Texas Scorecard by Jacob Asmussen September 16, 2021
“Austin has NEVER been less safe than it is today. But we can change that.”Citizens in Texas’ capital city are again campaigning to stop city officials’ harmful decisions as homicides on the streets are now more rampant than ever recorded in history.
“Over the weekend, our city witnessed four homicides in a four hour period and we just hit 60 homicides for the year (#61 will be announced as early as today),” wrote citizen group Save Austin Now (SAN) in a press release this week. “Last year’s all-time record was 48.”
Indeed, Austin now has the most homicides in a year in the city’s history, according to records dating back to 1960—and that’s with three and a half months still remaining in 2021.
The violent crime comes amid a contentious public safety disaster, partially tracing back to last year, when the Democrat-run Austin City Council unanimously voted to defund the Austin Police Department by up to $150 million (one-third of their budget) and cancel three police cadet training academies.
Since then, APD has lost hundreds of officers and disbanded numerous units, including some related to DWI, family violence safety and stalking, and criminal interdiction. Consequently, APD Interim Chief Joseph Chacon recently said 911 response times are “dramatically slower” and the department is now in a “dire situation.”
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/local/austin-has-record-breaking-killing-spree-amid-defunded-police/
