonprofit “The Healing Project,” has previously spoken out criticizing DPS’ role in Austin, but supports troopers focusing more of their efforts downtown.
“I think that’s where the focus should be,” she said. “Rather than patrolling and over-policing underserved communities.”
APD has previously presented data showing DPS’ presence contributing to a reduction in crime.