Highland Village police present 2024 racial-profiling compliance report; council accepts as part of consent agenda

The Highland Village Police Department presented its 2024 racial-profiling annual compliance report to the Highland Village City Council during the council's Feb. 11 meeting; council members accepted the report as part of the consent agenda. The presentation was delivered during the council's early work session and the report was included on the consent agenda for the regular meeting that evening.

The report was prepared to meet requirements in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Sections 2.131–2.138 and must be submitted to the council before the end of March. The department said it recorded 3,965 motor-vehicle stops in 2024, with most occurring on state highways within the city. Officers reported that in 98.71% of stops the officer did not know the race of the person before initiating the stop. The department uses mobile citation software and body-worn cameras to capture required data, and it retains body-worn camera video for 90 days in accordance with state law.

Key counts stated by department staff: 3,965 traffic stops; 2,499 stops on one state highway and 407 on another (as presented); 1,594 stops involving females and 2,371 involving males; 83 vehicle searches with contraband found in 54 of those searches; contraband categories listed included alcohol, currency, drugs, stolen property and weapons; 875 written citations issued and 3,039 written warnings; seven citations were accompanied by arrests and 21 arrests were due to contraband found during searches; department staff reported four instances of officer use of physical force in traffic-related contacts, including one instance in which an officer was injured.

The department described internal review practices meant to guard against bias, including monthly supervisor video reviews of body-worn camera footage, a complaint-and-compliment intake process on the city website, and upward reporting through the chain of command for training and accountability. Council members asked whether the report accounts for the city's overall racial composition and whether stops on state highways — which bring many nonresidents through the city — affect comparisons between stop demographics and resident demographics; department staff said the system can extrapolate resident-only data but that the state-required report does not separate resident and nonresident stops.

The council voted to receive the department's annual compliance report as part of the consent agenda (Consent Agenda items 11–14 with #17 added). The item was approved during the regular meeting that evening and recorded as accepted by the council.

The report and the department's stated review practices will be part of the city's record for state compliance and local oversight; the department noted the annual submission deadline and the body-worn-camera retention schedule as compliance milestones.