Austin PD may go under Texas DPS.

[Ghost of LL 15605]

Excuse me, but the Home Rule Amendment of 1912 setup for cities was crafted by the legislature and approved by popular vote. The legislature can propose a revised amendment for voter approval which could provide for such action. The mechanism & power is there.
Not to mention that the state holds preemption status over city actions.
Nowhere did I say it was going to happen, but it could.

That’s not the State doing anything. That’s the people doing something.

It’s not semantics, either. In our system of government, the people are sovereign. The people create the constitution, and the people can change. They won’t, in this instance, but whatever.

You were absolutely wrong when you wrote that the State gives home-rule powers and can take it away. You were wrong when you wrote that the State can rescind Austin’s charter. Jus like you were wrong when you wrote about the crime rate.

You just go through this board making shit up, most of which is wrong. I know that making shit up and having people defer to you has long been a privilege of white male boomers, but shit’s changing.


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[Armybrat 41005]

Ok cool, counselor.... if you want to interpret the process that way.

But yes, Austin’s murder rate increase  % this year leads the country.

 

Edited September 5, 2020 by Armybrat

[Ghost of LL 15605]

Ok cool, counselor.... if you want to interpret the process that way.
But yes, Austin’s murder rate increase  % this year leads the country.
 

It’s not me interpreting a process. Popular sovereignty is the basis of our entire form of government.

Sorry, but your ignorance is not equivalent to knowledge.


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[Armybrat 41005]

The people are the state. If they vote the process, then the state can take away. That’s the way it is supposed to work.

But I’m surprised you are accusing me of racism with your “white privilege” baloney.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11825]

24 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

Ok cool, counselor.... if you want to interpret the process that way.

But yes, Austin’s murder rate increase  % this year leads the country.

 

Just FYI that stat is a little misleading, since it only went through June.  By end of July there were 28 homicides in Austin, compared to 23 in 2019.  So a 20% increase.  Not good, but not headline worthy I guess.

[Armybrat 41005]

It is what it is. Sorry if some of y’all took offense.

[TwiceHorn 31686]

5 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Excuse me, but the Home Rule Amendment of 1912 setup for cities was crafted by the legislature and approved by popular vote. The legislature can propose a revised amendment for voter approval which could provide for such action. The mechanism & power is there.
Not to mention that the state holds preemption status over city actions.

Nowhere did I say it was going to happen, but it could.

I didn't attach much significance to your use of Unitary in the original post.  Unitary tends to mean that all political and administrative subdivisions exist at the sufferance of the state, meaning the laws enacted by the state government without the explicit consent of the people or local governments.

But, GoLL is right that home rule cities are provided for by the Texas Constitution, which is not "the state" as tends to be used when saying "unitary."  And the State of Texas can't revoke a city's charter, but it can legislate the city's charter virtually out of existence.

That could all change by a Constitutional amendment, but such an amendment would not be an action by "the state," but rather the state and the citizens.  The Constitution acts as a restraint on the state.

Edited September 5, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[Judge Roybeanbag 11825]

2 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

It is what it is. Sorry if some of y’all took offense.

I wasn’t offended, just stating it was an attention grabbing story, but the rate has evened out since then.

[atomheartbevo 90057]

Wait, are people actually fearing for their safety because there’s been 9 more murders this year than last year?  9 more murders in an area with well over a million people?  

Your chances of being murdered are still lower than your chances of being rejected by South Austin’s mom, and she pretty much takes on all comers.   

[Ghost of LL 15605]

The people are the state. If they vote the process, then the state can take away. That’s the way it is supposed to work.
But I’m surprised you are accusing me of racism with your “white privilege” baloney.

No, the people are not the State. The State is a creation of the people, and it exists only with the consent of the governed. If the people want to amend the constitution to eliminate the state, they can.

Some civics teacher along the way really failed you. Because you don’t understand the foundation of our form of government.


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[Neonmoon 38130]

9 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Wait, are people actually fearing for their safety because there’s been 9 more murders this year than last year?  9 more murders in an area with well over a million people?  

Your chances of being murdered are still lower than your chances of being rejected by South Austin’s mom, and she pretty much takes on all comers.   

This right here. 

[Armybrat 41005]

Yes, the people create the state which is an extension of themselves. That’s the way I’ve always looked at it.

 

[bolverk 29823]

L'état, c'est moi.

[TwiceHorn 31686]

14 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Wait, are people actually fearing for their safety because there’s been 9 more murders this year than last year?  9 more murders in an area with well over a million people?  

