In her proposal, retired police officers or civilian city employees would address non-injury traffic accidents, parking concerns and noise ordinance violations.
SAN ANTONIO — Lowering crime, and increasing safety in San Antonio is a priority for many, and it’s why one councilmember is introducing a new plan to give on-duty officers some relief by those who are retired.
In her proposal, retired police officers or civilian city employees would address non-injury traffic accidents, parking concerns and noise ordinance violations.
“We’ve been working with the city and SAPD to try to figure out how do we really get more enforcement for parking and traffic accident reporting, reduce the time that SAPD officers have to spend on it,” said Sukh Kaur, councilwoman for district 1. “So this came about because we don’t really have a reserve program or a civilian program for SAPD where these types of enforcement can really be handled by them. And so, the city staff talked with the SAPOA [San Antonio Police Officers Association] and thought it would be a great way to alleviate some time that officers are spending.”
Kaur explains several neighborhood associations sparked this proposal.
“Some of our, South Town, King William and Lavaca neighborhood associations really wanted more parking enforcement,” she said. “A lot of those homes, people will park in front of their driveways, or will be parked illegally, and it makes it difficult for them to access their homes. And so they wanted to make sure that people knew that there was parking enforcement, but it wasn’t really a priority for SAPD.”
Ross Garza who lives in the King William District is well aware of the issues his neighbors are facing.
“As we have First Friday and the other events that occur in our neighborhood or because we’re so our proximity is so close to downtown, we get a lot of that overflow,” Garza explained. “I’ve heard of, you know, where people have been blocked in their driveway and they’re trying to get to an emergent or urgent situation and they can’t leave their home. I do know with one, individual that I do know, I believe they called the tow company.”
Garza believes Kaur’s proposal could be a positive step for safety in the city.
“I know we live in a different time,” he said. “I think that really just helps offset in this system because we’re all shooting for the same thing, which is we want a safer community.”
The proposal is headed next to the governance committee.
Kaur hopes to have this proposal in place by 2026.