SAN ANTONIO – Nearly four months after Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai made his first public comments on a string of police officer shootings across San Antonio, a public safety action plan he promised has been released.
“Working together, city and county officials have identified opportunities and strategies for improving criminal justice system outcomes and making our community safer for residents and law enforcement officers,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. “We must remain focused and continue our collaborative efforts.”
Created by county and city officials to quell violent crime from repeat offenders, the plan identifies significant gaps in the criminal justice system and ways to combat them.
“This is just the start of a joint effort by stakeholders to continue to make our community safer,” Sakai said.
Additionally, immediate actions will be implemented, allowing the county and city to collaborate on reducing the number of violent crimes committed by repeat offenders on San Antonio streets.
The actions include:
- Apprehending violent criminals through collaboration between San Antonio Police Department Covert Unit and Bexar County Sheriff’s Office STOP Program.
- Increasing monitoring of violent offenders by sharing information following release of high-profile individuals to supervision.
- Preventing release of felony offenders by improving information-sharing between arresting officer, District Attorney’s Office, and county magistrate.
County agencies will lead short and long-term actions as part of the plan. For instance, District Judge Ron Rangel will lead strategy development with SAPD, BCSO and the DA’s office to prevent bail denial of certain violent crime offenders, a city news release said.
Other actions in the plan include:
- Enhance interagency collaboration on high profile cases.
- Focus on indicting felony jail cases. Reassigning prosecutors from the trial division to review files for indictment will prevent the release of potentially dangerous arrestees.
- Enhance arresting officers’ information sharing with District Attorney and magistrate. This will be done through improved police reports, better communication on high-profile arrests and SAPD being present at magistration in exceptional circumstances as determined by SAPD and the DA.
- Improve case management and evidence intake systems.
The Public Safety Action Plan is available for viewing below:
