San Marcos gathers feedback on police staffing, community safety
SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — As San Marcos continues to grow, city leaders want to ensure its police department keeps pace.
In May, city council members voted to set aside $116,000 to fund a study examining staffing levels and service needs within the San Marcos Police Department.
Matrix Consulting Group, the firm conducting the study, has already met with city officials and police staff. On Thursday and Saturday, the city hosted two public meetings to obtain feedback from the community.
“I believe it’s something extremely important that we have the right policemen on the street,” said Wayne Miller, who attended one of the meetings. “I believe we don’t communicate, and so we all have different ideas.”
Tim Donohoe, a consultant with Matrix Consulting Group, said his group has already collected a great deal of data – like calls for service and caseloads – and is analyzing it. He said resident feedback is important to get a comprehensive understanding of public safety in the city.
“Just analyzing data is one aspect of it,” Donohoe said. “These community meetings are set up to understand the community’s issues, what they want out of the police department. Really, it’s lending a voice to the data that we receive from the department.”
According to the city, crime levels have remained fairly steady over the last few years. So far this year, San Marcos has recorded 131 motor vehicle thefts. The typical annual range is from 160 to 230.
KXAN reported in July on a deadly shooting involving teenagers in downtown San Marcos. According to the city, the number of aggravated assaults in the downtown area has slightly increased over the last couple of years – there were eight in the first half of 2023, six in the first six months of 2024, and 13 during the first six months of 2025.
