Town hall session to examine police
Public comment set for Thursday
San Antonio will host a telephone town hall meeting Thursday to gather input for a city plan on the role of police.
Residents can pre-register to participate at www.sanantonio.gov/policeservicesreview/community-meetings.
The town hall, from 7 pm. to 8 p.m., is the second citywide discussion on how the San Antonio Police Department should respond to certain calls — including those involving fireworks, parking violations, graffiti and substance abuse issues not involving a weapon.
The meetings, which began in April, come nearly a year after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
His death, and the subsequent conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin, cast an intense spotlight on police misconduct.
After Floyd’s death, some community activists — including the leaders of the local Black Lives Matter movement — called on the city to redirect money from the police budget and put it toward health care, education and job training.
At the time, City Manager Erik Walsh cautioned against making immediate cuts. Instead, he said he was going to conduct a thorough review of the department, looking at issues like police accountability and officer discipline.
Earlier this year, as part of that plan, the city conducted a citywide survey of 1,150 random households. Comments were generally positive; others made suggestions for improving police-community relations.
Comments from that survey — in addition to the 27 virtual meetings the city is hosting — will be considered while developing the plan, city officials said.