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Gov. Greg Abbott calls for new crimes, mandatory jail time for certain offenses related to protests
24 September
Gov. Greg Abbott help a press conference Sept. 24 to announce new legislative proposals.
By Jolie McCullough
At a campaign event in Dallas on Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a string of new legislative proposals to raise penalties and create new crimes for offenses committed at protests.
<p>Abbott isn't on the Nov. 3 ballot, but the event was the Republican governor's <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/10/greg-abbott-austin-police-budget-cuts/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">latest move in a national political battle</a> during a tumultuous election that has pitted police officers and fears of rising crime against calls for an end to <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/13/defunding-police-texas-organizers/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">police brutality and systemic racism</a>. Abbott's proposals, offered at a press conference at the Dallas Police Association headquarters, in part mirror a controversial set of measures Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed earlier this week.</p><p>"Today, we are announcing more legislative proposals to do even more to protect our law enforcement officers as well as do more to keep our community safe," said Abbott, who was flanked by police union officials, other Texas leaders and Republican politicians hoping to take Texas House seats from Dallas County Democrats in November.</p><p>The legislation, if passed by lawmakers in 2021, would create felony-level offenses for causing injury or destroying property during what is deemed to be a "riot." Blocking hospital entrances and using lasers to target police would also be felony offenses, Abbott said. Striking an officer with something like a water bottle would lead to a mandatory minimum of six months in jail.</p><p>Currently, the crime of "participating in a riot" is a misdemeanor offense in Texas with a maximum of six months in jail, and is labeled as a gathering of seven or more people that in part, creates a danger to a person or property. Many protesters in Texas have been arrested on suspicion of such offenses since protests erupted in May after the death of George Floyd. Others have been charged with felony-level crimes like assault on a police officer, including an 18-year-old who faces up to 20 years in prison for allegedly throwing a water bottle at an officer.</p><p>During a summer of national unrest after Floyd's death, protests in Texas sometimes turned unruly, leaving broken windows and dents in police vehicles, graffiti on government property and police officers with cuts and bruises. Most protests in Texas have been peaceful and have not left massive amounts of property damage — like burned buildings or looted storefronts — in their wake. Police have sprayed tear gas and pepper spray into crowds and fired bean bags out of shotguns at nonviolent demonstrators, sometimes seriously injuring them.</p><p>In recent months, the Austin City Council issued a vote of no confidence in police leadership to make changes to end police violence against people of color and, later, cut the department's budget. In Dallas, Police Chief U. Reneé Hall <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/08/dallas-police-chief-renee-hall-resigns/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">announced she would resign</a> at the end of the year after her department's use of force during protests was heavily criticized.</p><p>Abbott's new proposal would also pursue organizers of unruly protests. A new felony offense would be created for those who "aid and abet riots with funds and organization assistance," he said, and give the Texas Attorney General power to pursue civil penalties against such organizations as well.</p><p>And it would also keep anyone arrested on suspicion of riot offenses in jail until they could see a court officer.</p><p>"We're tired of seeing all these rioters do their rioting, they get arrested, they go in, and 30 minutes later, they're back on the street," Abbott said.</p><p>In Florida, DeSantis also announced Monday a proposal to delay releasing people who could make bail.</p><p>Democrats in Florida slammed DeSantis' proposal as unconstitutional and fear mongering, according to the Tampa Bay Times. One Florida lawmaker said the governor had "declared war on our civil rights."</p><p>In Texas, the proposals already had fierce opposition from organizers. David Villalobos, with the Texas Organizing Project in Dallas, said he is concerned about how police are able to determine when something is a riot and who they will target, and how it will affect a community that already doesn't trust the police.</p><p>"We wouldn't want [police] to have this wide discretion to deem which protesters are taking part in disorderly conduct or unlawful protests," he said Thursday. "This seems like a step that would really try to stifle the voice of the people, the people's right to march and peacefully assemble."</p><p>In Austin, where City Council members last month cut the police budget amid an outcry to defund policing and reinvest in other social programs to reduce crime, Austin Justice Coalition Founder Chas Moore said it seemed "democracy is hanging on by a thread."</p><p>"I don't think the governor is moving in the right direction if he's trying to penalize people for protesting or speaking out against the things people have grievances about," he said. "It's not going to stop people from protesting, but I do think we have a more emboldened police department and police forces."</p><p><em>Juan Pablo Garnham contributed to this story.</em></p><p><em><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Texas Tribune</a> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. </em></p><p><em><br/></em></p><p><strong>More on Abbott:</strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/abbott-legislature-police-austin" target="_self">Abbott threatens legislative action after Austin cuts police budget</a></h2>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzkxOTcyMS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDYzMDc3OX0.WlDNsUDAkxPE5CIrgIBgGkCqbbWPxkkyJyLXfF4odzQ/img.png?width=980" id="27318" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e7cf7bbcb7ac38befe8f83edde1714ee" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs anti-defunding pledge in response to Austin's police budget cuts
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs anti-defunding pledge in response to Austin's police budget cuts
10 September
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called on Texas residents and political candidates to sign a pledge against defunding the police.
