Highway Enforcement Command News Today

The Austin Police Department is piloting a program where some police officers are drawing blood from people suspected of driving under the influence instead of emergency medical technicians or nurses. Previously, EMS medics had the ability to work overtime and conduct these blood draws for the police department. Because of staffing shortages, EMS is no longer able to offer these overtime shifts, APD said. “We don't want to strain [EMS] resources by pulling a truck off the street,&#x2...

An audit put together by city staff says that the rising number of traffic deaths from 2018-2022 is likely the result of less traffic enforcement.

A new report from the Office of the City Auditor with the City of Austin said a reduction in police presence and traffic enforcement coincides with a rise in crash-related deaths over the last few years.

Mitzi Morin shared the story of how her tow-truck driving husband, Patrick, died in December 2022 because someone didn't follow the Move Over/Slow Down law.

Mitzi Morin shared the story of how her tow-truck driving husband, Patrick, died in December 2022 because someone didn't follow the Move Over/Slow Down law.

A pedestrian killed on Texas 71 last week is the 89th person killed in Austin traffic this year, adding to a death toll that now exceeds the total for 2019, according to the Austin Police Department. Just after 6 a.m. on Dec. 18, 35-year-old Jesse Jay Gomez Jr. was in the 3100 block of Texas 71, just east of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Police said witnesses reported seeing Gomez walking toward traffic. Multiple vehicles swerved to avoid hitting Gomez. The driver of a black 2016 F...