In progressive Austin, some feel ‘overpoliced’ as troopers join patrol
AUSTIN, Texas — Scores of state highway troopers, usually found on roadways across Texas in their distinctive cowboy hats and black-and-white patrol vehicles, have descended on Austin, the state capital.
At first, they were welcomed by the city’s Democratic leaders, part of a plan to address violent crime and make up for a shortage of more than 300 officers in the Austin Police Department.
But in a booming city known for its progressive politics, the partnership between the local police, steeped in the language of reform, and the Texas Department of Public Safety, under the direction of Republican state leaders, soon began to raise concern.
Statistics emerged showing that those arrested on misdemeanor charges by state troopers were mostly Black and Hispanic. In May, there was a fatal shooting by troopers after a chase. In July, another trooper shot at a fleeing, unarmed man, wounding him. Days later, two troopers drew their weapons on a father and son during a car stop.
After that stop, Austin’s mayor suspended the partnership with the state police. But instead of the troopers leaving, they were joined by dozens more when Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, ordered a fresh deployment.
Now, Austin has entered an uncertain and uneasy new period in which two separate law enforcement agencies, with differing approaches to policing, are patrolling the streets without formal coordination. One answers to city leaders, the other to Abbott.
“We are feeling overpoliced — that’s the feedback that got back to me ultimately as the chief,” Joseph Chacon, chief of the Austin Police Department, said of the comments he has heard from the public.
The presence of so many state troopers has rekindled long-standing debates over policing and crime, particularly over the aggressive use of car stops for minor infractions as a way to prevent violence.
The deployment has also raised political concerns, with some Democrats suggesting that the influx of troopers was part of a push by Republican leaders in the state Capitol to exert greater control over growing, Democrat-led cities. The Republican-dominated Legislature passed laws this year limiting the discretion of elected local prosecutors and barring cities from enacting local ordinances on a range of issues.
Police officer shortages have been a nationwide problem, challenging major cities including New York and Los Angeles. In Houston, a leading Democratic candidate for mayor has said that if elected, he would welcome 200 state troopers into the city to assist its police department with combating violent crime.
On a recent Tuesday evening, state troopers could be found throughout Austin, pulling over drivers for traffic infractions or expired registrations, requesting permission to make searches, finding small amounts of drugs such as Xanax, methamphetamine, and marijuana.
Along North Lamar Boulevard in northeast Austin, red and blue lights flashed silently in the night, visible from a distance in the low-rise neighborhood, indicating another car stopped by state troopers.
“If you stop people for traffic violations, there’s a high probability, if criminals operate in that area, that you’re going to encounter those criminals,” said Major Gabriel Ortiz, who has been supervising the deployment of troopers in Austin. “Let’s face it, they don’t abide by criminal laws, so they’re certainly not going to follow traffic laws.”
When the troopers arrived in late March, statistics were already showing declines in many major categories of violence. But violent crime remained an issue, Chacon said, and his officers had little time for patrols. “Right now, we’re running call to call to call,” he said.
State troopers, as well as a small number of specialized state police agents who could conduct investigations, helped respond to those calls and reduce the violence, Chacon said.
“I think you’re going to see more and more of this,” Chacon said, referring to state police possibly joining officers in other cities. “We’re all short-staffed.”
The staffing problems extend to the 911 call center, where officials said calls could take several minutes to reach an operator. Residents have complained of lengthy waits for officers to arrive. Some said the streets have felt more disordered and dangerous in recent years.
“Things are sketchy out here,” said Gus Rojas, 28, who lives near downtown and added that his neighbor’s home was broken into in June. “It feels like everything is up for grabs.”
As he spoke, Rojas, who had just been in a car accident, watched as state troopers looked over his wrecked sedan in the middle of a busy street. He welcomed their deployment in the city, he said, even as a trooper wrote him a ticket for failure to yield. “He’s just doing his job,” Rojas said.
The policing partnership began after a discussion between Mayor Kirk Watson, a former Democratic state senator, and Dan Patrick, the Republican lieutenant governor.
Patrick has attacked Austin for “defunding” its police and oversaw the passage of a new state law to punish cities for future reductions. In 2020, Austin sharply reduced its police budget and temporarily suspended police academy classes. Funding levels have since increased and the academy has resumed, although the new classes have not kept pace with officer retirements and departures.
Watson was concerned by the shrinking ranks of the 1,800-member department. The state initially sent a contingent of 100 troopers and special agents.
But bringing in state troopers presented immediate political challenges for Watson, who ran the city in the late 1990s and returned to the office after narrowly defeating a progressive opponent last year.
Troopers were deployed in predominantly Black and Hispanic areas of the city where officials said 911 calls and crime reports were highest. Almost immediately, some residents began complaining about frequent car stops.
“It has never felt like a partnership to me,” said Vanessa Fuentes,
an Austin City Council member who represents a largely Hispanic area in the southeast.
City officials consulted with the state police, who responded by spreading troopers out around the city.
At the same time, other residents said they had noticed a positive change.
“My roommate and I used to get our packages stolen almost every time we got something delivered,” said Sam Koontz, 29, who works in marketing and lives in the northeast neighborhood of Windsor Park. “And in the last couple months, that has stopped.”
She said that although she did not feel unsafe in the city, she welcomed the additional police resources, in part because getting local officers to respond to calls had lately been so difficult. “If you call 911, you won’t get an answer for 10 minutes sometimes,” she said.