Police impostor pulled drivers over citing the new order
By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News
As Travis County Sheriff’s Office strives to keep up with the local and statewide ordinances put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus, they hope that voluntary compliance works rather than ticketing people.
“Our goal is to have voluntary compliance from everybody that lives in our community,” said
Maj. Craig Smith, TCSO law enforcement. “We know that this is something really serious and know how potentially dangerous this is. I hope that everyone realizes how serious this is.”
Last week Gov. Greg Abbott issued another statewide order to extend limits on nonessential activity through April 30. As has been the case for a couple of weeks now, buying groceries, fuel and medicine are essential among healthcare, law enforcement and a handful of other jobs. The latest ordinance was announced March 31 with the goal of greatly limiting personal interactions that could lead to the spread of the coronavirus.
Although the order is helping, the virus is spreading in the county. As of April 1, there were 305 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Travis County and three deaths compared to a dozen cases just two weeks prior.
“The order does give us the ability to issue citations as well as make arrests but clearly that is not where we’re wanting to go with this,” Smith said. “It’s more about education and hoping for voluntary compliance.”
Any law enforcement officer can enforce the order and violations are punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or jail time of up to 180 days.
“I believe there still will be occasions where people are violating the order and we’ll deal with those on a case by case basis because it is still going to be very difficult for me to say what’s going to happen if someone chooses to gather or do something that’s a violation of the order,” Smith said.
According to Smith, the sheriff’s office and other law enforcement agencies including constables are all working together.
Although Smith said it is too early to tell what the shifts in crime trends will be since the shelter-in-place ordinance was first enacted March 24, there were several new incidents last week relating to the new mandates.
On the morning of March 25, a law enforcement impostor was pulling drivers over mostly in the area of HWY 130 between FM 812 and Gattis School Road, said Kristen Dark, Travis County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson.
TCSO received numerous complaints from people who reported that a large, unmarked black SUV like a Tahoe or Escalade pulled them over. Dark said the SUV had red and blue lights on it but it was completely unmarked.
“In each report, the caller said a male walked to the back bumper of their vehicle and refused to get any closer. The man claimed to be a Travis County Sheriff’s Office deputy and told the drivers to go home, citing the Stay Home/Work Safe Ordinance,” Dark said. “When the drivers attempted to present paperwork identifying themselves as essential employees along with their driver’s licenses, the man refused to look at the documents and ordered the drivers to go home immediately.”
TCSO has not located the man connected to these crimes yet.
Dark shared that traffic stops are conducted by fully marked TCSO units and that deputies wear their uniforms, will come to the window and will accept identification.
“If anyone is concerned they are being pursued by someone who may not be a legitimate peace officer, they are advised to put their hazard lights on so the officer will know they’re complying, then call 911 to verify that a legitimate traffic stop is happening,” Dark said.
Including the imposter case and beyond, Travis County wants to keep the community as safe as possible on many fronts right now.
“We are taking extra measures to only make arrests when it is absolutely necessary,” Smith said. One reason for this to keep out any potential new cases of COVID-19 into the jail.
“The most important thing right now is communication,” Smith said. “…and to be as consistent as possible.”
Efforts in Travis Co. jails regarding COVID-19
Extensive measures are being taken at both the Travis County Jail and the Travis County Correctional Complex in an effort to protect against an outbreak of COVID-19 among inmates and staff, according to Kristen Dark, Travis County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. She issued this press release.
Protecting inmates and staff from viral outbreaks is nothing new for our jail system. Whether it be the flu, a “stomach bug” or the common cold, we work to keep the facilities clean and sterilize common areas to prevent the spread of illness. COVID-19 is certainly on the minds of all inside our jail facilities and keeping a clean, sterile environment is something our staff is even more committed to.
Sanitization of central booking is occurring three times a shift. This includes all flat surfaces and common touchpoints. Hand sanitizer is available to all at the entrance and throughout the facility and a sink has been installed in the sally port so anyone may wash their hands when entering or exiting the building.
Everyone entering our secure correctional perimeters, including employees, is being screened at the entrance and anyone with a temperature of 99.6 or greater is not allowed into the facility.
When arrestees are brought to central booking, they’re asked a series of questions according to CDC recommendations. Anyone suspected of COVID-19 symptoms is isolated. Medical staff triage the inmate and if deemed necessary, isolation is continued.
Our doctors follow Austin Public Health guidelines and COVID-19 tests are administered to inmates by our physicians based on those guidelines. Inmates needing isolation are being housed away from the rest of the population in negative air flow cells.
To date, there have been inmates who have been quarantined for observation.
We will continue to work with all entities to minimize traffic into our facility. We are changing our procedures anytime there is a new recommendation by CDC, state, county or jail standards.