Posted on 08/19/2023 11:30:21 AM PDT by DFG
An Austin Police union has exposed the 'miserable' conditions faced by officers after the defund movement stripped departments and gutted the workforce.
George Floyd's killing by a Minneapolis cop and the resulting Black Lives Matter riots led to widespread demonization of police forces across the US.
Austin PD's budget was hammered with a $150million cut approved by the Democrat-run Texas city's council after its own scandal following the shooting of an unarmed black man in April 2020 - just weeks before Floyd's death.
The Austin Police Association (APA) told DailyMail.com the lasting impacts of the defund movement have ripped the ranks apart, driving officers to quit and making it increasingly difficult to recruit replacement staff.
Since the BLM protests, crime has soared with homicide rates booming and the city ranked 15 out of 45 for the most homicide rates nationwide, while desperate 911 callers are being left on hold for up to half an hour.
APA President Thomas Villareal told DailyMail.com that the union has been shunned after more than two decades of negotiating contracts with the city.
In 2017, for the first time in its history a proposed pay deal was voted down.
Villareal said that by this time the woke clamoring to defund the police had started to emerge.
'Our officers worked without a contract for the first time in almost 20 years and this downward slide began in terms of both officer staffing as well as morale,' Villareal said.
'Throughout 2018, the city engaged in a process to "reimagine police oversight". This reimagining process further damaged morale as officers felt like they had no say in how these oversight processes were going to play out.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Austin = Little California
The problem with this nonsense is it’s starting to bleed outside of the city limits. Travis County is pretty much a goner. I wonder how long it will take before places like Williamson County succumb to the same idiocy.
“Since the BLM protests, crime has soared with homicide rates booming and the city ranked 15 out of 45 for the most homicide rates nationwide...”
What exactly is most homicide rates?
Does Austin as the 11th largest city in the nation have the 15th most number of homicides?
Or, does Austin have the 15th highest homicide rate among the 45 largest cities in the country?
Do cities that are not among the 45 most populated cities in the country have homicide rates that are higher than those 45 largest cities?
George Floyd wasn’t murdered
Another employee and her husband liked to visit Austin for various festivals / events back in 1990s and arrived back wearing t-shirts “Keep Austin Weird”.
Do they still visit Austin? Have no clue. But I’ll bet the shirts read “Keep Austin Alphabet Friendly” and “Escape From Austin”.
That APD squad car is in violation of Texas State Law that requires that all vehicles owned by municipalities, counties, state agencies, fire departments, and police departments have EXEMPT License Plates.
That APD Squad Car does not have a Texas Exempt License Plate.
> An Austin Police union has exposed the ‘miserable’ conditions faced by officers… <
In this day and age, unions are usually counterproductive. But they are often the only ones willing to tell you the truth about a situation. This is one example.
Austin’s problem isn’t funding, it’s the woke leadership. Its a proven failure and still they push it through. This is what logical people call insanity
This is covered solely by America’s best newspaper.
Spending that taxpayers’ money to promote perversion should be a crime as well.
When the stupid virus strikes, all those affected by it suddenly vote for Democrats to take over and govern them, let them defund the police then wonder why the crime rate surges. When the next election comes around they repeat and wonder why things don’t get better.
Defund the police, crime goes sky high. What is so difficult to understand about this? That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Seems like a very clear object lesson imo. You get what you vote for.
The leftists in Austin voted for it.
They got what they wanted.
Fortunately, TX is reasonable about using firearms for clear cases of self-defense, so it will keep the problem contained to those who asked for it.
Ain't that damned near the shameful truth !
It this some new liberal speak?
I grew up in Austin but left and quit doing any business there in about 1995. I now live 41.6 miles west in a different county. I fought the activists in court for 40 years.
The “activists” are the tip of the spear but the “voters” are about 40% hardcore liberals connected to the University of Texas and bureaucrats in state and federal government.
40% means liberal council idiots every time. “Conservatives” are to blame too because too many don’t give a damn and don’t vote or fight the “activists” which is a feel good word for marxist/socialists.
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