San Antonio Public Safety Committee Chairwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda Commends The SAPD On The Launch Of The Cite

Press release from the City of San Antonio:

June 25, 2021

SAN ANTONIO – In direct response to Public Safety Committee Chairwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda’ s request, the San Antonio Police Department has launched a comprehensive digital data dashboard that tracks the department’s interactions and processes regarding the Cite and Release program. The program, which has been in place since July of 2019, authorizes police officers to issue citations in lieu of arrests in certain Class A or B misdemeanor offenses. The launch was announced during today’s Public Safety Committee meeting.

“This dashboard is a big leap forward in our effort to improve communication between the community and the police,” said Chairwoman Cabello Havrda. “It puts facts at our fingertips so we can have clear discussions across the community regarding effective policing and community needs.”

As explained in today’s launch presentation, the dashboard breaks down enforcement activity outcomes and classifies them by race/ethnicity, age, gender and offense type. The interactive dashboard also contains location and heat maps that can be filtered by council district, service district and SAPD service area.

“This will help everyone in the community make clear-eyed decisions that have a significant effect on people’s lives,” said Chairwoman Cabello Havrda. “It will allow us to focus on the effect of policing and open a new approach for discussion based on shared data.”

The Cite and Release dashboard can be access on the SAPD website: https://www.sanantonio.gov/SAPD/SAPD-Open-Data-Initiative#182281929-open-data

This press release was produced by the City of San Antonio. The views expressed here are the author’s own.