Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, October 19, 2010,
Item 19
19 is consider and take appropriate action on request of authorize Travis County constable precinct 3 to purchase a chevy van, vin number igceg 25 h 9 k 7169133 for $1,000 from the Texas department of public safety. Mr. Suits.
>> stacy suits, chief deputy constable, Travis County constable for precinct 3.
>> to what use this ban be put?
>> it will be used for various activities with the project.
>> and what is the source of funding?
>> initially it would be our general fund line item and we're going to go back after the grant has been released and ask for general fund expenditure be reclassified and charged back to the grant.
>> the fraudulent inspector -- inspection sticker.
>> yes. Clean scanning and sale of fraudulent, counterfeit inspection certificates.
>> this says the van has 54,000 miles on it.
>> yes.
>> questions?
>> my -- the money is nominal, is not a concern to me as much as the use of the -- the planned use for it. I just wondered if you have a specific operations plans for this. I know that we had recently precinct 3 operated a sting operation in another constable precinct that was -- drew some concerns from some people, so I just wondered few have a plan of action for this because I知 not sure I知 comfortable just ad hocly knowing that you are going to do this and what are your coordination plans with other law enforcement on this.
>> well, we've been deconflicting with d.p.s. And a.p.d. On this. There's a center out of san antonio that -- that we follow up racial transit, be sure we're not bumping into anybody's operations. At a certain point here, let me -- if we're going to get in really great deal on this, this really has to go to executive session because I feel real uncomfortable talking about undercover operations in open court.
>> I understand.
>> but let me assure you, we do have operational plans. We have other surveillances and other actions that we're planning on executing, and the great thing about this van is it's already set up. You know, we've got 100-degree plus summers in Texas, it has a battery operated fan. So it's just -- it helps matters along a lot better than having a deputy sit out in a hot car in the summer with no air conditioning -- idling when it's ozone action time surveilling one of these operations. We think this is a very good operation. We think that protecting the environment in this town should be a full-time operation. It's not a part-time law enforcement operation, and we're committed to protecting the air quality in this county.
>> well, it would be grant funds available to reimburse us the thousand dollars, and I think we would be able to charge operating and maintenance costs against the grant as long as that grant funding is available and this vehicle is used for that purpose.
>> yes, sir.
>> those have to be invoices submitted to the state and approved, but that's why the grant dollars are there. What's new and different is that it would -- we would be able to purchase this from d.p.s., although for a modest amount. Apparently d.p.s. Will auction it off unless we want to purchase it. So but what I hear you saying is there's a need to coordinate precinct 3 constable activities with the activities of the other constables in Travis County.
>> actually in fairness to stacy, several of my questions would be more appropriate in executive session.
>> and this will be -- will the security exception cover this?
>> it could, yes. Or advice of counsel, if you want to get advice of counsel on legal issues.
>> all right.
>> I have questions that are nonlegal or law enforcement -- specific law enforcement activity related. I am curious as to whether constable 3 has any of its pops employees listed as detectives.
>> no.
>> are there any -- is there a criminal investigation division within constable 3?
>> we have a team put together.
>> is there -- what level of undercover operations is constable 3 embarked upon previously?
>> I revoke the executive session.
>> I can leave that in executive session. Although, of course, I知 only asking of previous stuff, not the current. Would that qualify? For executive session if I知 asking for previous activities?
>> it may.
>> okay. I can leave it as an executive session item. What coordination, if any, has the constables -- when we voted this grant, we had discussion about coordination between tcso and the constables' office. What coordination if any has constable 3 been engaged with tcso?
>> you can ask the question the other way around in executive session.
>> I知 asking it now.
>> very little.
>> has there been any coordination with the environmental detectives of tcso?
>> not to my knowledge.
>> do we have -- and this may be a question more appropriate for --
>> I do know they haven't gone to dallas and trained with the dallas county people to specialize in this.