Austin City Council's decision last month to cut the police budget by 5% continues to rankle.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a pledge on Thursday opposing police budget cuts and invited candidates in the upcoming election to join him in doing so.
<p>"[Law enforcement officers] preserve calm amidst chaos," Abbot said at a press conference, citing the 19th anniversary of 9/11, which is tomorrow. "So it is particularly offensive that some cities are disrespecting and even defunding our law enforcement agencies in communities across the state." </p><p>Austin Police Association President Ken Casaday applauded the pledge effort. "I think it is brilliant, and it shows your weak leadership and your weak personalities if you do not sign this," he said.</p><p>In a statement issued on Thursday, Austin Mayor Steve Adler called the pledge effort "political theatre intended to scare and distract us from important public safety conversations" about the pandemic response and police reform. He also added that "Austin is the safest big city in Texas and among the few safest in the country."</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="92000b0990ece3749ec947646c48f165" id="38983"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1304150615053008898"><div style="margin:1em 0">Full statement here: https://t.co/bPBGpco3Qc https://t.co/U0LOCTKJra</div> — Mayor Adler | 😷wear a mask. (@Mayor Adler | 😷wear a mask.)<a href="https://twitter.com/MayorAdler/statuses/1304150615053008898">1599768711.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Chris Harris, director of criminal justice programs at Texas Appleseed and a member of the city's public safety commission, tweeted on Thursday that police unions "are the last folks to trust about what's safe" given their opposition to reform. </p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7e859fb3ce9264f0a9a38c5ab6438c48" id="5645c"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1304128571800199170"><div style="margin:1em 0">Police unions now claiming a minor police budget cut (that hasn't happened yet) makes Austin unsafe saw nothing wro… https://t.co/dlhrBcA4m1</div> — Chris Harris (@Chris Harris)<a href="https://twitter.com/chrisharris101/statuses/1304128571800199170">1599763455.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Abbott also announced a legislative proposal that would remove a city's annexation powers if it defunds its police department. "It should leave Austin with no choice to restore the cuts that they have already made to law enforcement," he said.<br/></p><p>This is the second such legislative proposal that Abbott has supported. Earlier this month, he tweeted that he was considering a bill that would place the Austin Police Department <a href="https://austonia.com/texas-governor-apd-budget-" target="_blank">under state control</a>. </p><p>Austin City Council voted unanimously last month to immediately cut approximately $20 million—or about 5%—of the Austin Police Department budget, including eliminating funding from three planned police cadet classes. The APA decried the decision, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AustinPoliceAssociation/posts/3189933541128380" target="_blank">writing in an Aug. 14 Facebook post</a> that the upcoming—and now canceled—cadet class would have been the first majority-minority in APD's history. </p><p>The police academy has come under fire in recent years—prior to the more recent movement to defund police—for its <a href="https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2020-08-13/fy21-budget-passes-unanimously-with-big-cuts-to-austin-police-funding/" target="_blank">"fear-based" and "paramilitary" approach to training</a>, <a href="https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/council-may-stall-police-academy-to-investigate-discrimination-within-apd" target="_blank">discriminatory recruiting practices</a> and <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/13/austin-city-council-cut-police-budget-defund/" target="_blank">attrition rates</a>. </p><p>Council members also put an additional $130 million into two transitional funds that will allow several of APD's traditional duties to continue while officials work out which responsibilities to move out from under police oversight. </p><p>"The recent deaths of Mr. George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of a police officer and our own officer-involved shooting death of Mr. Michael Rmaos have amplified the call for justice in our community in ways we cannot ignore," City Manager Spencer Cronk wrote in the proposed FY 2020-21 budget. </p><p>Even with the approved cuts, the city of Austin allocates nearly 40% of its general funds to police, more than double what it spends on its next largest expense.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7efc2dd87b1b681662bd17745fe8e662" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="e5777" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzkxOTM3Ny9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTAyMDU2M30.mzU2FFzfCyN_-nhtHigbDiN4vGxiH05jtukSZJJ2eHg/img.png?width=980"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Austin spends more of its general fund on police than anything else.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">(Austin Finance Online)</small></p><p>Last year, Austin spent more per resident on the police than any of the four largest cities in Texas, <a href="https://austonia.com/texas-governor-apd-budget-" target="_self"><u>according to the Texas Tribune</u></a>. Between 2008 and 2018, its violent crime rate fell 25%. This year through July, there were 29 homicides, compared with 19 during the same period last year.</p>
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Anti-police defunding billboard campaign warns Austin drivers to 'enter at your own risk!'
