Texas Capital grapples with police patrol man — Mayor’s Security Detail Unaffected, #Texas #Capital #Struggles #Man #Police #Patrols #Mayors #Security #Detail OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
The Texas capital is facing a dramatic shortage of police officers, resulting in longer response times to 911 calls — often more than 30 minutes. As the city struggles to find enough agents to answer calls, the mayor’s security remains fully manned and untouched.
To ensure there are enough officers on the streets, the Austin Police Department will move 465 detectives from various units and SWAT team members to patrol, the local TV station KVUE
reported. Traffic enforcement units were previously suspended and those officers are currently responding to 911 calls.
The staffing problem stems from Austin City Council decisions that cut millions in the police budget and funneled other additional funds to other non-police programs as part of the Defund the Police movement, Fox news reported in 2021, this resulted in the city’s first officer shortages. The police pay double overtime to officers to have enough staff on the street. However, due to the staff shortage, the move was not enough.
Ken Casaday, the president of the Austin Police Officers Association, told KVUE that the blame for the critical deficit stems from the actions of the city council since they voted in 2020 to cancel three police academies.
The actions of local politicians have exhausted the police force, which is said to have more than 1,800 police officers. Austin PD is currently staffed with approximately 1,550 officers.
Despite the critical staff shortage, the city’s executive protection unit provides security to Austin Mayor Steve Adler and the city manager. Adler, a Democrat, was an outspoken opponent of a 2021 city proposal that would provide funding for hiring additional police officers.
According to KVUE, on July 15, the city had 868 calls to 911 with an average response time of 37 minutes and 37 seconds, while on July 18, the city had 831 calls to 911 with an average response time of 31 minutes and 53 seconds.
In addition, according to a social media post shared by the Austin Police Officers Association, the city is also seeing a shortage of 911 dispatchers.
City leadership does not fulfill the previous mission of being “the best managed city”. They must be held responsible for the failures on so many levels and departments in the city of Austin. Our coordinators are the lifeline between people calling for help and our agents. https://t.co/eWFfmnZwC9
— Austin Police Association (@ATXPOA) July 22, 2022
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist at Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and further facebook. He can be reached at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the general manager and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. follow him Twitter and facebook. He can be reached at [email protected].