Policing, Citations & Arrests

Law enforcement agencies are the gatekeepers to the justice system. The decisions they make to dismiss, cite, or arrest someone directly impact one’s likelihood of continued system involvement. Those who are detained pretrial, for example, are more likely to receive guilty pleas, harsher punishments, and longer sentences. This is especially true for people in low-income communities and communities of color. Additionally, when law enforcement spends copious amounts of time and resources addressing low-level, non-violent, and fine-only offenses, it puts public safety at risk. It also sustains rates of recidivism by exposing low-risk defendants to a counterproductive environment. This is not an effective approach to policing, and it is imperative that we utilize law enforcement in a way that is reserving their resources to address the most dangerous and violent situations in our communities. This can only be achieved by moving them away from unnecessary interactions — such as traffic violations or mental health crisis calls better handled by trained professionals — and ensuring that they have the most effective tools to protect the communities they serve.

For these reasons, Texas Appleseed supports and seeks to advance reform that moves Texas law enforcement away from counterproductive methods of justice and towards data-driven and community-supported policing.