(The Center Square) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced four new public safety initiatives he says he’ll be working with lawmakers on to advance in the next legislative session. They will build on public safety initiatives that went into effect this year.
Abbott, who’s running for his fourth term, made the announcement at a campaign event in Austin with state lawmakers Thursday.
“My top priority is to protect communities, not criminals,” he said. “Last session, we delivered the toughest bail reform package in Texas history. Now, we are building on that success to deny bail for illegal immigrants charged with felonies, remove rogue DAs, and get repeat offenders off the streets. The choice is clear: support the safety of citizens, or the criminals who endanger them.”
His “Protect Communities, Not Criminals” public safety plan focuses on four key areas: automatically deny bail to criminal illegal foreign nationals charged with a felony, remove “rogue district attorneys,” provide new state resources to district attorneys, and expand and fund a new Texas Repeat Offender Task Force Program (TxROP).
The first measure, if enacted, would require judges to automatically deny bail to criminal foreign nationals charged with a felony.
“Illegal immigrants are an inherent flight risk. This measure ensures that they stay behind bars so justice can be served, rather than allowing them to flee or harm someone else,” Abbott said.
He also said House Democrats blocked a similar measure last year and “must answer to voters: support the safety of their citizens or the criminals who endanger them.”
The second measure, if enacted, would establish a statewide prosecutor’s office, something Abbott has supported for years but hasn’t come to fruition. Creating the office would address “two unmet needs: the failure to prosecute violent crime and the ability to aid district attorney’s offices when needed. Too many families are denied justice because some prosecutors refuse to actually prosecute dangerous criminals and repeat offenders who go on to harm or Texans,” he said.
The third would establish a new law and amend the state constitution to enable district attorneys to be impeached. Currently, the constitution only lists statewide officers, members of the Texas legislature and judges as officers subject to impeachment. “District attorneys should not be an exception,” Abbott said. This would require voter approval.
The fourth is to statutorily expand the TxROP. On Wednesday, Abbott directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to expand TxROP operations to target violent repeat offenders in major cities statewide, The Center Square reported.
Last fall, Abbott directed Texas DPS to launch the TxROP, a joint task force among state and local law enforcement to target violent repeat offenders in the Houston area, The Center Square reported. Six months later, their “results have been swift and substantial,” Abbott said.
As of May 11, task force members had arrested 728 repeat offenders, including 455 high-threat criminals and gang members. Of their 225 drug seizures, they seized more than 225,000 lethal doses of fentanyl, 115 pounds of methamphetamine, seven pounds of cocaine, and 415 pounds of marijuana.
“The neighborhoods of Houston are safer with the arrest of the criminals most likely to commit another crime. Similar success must be delivered to communities across the state,” Abbott said. He directed Texas DPS to expand TxROP operations throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin metropolitan areas.
“Protecting communities, not criminals, will substantially reduce crime,” Abbott said. “Texas, by arresting the criminals most likely to commit crime, keeping arrested criminals behind bars rather than free to roam our streets and spurring more aggressive prosecution of the criminals who harm Texans.”