Your chances of being murdered are still lower than your chances of being rejected by South Austin’s mom, and she pretty much takes on all comers.   

WSJ is a quality publication, generally speaking, but they bust out with some stuff that supports the worst right-wing talking points.

I'm afraid this is one of those.

And, the cities with major crime problems also have major sociological problems that no one really knows how to solve other than by totalitarian measures.  And make no mistake, those that would have Chicago or Baltimore "solve" their crime problems really mean totalitarian measures.

Edited September 5, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[Armybrat 41005]

4 minutes ago, bolverk said:

L'état, c'est nous.

Fify

[Neonmoon 38130]

4 minutes ago, bolverk said:

L'état, c'est moi.

[bolverk 29823]

2 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

Fify

Bien fait, mon vieux. Je ne savais pas que tu pouvais parler le français.

[Armybrat 41005]

I don’t. Just recall Louis’ infamous quote.

[Celery Man 21027]

earlier in this thread, jumping off of that stat Austin was described as ranking among the worst nationally for violent and property crime. That's not remotely true and is the reason why people are pointing out what the actual statistic is. Well, pointing it out for not being true, and pointing it out because it's the type of misleading thing that would be used to help people feel warm and fuzzy about the state taking over law enforcement in a city on the basis of politics.

[Samson's Wig 3195]

12 hours ago, bolverk said:

Can you provide a source demonstrating that "Austin is among the worst nationally for both violent and property crime"?

Here's one: https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/tx/austin/crime#data

"With a crime rate of 39 per one thousand residents, Austin has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 25. Within Texas, more than 94% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Austin."

I don't think Austin is particularly bad when compared solely to cities of its size or larger, but its not great either.  And the numbers are trending in the wrong direction.  And there's simply no denying that Austin has one of the highest crime rates (violent and property) of your options of places to live in America.  To be clear, I don't think this has anything to do with defunding police or the BLM movement.  APD sucked long before any of these issues came up.  Here's hoping the reforms being implemented actually do some good, but I'm highly skeptical that they will. I'm equally skeptical of DPS taking over doing any good (not that it would happen anyway), although taking control from this particular city government over any issue may well be a good thing.  They've been an absolute joke for longer than most (save Armybrat perhaps) have been alive.  

As things stand now, a car gets stolen in our neighborhood at a rate of one every other night or so.  This has escalated from the petty rifling through cars looking for cash that goes on everywhere.  The next step in the escalation has already started with a couple of home break ins.  The trend isn't hard to see.  There is absolutely no police presence in this city right now and the risk/reward ratio is way out of balance. It's going to take someone getting killed during one of these events for people to wake up, I suspect.

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, we've seen a dramatic spike in our neighborhood/part of town in property crime (lot of auto burglaries).  But a lot of mailbox theft (which I think still count as property crime stats)... Thankfully not hearing much about package thefts from porches because that leads to shootings and we're just not in the mood for that shit right now. 

I see maybe one APD vehicle per day around here, if that.  I used to see probably 3-5/day, even during beginning of Pandemic.  It's the gotten to the point where our HOA (not my idea, but they did it) has taken to paying a nearby a smaller town's PD to patrol our area 2/day.  

[BradInATX 9208]

Just FYI that stat is a little misleading, since it only went through June.  By end of July there were 28 homicides in Austin, compared to 23 in 2019.  So a 20% increase.  Not good, but not headline worthy I guess.

Holy shit, 5 more murders than last year for a Chicago-esque 28 MURDERS! Quick, everybody clutch your pearls, it's practically Fallujah up in here!

[BradInATX 9208]

Here's one: https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/tx/austin/crime#data "With a crime rate of 39 per one thousand residents, Austin has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 25. Within Texas, more than 94% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Austin." I don't think Austin is particularly bad when compared solely to cities of its size or larger, but its not great either.  And the numbers are trending in the wrong direction.  And there's simply no denying that Austin has one of the highest crime rates (violent and property) of your options of places to live in America.  To be clear, I don't think this has anything to do with defunding police or the BLM movement.  APD sucked long before any of these issues came up.  Here's hoping the reforms being implemented actually do some good, but I'm highly skeptical that they will. I'm equally skeptical of DPS taking over doing any good (not that it would happen anyway), although taking control from this particular city government over any issue may well be a good thing.  They've been an absolute joke for longer than most (save Armybrat perhaps) have been alive.  

