Abbott issues executive orders to improve reporting of suspicious activity
Gov. Greg Abbott announced eight executive orders Thursday in the wake of two Texas mass shootings that killed 29 within a month.
The executive orders focus primarily on directives for the Texas Department of Public Safety to improve reporting of suspicious activity and better train law enforcement.
The orders come on the heels of previous directives Abbott issued to DPS, and multiple task force and commission meetings on public safety and domestic terrorism in the wake of the Aug. 3 El Paso shooting that killed 22 people and Saturday’s rampage in Midland and Odessa that claimed seven.
Abbott will release a report on findings and recommendations from two Texas Safety Commission meetings next week, according to a news release.
While the orders did not address gun control measures, which dozens of Democratic lawmakers have called for, the news release noted that “legislative solutions are still needed.”
Abbott stressed that his work with the legislature on developing laws will focus on keeping guns “out of the hands of dangerous criminals, while safeguarding the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding Texans.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen announced this week the formation of House and Senate committees to recommend legislative solutions on a slew of issues to prevent future mass shootings in Texas.
In a statement Thursday afternoon, Bonnen said Abbott’s orders will “provide a roadmap for meeting that objective.”
“Texas must achieve several objectives to better protect our communities and our residents from mass shootings,” Abbott said in the news release. “One of those objectives is to marshal law enforcement resources to stop violent criminals before they commit mass murders. But more must be done.”
Ahead of both mass shootings, concerns were raised to law enforcement. The mother of the suspected gunman in the mass shooting in El Paso called the Allen Police Department to ask about her son’s firearm. And ahead of the Midland and Odessa shooting, the gunman called the FBI’s tip line, in addition to 911.
Executive orders
Within 30 days, DPS must develop standardized questions for Texas law-enforcement agencies to better identify whether information reported by a caller should be passed along to the Texas Suspicious Activity Reporting Network, in addition to guidance for when agencies should submit such reports.
Within 60 days, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement must make training available to educate law enforcement on the standards DPS develops.
DPS will work with the governor’s office to increase staff at Texas Fusion Centers so suspicious activity reports can be better monitored and responded to, in addition to analyzing social media “and other online forums, for potential threats.”
Beginning January 1, 2020, the governor’s office will also require counties receiving grants to ensure that they will report at least 90% of convictions to DPS’ Criminal Justice Information System within seven business days, with the number dropping to five business days starting January 1, 2021.
DPS is also tasked with establishing an initiative to raise awareness on how suspicious activity reports will be used to identity potential mass shooters or terroristic threats so the public is “more likely to report information about potential gunmen.”
In addition, Abbott directed DPS to collaborate with schools through the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to ensure school staff and families are informed about reports and how to submit them.
DPS is also directed to collaborate with schools, local law enforcement, mental-health experts and, if needed, federal partners, to create “multidisciplinary threat assessment teams for each of its regions.”
Threat assessments were also a measure included in sweeping school safety legislation that was signed into law in the wake of the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs.
Abbott’s executive orders supersede any previous executive orders on the matter, and will remain in place until Abbott or a succeeding governor chooses to modify them, according to the executive order.
This story was originally published September 5, 2019 at 12:48 PM.
