The Austin Police Department is in a state of crisis. More cuts to specialized APD units are coming this year, thanks to the “reimagining” of police led by Mayor Steve Adler and Councilmember Greg Casar. Travis County, meanwhile, steps up targeting police officers for prosecution.
According to an internal document provided to PJ Media, several units face deep cuts or outright elimination by summer’s end. The Sex Offender Apprehension and Registration (SOAR) unit is losing its officer positions, according to the APD document. Local Fox 7 TV has previously reported some of the cuts.
PJ Media’s source, who wishes to remain off the record, said: “As more units are cut, work conditions for those who stay will continue to deteriorate, causing more folks to leave, causing more units to be cut, and so on. It is basically a death spiral.”
This appears to be the case. Crime is sharply increasing in Austin, with 31 homicides in the city so far in 2021, far outpacing recent years. In 2019, Austin had 14 homicides by the end of June, and in 2020, that number had increased to 23. PJ Media has previously reported exclusively on the cuts that were set to hit in early 2021, which included the elimination of whole APD units and sharp reductions in district representative officers, who engage in community policing. Community policing was an initiative pushed by the left during the 1990s to improve policing. Now, the left-dominated Austin city council is all but abandoning community policing.
At the same time, APD is also suffering a sharp increase in officer resignations and retirements thanks directly to the city council’s “reimagining” of police work, which began with the council’s vote to defund APD by about $140 to $150 million in August 2020. – READ MORE
Listen to the insightful Thomas Paine Podcast Below --