San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) is set to hire 50 new officers to the force over a three-year period with $6.25 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Justice. SAPD’s goal over the next three to five years is to bring on 360 officers to help bridge the gap between local communities and law enforcement.
During a press conference on Monday, Nov. 6, representatives from the U.S. Congress, San Antonio City Council and SAPD came together to discuss the increased funds headed to the local force. Bringing on the 50 recruits will shift patrol officers’ time from responding to calls to spending more time navigating the community to help ensure officers are part of the community they serve.
SAPD Chief William McManus said, “The idea is to free up officers and give them enough discretionary time when they’re not on calls so they can work in neighborhoods. They can do direct patrol for specific crimes, for traffic, all those different things.”
City Manager Erik Walsh responded to the funding and said, “I want to thank our Federal Legislative Delegation for their efforts to advocate for our community’s needs. We are looking forward to welcoming these new officers to the San Antonio Police Department.”
The 50 new officer positions will help implement strategies developed through the data-driven Violent Crimes Reduction Plan. This plan was developed by the City of San Antonio and SAPD in partnership with the UTSA criminology department because of the 47% increase in violent crimes in San Antonio over the last three years. The plan is focused on implementing near-term, mid-term and long-term practices to drive down that statistic.
The funding from the Department of Justice came from their COPS Grant program. This grant has invested over $14 billion in community policing nationwide since Congress established its office in 1994. This is the fifth time San Antonio has been awarded the grant, with the last time being in 2020 for hiring 25 officers to address domestic violence.
