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Killeen police are following the necessities of the town’s marijuana-decriminalization ordinance, Interim Chief Charles Kimble stated on Tuesday.
“We contacted 188 people (who) had some sort of marijuana on them,” he stated. “The majority of those people (146) were released because it fell within the guidelines of the ordinance. We seized the marijuana, and they were on their way. Forty-two of those people were arrested. So 77% of those people were let go.”
The knowledge was once introduced as a part of Kimble’s first “marijuana enforcement ordinance implementation report” since electorate licensed Proposition A on Nov. 8, 2022.
“To be within the spirt of the ordinance, we had to have a start date and an end date,” Kimble stated. “The date that we used was Nov. 9 … and we used an end date of Feb. 28 because we had to stop somewhere. We’ll do it every quarter now.”
Proposition A, the ordinance that decriminalizes ownership of misdemeanor quantities of marijuana, required the Killeen Police Department to publish this kind of file 90 days following adoption of the ordinance and as soon as every year.
Killeen citizens on Nov. 8 licensed Proposition A with 69% of the vote. Then, on Dec. 6, council contributors in a 4-3 vote amended Proposition A via getting rid of Section 22-83, which prevents Killeen police from the use of the scent of marijuana or hemp as possible reason for seek or seizure. The ordinance prohibits Killeen police officers from arresting or issuing citations to other folks for ownership of marijuana underneath 4 oz.
“In our policy … we are going to follow the law,” Kimble stated. “We want to make this city safe by removing some of the worst violators off the streets of Killeen, and we think we are doing that even in the confines of this ordinance. This policy does not hamper that.”
Proposition A supplies that “city funds and city employees are prohibited from requesting, conducting or obtaining testing for THC” and issuing citations for ownership of drug residue or drug paraphernalia in lieu of a marijuana ownership fee.
“I looked over (the report) this weekend,” Precinct 4 Bell County Commissioner Louie Minor stated on Tuesday. “It appears that it’s doing what we had hoped. My only critique was it doesn’t give us the statistical data (on) race and age. It was not provided to the council (and) the citizens so we can make informed decisions. That is part of this whole review process. The lack of that information concerns me.”
In a movement of path, council contributors requested Kimble to go back that demographic knowledge for the ones contacted in marijuana-possession investigations from Nov. 9 to Feb. 28.
“Seventy percent of Killeen citizens said that our current state law is unjust,” David Bass stated all over the assembly. “The people of Killeen voted for a more just law. I looked at KPD slides. I think they’re excellent. People who possess marijuana and committing other crimes are being arrested and prosecuted, as they should be. People who only possess small amounts of marijuana and are committing no other crime are not being arrested. That was the intent of the ordinance. The ordinance is working.”
Julie Oliver, an legal professional and govt director of Ground Game Texas, the Austin grassroots political group that crafted Proposition A and equivalent ordinances in towns across the state, thanked town officers for enforcing the ordinance.
“It appears arrests have gone down substantially since implementation,” she stated. “But … it needs demographic data. Staff (is) stretched thin and these lower-level offenses really take away from the important work of making sure the community is safe.”
Councilman Jose Segarra stated that KPD “has been put in the middle of this big debate.”
“I’ve said before that this has nothing to do with marijuana itself,” he stated. “The way you guys have adjusted to carrying out this policy is just commendable. I think your police officers have done a great job.”
Section 22-85 of the ordinance permits Killeen police officers who violate the brand new regulation to be disciplined “as provided by the Texas Local Government Code or as provided in city policy.”
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