The Austin Police Department has been asking the city council for funding to increase its staffing levels for years, and now Chief Brian Manley has gone before the Public Safety Commission to make his case.
According to Manley, the department is currently 84 officers short — a problem that has been compounded by the lack of a contract with the City of Austin.
“We saw a lot of officers leave in December when the contract was expiring because there were some provisions in there that went away that were financial,” Manley told the commission.
Through a five-year plan, Manley hopes to have 168 new officers in place, including detectives, the ranks of which have been dwindling, too.
“We’re putting more street officers out there to handle the calls and the demand, but on the back-end we have not necessarily addressed the calls and the need for more investigators,” he said.
Manley’s plea is the latest push following years of requests from APD for more funding to staff the department fully. Ultimately, the decision will fall in the hands of the 10-1 city council, which has consistently been reluctant to free up enough money within the annual budget to approve the hiring of the number of officers the police department has asked for.
