State Moving to Put Austin Police Department under DPS

[atomheartbevo 89805]

For the stats nerds, crime was already up before the City Council made their decision on changing things up.

Murders, which was one of the main justifications for this move, went from 19 murders last year up through July, to 29 this year.  So I guess we are Juarez or something.  

https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/081120_CMR_July_EXTERNAL.pdf

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/gov-greg-abbott-moves-closer-to-transferring-control-of-austin-police-department-to-texas-dps/

Quote

On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he’s made a new move on a threat he’s made throughout the year: to take away control of the Austin Police Department from city council and give it to the state.

Back in September, Abbott expressed his displeasure with Austin City Council’s decision to cut $20 million from APD’s budget, in addition to transitioning $130 million out over a year. The council’s decision came after harsh criticism of the way APD handled protesters over the summer.

The move was condemned by Abbott, who called it “disrespect for law enforcement” that would invite chaos and endanger the public.

Abbott received a legislation proposal in September that would allow cities with over 1 million residents and fewer than two police officers per 1,000 to have its police force consolidated with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

This would include Austin, which was pointed to as a reason for the legislation’s creation.

Quote

Just days earlier, the Governor promised to pass the legislation in the upcoming session.

“The state will fix this,” Abbott wrote on Twitter. “Texas will pass a law this session supporting law enforcement and defunding cities that defund the police.”

 

Edited December 21, 2020 by atomheartbevo

[atomheartbevo 89805]

A neighbor whose son is a cop said they are not happy about this.

But I looked at one of the union twitter accounts and this was their last tweet, so 2020 is still fucking with us.

 

[OWLVIS 561]

So Fitlump or Gov, Spineless 

[Brisketexan 105347]

BUT, BUT.....LOCAL CONTROL!

Not to go CR, but goddamned, the hypocrisy has reached giant granite monument proportions.

[XYZ 2154]

I know somebody who works at Austin PD and he is looking forward to the State taking over.

[StruggleBus 3922]

Will get this get the bums to go away? If so I'm for it

[elfenix 34332]

crime stats, particularly violent crime stats, are noisy as shit.  just like we've all learned to look at week+ length trendlines for corona, you need to look at 5+ year trendlines for violent crime. 

[bolverk 29725]

Well, seeing that crime rates are higher in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Fort Worth, shouldn't those be bumped up the list?

[Anastasis 23484]

I blame uber. 

[atomheartbevo 89805]

9 minutes ago, elfenix said:

crime stats, particularly violent crime stats, are noisy as shit.  just like we've all learned to look at week+ length trendlines for corona, you need to look at 5+ year trendlines for violent crime. 

Through July of this year, we've had 10 more murders than we had at that time last year.

10 !!!!!!!!  We are only a metropolitan area of over a million people, with over 50,000 people moving in every year.   10 is a staggering  increase in the number of murders!

Think about that, we had 29 murders up through July.  Shit, Houston had 31 between November 21 - December 4.  

https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2020/12/04/houstons-homicides-are-the-highest-theyve-been-in-at-least-15-years/

 

[Guest Lobo]

14 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

I blame uber. 

Seriously, Ann Kitchen was right.  It's those Uber rapists and thugs riding around in Lyft cars all night from one crime rampage to the next.  She warned us about this.  

I can't believe Surly generated a lunatic to win District 6 but we couldn't find somebody to defeat Ann Kitchen.  she's gone in two years but seriously, how is she still a council member?  Even our resident hard-core progressive Central Austin liberal "let's approve everything with 9 digits in it" cohort still look at Kitchen and think, 'What the fuck is her deal?'  

[gmr548 16617]

lol what a joke

[mchookem 16386]

serious question...APD made the decision back in July to no longer ticket much less arrest individuals for small marijuana possession. 

if the state takes over APD... they could reverse that, right?

[atomheartbevo 89805]

50 minutes ago, mchookem said:

serious question...APD made the decision back in July to no longer ticket much less arrest individuals for small marijuana possession. 

if the state takes over APD... they could reverse that, right?

I've actually seen some speculation that this is part of a broader move to try and reverse some things that cities/counties are changing up, that the state is not happy about.

With that said, from what I recall, DPS was told not to ticket people in locales where prosecutors weren't taking those cases.

[Kyle 207]

No. Not a good idea.

[Anastasis 23484]

Did APD actually every enforce marijuana laws?

[swraith 347]

Is there a legal basis for the state to withhold the sales tax revenues that would be sent to Austin in order for the state to pay for the DPS expansion?

[BradInATX 9208]

Did APD actually every enforce marijuana laws?

Depends on where you are and what you look like.

ACL fest and white? You can smoke right in front of a cop. So I hear.

