Austin council cuts APD budget
The Austin City Council unanimously adopts a new budget slashing Austin Police Department’s budget and staffing levels. In the process, the council is pledging to remove and re-invest $150 million police dollars by the end of the new fiscal year into other resources. Council Member Kathie Tovo believes it to be a good first step.
“We need structural and cultural change with regard to public safety, not just in Austin but in departments across the nation, and I’m committed to working alongside my colleagues for that change,” Tovo says.
The budget also pushes investments in homelessness and social service efforts.
Governor Greg Abbott is very unhappy with the City of Austin for its decision. In a statement, the governor vows to address the issue in the next legislative session. He says public safety should be priority number one and that the city council has abandoned that duty. DPS troopers are now on the standby and ready to fill in the gaps that will be left by the council’s decision. Austin’s police chief is pledging that some things won’t change despite the changes being made at APD. Chief Brian Manley says, of the challenges presented by council’s cuts, the loss of 150 officer positions is the most pressing. They will make sure patrols are not affected.
“If you call 911, our officers will respond. That is one thing I know is in the hearts and minds of our police officers, and they are committed to serve this community, and I do not expect that to change, and we will ensure that we do everything we can to have adequate resources on patrol to address those calls for service,” Manley says.
They will be looking at specialized divisions in the department and pulling out officers as needed to make sure all calls for service are answered.
Austin Police Chief Brian Manley’s predecessor calls the city council’s decision “incredulous.” Art Acevedo, now the chief in Houston, tells CBS Austin that what the council has done will have lasting impacts on public safety and only criminals will benefit.
“The economic engine that drives that great city, that provides the quality parts, the quality libraries, the quality of life that we’ve enjoyed. It’s going to go by the wayside,” says Acevedo.
Acevedo says city council who were pandering to anti-cop activists are forcing away good cops, and he’s hopeful that won’t drive away Chief Brian Manley as well.
Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush shared a video on Twitter showing multiple cars, trucks and SUVs with smashed back windows. Bush says it all happened in the parking garage of the General Land Office downtown, just hours after the council cut the police budget. He claims it’s further proof that the city does need more police officers.
Black Caucus limits use of force and bans chokeholds
The Texas Legislative Black Caucus rolled out legislation to limit the use of force by police and hold them accountable. The caucus was joined on Zoom by members of George Floyd’s family. Caucus Chair Harold Dutton says now is the time for actions.
“We’re here to open up that road to equal justice for all of Texans, including black Texans and brown Texans,” the bill would do away with the qualified immunity of police and ban chokeholds.
“We would hold officers accountable by allowing state lawsuits for violations of rights.” State Rep Senfronia Thompson says it would even require police to police themselves, “and to rescue those in perils of death injury, even at the hands of other officers.”
Project Connect
The ball is now in the court of Austin voters when it comes to a new tax rate to fund the $7.1 billion local portion of the Project Connect public transit overhaul. Mayor Steve Adler says it’s a citywide rapid transit system that has been needed for generations.
“It expands service for central workers, reduces climate change ambitions, decreases traffic fatalities and provides access to schools, health care jobs, and the airport,” says Adler.
Voters in November will decide on that near nine cent increase. That would cost the average homeowner an extra $344 a year in property taxes
COVID-19 update.
In Travis County, 263 people are in the hospital as of this morning. That is a drop of 12 from a day ago. Also, the number of people in the ICU and on a ventilator has gone down slightly. Nearly 200 more recoveries have been tallied over the past 24 hours. That number is up to 22,255. There have been a total of 23,718 cases confirmed since March.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-8-14-20
