- Vehicle pursuits by Texas state troopers and local law enforcement have killed at least 106 people and injured 301 in counties participating in Texas’ Operation Lone Star since the program began in 2021.
- High-speed chases have killed many people, including bystanders and children. Unfortunately, recent actions by the Trump administration and Texas Governor Greg Abbott to increase the role of state and local law enforcement in deportation efforts entrench the policies that allow for deadly vehicle pursuits to continue.
- Given the loss of life and human rights abuses associated with Operation Lone Star, the state legislature should end appropriations for the program.
In its analysis of pursuits from media sources, Human Rights Watch identified 10 people killed who were reportedly bystanders—not in the pursued vehicle—and 20 bystanders who were injured. The reports also included the deaths of two children—under the age of 18—including a bystander, and four children who were injured in a crash after a vehicle pursuit.
“These pursuits regularly occur in residential areas or in sensitive areas: around schools, places of worship, and hospitals,” El Paso County Commissioner David Stout said in an interview with Human Rights Watch. “DPS is often conducting pursuits at 80-100 miles per hour. They are putting our lives in danger. Comparing these policies to the Department of Justice and police departments shows that DPS is out of line with all of these other organizations and the best practices they implement.”
Sounds to me like the Department of Public Safety sure doesn’t give a flying fuck about public safety
If you’re gonna catch some criminals, you’re gonna have to crack a few kid skulls.
Besides, being a cop is mostly boring. Don’t they deserve to act like an action movie hero every once in a while? It can’t all just be shooting dogs and writing tickets.