Anywhere and not white? You're at the very least getting searched with the weed being probable cause.

[atomheartbevo 89805]

6 hours ago, gmr548 said:

lol what a joke

You just have to ignore the fact that Lubbock, Waco, Fort Worth, even Pfluggervile have all seen sharp climbs in murder, sharper than Austin.

But there's something in the stats that says Austin is the most dangerous place in Texas, even though we were just chosen as one of the safest large cities in America.  If my wife needs to go to HEB, I don't ask if it's open, I ask if she is packing, and if she's wearing her body armor.

With that said, this has to go through both chambers of the legislature before he can make it happen, and they have a full plate with all of the covid-related budget stuff, but it's worrisome that somebody is making a run at it.

[washparkhorn 9939]

Consolidation of power by the State. On brand. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

21 minutes ago, washparkhorn said:

Consolidation of power by the State. On brand. 

Nanny staters.  Fitting a fucker that can’t even control half his body wants to control yours.

[elfenix 34332]

2 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

even though we were just chosen as one of the safest large cities in America.

https://austin.culturemap.com/news/city-life/12-21-20-study-austin-among-safest-large-big-cities-in-the-country-report/

austin comes in at 9th. meanwhile:

Quote

• San Antonio shows up at No. 215, with a cost of crime per capita of $1,909.
• Houston appears at No. 252, with a cost of crime per capita of $2,616.
• Dallas comes in at No. 257, with a cost of crime per capita of $2,682.

HPD has a 50% clearance rate for murder right now.  50%.  it was 90% a decade ago.  if the state should be taking over anything it's HPD.

thanks, art. 

Edited December 22, 2020 by elfenix

[Hpara759 1780]

15 hours ago, XYZ said:

I know somebody who works at Austin PD and he is looking forward to the State taking over.

I know several....and they are all for it...or at least something better than they have now

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4977]

5 hours ago, elfenix said:

 

HPD has a 50% clearance rate for murder right now.  50%.  it was 90% a decade ago.  if the state should be taking over anything it's HPD.

thanks, art. 

How much of that is due to more rigorous prosecutorial standards, though? If they were previously just railroading anybody suspicious through the system and withholding exculpatory evidence, then a reduced clearance rate might not necessarily reflect poor leadership.

[kevwun 15905]

It's because the only thing police departments care about now are drugs because they can make money off of seizures.  Cops doing actual police work is a rare thing now.

[bolverk 29725]

PBS News Hour had a good segment last night on the sharp rise in murders across the country:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whats-behind-a-sharp-rise-in-murders-across-the-u-s

 

[demos 3011]

Did APD actually every enforce marijuana laws?

Quite certain they weren’t enforcing any drug laws at eyeore’s birthday. At least not while I was still going.

[DanRydell 799]

19 hours ago, XYZ said:

I know somebody who works at Austin PD and he is looking forward to the State taking over.

I'm sure he is. The state will ignore them being racist assholes even more than the city does.

[SubliminalHorn 6811]

Fuck nanny state republicans 

[elfenix 34332]

9 hours ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

How much of that is due to more rigorous prosecutorial standards, though? If they were previously just railroading anybody suspicious through the system and withholding exculpatory evidence, then a reduced clearance rate might not necessarily reflect poor leadership.

clearance isn't successful prosecutions.  though, certainly, some of the reforms to make sure HPD is getting the right person contribute some. 

but much of the drop is due to high turnover in the detectives, detectives not being properly trained, cased being assigned to detectives who had retired or moved to another division, cases not being assigned at all, etc.  a lot of that is incompetent processes, put in place by incompetent leadership. 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/Houston-unsolved-murder-rate-police-hpd-audit-15739847.php

 

note: i don't think the state should be taking over HPD, rather illustrating how absurd the state's war on austin is

Edited December 22, 2020 by elfenix

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4977]

I figured it was a combination of both and was just pointing out that it doesn't necessarily mean one thing or the other unless we account for the other in order to look more closely at the one. Also, it's Tuesday. Where are my damned birds?

[elfenix 34332]

20 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

I figured it was a combination of both and was just pointing out that it doesn't necessarily mean one thing or the other unless we account for the other in order to look more closely at the one. Also, it's Tuesday. Where are my damned birds?

[Brisketexan 105347]

Man, the line at the last Popeyes I hit on a Tuesday night reminded me of the days of lining up the day before for concert tickets. Two pieces and a biscuit for $2 is serious bidness.

[atomheartbevo 89805]

This sounds like a couple of former Texas Reps. wrote the bill, and that's what will be submitted to the legislature.

And it is absolutely being written to exclude places like Lubbock, Fort Worth, Waco, Pfluggerville, etc. and is clearly meant for Austin and Austin only.

