Austin News

In a recent Twitter post, Austin Mayor Steve Adler addressed the spike of homicides in Austin, claiming the capital remains as "one of the safest large cities, both in Texas and nationally," according to Adler.

"Homicides are up in Austin and also in Fort Worth, Louisville, Chicago, Houston, Baltimore, and dozens of big cities nationally," Adler said in the post, "Clearly, Austin’s local policies are not the cause. An honest investigation designed with public safety in mind would look at the facts."

Adler also insisted that recent budget cuts in the police department were not to blame for this increase.

"In 2020, $21 million was cut from the $440 million police budget, less than 5%," Adler stated, "In difficult economic times, government agencies routinely face cuts more significant than this." Furthermore, Adler stated that the budget cuts have not resulted in a reduction in staff and that the Austin Policy Academy is simply revising its curriculum before accepting new officers.

"No officers were laid off in the making of this budget; Austin elected not to put new officers into the Police Academy this year because the curriculum needs to be revised," Adler stated.

As of April 6, Austin had recorded 21 total homicides this year; 14 had occurred by April 6, 2020, just weeks after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Texas; the number of homicides around this time in 2019 was only 7, according to a report by KXAN.

This most recent number of homicides was announced at a press conference held on April 13 by the newly formed Austin Coalition to Protect Public Safety; this number comes just as Jose Garza, the new Travis County District Attorney, marked his 100th day in office, according to CBS Austin.

Interim Austin Chief of Police Joseph Chacon, who took over for the recently retired Brian Manley roughly two weeks ago, has made it a priority to build trust between the community and his officers, reports FOX 7 Austin.