Hot spot policing not the way to lasting safety

The San Antonio Police Department’s violent crime reduction plan, developed in partnership with the University of Texas at San Antonio, seems encouraging. But deploying some elements of this plan in phases will not yield the results our community has demanded for decades.

We do not need to wait to invest in our most vulnerable communities. We have waited long enough, and our residents have voiced their needs and asked for public investments. The city of San Antonio has adopted an equity lens to better inform public policy, yet this proposed violence reduction plan did not consider such a perspective. The areas of greatest policing need have been neglected and underinvested for decades.

If we had the data for areas undergoing hot spot policing and overlaid maps for historic redlining, pediatric asthma hospitalization rates and persistently high unemployment rates, there is a good chance these maps would overlap. But the last phase in the proposed policing plan acknowledges that “lowering poverty, improving education, reducing unemployment, eliminating homelessness and food insecurity … are also critical to reducing violence in communities in the long term.”

Since our elections to the San Antonio City Council, we have reviewed several council-approved plans. The data from these plans tell us a far-toofamiliar story — our vulnerable populations remain vulnerable if we do not act with urgency.

The violent crime reduction plan’s goals include “improving place-based conditions that contribute to violence and increasing community trust and engagement.” We know the basic needs of our residents remain unmet in communities with higher rates of violent crime. We know public trust in law enforcement has eroded and will be difficult to regain. Some recommendations remain unaddressed and are worth revisiting as we deploy “new” strategies to combat higher rates of violent crime.

Council input should not be viewed as a mere formality. We are policymakers who answer directly to voters. For decades, voters have asked for safer communities, economic and education opportunities, and basic infrastructure improvements. They ask for city government to treat them with dignity and respect.

We know our residents believe in empowering one another through public investments, which is evidenced by voterapproved initiatives such as Pre-K 4 SA, Ready to Work and the 2022 bond program, which includes $150 million for housing. We must continue this momentum by reimagining how we commit ourselves to help residents feel safe in their communities. That means tackling the ways our neighborhoods have been torn apart. Stability in people’s lives by meeting basic needs is paramount to the city’s vitality.

We know systemic racism, criminalization of poverty and oppressive public policies destabilize communities and limit opportunities. We cannot ignore that reality and the role our local government has played. Our residents have waited long enough for transformational public investments as their communities become destabilized and feel less safe. We know our city is one of the most economically segregated in the country — and it was by design. We have an opportunity to change our city’s trajectory through public investment.

As policymakers, we made our priorities clear when we discussed the allocation of CARES Act and American

Rescue Plan Act funding for prioritized areas based on community needs and data. The criminalization of poverty will not make our residents feel safer. We need to ask our community: What makes them feel safe, and who will keep us accountable? This is a shared responsibility, and we all have a role to play.

Brandon Lingle has the day off.

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