The following report is by The New York Post:
Texas’ woke capital, Austin, is in the midst of a policing crisis with over 300 vacancies and cops quitting because they feel disrespected, multiple sources tell The Post.
We’re right there with Portland and Seattle and San Francisco as being one of those places where if you’re at all conservative or in law enforcement, it’s become a hostile place.
Lt. Brian Moon, who retired last month, told The Post of the city he protected for 23 years
Another 77 officers are expected to retire before the end of March — on top of 264 existing vacancies, according to the Austin Police Association.
Austin Police Department’s staffing is so bad, 911 calls are being redirected to the 311 non-emergency number because there aren’t enough cops to solve crimes.
If you come home and find your home burglarized, calls like that are now going to 311. You’re not getting a police response to many property crimes if it’s not a violent crime that is currently ongoing.
Said police union president Thomas Villarreal
The beleaguered department has also pulled detectives from solving cases to act as patrol officers, Berry said.
Moody, a former watch commander, started working for the Austin Police Department in 1999 and says things have dramatically changed. In 2021, the city recorded a record 88 homicides and although that number decreased in 2022, the first six months of the year saw dramatic increases in the number of rapes, with 179, and almost 2,000 aggravated assaults, according to local news site KAXN.
You could see that the city’s attitude towards its police department had started to shift and, personally speaking, I didn’t feel that the city was really appreciating us the way they used to.
Moon told The Post Thursday.
Austin had always been a pretty liberal-leaning city, but it was pro-law enforcement at the same time. They expected us to do things the right way, obviously, but they weren’t hyper-critical like they became.
In 2020, the city council voted to defund cops by $150 million, slashing their budget by a third in the months after protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of the police, which sparked protests and clashes with the cops in Austin.
Elected officials also nixed three cadet classes and cut 150 officers from the budget.
Last year, the local district attorney announced the indictment of 19 police officers accused of using excessive force against protesters in the 2020 protests.
It almost felt like there was a target — like the District Attorney’s Office and the city was looking for an opportunity to do something to you, to prosecute you or fire you, no matter if you did it right or did it wrong.
Moon stated
In 2021, Austin chose to refund the cops, after it was told it would face losing its ability to raise taxes or annex land under a state law that was enacted to deter cities from taking money away from law enforcement.
Austin should have about 2,000 police officers for a city its size, but instead is only authorized to have 1,825 — although its current staffing levels are far below that, the police union claimed.
“Who wants to work for someone that belittles you and demonizes you,” Justin Berry, a current officer who was among those indicted in 2022, told The Post.
Potentially piling on the progressive policies, city voters will get to decide if they want to create a police accountability office later this year.
Mayor Kirk Watson has admitted the city has “unacceptably long waits” for police in a previous statement to The Post. Watson did not respond to a request for comment on upcoming cop retirements.
The Austin PD told The Post it didn’t want to speculate on the number of officers who are about to retire, but said in a statement:
Our officers work hard every day to provide a safer environment with the resources we have at hand.
We will continue strategizing about providing safety to the community and with other tasks ranging from patrol to investigations.
At times, entire areas of the city are left unpatrolled while the few officers who are working respond to a large incident.
A homicide comes out or a shooting comes out, that’s going to tie up every officer available.
Berry explained.
A recent night of chaos caused by street racers set an example for what residents can expect, according to Moon. The drivers shut down intersections, driving dangerously and even setting people on fire.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
Even though Austin is the subject of this report, all over the country police departments are thinning out. Ever since 2020 funding for most police stations and officers have been cut, and very few are willing to even join because of the heavy scrutinization they know they will get. On top of that you have the Covid vaccine mandates that forced a lot more officers, paramedics, firefighters, etc., out of the sector because of their refusal to get the shots.
Policing in the U.S. is a very contentious thing, and both leading parties and extremes are in the wrong in my view. One side wants to continually downplay the massive corruption, evil, and insidiousness of a LOT of these stations, and continue to unflaggingly cheerlead for the Thin Blue Line; while the other side wants to demonize cops as a whole and defund them if not entirely, as they riot, loot, and murder.
SEE: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Says To ‘Not Use Money’ And Not Carry Cash To Reduce Crime In The City
There are no viable solutions and the whole thing is corrupted. You need to rely on yourself for protection. And when I say that I am not discounting the Lord, for he is the only true source of absolute protection; but what I am saying is you need to not rely on the system to help you because it won’t. You need to take measures into your own hands and take preventive actions to protect yourself and your loved ones. As the country spirals out of control and into destitution and desolation this will be imperative and a necessity.
[10] The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. [11]There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. [12] In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. Isaiah 24:10-12
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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It’s so ironic that the most hardcore conservative gun loving state, which is Texas, has such a woke leftist liberal capital.
I’ve been to Austin many times, and I used to enjoy it as a child and a teenager, but now it just feels bleak and unwelcoming.
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