Texas DPS And Austin PD Are Parting Ways – What Happened?

Looks like the honeymoon's over for the Austin Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety but no one will say exactly why.

Austin PD and the Texas Department of Public Safety first teamed up in March to ease some big time staffing issues  with Austin PD.

They took a brief break, (sort of a "trial separation" maybe?) in July when DPS officers were sent to help beef up border security.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said the partnership was being terminated because of "recent incidents".

Austin Interim City Manager Jesús Garza said:

“Public safety is at the very core of what we do in city government and this partnership was a practical approach as the Austin Police Department faces serious staffing challenges,” Garza said. “We have heard Mayor and Council’s concerns about recent events and agree that we must have absolute certainty that any solution we put in place maintains the trust and well-being of our community members and that all law enforcement officers working to keep our city safe are on the same page when it comes to policing practices.” - kxan

Ok, if things aren't working out, so be it. You have to wonder why though, especially when both Garza and Watson allude to "incidents" that they won't further explain.

The program seemed to be working great and, supposedly, resulted in a decrease in violent crimes, gun crimes and shorter emergency response times among other things.

The KXAN article referred to a recent chase during which a DPS officer shot somebody but no other incidents were mentioned.

It seems like something, (or some things ... plural), happened that caused a serious breach of trust between Austin residents and this joint operation.

Hmm ....

UPDATE: A new story has come out regarding an incident where a state trooper pulled his gun on a 10 year old.