Austin News

When the Austin City Council decided in August to cut the police department budget by one-third, District 10 council member Alison Alter voted with the majority.

The vote caused the city to cancel upcoming cadet training classes, cut overtime and pay and eliminate vacant officer positions, KVUE reported.

“The city council reinvested city funds from the cadet class in staffing and programs outside of APD, including new ambulances, mental health response, community health paramedics serving the homeless, domestic violence shelters, substance use and violence prevention programs that will save lives and make our community safer for all,” Alter wrote in an op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman on Sept. 13. “We are using limited city resources more effectively for greater public safety.”

The city can “root out racism in any form and ensure safety for all,” the councilwoman wrote.

In June, Alter tweeted that she had " lost confidence in our city's public safety leadership."

Violent crime, however, is on the rise in Austin, according to the Austin Crime Commission.

“One of the biggest data points is that in 2013 Austin was the second safest in violent crimes in the United States. Now we are fifth and we are  trending the wrong way,” Corby Jastrow, president of the Greater Austin Crime Commission, told Fox 7 Austin. “It just doesn’t make sense to have these department-wide cuts when the crime rate is increasing.”

Austin had 23 murders in June, up from 14 during the same month in 2019, a 64.9% increase, KVUE reported. That was the largest percentage increase in the nation, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of 50 cities, the station said.

A 2016 consultant’s report recommended that Austin hire 152 new officers for a community policing program.

“Over the last decade, Austin has seen significant growth and expansion throughout the city,” the report said. “This growth has put the Austin Police Department and the city continually in the position to evaluate the resources needed for effective police services and to continually plan for future needs.”