AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Just hours after the City of Austin suspended its partnership with the Texas Department of Public Safety on Wednesday, DPS officials have released body camera video offering new clarity on one of the "recent events" that led city officials to make their decision.
In a story first reported by Fox 7 on Tuesday evening, South Austin resident Carlos Meza said DPS troopers pulled him over on Sunday night and claimed that troopers pointed guns at him and his 10-year old son Angel.
Meza said the two were driving home from a nearby pool; although he noticed the DPS patrol vehicle had its lights on, Meza said it wasn't clear to him that troopers were trying to pull him over.
[shortcode-inline-related expand="1" link="/talk1370/news/local/austin-suspends-partnership-with-texas-dps" headline="City of Austin suspends partnership with Texas DPS, says partnership must be "in sync with Austin values"" image="/media-library/image.jpg?id=64738548"]When they arrived in his driveway, Angel proceeded to get out of the car, needing to use the bathroom.
The DPS video released Wednesday begins with the troopers pursuing Meza's vehicle, which does not have a license plate on it. The DPS vehicle clearly has its lights on as the troopers continue to follow Meza to conduct a traffic stop.
When the vehicles arrive at Meza's home, the two troopers are seen exiting their patrol vehicle with weapons drawn, but pointed in a downward direction. As Angel was exiting the passenger side of the vehicle, the troopers were at the rear and heading towards the driver's side. Carlos then questioned what the troopers were doing, at which point the troopers raised their weapons.
Meza was given a ticket for the missing license plate. He told Fox 7 the vehicle's temporary paper plate was "off due to a power wash."
Wednesday's suspension of the APD-DPS partnership, officially known as the Austin Violent Crimes Task Force, comes just two days after the city's Public Safety Commission voted to approve a resolution calling on City Council members to suspend the partnership. Troopers had just returned to their duties in Austin at the beginning of July, after a nearly six week pause while troopers were redeployed to the Texas-Mexico border.
In a release announcing the suspension of the partnership Wednesday, the city said the support from DPS "has resulted in a decrease in violent and gun crime, fewer traffic fatalities, shorter response times to calls for assistance, and seizures of significant amounts of illicit drugs, including fentanyl and heroin."
DPS, in a brief statement posted to Twitter on Wednesday night, said the agency "will continue patrol operations in [Austin] as part of its responsibility to protect and serve Texas."
