Austin, Texas, police may soon make sweeping changes to how they police the nation's capital, as staffing shortages continue and calls are sometimes left on hold for hours. There is.
fox 7 Police Association President Michael Bullock said police departments are cutting the number of officers available to respond to 911 calls by almost half because there aren't enough officers to respond, Austin reported.
“We're really reaching a tipping point,” Block told the station.
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Austin Police Department. (FOX 7 in Austin)
Last year, 40 officers submitted resignations and the department collapsed after the city council voted 9-2 to abandon the four-year contract the city had agreed to in principle and pursue a one-year contract instead. was on the verge of. A contract rejected by the police union's board of directors.
Dennis Farris, president of the Austin Retired Officers Association, said at the time that the issue wasn't about money, but the respect and lack of respect they received from the City Council.
Block said the department has lost more than 160 police officers and only replaced 75 over the past year.
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Austin, Texas, police officers monitor the Gold Cup semifinal game between the United States and Qatar at Q2 Stadium on Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Austin, Texas. ((Photo by Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire, Getty Images))
“The biggest priority right now is how to allocate scarce resources to where they are most effective,” he told the agency, adding that the answer may be to consolidate shifts. .
The city has nine departments, and when staffed, each department has approximately 10 employees working each shift. The agency reports that shifts often overlap during peak hours to improve responsiveness.
But Block says that's not happening.
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Aerial view of the downtown Austin, Texas skyline on April 11, 2023. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
“Right now, most of the night shifts are coming in around 4 p.m., so four officers could be available. I know some shifts are coming in at 2 p.m. “I know there are shifts where more than one police officer is on duty,” he said.
Not only is it unsafe for police officers, but it is not effectively serving the community.
“We have 15 to 20 calls that are on hold with no officers, and they've been on hold for two hours, four hours, 10 hours,” Block told the department.
Crime statistics in the city haven't changed much from last year, and Bullock said that's because the department and its staff are “working backwards” to do what's needed to maintain staffing levels, fill shifts and consolidate schedules. He said that
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Block said the department is responding to calls more reactively than proactively.
“The changes that are coming now are indicative of the staffing crisis and overall public safety situation that we are dealing with here in Austin,” he said.
The Austin City Council and then-Mayor Steve Adler voted to cut APD's funding by about a third in August 2020, leading to a swift exodus of officers. The Texas Legislature passed a law the following year that effectively forced the city to restore that funding, but the defunding and cancellation of cadet classes left the department well below recommended staffing levels.
Fox News Digital's Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
