Travis County told to ‘do better’ and invest in drug treatment over arrests, report says
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Authorities must take a different approach towards addressing drug use in Travis County, according to the authors of a newly released report.
Earlier this month, the four criminal justice groups involved in a study into drug possession arrests revealed some of their findings.
They found that black residents of Travis County are disproportionately harmed – despite making up just 9% of the population, black people accounted for 29.4% of drug possession arrests between June 2017 and May 2018.
Now, the four organizations involved in the study – the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, Grassroots Leadership, and the Civil Rights Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law – have released the full report.
Of the arrests analyzed, about half arose from motor vehicle stops, typically for minor traffic violations.