Staffing shortages at the Austin, Texas, Police Department have residents concerned about crime in the city.
Residents in the Montopolis neighborhood in southeast Austin told KVUE-TV that crime in their area is getting worse.
Delwyn Goss told the station he was woken up in the middle of the night Thursday by gunfire in his neighborhood, which he said has become an alarmingly frequent occurrence.
“It makes the hair on your arms stand up. When you hear eight, nine, 10 shots. Bang, bang, bang. Where are those bullets going?” he said.
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Residents in the Montropolis neighborhood in southeast Austin are concerned about worsening crime in their area. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Neighbors reported hearing gunfire from the home two to three times a week.
“I don't want to get shot while I'm sleeping in my bed,” he added.
Austin police said they were already investigating when he called, but he blames the department's understaffing issues.
Mike Block, president of the Austin Police Association, addressed the officer shortage on Thursday, writing to X, “A 500 officer shortfall will have a huge impact on businesses and Austinites who want to operate and live safely in Austin. We are on the verge of reaching a contract that would be a major step forward in ending our staffing crisis. The question is whether the City will actually prioritize making it happen.”
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Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly addressed the police department's staffing issues on an Austin Police Association podcast this week, blaming them on budget cuts made in 2020.
“The police department's current staffing levels are a direct result of failed policies passed in 2020 that reduced funding for the police department,” she told Bullock.
The Austin Police Department has been facing an officer shortage since budget cuts in 2020. (Dave Creaney/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“We want a well-staffed department that takes care of city employees who love what they do so they can better take care of the community.”
Kelly told KVUE that city council members are working to increase the number of officers to help residents feel safe in their neighborhoods.
“He feels like his neighborhood, his part of town, is being neglected. I firmly believe that everyone, no matter what neighborhood they live in, deserves the opportunity to feel safe in their own home,” Kelly told the station.
The city's murder rate is down from a record 89 in 2021, but remains high.
“At the end of the day, I think over the last three years, we've seen the homicide rate in the city reach an all-time high,” Mayor Bullock told FOX 7 earlier this year. “Either way, no matter which way you look at it, it's not a good trend. It's heading in the wrong direction.”
The city had reported 71 homicides in 2022, 73 in 2023 and 42 this year as of Monday, according to KXAN-TV.
In February, police said the city was experiencing roughly one homicide per week. Fox 7 Reported.
Austin's 89 homicides in 2021 came after police were severely understaffed and overwhelmed by cuts made by the Austin City Council to the police budget in 2020. The previous record was 59 in 1984, long before Austin standardized on ambulances and built the two Level 1 trauma centers it has today.
“I've seen it over the last five, six, seven years and it's only gotten worse,” Goss said. “There's more open drug use and more drug dealing in this area.”
“They're not here to protect me, or my 85-year-old neighbor who had a heart transplant, or the widow in her 70s who lives next door,” he added.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Austin Police Department and Kelly for comment.
