Understaffing in the Austin Police Department in Texas has left residents concerned about crime in town.
Residents in the Montopolis neighborhood in Austin’s southeast informed KVUE-TV crime in their space is getting worse.
Delwin Goss informed the station he woke as much as gunshots in the neighborhood in a single day Thursday, which he mentioned has grow to be shockingly widespread.
“It’s making the hair on my arms stand up. To hear eight, nine, 10 shots. Just bam, bam, bam. Where are those bullets going?” he mentioned.
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Residents in the Montopolis neighborhood in Austin’s southeast are concerned crime in their space is getting worse. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg by way of Getty Images)
He mentioned his neighbor informed him she hears gunshots from her residence between two to a few instances per week.
“I don’t want to be shot sleeping in my bed,” he added.
And though Austin Police informed him when he referred to as they have been already investigating, he blames the department’s understaffing downside.
Austin Police Association President Mike Bullock addressed the officer scarcity Thursday, writing on X, “500 officers short has a real impact on businesses and Austinites who expect to be able to safely run a business and live in Austin. We’re so close to having a contract that can make significant progress towards ending the staffing crisis. Question now is if the city will actually prioritize making it happen.”
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Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly addressed the police understaffing downside this week whereas talking on the Austin Police Association’s podcast, attributing it to funding cuts in 2020.
“Our staffing currently at the police department is a direct result of the failed policy that was passed in 2020 to remove funding for the police department,” she informed Bullock.
The Austin Police Department has confronted a scarcity of officers since being defunded in 2020. (Dave Creaney/Anadolu Agency by way of Getty Images)
“We want a fully staffed department that takes care of our city employees that are loving the work that they do cause then they’re going to do a better job of taking care of the community.”
Kelly informed KVUE that council members are working to get extra officers on the job so residents can really feel protected in their neighborhoods.
“He feels as if his part of the district, part of town, is neglected, and I firmly believe that everyone, despite what district they are in, deserves the opportunity to feel safe in their own homes,” Kelly informed the station.
While town has introduced down the murder price since a report of 89 in 2021, it still remains high.
“I think the bottom line is that, over the last three years, we’ve seen the highest homicide rates we have seen ever in the city,” Bullock informed FOX 7 earlier this yr. “So, either way, no matter which way we look at it, we’re not on a good trend. We’re headed in the wrong direction.”
The metropolis reported 71 homicides in 2022, 73 in 2023 and 42 this yr as of Monday, in accordance with KXAN-TV.
In February, the department mentioned town was experiencing roughly one homicide per week, FOX 7 reported.
Austin’s 89 murders in 2021 got here after the Austin City Council defunded the police in 2020, which triggered large staffing shortages that prevented police from responding to non-emergency calls. The earlier report was 59 in 1984, lengthy earlier than Austin standardized its ambulance companies and had the 2 degree one trauma facilities it has now.
“I’ve watched it for the last five, six, seven years, and it just gets a little worse,” Goss mentioned. “I see more open drug use in this neighborhood, more drug dealing.
“They’re not out right here defending me or my 85-year-old coronary heart transplant neighbor or the widow that is in her 70s subsequent door,” he added.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Austin Police Department and Kelly for remark.
