Austin police will no longer arrest or ticket residents for personal marijuana possession

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Police Department announced on Thursday that it will no longer issue citations or arrest residents for misdemeanor personal marijuana possession.

A memo from Police Chief Brian Manley reads:

“APD will no longer cite or arrest individuals with sufficient identification for Class A or Class B misdemeanor “possession of marijuana” offenses, unless there is an immediate threat to a person’s safety or doing so as part of the investigation of a high priority, felony-level narcotics case or the investigation of a violent felony.”

Back in January, the Austin City Council passed a resolution that effectively directed APD to “eliminate” the use of arrest unless under the threat of personal safety.

The Thursday announcement indicates that APD will has revised its policies to comply with the council’s resolution.

Manley’s memo explains that the shift away from arresting and citing Austinites for low-level possession happened due to other statewide decisions as well. He points to a June 10, 2019, Texas House bill that authorized the production, manufacturing and sale of hemp crops and products.

Shortly after, the Texas Department of Public Safety issued would prioritize
resources on processing felony cases and not accept misdemeanor marijuana cases for analysis.

Manley says that citations decreased dramatically from 2017 (1,557) to 2019 (332) and that arrests decreased from 319 in 2017 to 54 in 2019.

Austin City Council member Greg Casar reacted in a statement, commending the move toward racial justice in law enforcement, saying:

“As recently as 2017, Black Austinites were seven times more likely to be arrested for possession of marijuana than white Austinites, even though cannabis is used at the same rate across races. Thousands of our residents have needlessly been arrested for marijuana possession in recent years.”