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San Antonio Councilwoman Sukh Kaur filed a Council Consideration Request aimed to improve public safety response times.
The proposal would coordinate with the San Antonio Police Department and the city's police union, the San Antonio Police Officer’s Association.
It would explore utilizing retired sworn officers or civilian city employees to address certain non-injury traffic accidents, parking concerns, and noise ordinance violations.
Kaur said the proposal would allow SAPD officers to focus on higher priority calls.
In a city statement, Kaur added: "This initiative is about smarter public safety and ensuring officers are available for critical calls while still addressing everyday concerns that impact our residents. Finding smarter ways to respond means officers can focus on urgent calls while we still take care of the everyday concerns that matter to our residents.”
The request also outlined several objectives:
- Optimizing SAPD Resources: Freeing up officers to focus on urgent public safety needs while trained personnel handle lower-priority incidents.
- Enhancing Resident Services: Improving response to parking and noise complaints, ensuring neighborhoods remain safe and livable.
- Reducing Costs: Lowering expenses by assigning administrative tasks to non-uniformed staff.
- Improving Response Times: Expediting resolutions for non-urgent matters like minor traffic accidents and quality-of-life concerns.
- Easing Officer Burnout: Relieving workload pressures on full-time officers to support recruitment and retention efforts.
The statement also said that Councilmembers Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (District 2), Melissa Cabello Havrda (District 6), Manny Peláez (District 8), and John Courage (District 9) all support it.
The city will conduct a cost analysis and take community feedback before determining the next steps.
Disclosure: Sukh Kaur is a member of Texas Public Radio's board of directors.
