Austin city council agree to cut 100 million from police budget (Wimberley: home, maintenance)

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Might be a good idea to update the thread title, as it is now it is factually incorrect.

?

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by dozener

And direct it to social services. How do Austinites see this effecting the city going forward? Do you see the city improving? Do you see yourself staying in the area?

It's a disaster. But I only go into central Austin when I have to; about once per year.

The city council refused to solve real problems like transportation, high taxes, and homelessness.

[ellie84]

why is Austin rated number one place to live? I don't understand that one.

[ScoPro]

Some of us don’t either.

[10scoachrick]

AS long as we are de-funding things...

So, even though Lamar Blvd is a state road, maintenance has been returned to the city(decades ago).
I propose we "de-fund" some other institution and PAVE the darned thing!!!
I drove from 183 down to We Are Blood(44th St roughly) and it was like driving on a country hardscrabble road after a rainy season.

[ScoPro]

It will be repaved when the recently passed “mobility” plans reconfigure the boulevard into one traffic lane each way with generous bike lanes and expanded sidewalks.
Then you can bike down to We Are Blood.

[austin-steve]

Here is a good article from the LA Times on 911 call stats and what police actually do.
https://www.latimes.com/california/s...agining-police


I've always thought it a waste for police to be performing functions well beneath their training, salary, and labor costs to the city.
- Sitting in a car with flashing lights at road construction.
- Running traffic control for funerals, parades, etc.
- Showing up fully armed to take a report of a static incident that already happened (neighbor backed over your cat).
- Showing upfor civil/code complaints (loud music, illegal parking on street)


Many categories of crime could be handled by plain-clothed "investigators" or social workers.


It seems to me Police are monolithically trained to be generalists upon whom additional skills are layered as they climb a hierarchy. By comparison, the military has Specialists. My Dad was an air traffic controller. He had no ongoing arms training after bootcamp. He was sent instead to a special school.


I am not a student of crime science and societal "safety" or security, but I do know that this "one size fits all" Cop is an ineffective waste of resources.


Also, Police and Prisons, as we know those today, are a racists advent meant to facilitate the criminalization of being black. These institutions didn't even exist prior to the freeing of slave. Watch "13th" on Netflix, which explains it all.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by ellie84

why is Austin rated number one place to live? I don't understand that one.

Originally Posted by ScoPro

Some of us don’t either.

Yea Austin has its issues but I personally dont think its as bad as people make it out to be, having lived in Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, San Diego, DFW, the only places that I've lived that I would consider living in over Austin are Seattle and San Diego. I think right now Austin is just going through growing pains, that and lack of investment in transportation.

Originally Posted by ScoPro

It will be repaved when the recently passed “mobility” plans reconfigure the boulevard into one traffic lane each way with generous bike lanes and expanded sidewalks.
Then you can bike down to We Are Blood.

Well, admittedly I do kinda wish they could hurry up on the 183 Toll Road east side, especially that terrible mess at 183 / 71, that and also -unrealistically- reconfigure that stack on 183 and MoPac, 183 South to MoPac South toward Downtown needs to be 2 - 3 lane feeder ramp since thats where the majority of traffic on 183 is going. I'd reconfigure the whole thing, make 2 Exit Only lanes and one optional lane leave 183 after the Flyover from 183 to MoPac North, travel under the flyover and meet MoPac with 2 additional lanes, would probably relocate those ramps for Steck / Anderson LN as well. Not happening in this lifetime I know but I can dream right?

This is Austin, if we're ganna talk about defunding the police, our traffic problems have to fit somewhere in the fray.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Here is a good article from the LA Times on 911 call stats and what police actually do.
https://www.latimes.com/california/s...agining-police


I've always thought it a waste for police to be performing functions well beneath their training, salary, and labor costs to the city.
- Sitting in a car with flashing lights at road construction.
- Running traffic control for funerals, parades, etc.
- Showing up fully armed to take a report of a static incident that already happened (neighbor backed over your cat).
- Showing upfor civil/code complaints (loud music, illegal parking on street)


Many categories of crime could be handled by plain-clothed "investigators" or social workers.


It seems to me Police are monolithically trained to be generalists upon whom additional skills are layered as they climb a hierarchy. By comparison, the military has Specialists. My Dad was an air traffic controller. He had no ongoing arms training after bootcamp. He was sent instead to a special school.


I am not a student of crime science and societal "safety" or security, but I do know that this "one size fits all" Cop is an ineffective waste of resources.


Also, Police and Prisons, as we know those today, are a racists advent meant to facilitate the criminalization of being black. These institutions didn't even exist prior to the freeing of slave. Watch "13th" on Netflix, which explains it all.

And of the 8% that are violent crimes, the majority are already over. So in progress violent crimes are very very rare. The armed police should sit at the station (or at home) doing nothing and respond to calls like firemen. They shouldnt be patrolling. We should balance the number of police to the highest volume of in progress violent crime calls

[riaelise]

I think more money should be used on pysche evaluations of incoming police officers to weed out those who may develop a superiority complex or already have one. The role of a police officer is to serve and protect.... it seems like gone are the days of community policing/beat cops and people are moving away from the "service" aspect of the job. A cop theoretically should be a pillar of a community - that's what my grandfather was.

The good/even headed people are becoming fewer each year as they decide to take jobs that are less stressful/less scrutinizing. Same with minority officers.