Pearsall police report steep increase in arrest numbers for August
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
208 incident reports, 77 offenses, 49 suspects arrested, chief says
Despite a slight decrease in the number of calls for service that Pearsall police received last month, patrol officers doubled the number of suspects arrested during the month of August.
Pearsall Police Chief Daniel Flores told councilors his officers continue vigilantly patroling the streets and combating crime.
In July, the department handled 69 offenses, arrested 23 individuals, wrote 291 incident reports, issued 145 citations, gave 148 warnings, completed 69 security checks, and answered 529 calls for service.
According to Flores, the following month the department saw an increase in offenses, those arrested and the issuance of warnings and citations.
In August, the department handled 77 offenses, arrested 49 individuals, wrote 208 incident reports, issued 167 citations, gave 267 warnings, completed 71 security checks, and answered 516 calls for service.
Councilor Sonia Hernandez questioned the police chief regarding the number of arrestees who were rejected from the county jail during August.
“The jail denial reports show eleven people were rejected in July and nine in August,” Flores said during the September 10 meeting. “Those rejected were failures to appear and parole violators.”
Councilor Ramiro Trevino expressed his concern with jail staff not accepting repeat offenders.
According to the police chief, individuals on the jail denial report were wanted on blue warrants and pose obstacles for staff due to finances and transportation requirements.
“Some of those people are duplicates,” Flores said. “They are more difficult because they have to be transferred to Austin. I don’t believe the jail is given any money from the state for blue warrants.”
Trevino asked if Frio County Chief Deputy Peter Salinas had provided a reason to the department why those habitual offenders were being denied.
The Texas Department of Justice Parole Board issues blue warrants if a parolee is accused of violating the terms of release or of committing a further crime.
“It is a space issue,” Salinas said in a phone interview on Friday, Sept. 13. “We are at the mercy of the Marshal’s Office. There are no bonds, so the parolees are stuck until the marshals come. They can either get them or release them. If we had the proper space, it wouldn’t be an issue. We will take the more dangerous guys, and we do.”
Salinas said state troopers will assist, when available, with the transport of blue warrant individuals and take arrestees to Bexar County.
“In 2009, the jail had three hundred and ninety beds,” Chief Deputy Salinas said. “Now we only have ninety-six beds and we have to stay under the ten-percent capacity requirement.”
Chief Flores also said patrol officers seized 12.5 grams of methamphetamine and three ounces of marijuana during July. In August, the department seized 8.5 grams of cocaine, five grams of Xanax, 55 grams of marijuana, three grams of Climax, and 12.5 grams of methamphetamine.
Related Posts
That useful bean
48 jailed in Frio, May 11 – 24
