Round Rock vs Pflugerville for family move (Austin: attorney, transfer)

[TexasHorseLady]

I've lived in both Williamson and Travis Counties for long periods of time, each. (And used to be a legtal assistant, though civil, not criminal.) Haven't noticed any difference, really, and considering how many people who live in Williamson County these days (1) work in Travis County and (b) are flocking there in droves from somewhere else, I'd find it difficult to believe that the long-standing "Williamson is completely conservative and the cops are mean" stereotype has survived if it was ever, in fact, the case.

[tfresca]

re: Williamson County watch "60 Minutes" for small town Texas justice. You could do a tv show just on the bogus prosecutions in Texas and it would run longer than a soap opera.

[love roses]

The only thing I know they are hard on here is Driving Drunk and Drug Charges.

[supernaut112]

Originally Posted by love roses

The only thing I know they are hard on here is Driving Drunk and Drug Charges.

Yup, yup. Worked for an attorney who handled a lot of Williamson Co. cases.

But being hard on drunk driving and drugs is not necessarily a bad thing, to my mind.

[JayBrown80]

Originally Posted by love roses

The only thing I know they are hard on here is Driving Drunk and Drug Charges.

This is an interesting statement because as I think back to all the "Wilco is a police state" posts here on City-Data over the years, they have all been about Drunk Driving or Drug charges.

I recall posters saying "My roommate was a dealer and they totally lumped me in with him when they raided my house....and that totally isn't fair because I just use drugs, I don't sale them!" and then there are posts saying "I was stopped for speeding in Wilco and just because I had 4 beers earlier that night they totally slapped me with a DUI those NAZIS! I totally drive better with a few beers in me! 4 beers wouldn't have been a DUI in Travis county!"

I just fail to see the problem. Less drunks on the road and less chances my neighbor is cooking meth in the garage. It seems like a win/win to me. Now if the Wilco police were randomly stopping black people walking down the sidewalk or if they busted in your house in the middle of the night because they were monitoring what TV shows you watch, then I would see a problem.

But the only examples I have been given, and I generally take them with a grain of salt, but the only examples I have been given about how stern the Wilco police are is "I was TOTALLY breaking the law....and they didn't let me get away with it! Fascists!"

[mark311]

Originally Posted by JayBrown80

But the only examples I have been given, and I generally take them with a grain of salt, but the only examples I have been given about how stern the Wilco police are is "I was TOTALLY breaking the law....and they didn't let me get away with it! Fascists!"

I definitely agree with you and if anything the Wilco police reputation probably contributes to making the area even safer. The only aspect I would worry about in regards to this is if my son grows up and makes a mistake when he's 16 or 17. Whether he goes out and hits some mailboxes or gets caught with a little weed, would he get an appropriate punishment for those crimes, or would he get the book thrown at him? Property restitution and a fair punishment would be expected, but with all the stories now, I would be worried that the punishment could be unfair. Of course, this just means that I need to be a parent that ensures my son doesn't make stupid mistakes like these in his teens. I don't want my son to make these mistakes, but I think we've all made these type of mistakes in our teens, and I realize that I don't have the magic formula to produce a perfect mistake-free teenager, no matter how hard I try.

[supernaut112]

Originally Posted by mark311

Property restitution and a fair punishment would be expected, but with all the stories now, I would be worried that the punishment could be unfair. Of course, this just means that I need to be a parent that ensures my son doesn't make stupid mistakes like these in his teens. I don't want my son to make these mistakes, but I think we've all made these type of mistakes in our teens, and I realize that I don't have the magic formula to produce a perfect mistake-free teenager, no matter how hard I try.

Punishment would not be "unfair." It just might mean that a child would be punished to the full extent the law allows. I spent a lot of time growing up in this county. And yes, the kids who got busted really GOT BUSTED, and it was sad to see some of them sacrifice what could have been a bright future.

But by the time a teen is 14 or 15, they should know that there may be a direct cause-effect between illegal behavior and said punishment. As soon as I knew what was at stake if I broke the law, I made a conscious decision not to break it. I was probably 9 or 10 at the time.

If your kids don't listen to you — their parents — or other authority figures, well ... you've done all you can do. It's up to your kids to determine their fate. You shouldn't have to worry about moving to a more
"liberal" county to protect them from themselves.

[ScoPro]

There's a reason places like Round Rock are a lot safer than Austin - look up the numbers:

//www.city-data.com/city/Texas.html

[love roses]

Originally Posted by mark311

"I definitely agree with you and if anything the Wilco police reputation probably contributes to making the area even safer. The only aspect I would worry about in regards to this is if my son grows up and makes a mistake when he's 16 or 17. Whether he goes out and hits some mailboxes or gets caught with a little weed, would he get an appropriate punishment for those crimes, or would he get the book thrown at him? Property restitution and a fair punishment would be expected, but with all the stories now, I would be worried that the punishment could be unfair. Of course, this just means that I need to be a parent that ensures my son doesn't make stupid mistakes like these in his teens. I don't want my son to make these mistakes, but I think we've all made these type of mistakes in our teens, and I realize that I don't have the magic formula to produce a perfect mistake-free teenager, no matter how hard I try.

"

All the responses to this were great, but I might also add that if he did do something, say like TP'ing a friends house, and a cop caught him, then it might just depend on whether or not a friendly one caught him or a hothead did. That could pretty much go for any county though, even travis. What I find rather interesting about Williamson County is how many Travis County (APD), Round Rock and Pflugerville Policemen live around here, and I'm only talking Hutto. My sisters new neighbor is a Pflugerville cop. Maybe that adds to the legend or something. With such a heavy police presence here whether or not they work in Williamson County, people seeing cop cars parked at every other house ought to be deterrent enough

[mark311]

Originally Posted by supernaut112

As soon as I knew what was at stake if I broke the law, I made a conscious decision not to break it. I was probably 9 or 10 at the time.

That's great that you were able to make such a decisive decision at age 10. I think you were probably in the minority of 10 year olds. I think with peer-pressure and all the other factors that go along with being a teen-ager, kids make mistakes and do things that they know are wrong. And as long as the "stories" of Williamson County law enforcement are more about adults and real crime (ie. drunk driving, etc.), then it shouldn't be a problem anyway. I guess that's what this thread has turned into.