Crime Explodes in the City of Austin Prompting Police to Quit en Masse – ‘It’s Become a Hostile Place’

Police officers in the city of Austin are quitting the force en masse driving the most left-leaning city in otherwise largely conservative Texas, ironically its capitol, into a crisis. Austin now finds itself with an untenable shortage of police officers with 300 vacancies in the department reported. The officers leaving have told reporters that they feel disrespected.

According to The New York Post, multiple sources have confirmed the feeling. Lt. Brian Moon, who retired last month, told the outlet:

“We’re right there with Portland and Seattle and San Francisco as being one of those places where if you’re at all conservative or in law enforcement, it’s become a hostile place.”

Moon served Austin for 23 years. The Post reported that an additional seventy-seven officers are slated to retire before the end of the month citing the Austin Police Association.

Per the approved city budget of 2022, the department had a budget of $443.1 million and a staff headcount of approximately 2,484 personnel. Of these, approximately 1,809 are sworn officers.

By DC Enquirer‘s calculations, the loss amounts to an unsustainable 17% of the city’s effective police force.

Reportedly the situation has deteriorated so badly that emergency calls are being redirected to 311 non-emergency operators due to insufficient staffing.

It was a hell of a weekend on the #Austin #Texas #Usa 🇺🇲 #Police pic.twitter.com/IiKJQSAf6T

— Dreams and Future (@Dream_andFuture) March 3, 2023

Austin Police Association President Thomas Villarreal told the New York Post, “If you come home and find your home burglarized, calls like that are now going to 311. You’re not getting a police response to many property crimes if it’s not a violent crime that is currently ongoing.”

FAR LEFT MAYOR WHO DEFUNDED POLICE FALLS ASLEEP AT FUNERAL FOR SLAIN POLICE OFFICER & AIR FORCE VETERAN

Texas’ Republican Governor Greg Abbott tweeted regarding the crisis warning the city that under legislation recently signed into law, Austin could lose state funding.

He wrote, “Cops quit woke Austin in droves. Austin must still comply with the law I signed that defunds cities that defund their police. If Austin doesn’t maintain its police force, it will not be able to take more taxpayer money & spend it on non-police matters.”

Cops quit woke Austin in droves.

Austin must still comply with the law I signed that defunds cities that defund their police.

If Austin doesn’t maintain its police force, it will not be able to take more taxpayer money & spend it on non-police matters.https://t.co/aSom6kAemK

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) March 5, 2023

Lt. Moon told the Post, “You could see that the city’s attitude towards its police department had started to shift and, personally speaking, I didn’t feel that the city was really appreciating us the way they used to.”

“Austin had always been a pretty liberal-leaning city, but it was pro-law enforcement at the same time. They expected us to do things the right way, obviously, but they weren’t hyper-critical like they became.”

According to Breitbart, the city council publicly caved to leftist demands to “defund the police” in 2020 during the national upheaval of the BLM riots. It devastatingly kneecapped the police department’s budget by a staggering $150 million and cut 150 officer postings from the budget.

USA Texas , Austin : Car drifters & spectators took over the streets & forced responding police to retreat,threw fireworks at them. pic.twitter.com/LVZiUcvxV2

— Prof.Mēmerāo Chèdkar (@rajaibintaqiya) February 25, 2023

The outlet added that in 2022, an Austin District Attorney also indicted nineteen officers on accusations of “using excessive force” against BLM rioters in 2020. Lt. Moon told the Post,

“It almost felt like there was a target — like the District Attorney’s Office and the city was looking for an opportunity to do something to you, to prosecute you or fire you, no matter if you did it right or did it wrong.”

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