The City Council members said they want next year’s budget to return to the recommended framework for hiring at least 65 additional patrol officers.
SAN ANTONIO — When an external study of San Antonio police staffing recommended in 2023 that 360 patrol officers be added over the next five years, starting with 100 for 2024 and then 65 each of the four years thereafter, the city initially responded by sticking to that plan.
The Fiscal Year 2024 budget, approved in September 2023, allocated money to fund that additional cohort of 100 new officers, as well as five more officers assigned to teach at the San Antonio Police Department academy.
A year later, the public safety portion of the newly approved Fiscal Year 2025 budget included dollars for 65 new patrol officers—checking the next box in the recommended five-year plan.
Come last fall, however, city staff recommended $2.1 million to go towards adding just 25 new patrol officers—down by 40 from the initial recommendation given in 2023. The budget that would eventually be approved in mid-September was amended to boost that funding in order to hire 40 new officers, still off the recommendation’s mark.
District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte, who has consistently kept public safety and police funding at the top of his priority list while on council, called the budget allocation “nothing short of government malpractice.”
Now, a few months from when budget-planning conversations tend to begin, Whyte and two other council members want the city to follow through on that initial recommendation.
On Wednesday, District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito, District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears and Whyte sent a memo to City Manager Erik Walsh referencing the 2023 study and saying the city has fallen short of meeting the recommendations. They called for a resolution to be placed on an upcoming City Council that, if passed, would represent council supporting the prioritization of allocating budget funds to hire 65 new patrol officers next year.
“Public safety is the foundational responsibility of city government,” the three leaders wrote in their memo. “Our residents deserve to know that when the city commissions expert analysis and receives professional recommendations on matters as critical as police staffing, those recommendations will be taken seriously and acted upon.”
The original study completed in 2023 called for adding 360 officers in order for SAPD to achieve a goal of 40% time on call and 60% discretionary time for police. Officials at the time said discretionary time could be used to focus on certain crimes, ordinance violations, directed patrol or working with community groups on specific projects.
Chief McManus at the time said the addition of officers would improve customer service with residents.
Spears and Alderete Gavito said that funding for public safety must grow to align with a continuously growing San Antonio population.
“Staying on track with this plan will help improve response times, keep our streets safe, and ensure officers have the capacity to work alongside programs that address the root causes of many 911 calls,” the District 7 council representative said.
Whyte, meanwhile, said he wants city staff to follow through on the recommendations of experts.
Walsh or another member of the city manager’s office traditionally presents a draft of the budget, and usually in August. City Council has until the end of September to approve the Fiscal Year 2027 budget, which starts Oct. 1.
“We created a plan,” Whyte said. “Now we need to honor that commitment. Our residents deserve a City Council that keeps its word and a police department with the resources to protect and serve every neighborhood effectively.”
As of Friday evening, the proposed resolution had not been placed on an upcoming meeting agenda.