More than 8 in 10 people charged by state troopers since they began helping Austin police were Black or Latino. In Southeast Austin, a neighborhood president calls it “outright racial profiling.”
Data from the county attorney’s office shows that during the partnership, 99% of citations and arrests made for possession of marijuana under 2 ounces — the amount decriminalized in Austin — have come from DPS troopers.
Almanza said that she and local NAACP leaders attempted to schedule multiple meetings with Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon to discuss their concerns about over-policing, but the chief postponed or canceled all of them. Austin council member Mackenzie Kelly, who represents Northwest Austin, said she visited Southeast Austin and spoke to residents a couple weeks after the city ended its partnership with DPS.
Chacon said he didn’t have any input into the decision to suspend the partnership, adding that he and DPS’ regional director talked every day while it was active. Crime rates have been on the decline in Austin, and monthly reports from Austin police show the trend“Under Greg Abbott’s direction, the Texas DPS has spent the vast majority of their resources pulling Austinites over for minor issues like expired registrations and arresting people for small amounts of pot — instead of helping to solve real crimes," U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, said in a written statement.
Back in Southeast Austin, Tejano music plays at a taco stand called Callejeros Riverside. Shortly before midnight, half a dozen DPS vehicles pass by the patio in a 15-minute span.
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