That money will be redirected to a wide variety of community programs and city departments, including a family violence shelter and mental health services.
Mayor Steve Adler said the immediate and proposed cuts are not intended to be punitive, or viewed as a punishment for police. “We’re going to improve public safety and Austin together,” Adler said. “We need, and I welcome, the knowledge, the expertise and the goodwill that our first responders are going to bring to this process.
And one thing I know is that if we do this together, when we do this together, we’re going to reach a much better place.” Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison urged the hundreds who testified during weeks of hearings to stay involved as the council works through implementing the plans outlined in the budget. “This is a long process, and we must all remain committed to it. This budget moves us closer to our goals of reimagining public safety and addressing racism as a public health crisis,” she said. Harper-Madison said while the budget is a big step in the right direction, it is not as big a step as some would like because “our shoestrings are still tied together by the status quo.” “I also want to recognize that right now, at this moment, the city of Austin is on the brink of historic change and it is not because of the will of this council. It’s because of the will of the people,” she said. “For maybe the first time ever, we have a true people’s budget, a budget that seeks to right the wrongs of racism, police misconduct and historic under-investment.” With Thursday’s vote, Austin has joined cities including Seattle, Minneapolis, Portland, Ore., and others that have taken steps to rethink police operations.Seattle police chief blames City Council as she steps down after vote to cut $4 million in budget The Associated Press this week reported that the Seattle City Council cut the salary of Police Chief Carmen Best by $10,000, and voted to cut 100 officers from the department. Best resigned Monday, saying she was fine with a pay cut, but refused to fire young officers. Unlike in Seattle, Austin leaders did not approve any layoffs for officers, only cuts to positions that were already vacant or scheduled to be added later. In June, city commissioners in Portland, Ore., voted to cut $16 million from that city’s $245 million police budget, despite calls for cuts of up to $50 million. Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said the budget will bring fundamental changes to the department unlike any he has seen in his 30-year career, among them a reduction in staffing to levels similar to 2015. Manley said the department plans to shift officers from specialized units and assignments to keep staffing for patrol shifts at current levels. “Our patrol has always been our priority, our ability to respond to 911 calls for service. And although we’ve been challenged over the past couple of years with response times not meeting our goals, we will continue to strive toward meeting those goals, and we will ensure that our patrol is staffed accordingly, even with these cuts,” he said.
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