A plan by the Austin police to cite and release instead of arrest people some petty criminal charges is said to be an efficient use of police officers time, according to Austin, TX police Chief Art Acevedo. The new police will give officers discretion of who they wish to arrest, and who they will simply write a criminal citation, similar to a traffic ticket. A similar policy is already in use in Dallas.

The criminal citations will be used for Texas misdemeanor charges such as criminal mischief, driving on a suspended license, and theft under $500. Being issued a summons or citation instead of being arrested does not reduce the legal penalties for these offenses, but will prevent defendants from being arrested on the spot, booked, and possibly spending a night in jail. The goal is to free up police officer’s time to continue patrolling and other work that enhances public safety.

It’s an open question whether this will create an incentive for police to more aggressively charge and cite criminal offenses, since they will have more time to do so, with less administrative overhead and hassle.

And is this effort a burden shift onto the courts? Will there be more court hearings required to establish probable cause for these arrests? That may be why district attorneys such as Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley are against it.

But overall, it does sounds like a reasonable program to increase the efficiency of police officers, while making things simpler and less onerous for someone who happens to be accused of a minor misdemeanor criminal offense.

Update: More commentary on cite and release here.

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Texas police and law enforcement officers now have instant access to data on what vehicles and drivers are driving without required auto liability insurance coverage. A pilot program from the DPS is being rolled out statewide to provide this data to all local Texas police departments.

According the the report, 20% of all drivers in Texas are on the roads without the required car insurance.

Currently, the data is only accessible to an officer who manually enters a license plate or VIN number in his or her computer. But it can only be a matter of time before this data is linked with Automatic License Plate Scanners. When that starts to happen, police officers with that technology in their cruisers could be constantly pulling over cars.

And if you are stopped for driving your car without insurance, other arrests can result from that stop. If you have had anything to drink, you could end up being arrested on a DWI charge. If your license is suspended, or you have outstanding criminal warrant for failure to appear, you will also be arrested.

And if in the course of the police stopping you, you are searched and found to have any drugs, you will be arrested for drug possession.

With all the new monitoring tools the police have at their disposal, it is critically important to make sure your license, insurance, and paperwork is in order when you hit the road.

A charge of driving without liability insurance carries a maximum fine of $350. A second offense can result in a 2 year license suspension.

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Legalizing sobriety checkpoints in Texas, and making ignition interlock devices manadatory for any DWI conviction are the top items on the leglislative checklist for drunk driving law enhancements advocates.

Under current law, sobriety checkpoints, or DWI roadblocks are prohibited in Texas. Their effectiveness has always been questions. Advocates point to a 2001 CDC report that claims that checkpoints can reduce drunk driving fatalities by 20%, an astonishing claim. Critics believe they are both ineffective and in clear violation of the 4th Amendment of the Constitution which sets a clear requirement for probable cause for search.

Drunk Driving victims advocacy groups like MADD have long advocated requiring an ignition interlock device on vehicles of anyone convicted of a DWI, even a first offense.

An ignition interlock is a car breathalyzer that prevents a vehicle from starting before the driving blows a clean sample of alcohol free breath into a small device. If the person fails the test, the failure is noted and logged, and the car will not start.

Under current Texas DWI laws, an ignition interlock device is only required after a 2nd offense conviction, typically in conjunction with a limited occupational license. Some states like Arizona and Illinois have passed laws requiring any convicted drunk driver to have one of these systems installed as a condition of license reinstatement.

It remains to be seen how much emphasis there is on these efforts in the Texas legislature.

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