Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Austin
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-02-2009, 06:50 AM
 
593 posts, read 1,375,153 times
Reputation: 395

Advertisements

Yeah, I have to agree with the OP.

If they cut out some of these public services, then you're going to see an increase in crime and response times to fires.

AFD has never had to face a serious fire in a high rise building. Sure there's the occasional apartment/condo fire, governor's mansion, or 6th street bar burning down. But, if one of the new condo high rises catches on fire, well, I don't think AFD has had any experience in dealing with that. Moreover, I haven't seen any fire dept. vehicles that can reach upper floors of a high rise fire.

APD usually just shoots people anyway. I mean most of what they do is either over-react or do nothing at all. So, if the city cuts them off well I have means to protect myself, property, and family.

I don't think Austin tax payers would save any money at all. Really those funds would simply be diverted elsewhere, like, oh I don't know? Maybe a raise for city officials or a new office makeover or something like that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-02-2009, 08:37 AM
 
1,430 posts, read 2,369,608 times
Reputation: 832
I'ma big supporter of supporting basic city services. That said, I have real issues with the way that APD/AFD have been able to get major wage increases through the Council. Unfortunately, we elected precisely the wrong guy as mayor to deal with these issues.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-02-2009, 09:02 AM
 
Location: Texas
5,872 posts, read 8,076,581 times
Reputation: 2971
Quote:
Originally Posted by gb0610 View Post
The 10 Officers leaving a month is directly from the Police recruiting office. In this fiscal year, there will be more than 200 officers eligible for retirement.
And the truth shall set you free...ELIGIBLE for retirement. I would bet dollars to doughnuts that ALL 200 of them DO NOT take retirement, all at the same time. The numbers you're siting are averages, not mean figures or figures that can show exactly 10 officers leaving per month.

Hard times, Hard choices. Austin is not that big. APD can make do.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-02-2009, 09:59 AM
 
Location: Cedar Park
28 posts, read 68,991 times
Reputation: 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by txgolfer130 View Post
And the truth shall set you free...ELIGIBLE for retirement. I would bet dollars to doughnuts that ALL 200 of them DO NOT take retirement, all at the same time. The numbers you're siting are averages, not mean figures or figures that can show exactly 10 officers leaving per month.

Hard times, Hard choices. Austin is not that big. APD can make do.
So lets say that at least half leave. That would be 100. So that plus the 25 currently open spots makes....125. So when the next fiscal year starts in October of 2010 and the new academy class kicks off, we will have to wait another year, until October of 2011 to see those spots filled. all the while see at least 100 more retire.

So as an estimate, you will see roughly the same # of cops retire that year (2010-2011), leaving the dept down 225 cops. that is until the 80-90 cops graduate the academy and pass field training in October 2011. Then we will be down 135-145 cops or so.

That is a lot for ANY city to deal with.

So what that means for the budget is that we will keep spending more on overtime, as opposed to straight time.

I'm not trying to post scare tactics. But when my family moves to Austin later this month, i'd like to see the City as safe as it was a few years ago when it was ranked as one of the safest citys in the US. It has been dropping for three years straight.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-02-2009, 10:10 AM
 
Location: Great State of Texas
86,052 posts, read 84,305,478 times
Reputation: 27718
Well they CAN hire officers with previous experience. Nothing saying they can only take inexperienced officers and put them through an academy.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-02-2009, 10:11 AM
 
Location: Great State of Texas
86,052 posts, read 84,305,478 times
Reputation: 27718
Quote:
Originally Posted by gb0610 View Post
But when my family moves to Austin later this month, i'd like to see the City as safe as it was a few years ago when it was ranked as one of the safest citys in the US. It has been dropping for three years straight.

As population grows so does crime. There is no escaping that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-02-2009, 02:27 PM
 
Location: Cedar Park
28 posts, read 68,991 times
Reputation: 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan View Post
Well they CAN hire officers with previous experience. Nothing saying they can only take inexperienced officers and put them through an academy.
That would be a good move. APD does not do that as of yet...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-02-2009, 04:49 PM
 
Location: Texas
5,872 posts, read 8,076,581 times
Reputation: 2971
Quote:
Originally Posted by gb0610 View Post
That would be a good move. APD does not do that as of yet...
APD hires experienced officers all the time. Officers from the DPS & sheriff's dept. as well as other areas.

And a 100 officer shortage for Austin is not that bad at all, it has been worse, and the staffing was at one of it's lowest points when Austin was rated at it's highest.

APD cuts are necessary and logical.

Oh, and it also doesn't help the cities ranking when they are continuously under investigation from the DoJ for various reasons. That could also be affecting Austin's ranking -- and coming at a time when they are 95% staffed from what they have requested.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-02-2009, 05:10 PM
 
8,231 posts, read 17,285,637 times
Reputation: 3696
APD can save lots of money by cutting the budget for in patrol car cameras and their maintenance. They don't use seem to use them much.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-02-2009, 05:29 PM
 
Location: Cedar Park
28 posts, read 68,991 times
Reputation: 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by txgolfer130 View Post
APD hires experienced officers all the time. Officers from the DPS & sheriff's dept. as well as other areas.

.
You aren't getting it!

Yes, they obviously hire folks who have LE experience....they just make them go back through the full academy. So even if you are a saaay, Dallas SWAT Officer with 10 yrs on, you still need to go back through an academy with all of the new boots. There is talk of a modified academy, but it is not in place yet.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Austin

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top