State’s Largest Law Enforcement Union Seeks Help for Officers Dealing with Border Crisis

AUSTIN — Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT), the state’s largest law enforcement union, is urging Governor Greg Abbott to consider three emergency items during the upcoming Special Called Legislative Session to assist with the border crisis and state-wide officer and public safety.

“When you are talking border crisis in Texas, who do you think is ultimately dealing with the residual effects of it all?” asks CLEAT President Marvin Ryals, a Lieutenant in the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department. “Who deals with the chaos, the criminals, and lawlessness? Of course, it’s us, Texas law enforcement officers all across the state.”

Having met with the governor’s office about these items previously, Ryals and his senior team are bringing the issues back to the forefront due to the rising issues along the border and a recent surge in violence by repeat offenders.

“Bail reform is an emergency item. We’ve had TEN Texas law enforcement officers shot in the line of duty in the last six weeks. ALL of the suspects involved were violent, repeat criminal offenders out on LOW or NO bond(s), and/or had charges dismissed ranging from narcotics, violent crimes, to firearms charges,” stated Ryals.

“Another issue is the banning of certain munitions by these Soros-backed, WOKE District Attorneys in places like Austin. Officers can save lives if they are allowed to use less-than-lethal means to stop dangerous and suicidal subjects, but the anti-police legislators killed a bill during session that would have protected the use of these valuable tools without exposing officers to prosecution for simply doing their jobs. That is definitely connected back to fighting the liberals who want open borders and free rein for criminals,“ he said.

“And lastly, convicted criminals, who aren’t even required to be U.S. Citizens are able to sit on police oversight boards and actually direct public safety policy,” said Ryals. “We would like to note that these three legislative items passed the Senate and were killed by a Democrat in the last few hours of the 88th legislative session on the House floor.”

CLEAT, which represents over 27,000 law enforcement officers throughout Texas, states that these emergency items are critical to both public safety and officer safety, and need to be addressed during the Special Session.

“These three issues all passed various stages of the legislative process last session and had broad-based support. We need to revisit these items to make sure our claims of being serious about solving the border crisis are real and true,” said Charley Wilkison, CLEAT’s Executive Director.

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