Chronicle Endorses Sheriff Focusing Mainly on His Support of Citation Option

In endorsing Greg Hamilton for Sheriff, the Austin Chronicle agrees with us that APD is "dragging its feet" on implementation of the Citation Option. Here is part of the endorsement (bold added):

"Travis Co. Sheriff: Greg Hamilton

"Although incumbent Hamilton has recently been criticized for allowing too-generous jail access to federal immigration authorities, he has otherwise held hands off on immigration enforcement, saying it would detract from fighting crime, and he has in general continued and expanded the better traditions of local law enforcement in recent years. Specifically, his office quickly adopted the "cite-and-release" option for minor offenses made available under state law while the Austin Police Department was still dragging its feet – and he no doubt had an influence on the larger department to get with the program. ...."