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Austin Texas Takes the plunge and cuts Police Budget by 33%

serfserf Member Posts: 9,217 ✭✭✭✭
in Politics
The liberal city council in Austin Texas have a better plan to save our capital in Texas! The State is going from purple to Blue very soon. If the Republicans looses Texas and Florida then we are going to head into uncertain times.
                                  serf
         https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/13/austin-city-council-cut-police-budget-defund/

The Austin City Council unanimously voted to cut its police department budget by $150 million on Thursday, after officers and the city’s top cop faced months of criticism over the killing of an unarmed Black and Hispanic man, the use of force against anti-police brutality protesters and the investigation of a demonstrator’s fatal shooting by another citizen.

Those criticisms coincided with protests across Texas and the country calling for reforms on police tactics and the “defunding” of law enforcement in favor of redistributing funds to social services and alternative public safety programs. The council's move makes Austin the first of Texas' four biggest cities to drastically cut police department funding. The share of the police department budget that was cut is among the largest percentage decreases in the nation this year.



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Comments

  • mac10mac10 Member Posts: 2,701 ✭✭✭✭
    cops need to take 2 weeks off and let them see
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  • SCOUT5SCOUT5 Member Posts: 16,181 ✭✭✭✭
    Just looking at numbers.  There are roughly 1 million people in Austin TX.  With a police budget of 450 million dollars, that's 450 dollars per person.   That's not per working tax payer that's per person.  The cut would drop that to 300 dollars per person.   That is for one of many government service the people pay for.

    What is a reasonable per person cost for a city police force?    The city of Austin's police budget is current'y about 219 thousand dollars per position,  that includes all positions not just officers.  Of course it also includes expenditures for equipment etc.    Again what is a reasonable per person cost?   What is a reasonable cost per position?  Counting all overlapping law enforcement agencies that also cover Austin TX what are people actually paying for law enforcement?  

    Here the county police force IMO is over funded.    The county isn't that big and they have a motor home that cost more than my house.   They use it at the county fair but the justification for it is it's intended use as a " mobile command center"   Like I said, the county isn't that big.  That's one example, there are others.

    I know many small departments struggle with funding and maintaining equipment and  salary levels that will attract and keep good officers.   But there are many larger forces that have inflated budgets.   I haven't even bothered to look into what the groups touting "defund the police" are asking for, the slogan itself  is self defeating    But evaluating police force budgets is a reasonable endeavor at any time.
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  • serfserf Member Posts: 9,217 ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020
     It's the Capital of Texas run by Leftist who moved in to take the rein of power and bring it into The correct mindset. Now a budget cut is fine with me but not a whopping 33% to fund social engineering for The New deal from The Democrat Party. You think they would lower water rates or Taxes is different but not funding Bernie Sander's polices ideas.
                                                   serf
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  • chiefrchiefr Member Posts: 14,083 ✭✭✭✭
    Austin is a DEMOCRAT city. Nothing to see here folks, time to move on.
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  • SCOUT5SCOUT5 Member Posts: 16,181 ✭✭✭✭
    The average salary in Austin TX is 68,000, divide 219,000 by 68,000 and you get 3.22 working people to support one position in the Austin PD, if they sent their whole salary in.    So they are dropping it down to 2.07 working people.  The average salary of An Austin TX officer is  almost 63,000, not including benefits.   I understand expenses such as fuel, equipment, training, ammo, weapons, utilities etc. cost money.  But it looks like there may some room to cut some fat.

    I wouldn't vote for my Mother is she ran as a democrat.  But that doesn't mean some of them can't count.



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  • 4205raymond4205raymond Member Posts: 3,316 ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020
    Nephew is a young Sgt. Major in Texas NG. Resigned after 12 years in Army and was with 5th SF Group and trained SF Troops. His CO, a West Pointer was killed sitting in the seat next to him in green zone by IED. Nephew got shrapnel in right leg and face. Not sure what he is doing now nor could I even say. No room left on his jacket for ribbons and he has been thru a lot.

    He rented his home in Austin out and is now in North Carolina looking to buy a house there. I am telling you folks, things are not going well in Austin.
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  • spasmcreeksrunspasmcreeksrun Member Posts: 1,755 ✭✭✭
    unreal to watch Texas turn blue
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  • Ricci.WrightRicci.Wright Member Posts: 5,128 ✭✭✭✭
    it's gonna get much worse as the rats leave the big bad cities and bring their politics with them.
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  • serfserf Member Posts: 9,217 ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020
    spasmcreeksrun said:
    unreal to watch Texas turn blue

      What did you expect? The Reagan's administration promised no more illegals to be allowed after he and Congress approved of millions of them to be citizens and then all the future administrations turned a blind eye as millions 
    more poured in while they wealthy got their cheap labor, along with ship cruises,vacation homes and trips abroad then The middle class lost all their livelihood with Free trade deals to China and Mexico with ballooning monetary  debt deficits to police the worlds oil trade with the phony petro dollar.
               Of course the Mexican cartels imported drugs and crime while The nation became a Secular cesspool of free thought and immorality. Now we will reap the whirlwind with The Democrats confiscating Firearms to make us free again Under The United Nations and The Agenda 2030 mandates and total control by the electronic 5 G security state of total awareness.

              The Wuhan virus was just the final catalyst to finish off any resistance of the take over of United Nations with the world's banking system of blockchain cryptocurrency and end the charade of free autonomy for the working classes.

                                                  serf
                                       
    . However, as witnessed during the twilight years of Bretton Woods, there comes a point where nations take matters into their own hands; where their vested interest in not rocking the boat is surpassed by their desire to escape a sinking boat. The nations of the Arabian Gulf have been mooting a return to a gold-based currency in recent years and it is perhaps significant that the central banks of Russia and China have been steadily accumulating gold. And where governments fear to tread, private citizens have been busily establishing their own monetary system courtesy of bitcoin.

      The Fed-Now system has/will trump the Bit -coin crypto block chain currency scheme in my opinion.



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  • mohawk600mohawk600 Member Posts: 5,526 ✭✭✭✭
    Property tax rates will hopefully be permanently frozen. No more tax revenue if the city fails to provide citizen protection.
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