PD (not just Austin) has since their formation always opted for the thing that causes less panic in the people in their minds.
Part of it is absolutely laziness See: an adult must be missing for more than 24 hours before we treat them as a missing person when we know statistically if you dont find them in the first 48 hours odds are they become a statistic
Part of it is they do want to control the narrative but this is just a fractal of time past when people had to read the newspaper, watch the news, or listen to the radio all of which meant they couldnt contribute their opinions the way we can today.
When the dipshidiot dumbfucks wanted to defund the police that was the worst idea ever. We need to increase funding but just change the incentives and frame the bonuses around solving crimes and crime reduction. Unfortunately our government is hell bent on misery and so the quagmire of abject stupidity marches on.