As things stand now, a car gets stolen in our neighborhood at a rate of one every other night or so.  This has escalated from the petty rifling through cars looking for cash that goes on everywhere.  The next step in the escalation has already started with a couple of home break ins.  The trend isn't hard to see.  There is absolutely no police presence in this city right now and the risk/reward ratio is way out of balance. It's going to take someone getting killed during one of these events for people to wake up, I suspect.

 

 

I have no idea how that site tabulated data but this is a stupid, stupid assessment. Austin is nowhere near the top for violent crimes. Not even close. It's bottom half in the country and near the bottom for big cities. Des Moines, Iowa is more violent. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate#Crime_rates_per_100,000_people_per_year

 

Anyone who thinks Austin is remotely unsafe has either never traveled or is a giant gaping pussy. It's one of the most milquetoast Brady Bunch cities in the entire country.

 

Imagine admitting to a message board where thousands of people will see it that you're a giant scared pearl-clutching pussy just to make a false and politically driven "point". At least you won't be able to spread your wimpiness to society because according to you every person in your neighborhood will be car-less due to theft in short order. Maybe that's why Austin is hell-bent on sidewalks and bike lanes because they know in mere months everyone's car will have been stolen!

 

 

 

[Armybrat 41005]

The only point I made is the fact that Austin has had the highest % increase in homicides During this pandemic era,  I have never claimed anything otherwise. 

[BradInATX 9208]

The only point I made is the fact that Austin has had the highest % increase in homicides During this pandemic era,  I have never claimed anything otherwise. 

That wasn't at you, Brat. Technically you're correct, but that's an example of making data say whatever you want it to say. It's an increase of like 7 murders and we're still at the bottom per capita.

I was addressing the guy saying Austin is a violent hell scape and is one of the most violent major cities. That's not just untrue but it's so far beyond reality that it's absurd to even claim.

[Armybrat 41005]

I know that Austin is one of the safest big cities in the US, but it clearly is headed in the wrong direction. Mostly because it is becoming a bigger city, and as such is experiencing more of the inevitable ills.

Of course a European would think the place is a 3rd world shooting gallery. Lol

[BradInATX 9208]

I know that Austin is one of the safest big cities in the US, but it clearly is headed in the wrong direction. Mostly because it is becoming a bigger city, and as such is experiencing more of the inevitable ills.
Of course a European would think the place is a 3rd world shooting gallery. Lol

That's true. But one year is not a trend. It may just be a blip. It may not, though.

[mchookem 16527]

1 hour ago, Armybrat said:

I know that Austin is one of the safest big cities in the US, but it clearly is headed in the wrong direction. Mostly because it is becoming a bigger city, and as such is experiencing more of the inevitable ills.

Of course a European would think the place is a 3rd world shooting gallery. Lol

pretty sure they think that about the entire USA. to be fair, compared to themselves, they aren't wrong lol

[Judge Roybeanbag 11825]

Austin does have a high property crime problem.  A bunch of reasons for that, mostly a lot of unsupervised teens and unemployed younger people.  And drugs.

[sidis 9844]

3 hours ago, Armybrat said:

The only point I made is the fact that Austin has had the highest % increase in homicides During this pandemic era,  I have never claimed anything otherwise. 

Yes, but the rate increase is meaningless unless you consider the baseline. If a town had one murder the year before and had two the next year, the article could say that they had a 100% increase blowing St. Louis, Chicago, and Detroit our of the water. OMG, so much more dangerous! Moreover, it is a cherry picked period and the statement is no longer true when going through August. 

so instead of just doing your drive bys for retards like immortal, clap, and dcar to just lap up, use your brain. 

[Armybrat 41005]

So, nothing to see here?

You had better inform every news media source in the city about that.

 

[RDCanecutter 26553]

14 hours ago, bolverk said:

L'état, c'est moi.

Pardonnez-moi, votre majeste, y'a un tas de paysans en face du palais qui me semblent un peu trop gueux pour les supporter. Est-ce que cela serait possible que votre majeste voudriez assister a une repetition de l'artillerie?

 

 

 

And yes, accents. General George Patton would find me illiterate.

[Armybrat 41005]

Best part about French 301 at UT (Batts Hall, IIRC) in 1962 was 32 girls to 3 guys ratio.

[RDCanecutter 26553]

Just now, Armybrat said:

Best part about French 301 at UT (Batts Hall, IIRC) in 1962 was 32 girls to 3 guys ratio.

It hadn't changed much by the 90s. The guys who were there were mostly interested in guys. If you were a guy who was interested in girls, you'd make friends with the guys who were interested in guys, and they'd spy on the girls who were interested in guys. It was like having your own Enigma machine.