Austin ‘moving in the wrong direction’ with police short hundreds of officers as crime rises

Austin, Texas, residents are feeling the aftershocks of the “defund the police” movement as staff shortages reportedly are leaving 911 callers on hold and crime continues to spiral out of control.

Thomas Villarreal, president of the Austin Police Association, blamed the city council for neglecting local law enforcement, telling “Fox & Friends” on Monday that the alleged missteps have concocted a larger problem.

“We just continue to have a city council that doesn’t show its police officers that [it] cares about them,” he said.

“Back in December 2017, we had a city council vote down a police contract for the first time in the history of negotiating contracts. And, you know, we pushed forward to 2018, tried to get back under contract. Our city decided to go through what they called reimagining police oversight. And then, you know, we got back under contract.”

That was before the summer 2020 riots that followed the death of George Floyd, Villarreal said, noting that 20 officers were then indicted for “doing their jobs” during the chaos.

Co-host Steve Doocy reported WalletHub data that shows Austin ranks 15th for most homicides in the U.S., adding that the city has lost more than 800 officers in the last six years.

The dismal numbers come as the department saw a $150 million budget cut – roughly a third – in 2020.

“We just have a backward slide. You know, we’re a growing city, a city that should be up around 2,000 officers and growing right now,” Villarreal said.

“I’ve got about 1,475 officers in our police department and, you know, we’re moving in the wrong direction. There’s less and less and less resources to go out and do the job. I’ve got detectives who are pulled away from their caseload to just help answer 911 calls because we just don’t have the resources to adequately police the city.”

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, a Democrat, announced last month that the city was suspending its partnership with the Texas Department of Safety, whose officers were responding to emergency calls to assist the struggling police department.

Watson had praised the partnership two days earlier and explained that crime and response times had gone down as a result – but in announcing the split, he said the partnership does not adhere to “Austin’s values.”

Villarreal said the city’s downward spiral is unfortunate for city residents who have to wait for police to come to their aid.

Complaints echo concerns from business owners who say the lack of police response has wreaked havoc on their well-being and driven away customers.

“You kind of feel helpless knowing that the police are going to take so long to arrive,” Laura North, co-owner of Austin-based Headspace Salon, told “Fox & Friends First” in January.

Daniel Schwieterman, who owns Regard Jewelry in Austin, joined the show last August and talked about having to wait 10 days to hear back from police.

“311 [non-emergency number] is not working. A jewelry store should not take 10 days to get a police report,” he said. 

“This is for sure not working. You take away the police force and then ask us all not to have weapons or anything in our stores to protect ourselves. The crime rate is going to go up,” he added.