SAN ANTONIO — From prevention to arrests, the San Antonio Police Department Regional Auto Crimes Taskforce (ReACT) is on the case the moment a car gets stolen in the city.
Twelve of almost 30 positions on ReACT have been funded by grant money for 31 years—money that needs to be applied for annually.
"The first quarter of 2024, auto thefts in San Antonio were down almost 15%," said SAPD Sgt. Washington Moscoso, saying the decrease is compared to the same window of time in 2023. "It’s important to keep renewing every year so that we can keep doing the measures that we're doing to prevent auto thefts, recover the victim's vehicles and arrest offenders."
On Tuesday, the Public Safety Committee agreed to apply for a $1.4 million grant that would continue to fund critical positions.
"It’s really important that we have our auto theft task force out there on the streets doing this work, serving our citizens," said Melissa Cabello Havrda, City Council member and Public Safety Committee chair. "We needed this grant to be able to continue it."
The grant money also helps fund strategies to prevent cars from being stolen, whether it's tire lock distributions, etching vin numbers on parts or adding new technology.
"They're able to track the hotspots, as you will, of our vehicles that are being stolen at these locations," Moscoso said.
City Council still needs to approve the grant application. The request will be on the consent agenda for June's meeting.
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