AUSTIN, Texas — Data from the Travis County Attorney's Office suggests that Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers assisting the Austin Police Department (APD) have been arresting people of color for misdemeanors at disproportionately higher rates than their percentage of population in the city.
County Attorney Delia Garza provided KVUE with the raw data regarding people arrested for misdemeanors by DPS troopers during their current operation in Austin. DPS troopers have been assisting APD with patrols since March 30.
In the 4-week period that troopers have been patrolling in Austin, they have made 167 total misdemeanor arrests, according to the data from the county attorney's office. Of those arrested, 108 were classified as Latino, 38 as Black, 20 as white and one as Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI).
That means that of those arrested for misdemeanors by DPS between March 30, 65% were classified as Latino, 23% as Black, 12% as white and 0.6% as AAPI.
To provide further context, KVUE compared those arrest numbers to census data. In Austin, 33% of residents are Hispanic, 7.7% are Black, 47.8% are white and 8% are AAPI.
The release of these numbers comes shortly after APD officials shared an update on the department's partnership with DPS.
During a press conference on April 14, APD Chief Joseph Chacon and Chief Data Officer Dr. Jonathan Kringen stated that in the first week of the joint operation, the number of violent crimes dropped 25% from the average weekly number of violent crimes for the past year. They also stated that response times had decreased and calls for emergencies had gone.
Not everyone has supported the partnership. Shortly after it was announced, some Austinites shared their concerns that DPS might disproportionately target minority communities.
One example cited by those unhappy with the partnership was when DPS helped Dallas police in 2019. Some City leaders there called for the troopers' removal, believing they were targeting certain groups. Troopers made 9,000 traffic stops in South Dallas in seven weeks alone.
Groups like the ACLU of Texas and the Austin Justice Coalition have expressed concerns that DPS troopers' increased presence in Austin would produce similar results to what was seen in Dallas.
When KVUE reached out to DPS about the data provided by the county attorney's office, the department referred us to APD operation. Chief Chacon provided the following statement:
"APD has just been made aware of the information released by the county attorney's office, and we are working to understand what the information represents," Chacon said. "We are going to be asking to work with our partners at DPS, the county attorney and the district attorney's office to look at arrest data so that information can be more closely and fully analyzed and reported to the public as quickly as we can."