By Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-623497.mp3
Dallas, TX – Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter: A handful of low-level, misdemeanors, like driving with an invalid license, possessing under 4 ounces of pot, or spray-painting graffiti where the damage is less than 500 dollars - used to require police to finger-print and jail alleged violators. North Texas Representative Jerry Madden, with the urging from police, thought that wasn't the wisest use of officer time. He says the law he wrote now lets police just issue a citation & court summons.
State Representative Jerry Madden: They can in fact book them, give them a ticket and go on, and we have more police people out on the streets doing the job that we would like our police officers to be doing.
Zeeble: Like, protecting citizens against more violent criminals. Under 2391, those misdemeanor penalties remain the same - people with tickets still have to show up for court. But in cities battling violent crimes, jail overcrowding, and rising costs that go with them, this law seems welcomed and wise. But not so, to prosecutors in Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. They recommend against it. So does Dallas County D.A. Craig Watkins, who suggests police make those misdemeanor arrests, & NOT just issue citations.
District Attorney Craig Watkins. In so many cases of misdemeanors, if you just give a citation, then we have to prove identity in court, it'll be difficult to do that. 108. Because you don't have a print taken, you don't have a finger print taken, no one's posted a bond, or been processed through the system. It'll be really difficult for an officer to ID someone 6 months later.
Zeeble: Just a few miles west, Tarrant County DA spokesperson Dave Montague says there are other concerns in addition to the ones Watkins mentions.
Tarrant County DA representative, David Montague: I'm not sure it's been thought out how we're going to get these people to court. Ok? That's the bottom line. Just writing a ticket doesn't mean he'll get to court. How are we going to make sure these people get down here? That'll take significant work between county agencies and local police departments.
Zeeble: Prosecutors say the bill needs more work, or police may need more squad car resources, like cameras and finger print pads in, to book people on the fly. Representative Madden says he's open to tweaking his law next session, and anyway, it's voluntary. Don't like it? Don't use it. It may work best in smaller towns.
Madden: The person has to live in that county. Some of those people, they know their people Know them pretty well. Know they're not going to run. Know they're going to show up.
Zeeble: Public Affairs director for CLEAT, the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, Charley Wilkison, says rank and file police love this law. As for DA concerns, he says they don't run police departments.
Charley Wilkison, CLEAT: Rank and file live in the real world, prosecutors live in their world. All rank and file I talk to tell me I can BE trusted as an officer to know the difference between a violent serious felony and someone who just needs to be ticketed.
Zeeble: The law took effect Saturday. Bill Zeeble KERA news.
Bzeeble@Kera.Org