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By upholding the “Citation Option,” which has been a Texas state law since last September, police officers save valuable time and money needed for more consequential offenses. Currently, low-level misconduct such as driving without a license and swimming in public pools after hours lands even first-time offenders in jail.
Austin Public Safety Solutions claims that such drastic measures take at least three hours per arrest. A spokesman with the Austin Police Department said that writing a citation is no less time-consuming than transporting an offender to jail [KXAN], a statement likely to be refuted by the individuals in question.
Police Chief Art Avecedo plans to meet with representatives from Travis, Williamson, and Hays counties to discuss the reinforcement of the citation option. As police union officials negotiate their new five-year contract with the City of Austin, we can only hope that APD will deliver consequences consummate to the laws broken, or in many cases, chipped.
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There is another side to this, however. I know at least in my neighborhood the police use these minor infractions to get known criminals off the streets. It's far easier to arrest a known prostitute or drug dealer for loitering than it is to actual catch then in the act of soliciting.
Tim: You are certainly correct that an officer having a certain amount of discretion in arrests allows them the freedom they need to uphold public safety. However...the problem and question is how they are using this discretion. Are they really just jailing known criminals or are they going by the letter of the law to indiscriminately haul in the good citizens with the bad?
Seeing as how I was a recent guest at one of their charming overnight facilities I can tell you that this article is right on and changes are needed. After all, did I really need to go downtown and spend the night because of clerical issues with my license...do I fit the "habitual criminal" mold (I assure you I do not.) If a citation only had been issued I would have been responsible to my offense in the same way just without the officer spending 5 hours processing me and without all the drama and inconvenience of my personal experience.
In short...an officer having some leeway to do their job is one thing but if they are abusing it then they need to be reigned in. Sad that we are having to police the police but this is nothing new.
The word on the street is Williamson County is worse. I had a law abiding (aside from this and jaywalking) roommate who was jailed for not having a back license plate-blocks from home.