[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6652028,"mediaKeyId","2497140-4cf96b2f455c5e0361ed700178b89670","parentId",2497140,"title","San Marcos Police present 2024 public-safety report; department outlines reforms, accreditation progress and new equipment","audioSeconds",7912,"startMs",2106000,"endMs",10018000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2497140-4cf96b2f455c5e0361ed700178b89670&start=2106&end=10018","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2497140-4cf96b2f455c5e0361ed700178b89670/thumbnail_2106000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6652028/San-Marcos-City/Hays-County/Texas/San-Marcos-Police-present-2024-public-safety-report-department-outlines-reforms-accreditation-progress-and-new-equipment","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6652028-58ceb4aa9fb525c95edc2fc23379ce74/orig.mp4?Expires=1770512899&Signature=aypRzKDBHGbUk6ruwmiUErDJ3qLKf1pTHKng-DS5FYCgwazpBGv~A99hznl~gZFBaQqupyxxUFWaLhkE044i8m4f-IOctP2j9-V~NS-GfoUA7L9Km8swxRimMedWP6R933tPNVXycIDPmDy9RMKaCSfOkzLWrOQXwObuqllrzHUt2ysfPZGMUqWusdFVg75wL-dz4KNmvDT7ldOHpKkq9GKaQ35wmgUI9cUHFxtFxS3Yb~ajbPbPEfaDtRPVR3~0Z7YLCphyB7zgQqnGF6iA02FEm0g4WWZVTLT-qDyJW~TWNl3lxMpF8KbBgYf1HeSkypvZkwNNm5WitfJj4qKjQQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","San Marcos","date","2025-03-04T14:58:00Z","article","At a March 4 San Marcos City Council work session, Chief Stan Standridge and multiple department leaders presented a comprehensive 2024 public-safety briefing that combined crime data, internal-accountability reforms, new equipment and staffing updates, and the department\u000027s plan to expand mental-health response capacity.

The presentation reported that overall reported violent crime has declined since a 2022 peak: Patty Homme, the department\u000027s crime analyst supervisor, said violent offenses fell from 456 in 2022 to 325 in 2023 and to 261 in 2024. \"So we are moving in the right direction as it relates to violent crime,\" she said. The department also reported 54,511 \"community member contacts\" (calls for service or related contacts), 69 reportable uses of force in 2024, 21 vehicle pursuits and 51 fleet accidents in 2024 (27 of which were deemed preventable). Commander Tiffany Williams and others said the department will continue to refine policies around pursuits and use-of-force reporting.

Internal accountability and training

Commander Tiffany Williams reviewed internal changes the department has adopted in recent years, including an Office of Professional Conduct that expanded investigative capacity and an Event Review Board that reviews every use of force, pursuit and preventable crash. Williams said the department recorded 42 internal investigations from 2021 to 2024 and that 26 of those inquiries were substantiated and produced corrective or disciplinary action ranging from counseling to termination. She described a new active-bystandership program for officers that is designed to normalize intervention by peers to prevent mistakes and misconduct.

Accreditation

Assistant Chief Bob Klett said San Marcos is pursuing accreditation through the Texas Police Chiefs Association and that the on-site assessment team will visit April 22\u00002424. Klett described accreditation as a multi-step process that requires compliance with 173 best-practice standards and said the department had submitted its final documentation the week of the briefing.

New equipment and procurement

The department described several new equipment rollouts in 2024: a phased deployment of the Taser 10 starting in May (increasing probe count and range compared with the prior model); BolaWrap devices; and 40-millimeter less-lethal launchers intended to replace some beanbag-shotgun deployments. Assistant chiefs and commanders said Taser 10 training and rollout continued through the year and that the 40-millimeter launchers are available at approximately two units per patrol shift. Chief Standridge and staff also explained that an \"officer safety plan\" bundled purchase from Axon includes Tasers, two body cameras per officer on a rotating schedule, cloud video storage, training modules and software licenses. They said the bundled officer-safety plan cost $343,123 for 123 officers (a per-officer, per-year breakdown was reported as $2,786 under a five-year lease), and that the contract is bundled so the vendor-level unit costs are not broken out in the packet provided to council.

Communications and 9-1-1 operations

Records and communications manager Audrey Verver outlined 2024 call-center performance and staffing. Verver said the city\u000027s 9-1-1 center handled about 21,000 incoming calls in 2024 and that staff created roughly 75,000 calls for service in the CAD system (one incident can generate many calls). She said average call-processing time improved from about 178 seconds in 2022 to about 164 seconds in 2024, and that average staffing vacancies in the communications center fell from about nine in 2022 to about four in 2024; she noted there were five vacancies at the time of the briefing and that candidates were in the hiring pipeline.

