AUSTIN, Texas — Austin's police chief said now that Texas DPS troopers are no longer helping APD with its staffing shortage, once again, fewer officers are able to respond to emergency calls.
“I have a finite number of officers that I'm able to deploy,” Chief Joseph Chacon said. “We have backfill personnel that are coming in from other units and other ranks to answer emergency calls. It's just not enough.”
Austin's Public Safety Committee got an update on data from APD's partnership with state law enforcement on Monday. That partnership recently ended because Gov. Greg Abbott decided to deploy DPS troopers to the border, taking them away from Austin.
The briefing comes more than a week after troopers left the city.
On Monday, officials with the City said in areas where DPS was asked to deploy, they saw reduced calls for service, reduced response times and reduced violent crime. When crime dropped in certain areas, they deployed the troopers elsewhere within the city, and calls for service, response times and violent crimes increased in the areas where they were previously deployed.
Councilmembers asked when the partnership would return. DPS leaders say even though there's no specific date set, the partnership isn't over.
“This weekend, there was a planned takeover and we sent the troopers in to assist Austin PD," Texas DPS Deputy Director Vincent Luciano said. "Even though we're committed other places, we'll be responsive to anywhere in the state."
Officials with APD said right now, they're waiting to get data on what these figures have looked like after DPS's departure from the city.