>> my next question may be more appropriate to mike joyce but I値l ask it of you too. Do you know, do you have an estimate -- do you know the maintenance history and an estimate of the maintenance and replacement cost of equipment for this particular van?
>> no.
>> okay.
>> it's got 54,000 miles. It obviously has not been driven very much over the years and we expect to have the same low mileage that the d.p.s. Had with it due to the special use of it.
>> okay. Mike, do you have any estimates or know the maintenance history or an estimate of the cost or equipment replacement cost for this van?
>> no, I do not.
>> do any other constables have surveillance vehicles?
>> not to my knowledge.
>> does tcso have surveillance vehicles? Of course, I wouldn't want a description of them.
>> they have a few.
>> okay. Has the -- is this an issue that has been discussed by the vehicle users committee?
>> well, not discussed from the vehicle users committee. We did throw out a quick email in a rush to get their feel of how they thought, and there was -- at the time, there was some questions about the quickness and not understanding all the scenarios and understanding the whole ops of the situation. But we did get a passing vote on it at the end.
>> okay. I suppose the -- I should probably vet the remainder of my questions for executive session because they are more detailed as to what kind of surveillance equipment and then reserve the ability to ask any other questions in open court if they are not covered by the security or the attorney client exception.
>> but other departments have undercover vehicles besides the sheriff's office.
>> that's all.
>> what about investigators?
>> in the sheriff's office or --
>> in other departments other than the sheriff's office.
>> they drive maybe a -- unmarked vehicle.
>> departments other than the sheriff's office, though.
>> we have a couple, county attorney's office I believe has a few unmarked vehicles, but they are just regular sedans that they run on the street. It's not like a dodge and it doesn't have a bunch of equipment in it.
>> no other surveillance vehicles outside tcso.
>> correct.
>> by the way, I would like to interject before we take this up in executive session, I hear a lost question and talks about the process and who is supposed to do this and who is supposed to do that. We need to stop playing local football with this and enforce our air quality laws. And in particular stop this operation in this county.
>> well, is precinct 3 commitment that this car is intended for the air quality work that the state grant would cover? And I guess if that were to change, you would come back and let us know?
>> it's straight up for that. We have no intention of getting in the narcotics business.
>> judge, if I recall, that there has been a newspaper story, I believe, and there may have been others, I can't recall, but I think what was pointed out there was the consumer protection as well that was being provided to folks who were getting the stickers that were not proper. And they are not going to say anything and so I think one of the other things that you do is go after the folks who actually give the stickers. And there may be some deal going on that the ordinary consumer is not aware of. And so in addition to the air quality, I think there's some consumer protection going on here. The other thing is I just recall from the old days of being a constable, and each one of us will reach a -- make a decision of where we want to concentrate our efforts. Some of us wanted to make sure that the civil paper was conducted in a good manner and treated people with respect. And we did that. Other officers at the same time were working on other issues that -- that -- and I wasn't interested in being involved in, but that didn't give me the feeling that I needed to stop that other office from doing what they felt they could do better, especially for the consumers. So I think that we're trying to make all of these offices fit as a cookie cutter of making them all one way. It gist doesn't work that way. Different precincts have different needs from their elected officials. And so that's the way I responded. We delivered the civil paper, we executed criminal warrants, and then -- but we did it, and there was a tremendous need in precinct 4 for people to be respected and that they not be pushed around by law enforcement and that they were listened to, that they were shown how to take care of that process, and it was, and we still were able to collect revenue for the county. But I just don't remember us ever being, you know, we all had to fit the same cookie cutter. And so I think that's what I perceive a little bit about what's happening now, but I think if precinct 3 can do that job well, if some of the other precincts want to join in, well, great. We're protecting more consumers and doing more to protect the environment. But anyway, I値l be ready for executive session.
>> we announced this for executive session. We have other executive items plus a hearing that will start at 2:30. We'll get to this as soon as we can.
>> okay.
>> so speaking of executive session, one other item before we go to executive session,
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, October 19, 2010 2:33 PM