Verver said language-line translation (Cercom/CAPCOG service) was used 891 times in 2024 for a total of 6,432 minutes, and she described a November 2024 pilot with Avail Solutions (a local-crisis triage contractor) that takes some mental-health calls away from dispatchers and provides local-resource navigation. She said Avail handles calls the department routes to it and transfers only those calls back to dispatchers for immediate in-person response when Avail determines a responder is required.

Mental-health response and the department\u000027s MHO initiative

SMPD\u000027s mental-health unit (MHU) leaders said mental-health calls remained a significant share of workload. Corporal Joe Osborne described the MHU staff and outreach work; Osborne and Chief Standridge emphasized active case management, follow-up and alternatives to emergency detention when clinically appropriate. Osborne and others reported about 2,290 mental-health calls in 2023 and roughly the same number in 2024; they said emergency detentions accounted for roughly 11% of mental-health calls in 2023 (259 emergency detentions) and about 13% in 2024 (290 emergency detentions).

Assistant Chief Brandon Wickenwerter said the department will pursue a campaign in 2025 to certify additional officers as mental-health officers under the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) program. He said the department plans to certify about 57 additional eligible officers so that, when combined with current mental-health officers, the department will have roughly 82 certified mental-health officers positioned across patrol, SROs and specialty units.

School resource officers and victim services

Sergeant Tony Scott described the department\u000027s SRO program: five SROs cover San Marcos CISD campuses under a 2024 memorandum of understanding with the school district. Scott said recent student surveys reported predominantly positive or neutral experiences with SROs and that most students indicated they felt comfortable reporting crimes to SROs. Patty Homme and victim-services staff described continued victim services work: the victim-services team recorded over 2,200 case contacts in 2024 and worked with eight volunteers and external partners such as Hays Caldwell Women\u000027s Center.

Public engagement and next steps

Speakers acknowledged areas needing additional public clarification. Chief Standridge and staff said they would release fuller data from a city advisory-panel engagement exercise and provide more detail on pursuit policy revisions and accreditation findings after the April on-site assessment. The department also announced a 12-month \"dignity in policing\" staff-development program starting the day after the briefing and encouraged council and the public to follow quarterly updates.

No formal council actions or votes on department policy or procurements were taken at the work session; the presentation functioned as a public briefing and a request for continued council oversight and budget consideration.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","San Marcos - City Council on 2025-03-04 3:00 PM - 630 E. Hopkins St. - Work Session - Mar 04, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","San Marcos Police Department briefed council on 2024 crime trends (overall decreases in violent crime since 2022), expanded internal accountability and training programs, upcoming accreditation on-site review, new less-lethal tools and communications improvements, and plans to certify more mental-health officers.","taxTitle","San Marcos City, Hays County, Texas","taxId",9292,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6652033,"San Marcos staff, Evoke Wellness describe jail-diversion services; city clarifies ARPA contract balance",1506,162000,1668000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2497140-4cf96b2f455c5e0361ed700178b89670&start=162&end=1668","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2497140-4cf96b2f455c5e0361ed700178b89670/thumbnail_162000.jpg","/articles/6652033/San-Marcos-City/Hays-County/Texas/San-Marcos-staff-Evoke-Wellness-describe-jail-diversion-services-city-clarifies-ARPA-contract-balance","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6652033-284b33f5c567817039f26afccde7ebb4/orig.mp4?Expires=1770512899&Signature=QO2sO0-XRLLVDGzphNAIDmtiLQd9KQ8zAcxIvKGgA5r9O6bMH1BMxpopTdfq591nsLw2Ly8Dll-a2rFQO2jOvdRPOse4I9aMv3T3y0M2KJt2OGAUpfV7V-bfE9ABkhSoTCa6hFXSd~g9phhOYqi5b2ZXqU9jfxATouhmTFr0zbB6QLX43Zeo-4CQPhUGX5s5eNqfmZbrGFJ2EStgf1uaZ2AFeeY6VRRHaEiiUVAdbjhnBiGCDuwJnntDECKRis902EH~FS71zeXr0oQ2GxEKcSkaZ-SxmUFQKISTtg3-9mt~mpGMw5SUjz1pmw5cs0QNQzyidgIiQE1McGVEoElJeQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","At a March 4 San Marcos City Council work session, city staff and representatives of Evoke Wellness (doing business as Sunrise Rehab and Recovery) outlined the treatment pathway and eligibility for people referred by the San Marcos Police Department as part of a jail-diversion effort, and clarified contract funding sourced from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money.