09 September
(Dan Patrick/Twitter)
The Texas Municipal Police Association launched a billboard campaign Wednesday in response to what the union called Austin City Council's "disastrous decision" to cut some police funding.
<p>Two billboards now appear on I-35, just north and south of the city, warning drivers to "enter at your own risk."</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9e059dac997556fd7c93446daa94c213" id="36b8a"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1303718572565450754"><div style="margin:1em 0">https://t.co/JCqTKdTNRO</div> — TMPA (@TMPA)<a href="https://twitter.com/TMPALegislative/statuses/1303718572565450754">1599665704.0</a></blockquote></div><p>After months of protests against police violence and calls from residents to remove the police chief, Austin City Council voted last month to immediately cut approximately $20 million—or about 5%—of the Austin Police Department budget. They also put <a href="https://austonia.com/texas-governor-apd-budget-" target="_blank">an additional $130 million</a> into two transitional funds that will allow several of APD's traditional duties to continue while officials work out which responsibilities to move out from under police oversight.</p><p>The TMPA—which represents more than 30,000 local, county and state law enforcement officers across the state—wrote in a Facebook post that the decision to cut funding was a "reckless act, a political stunt by the city council pandering to the radical left" and that it "will do nothing but endanger the people of Austin."</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7bdaf03943491b759e9a2dd2b562f36f"><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/TMPA.COPS/posts/10158381339964871"></div></div><p>State GOP leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, tweeted in support of the billboard campaign on Wednesday.<br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4c480bbb644a7cf98d0f9c81cc7e4897" id="ae889"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1303777387063250944"><div style="margin:1em 0">Thank you to the Texas Municipal Police Association for these great new billboards that went up in Austin today.… https://t.co/ph8UQgdxkB</div> — Dan Patrick (@Dan Patrick)<a href="https://twitter.com/DanPatrick/statuses/1303777387063250944">1599679726.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Last year, Austin spent more per resident on the police than any of the four largest cities in Texas, <a href="https://austonia.com/texas-governor-apd-budget-" target="_self"><u>according to the Texas Tribune</u></a>. Between 2008 and 2018, its violent crime rate fell 25%. This year, through July, there were 29 homicides, compared with 19 during the same period last year.</p><p>Abbott tweeted last week that he was considering a legislative proposal that, if passed, would put APD under state control.</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1b2164285a7fa4684e57dc3cb832c867" id="6ffd8"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1301634569775456256"><div style="margin:1em 0">This proposal for the state to takeover the Austin Police Department is one strategy I'm looking at.
We can't let… https://t.co/N0ZEUeH384</div> — Greg Abbott (@Greg Abbott)<a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/statuses/1301634569775456256">1599168839.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Gov. Greg Abbott considering legislation to put Austin police under state control after budget cut
03 September
Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune
Austin police officers gathered on Interstate 35 to remove protesters demonstrating against police brutality from the highway in May.
By Jolie McCullough
Gov. Greg Abbott is considering a legislative proposal that, if passed, would put the control of the Austin Police Department under state authority.
