All ten members of the San Antonio City Council recently voted “yes” for a new inter-local agreement with the San Antonio Police Department. The new ordinance will dissolve boundaries that allow law enforcement officers to write speeding tickets for drivers in municipalities that, in the past, have been out of their usual jurisdiction.
Traffic citations can now be written by any officer of the participating cities, including Castle Hills, Balcones Heights, Kirby, Live Oak, Olmos Park, Hollywood Park, Hill Country Village, Terrell Hills, China Grove and Windcrest.
The new sanction does not come without its own restrictions. It only allows the participating city’s officers to write tickets within 200 yards across the small town line and permits that only Class C misdemeanors may be cited, punishable only by fines.
Before this new local law, only the city of Houston had permission for a similar agreement. But according to Castle Hills Police Chief Wayne Davis, it was high time for San Antonio to join in the fight against traffic violations. He receives countless requests from his residents asking him to crack down on speeding in Castle Hills.
“It was a citizen outcry, as we saw in the letters, and public safety,” he said. “We hope that (the agreement) slows everybody down, makes them follow traffic laws. That’s our main initiative.”
Those citizens who are against the new ordinance have spoken out that the new law is just an attempt at increase revenue across the townships. Davis is adamant that the agreement has nothing to do with money and everything to do with saving lives and making our community a safer place.
“We don’t have quotas,” he said. “That’s not even something we talk about here.”
The police departments have banded together to protect you and your family and friends. So keep this new ordinance in mind and remember to slow down.
(source: ksat.com)