The presentation was part of a follow-up requested by council after questions raised at a December meeting. Elizabeth Trevino and Chief Stan Standridge told the council the contract had been increased to $150,000 but that administrative paperwork had not reflected the change; Standridge said the actual remaining balance is about $70,000, not the $19,000 that an agenda request form had stated.

The clarification matters because the Evoke Wellness contract is funded through ARPA and is being used to connect San Marcos residents referred by SMPD and the city\u000027s mental-health court to treatment rather than incarceration. \"We have about $70,000 remaining, which is a good way to segue into what is the purpose of our collaboration with Evoke Wellness in furtherance of jail diversion,\" Chief Stan Standridge said.

Evoke Wellness executive director Megan Kowalski described the facility\u000027s clinical model and levels of care. For clients admitted for detoxification, Kowalski said, detox protocols are set by medical staff and typically last five to seven days; residential treatment commonly runs 21 to 28 days; and longer lengths of stay generally lead to better outcomes. She said residential and detox clients receive a biopsychosocial assessment within 72 hours and are provided programming and clinical services while on site. \"We\u000027re licensed by the state of Texas for detox, residential, and intensive outpatient,\" Kowalski said.

Kowalski described staffing and program requirements: behavioral-health technicians monitor clients in a roughly 8-to-1 ratio, nursing staff are on duty 24/7 (two nurses mornings, one at night), clinical staff see clients regularly and clients are required to participate in a treatment plan and a discharge plan before leaving. She said programming requires about six hours per day of group and clinical activity (about 42 hours per week). Kowalski also said Evoke provides detox medications for the first five to seven days free of charge and that discharge coordinators work with clients on follow-up, referrals and, when appropriate, help securing medication assistance through community grants or scholarships.

Council members asked how referrals work and who the contract covers. Chief Standridge and Corporal Joe Osborne of SMPD\u000027s mental-health unit said SMPD vets referrals for residency and need; ARPA funds will not be used for clients whose care is covered by insurance. Standridge said the ARPA-funded portion is limited to San Marcos residents who are indigent. \"If they are truly indigent and have no ability to provide pay, then Corporal Osborn and his team will vet that person, and then Evoke is going to vet them additionally to determine if they qualify,\" Standridge said.

Kowalski said most Evoke clients treated last year had co-occurring substance use and mental-health disorders; she told council that more than 90% of the clients served in the prior year had co-occurring diagnoses. Chief Standridge and Corporal Osborne described the collaboration as part of a multi-pronged local approach that also includes mental-health court and county funding.

Council members pressed for additional local data about Evoke\u000027s impact beyond ARPA-funded placements; Standridge and Kowalski said staff provided summary data packets to the city, and Kowalski said the provider tracks follow-up and outcomes. Standridge offered a case example: he described one referred resident (identified in the meeting only as \"Mr. M\") who, after repeated arrest and repeated calls for service, was placed into treatment and received active case-management follow-up; Standridge said officers had made 25 follow-up contacts for that person and that he was now living independently and sober.

San Marcos officials urged residents who need help to contact SMPD\u000027s mental-health unit. Chief Standridge said call-takers follow a scripted intake and recommended callers mention Evoke Wellness so dispatchers will route information to SMPD mental-health staff and Corporal Osborne. \"You can email or call Corporal Joe Osborne ... We are about jail diversion if your issues are rooted in a behavioral health issue,\" Standridge said.

No formal council vote occurred during the work session on the Evoke Wellness contract; the item was presented as a work-session briefing and funding details were discussed for future consideration.

What\u000027s next: Council members said they will review the materials and track local placements and outcomes; staff confirmed the remaining ARPA contract balance for Evoke Wellness is roughly $70,000 and said that further budget decisions on sustaining the program would be part of future budget discussions.","City staff and Evoke Wellness described the provider\u000027s detox, residential and outpatient services for people referred by San Marcos Police Department and clarified that about $70,000 of a $150,000 ARPA contract remains available after an administrative error misreported the balance.","actionData","errors"]

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San Marcos Police present 2024 public-safety report; department outlines reforms, accreditation progress and new equipment

San Marcos staff, Evoke Wellness describe jail-diversion services; city clarifies ARPA contract balance