We would have to pay DPS - the Governor would force cites to enter into a contract with DPS, and APD would become a special division under Manley.  And all law enforcement within those cities would be strictly DPS and DPS only.

This sounds dumb as fuck.  Also sounds like it's going to open up a bunch of grifting opportunities.

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/gov-greg-abbott-moves-closer-to-transferring-control-of-austin-police-department-to-texas-dps/

Quote

On Tuesday, former Texas Reps. Terry Keel and Ron Wilson sent a draft of their bill to shift control over to DPS.

Quote

Firstly, the shift of control would only apply to municipalities with populations of 950,000 or more and a ratio of fewer than two police officers per 1,000 residents. Gov. Abbott would also have to issue written determination of a public safety threat due to insufficient funding for police.

Under the bill, Gov. Abbott can direct municipalities to enter into contracts with Texas DPS — this would create a special division of law enforcement within the department. In Austin, this means Police Chief Brian Manley would become chief of this special division and would be overseen by the director of the DPS.

Quote

Municipalities that have their control given over to DPS would also have to pay for the services. And cities who do have control taken would also not be allowed to offer additional law enforcement.

Meaning here in Austin, the City would not be able to enact any of its own law enforcement services.

Contracts between municipalities and Texas DPS will be pushed forward by the Governor at the beginning of each fiscal year. In Austin, this would happen in October 2021.

The act overall would take effect Sept. 1, 2021.

 

 

[Js1 85579]

Lol Texas. 

[Paper_jam 831]

Such fucking bullshit and hypocrisy. [Edit: removed the rest cuz I forgot this isn't Cloak Room]

 

 

Edited December 23, 2020 by Paper_jam

[JimmyJames 12271]

Its just Austin bashing. Happens every lege. 

[JimmyJames 12271]

Except this time it’s insane Austin bashing. I seriously doubt it passes. Sure a few Austin cops may support this, but a few of them are total dumbasses. 

[JimmyJames 12271]

Maybe the next step is for the feds to take over DPS.

[BillyBadAss 189]

DPS operates much differently than a local PD. The focus and modus operandi of (primarily) highway enforcement and supplementing smaller county LE is just much different than a large city police force.  

I don't see DPS wanting to take this on or having the expertise. 

[BradInATX 9208]

DPS operates much differently than a local PD. The focus and modus operandi of (primarily) highway enforcement and supplementing smaller county LE is just much different than a large city police force.  
I don't see DPS wanting to take this on or having the expertise. 

DPS is perfectly capable of watching Netflix in their car and not solving any problems unless it involves shooting someone's dog. It'll be a seamless transition.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

39 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

44 minutes ago, BillyBadAss said:

DPS operates much differently than a local PD. The focus and modus operandi of (primarily) highway enforcement and supplementing smaller county LE is just much different than a large city police force.  
I don't see DPS wanting to take this on or having the expertise. 

DPS is perfectly capable of watching Netflix in their car and not solving any problems unless it involves shooting someone's dog. It'll be a seamless transition.

Watching DPS vs homeless vs drunk legislators should be entertaining.  Why don’t you let us get on down the road?  

[crash_davis 23115]

so DPS will be setting up speed traps through Austin neighborhoods and ignoring everything else?

[Guest Lobo]

So DPS had a dozen troopers within 2 blocks of the Governor's Mansion plus the surveillance system and the fucking arsonist on tape, and in 12 years...they have a grand total of zero leads?  Every time I read "And now Texas DPS/Texas Rangers are investigating"...I know then that no closure will come to the case.  These guys can fuck up a cup of coffee.  Lived in Texas 25+ years, I'll never understand y'all's idolization for high school football coaches, preachers, and police officers.  

[CooterBrown 18031]

Lived in Texas 25+ years, I'll never understand y'all's idolization for high school football coaches, preachers, and police officers.  

Per capita, there’s more shitheels in those three groups than nearly any other three you can name.

[TKthunder2 4997]

7 hours ago, crash_davis said:

so DPS will be setting up speed traps through Austin neighborhoods and ignoring everything else?

I mean, they will scare the homeless back into the woods/shelters and “solve” the homeless crisis.

[4th_and_18 687]

So DPS had a dozen troopers within 2 blocks of the Governor's Mansion plus the surveillance system and the fucking arsonist on tape, and in 12 years...they have a grand total of zero leads?  Every time I read "And now Texas DPS/Texas Rangers are investigating"...I know then that no closure will come to the case.  These guys can fuck up a cup of coffee.  Lived in Texas 25+ years, I'll never understand y'all's idolization for high school football coaches, preachers, and police officers.  

People still think that was arson? Interdasting

#tinfoilhat