<p>Texas' governor <a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1301634569775456256" target="_blank">tweeted</a> Thursday that he was looking at a strategy that would stop city officials' efforts to shift resources away from police departments and into other social services. Austin became the first Texas city to approve cutting its police budget last month as calls rise to "defund police" during a revived movement against police brutality and racial injustice.<br/></p><p>"This proposal for the state to takeover the Austin Police Department is one strategy I'm looking at," Abbott tweeted in response to <a href="https://www.reformaustin.org/public-safety/abbott-given-a-primer-for-state-takeover-of-austin-police-department/" target="_blank">an article from Reform Austin</a>. "We can't let Austin's defunding & disrespect for law enforcement to endanger the public & invite chaos like in Portland and Seattle."</p><p>The cities have experienced months of sometimes violent protests and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/us/federal-agents-portland-seattle-protests.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">controversial intervention</a> of federal agents. In Portland, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/31/us/governor-brown-portland-plan-curb-protests/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">protesters and counter-protesters clashed</a> after a President Donald Trump rally last month, and a member of a far-right political organization was fatally shot.</p><p>The potential legislation, sent last week to Abbott by former Texas House members and parliamentarians Terry Keel and Ron Wilson, would allow for a city with a population over 1 million and less than two police officers per 1,000 residents — a bucket Austin falls into — to have its police force consolidated with the Texas Department of Public Safety. The state's law enforcement branch would take over the local police department and form a new entity if the governor decided there were "insufficient municipal resources being appropriated for public safety needs," according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Texas Tribune.</p><p>The director of DPS would control operations of the new department, and the state's Public Safety Commission, a five-member board that oversees DPS and is appointed by the governor, would decide its budget, said Keel, who is also a former Travis County sheriff. The money would then be taken from state sales revenue taxes usually sent to the city.</p><p>"That letter basically is a roadmap to how the Legislature can address the problem in Austin," Keel told the Tribune last week. "Because Austin opened the door to the Legislature doing that, by defunding the police and by creating a public safety crisis."</p><p>Since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked protests across the nation, calls for cities to spend <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/13/defunding-police-texas-organizers/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">less money on policing and more on other social services</a> like health care and housing programs have gained large-scale traction. Floyd was a Black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest past the point when he lost consciousness.</p><p>In Austin, police criticism was heightened in April after an officer <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/27/mike-ramos-austin-video/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shot and killed Mike Ramos</a>, an unarmed Black and Hispanic man who was driving away from police. During protests in May spurred by Ramos' and Floyd's deaths, two nonviolent protesters — a Black man and Hispanic boy — were seriously injured after being hit in the head with police bean bag rounds.</p><p>Although calls to remove the police chief went unanswered, the progressive City Council in June issued a vote of no confidence in police leadership to make changes to end police violence against people of color, and, last month, <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/13/austin-city-council-cut-police-budget-defund/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cut the department's budget</a>.</p><p>The 2021 Austin budget would immediately cut from the department approximately $20 million that will be redirected to fund areas like violence prevention, food access and abortion access programs. About $130 million was put into two transitional funds that will allow several of the department's traditional duties to remain funded while officials work out which responsibilities to keep under law enforcement and which to move out from under police oversight.</p><p>Policing is the most expensive item in most cities' budgets. Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/14/texas-police-budgets-austin-dallas-houston-san-antonio/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">budgeted more than one-third of their general funds for police departments</a> during the 2020 fiscal year. Austin, which has now decided to reduce its funding and reorganize its police department, budgeted $444 dollars per resident on police in the 2020 fiscal year, more than any of the four largest cities in Texas. In that city, violent crime rates dropped by 25% between 2008 and 2018. This year through July, there were 29 homicides, compared with 19 during the same period last year, according to <a href="https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/081120_CMR_July_EXTERNAL.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the police chief's monthly crime report</a>.</p><p>Abbott said in a statement after the budget vote that it paved the way for lawlessness and DPS troopers would stand in to protect the city. Days later, Abbott and other Republican state leaders <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/18/texas-police-funding-greg-abbott-dan-patrick/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">held a press conference to denounce the decision</a> and promoted a vague proposal to freeze property tax revenues for any city that defunds law enforcement, citing a recent uptick in crime.</p><p>Austin City Council member Greg Casar said Thursday that Abbott's latest tweet was another attempt to draw attention away from the state's failed response to the pandemic.</p><p>"This, just like the other likely illegal, absurd proposal, are attacks on Austin's local democracy and attacks on our focus on civil rights," he said. "When you look at it, it seems pretty clearly like an attempt at political theater and grandstanding."</p><p>An Abbott spokesperson did not respond to repeated requests about the proposed legislation last week.</p><p>The proposal for state police to take over a local police department is an action Casar and multiple policing reform advocates said they had never heard of happening before, but DPS is often entangled in city policing. The governor can send troopers into areas deemed in need of support. Last year, when Dallas had a startling number of homicides, <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2019/08/15/Dallas-crime-murder-rate-rises-state-troopers-resident-complaints/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Abbott also sent in his police force</a>.</p><p>Violent crime did drop in the areas of Dallas where they were deployed, but some city officials said they were still doing more harm than good. They said an "overwhelming" number of residents complained that the troopers were over-policing neighborhoods, questioning people about their immigration status and stopping people for soon-to-expire, but still valid, inspection stickers.</p><p>Sara Labowitz, policy and advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, noted last week that the proposal follows a pattern of state leaders fighting to seize control from local officials, like mask orders during early months of the pandemic.</p><p>"States scream local control at the federal government and then squeeze localities of that same local control," she said. "Local government is the most democratic in a lot of ways, it is the most responsive to people."<br/></p><p><em>Juan Pablo Garnham contributed reporting.</em></p><p><em>This story was updated Thursday evening. </em></p>
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(Austin Police Department)
Austin Police Department Sgt. Michael Crumrine and Det. Christopher Babb asked for the community's help locating the family of a newborn child found in Northeast Austin on Tuesday morning.
