In the aftermath of George Floyd’s May 25, 2020, murder by the Minneapolis Police Department, a sustained mass movement has swept across the country calling for the defunding of local police departments and reinvesting those funds in public safety, health, and community-led programs. As many of us have seen in recent years, the Texas State University Police Department (UPD) has failed to ensure widespread safety by targeting Black and Brown TXST students and by failing to prevent and solve crimes. 

In fiscal year 2021, UPD has a operating budget of $4,134,409.16. In addition, during a world health and economic crisis, the University has started construction on a new UPD building which has an estimated project cost of $9 million. To be fair, UPD will move from the Nueces Building in the central part of the San Marcos Campus to create space for an accessible Academic Testing Center that is more conveniently located for students with disabilities. The current testing center is not accessible for those with disabilities that impact mobility. We understand building the new Academic Testing Center will be beneficial for students with disabilities. However, we believe UPD does not serve a nine-million-dollar purpose on our campus; building a new UPD building in this time of an economic and health crisis is an irresponsible use of money that does not serve all students or the greater university community. 

In contrast, Institutional Inclusive Excellence-Student Initiatives—which now falls under the umbrella of the new Division of University Administration and “leads the University in cultivating equitable opportunities and experiences to empower underrepresented Bobcats while educating the diverse student body to thrive in an evolving global society”—only has a operating budget of $695,798.35 for the 2021 fiscal year. It appears that the UPD and TXST do not have their priorities in order. Having said that, it is also not clear to us why TXST has its own police force on campus when the San Marcos Police Department and the Hays County Sheriff’s Office are both so very close. If we may be very blunt, why does the UPD exist?

UPD prides itself on serving with integrity, respect, transparency, and innovation, but this does not translate to how they have treated Black and Brown students in the past. There have been two instances where marginalized students have been brutally arrested for protesting against systems of white supremacy. Four students were arrested in the spring of 2018, and four more students were arrested in the spring of 2019. These two examples alone demonstrate how the presence of a police entity on campus does not protect and serve Black and Brown students or ensure an inclusive and equitable Texas State for all Bobcats.

For these reasons above, the Texas State University NAACP no longer finds it necessary to have an overfunded and unnecessary UPD that continues to harm Black and Brown students and neither prevents or solves campus crime. 

We unequivocally demand that Texas State University:

1. Cease all construction of the new Texas State UPD Building;
2. Implement a robust Differential Response System devoid of university police officers by the end of the 2020-2021 Academic School Year;
3. Begin immediately defunding the Texas State University Police Department so that it can be dismantled by 2023;
4. Reinvest these funds into: 
   a). Institutional Inclusive Excellence-Student Initiatives; 
   b). the hiring and retention of Black faculty and staff, across all areas of campus, especially the hiring of Black professors to teach courses offered under the undergraduate minor in African American Studies; c). underrepresented student organizations; d).
   scholarships for Black and Brown students and the new Black & Latinx LLC ; e). hiring more Black counselors and social workers; f). 
   expanding the Restorative Justice Practices of Life Anew to broader parts our university; and g). and San Marcos organizations that protect, serve, and uplift Black and Brown communities;
5. Devoid of UPD Security Services, expand the escort hours provided by Bobcat Bobbies from 6 p.m. till 2 a.m. to 6 p.m. till 6 a.m., as well as ensuring van transportation is an option, and escorts continue in moderate weather conditions;
6. Continue the TXST Alert system devoid of UPD with a racially/ethnically, victim, and public cautious and serving approach; and
7. Ensure Lost and Found continues devoid of UPD management. 
8. Continue the Security and Personal Safety Committee devoid of UPD