{"id":2008380,"date":"2023-08-22T16:41:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T20:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-says-austin-police-dept-battling-crime-spike-hundreds-of-officers-short-after-defund-the-police\/"},"modified":"2023-08-22T16:43:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T20:43:08","slug":"union-says-austin-police-dept-battling-crime-spike-hundreds-of-officers-short-after-defund-the-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-says-austin-police-dept-battling-crime-spike-hundreds-of-officers-short-after-defund-the-police\/","title":{"rendered":"Union claims Austin Police Dept struggling with crime surge, lacks hundreds of officers due to &#8216;Defund The Police&#8217; movement."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">38<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Funion-says-austin-police-dept-battling-crime-spike-hundreds-of-officers-short-after-defund-the-police%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2008380&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Austin Police Department Struggles to Keep Up \u200bwith Crime Spike<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Austin is battling \u200ca <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/crime\">crime<\/a> spike with a police \u2064department\u200c that is hundreds of officers short,\u2062 meaning 911 callers are \u200cgetting left on hold, according to a union representing the cops.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Austin Police Department currently stands at around 1,475 officers, and the growing city needs closer \u200bto 2,000\u200d in order\u2062 to be able \u2063to protect the\u200c city, said Thomas Villarreal, president of the \u2062Austin Police Association, a union representing officers of\u200d the Austin PD.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re moving in \u200bthe wrong direction. There\u2019s less and less resources to go out and \u200bdo the job,\u201d Villarreal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/austin-pd-hundreds-officers-short-crime-cripples-city-union-warns-resources\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> Fox News \u2062on\u200c Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Detectives in Austin have \u200bbeen pulled away\u2062 from their caseload to help answer 911 calls, and some sworn personnel have started\u200c answering emergency calls on an overtime basis, Villarreal said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnecdotally, on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday night when things \u200care\u200c hopping, it\u2019s not\u200b unusual for there to be multiple people put on \u200bhold for eight, 10, 12 or more minutes before you even get a\u2064 911 call taker,\u201d Villarreal said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then if it\u2019s that\u200c busy for \u2063the 911 call \u200btakers, then \u200dwith limited resources working the streets, it\u2019s at times hours before officers are \u200cgetting to some calls, especially the lower priority ones,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>While \u200doverall crime in Austin is slightly down from the highs of 2020\u2062 and 2021, certain\u200b types of offenses have spiked.<\/p>\n<h3>Crime Statistics:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Murder \u200brate remains high with \u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kxan.com\/news\/local\/austin\/austin-homicide-map-2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">at least<\/a> 41 homicides in 2023\u200d as of August 8.<\/li>\n<li>Car thefts\u200c are \u200dup 28% this year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.austintexas.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/files\/Police\/Reports\/Chief_Monthly\/2023\/08142023_Chief's%20Monthly%20Report%20-%20July%202023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according<\/a> to \u200bpolice data through July.<\/li>\n<li>Arson is up nearly 40%.<\/li>\n<li>Shoplifting is up 13%.<\/li>\n<li>Certain types of sexual assaults and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/12-state-human-trafficking-operation-ends-in-102-arrested-47-rescued\/\" title=\"12-state human trafficking operation ends in 102 arrested, 47 rescued\">human trafficking cases<\/a> \u2063have spiked \u2062as well.<\/li>\n<li>Aggravated\u2063 assaults are slightly down \u200dbut \u2064remain high\u2062 at 2,098.<\/li>\n<li>Simple assaults also \u2063remain high at 5,537.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In 2020, Austin\u2019s city council\u200c voted to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/austin-city-defund-the-police-budget\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">slash<\/a> the police department\u2019s \u200bbudget by $150 million, more than a third.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the defund proposal said the\u200b saved money would be reallocated to a \u201cReimagine Safety Fund,\u201d violence prevention, \u200bmental health, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/san-francisco-has-spent-billions-to-end-homelessness-and-its-been-a-total-disaster\/\" title=\"San Francisco Has Spent Billions To End Homelessness And It\u2019s Been A Total Disaster\">permanent supportive housing<\/a>, food \u200daccess, abortion, \u2062and an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-says-austin-police-dept-battling-crime-spike-hundreds-of-officers-short-after-defund-the-police\/\" title=\"Union claims Austin Police Dept struggling with crime surge, lacks hundreds of officers due to 'Defund The Police' movement.\">early childhood coordinator position<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b data-stringify-type=\"bold\"><\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just continue\u200d to have a city council that doesn\u2019t show its\u200d police officers\u2064 that it cares about them,\u201d Villarreal said.<\/p>\n<p>The police \u200cdepartment has lost more than 800\u200b officers in the last six years.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kxan.com\/news\/local\/austin\/austin-police-officer-faces-2nd-indictment-after-2020-protests-additional-officer-indicted\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">at least<\/a> 19 Austin \u200cpolice officers have been indicted\u200c for their actions on the\u2062 job during the riots of 2020. The officers were <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/death-of-george-floyd-police-austin-texas-indictments-5bfc57cb72a4cf9691ef49534249086e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">indicted<\/a> by a\u2064 Texas grand jury on\u2062 charges of aggravated\u200b assault with a\u200d deadly weapon. During the unrest, police\u200d shot beanbag \u2063rounds into crowds of protesters, \u2062and in one case, a protester sustained a cracked skull and brain damage.<\/p>\n<p>Other Democrat-run cities have also dealt with\u2063 the fallout \u2062from their \u200dpolice budget cuts.<\/p>\n<p>In San Francisco, Democratic Mayor London Breed <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/12\/15\/behind-london-breeds-defund-the-police-turnaround-in-san-francisco\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cut $120 million<\/a> from the San Francisco police \u2062and \u2063sheriff\u2019s budgets\u2064 in 2020, even though \u2063police warned the cut could \u2063affect their ability to respond \u2064to emergencies.<\/p>\n<p>By 2021 though, because \u200cthe police \u2062cuts had impacted the San Francisco police department\u2019s ability to respond to emergencies, Breed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/rising-crime-homelessness-leave-residents-of-san-francisco-and-oakland-on-edge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">flipped<\/a> \u2064on her\u200d decision.\u200d She made an\u200c emergency request\u200c to \u2062the Board of Supervisors for more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-worry-trumps-defund-the-fbi-push-could-hurt-their-crime-message\/\" title=\"Republicans worry Trump's 'defund the FBI' push could hurt their crime message\">law enforcement money<\/a> \u200dto crack down on crime, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rising-crime-homelessness-leave-residents-of-san-francisco-and-oakland-on-edge\/\" title=\"Residents of San Francisco and Oakland are increasingly anxious due to rising crime rates and homelessness.\">including open-air drug dealing<\/a>, car break-ins, and theft from stores.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>effectively respond to the increasing crime rates. As a result, residents in Austin are experiencing delays when calling 911, as the police department is understaffed by hundreds of officers. The union representing the cops highlights the urgent need to address this issue, as the current force of 1,475 falls short of the required 2,000 officers for the city&#8217;s safety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":2008381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2008380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2008380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2008381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2008380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2008380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2008380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}