AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Department of Public Safety's (DPS) Violent Crime Task Force in Austin will end on Dec. 23.
DPS confirmed the news in a statement Thursday afternoon, citing the situation at the Texas-Mexico border as a potential reason for the move:
"The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) remains committed to working alongside our partners, and we are proud of the results that the Austin Violent Crimes Task Force (AVCTF) was able to produce in such a short time. However, due to the ever changing situation along our southern border, DPS is deploying additional resources to the area and will be ending the AVCTF as of Dec. 23, 2023."
The Task Force began in March as a way for the statewide force to assist the Austin Police Department (APD) as it dealt with staffing shortages.
The partnership was briefly paused as troopers were sent by Gov. Abbott to the border after the expiration of Title 42. The partnership resumed in early July, before being indefinitely suspended just 10 days after resumption.
The partnership received both praise and complaints from members of the community, but one complaint regarding a trooper pointing a gun at a man and his 10-year-old son during a traffic stop in South Austin appeared to be the catalyst for the suspension.
Data from the spring revealed that DPS troopers were citing and arresting minorities at disproportionate rates, as nearly nine out of 10 people who were arrested on misdemeanor charges by DPS were either Black or Hispanic.
"After we've done a lot of calibration, we've listened to the public and we decided that it was an appropriate time," Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said at the time of the suspension.