Commentaries at the San Antonio Report provide space for our community to share perspectives and offer solutions to pressing local issues. The views expressed in this commentary belong to the author alone.
San Antonio stands at an important precipice for reimagined public safety.
With a newly appointed police chief for the first time in 20 years. Chief Jesse Salame’s leadership inherits decades of community mistrust, with the added baggage of qualifying the recent council and union approved $102.3 million, three-year police contract, as San Antonio faces a potential $158 million dollar budget shortfall.
Regardless of this contract’s approval, Act 4 SA still urges the community, council, and city leadership to move forward with an independent audit.
The new contract commits $15.4 million in new spending in year one and increases to $57.9 million by fiscal year 2029, all while the city’s shortfall prepares for cuts to city staffing, programming, and basic community infrastructure needs. Audits reveal wasteful spending and practices that mitigate internal SAPD procedures and policies to enhance optimal financial efficiency within their new contract.
Contrary to perception, Act 4 SA is not against SAPD. We are for systemic justice and a reimagined public safety system where policing is not the default nor the replacement for sound infrastructure, economic advancement, safe public spaces, quality education, and affordable housing.
We appreciate Deputy City Manager María Villagómez and Chief Salame taking time to sit down with families who lost loved ones to police violence during the first week on the job to share stories and reform ideas. However, Act 4 SA remains clear-eyed about our mission.
SAPD continues to hold one of the highest rates of officer involved shootings and discharges of firearms leading to injury or death in the state amongst the major Texas metros. A new chief does not erase this record. So, while we are hopeful and appreciative, we are ready to see how Chief Salame will address this very serious problem.
As San Antonio’s largest single expense will grow by nearly $58 million, increased salaries for administrative costs now shift more healthcare costs onto officers. We question this decision because expenses could have covered healthcare for officers, as well as, mental health support to ensure we have physically and mentally healthy SAPD officers on our streets. Act 4 SA supports affordable and accessible healthcare for officers and every worker in San Antonio. This new contract is not a win for SAPD nor our community. An audit mitigates oversights like this.
Also, what is the criteria of a “good cop” in this new contract? What is the community’s assurance that we will not end up with dismissed problematic individuals every two years under this new re-hire addendum in the contract?
We ask the community to join Act 4 SA to urge an independent audit effective immediately. In conversations, Chief Salame supports an audit to improve SAPD procedures and save money. So, together, let’s motivate leadership to include in this audit:
Audit all SAPD compensation, including overtime and the downstream cost exposure that every officer involved shooting creates. In fiscal year 2024, SAPD overtime blew past its budget by 94 percent, with $34.4 million spent against $17.8 million budgeted. The audit must include the costs of litigation and settlement spending tied to use of force over the last decade, internal affairs costs for OIS investigations, paid leave for officers in shootings, and the link between officer overtime hours and use of force incidents. SAPD maintains these records.
Audit contracts and procurement. In the 2026 procurement budget, San Antonio allocated $35 million in additional procurement funding outside of the previous $158 million Police Contract that we’re aware of, often with vendors and contractors outside of San Antonio.
Audit federal and state grant funding to ensure temporary money does not lock us into permanent spending or compromise sanctuary protections.
Mandate independent audits every three years, timed to police contract negotiations. The union contract controls roughly 85 percent of the SAPD budget, yet the public only sees base salary.
Publish all findings within 30 days and tie implementation to the budget to prevent performative-paperwork exercises. Houston found up to $750 million in savings across 22 departments without layoffs. Our problem is not resources. It is the refusal to demand transparency from the largest funded department in our city.
No community member should ignore the connection between the financial audit and the public safety crisis. When SAPD blows past its overtime budget by 94 percent and ranks first per officer among major Texas cities for firearm injury discharges, those facts are not coincidental. They are connected. The National Policing Institute noted in January 2026 that 17 hours awake equals a 0.05 blood alcohol level.
As the Executive Director of Act 4 SA, I have been consistent in sharing the message that excessive overtime creates tired cops. Continuing to demand an audit while reimagining public safety is not a policy preference. An audit protects good officers, community members, and establishes long standing returns on investments where resources prioritize community-led safety that builds trust, shrinks the overcriminalization of poverty and mental illness, and roots public safety in prevention, health, and mutual support. Establishing an independent audit ensures that officers have the space to do the work they are trained for, reduces burnout, and lowers the risk of fatal encounters for everyone on scene.
Intentional Public safety is a matter of investment, and every dollar directed toward housing, healthcare, and crisis response is a dollar spent on prevention rather than tragedy. Accountability, trust, and public health are shared goals. Building a public safety system that reflects these values is the work ahead. We need a public safety system built by and for the communities most harmed.
The door is open. Act 4 SA remains steadfast, holding the door open for the families who lost their loved ones and the neighbors who have been harmed by police brutality. Audit the budget. Reimagine public safety. Build the system from the community, not from the corner of the badge under the guise of a budget shortfall.
San Antonio deserves nothing less.
