Two-minute impact
The cards, which were sent out to some Round Rock homes in late November, state that aggravated assault with a firearm has increased 3,000% in the last ten years, and also calls for reduced 911 call response times, more detectives, and a specialized unit for human, sex and drug trafficking.
Banks and Morgan confirmed that the city, police department and Police Officers Association are not behind the mailers, which are signed only with the email address [email protected].
“It's unfortunate that somebody out there would try to pit us against our community and our city council,” Banks said.
Digging Deeper
In regards to the safety claims in the flyers, Banks said the statistics are conflated and inaccurate.
“When we see those numbers manipulated like that, it's a scare tactic to our city and is unfair to our community,” Banks said.
Round Rock changed the way it reports crime after 2020, as required by the federal government. The new National Information Based Reporting System records crime information in more depth than the previous Unified Crime Reporting system.
“Even with that change in how we're reporting our crime, we did not skyrocket past 3,000%,” Banks said. “It's a show game. It's mixing numbers.”
What else?
When he became police chief in 2014, Banks said the city allotted the police department 153 full time officers and that currently, they are allotted 209 officers.
“In the 11 years that I've been here, the city council has never denied additional officers for our department,” he said.
With additional officers, Banks said the police department has already created specialized units and hired more detectives, and specifically looks at human-trafficking investigations with federal partners.
Some context
According to the city’s biannual survey, 86% of residents feel an overall sense of safety in Round Rock. Banks said this approval rating meets the department’s goal.
Of the city’s budget, $70 million of the $169 million general fund goes to police and fire.
“Our citizens command us to be safe and that's where we're going to focus and continue to focus to make sure that we are,” Morgan said.