The Austin Police Department is looking for the mother of a newborn girl found in a Northeast Austin neighborhood on Tuesday.
"The child is safe," APD Sgt. Michael Crumrine said in a press conference on Tuesday. "The child is well."
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9406ab35e2bd90f475de88c3f256c79a" id="16c11"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1300887735347982337"><div style="margin:1em 0">Sergeant Crumrine provides media briefing regarding infant that was located this morning https://t.co/YPGDlmo873</div> — Austin Police Department (@Austin Police Department)<a href="https://twitter.com/Austin_Police/statuses/1300887735347982337">1598990780.0</a></blockquote></div><p>While taking an early morning walk on Rotterham Drive, near the Walnut Creek Greenbelt, a good samaritan heard what sounded like an infant cry. The person followed the noise and discovered an abandoned infant near a community mailbox.</p><p>The person called 911, and police and EMS personnel responded. The infant was taken to a local hospital for an exam. Crumrine did not provide the name of the hospital.</p><p>During the exam, doctors estimated that the newborn was born within the past 12 hours and uncovered information that raised concerns about the health of her mother.</p><p>Crumrine did not answer questions about what these concerns might be or about the baby's race and ethnicity, citing HIPAA regulations. </p><p>"A child has come into this world and we know absolutely nothing about the family," he said. "We're very concerned, given the information that we have about the mother's wellbeing." </p><p>APD is asking for the community's help to identify the mother to ensure her wellbeing, Crumrine said.</p><p>"These are rare cases," he said. </p><p>Texas observes the "Baby Moses Law," which protects parents who abandon very young children at designated emergency infant care providers, such as fire stations and hospitals, from criminal prosecution. </p>
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This story was last updated at 5 p.m. Saturday to include what a witness saw at the time of the shooting.
The 60-person brawl between two groups of Hurricane Laura evacuees—which led to the shooting death of a bystander—was caused by an argument over a scooter, a man who said he witnessed the incident told Austonia.
Amy Lynn Warner, a 51-year-old homeless woman, was shot in the neck during the fight, according to the witness, who declined to give his name but said he lived on the streets and had a close relationship with the victim.
"There was a guy on a scooter who rode by," he said in a video interview. "Another guy got mad because he took the scooter ... [He] pulled out a gun, shot one time. Amy got shot in the neck and died on the way to the hospital."
<p><strong><br/></strong></p><p><br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="769b79a4165e1b471ae1a680237a94e2"><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/austonianews/posts/172210764400348"></div></div><p><br/></p><p><strong>The brawl</strong><br/></p><p>The call about the large fight came in around 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, shortly before Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane, knocking out power for at least half a million people in <a href="https://www.wral.com/storm-damage-in-beaumont-texas/19256595/" target="_blank">coastal Texas and Louisiana.</a></p><p>A woman was found at the scene and taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead around 1 a.m., police said.</p><p>"She was standing at the wrong place at the wrong time," said Austin police Lt. Jeff Greenwalt.</p><p>Detectives are interviewing witnesses and checking surveillance video. </p><p>"The information gathered thus far indicates that two groups of hurricane evacuees, one from Port Arthur and one from Beaumont, got into an argument and a large fight ensued," police said. "Individuals from both parties produced handguns. One person fired and struck a woman experiencing homelessness who happened to be nearby, but was not involved."</p><p>No other gunshot injuries were reported, according to police. Greenwalt declined to say how many shots were fired.</p><p>Police also did not say what caused the fight between the two groups. The shots were fired as police were en route, Greenwalt said.</p><p>The address of the altercation is listed as Sixth Street at Brazos. The corner includes Gold's Gym and the Driskill Hotel, along with numerous bars and restaurants close by. The shooting happened in front of the Driskill, Greenwalt said. He did not confirm that the evacuees were staying there, saying there were numerous hotels throughout the city that evacuees were using.</p><p>The city and county provided more than a thousand hotel rooms for more than 3,000 evacuees and opened up a shelter at the <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-convention-center-for-evacuees" target="_self">Austin Convention Center</a> on second street overnight.</p><p><strong>The victim</strong> </p><p>Warner was well known on Sixth Street among the street artists and homeless population, many of whom described her as quirky and friendly and intensely proud of her adult son.</p><p>"She had been through a lot, but she was always smiling," said Justine Decker, who works with homeless artists near the corner where Warner was shot. "She always asked me what I was painting, and she was very encouraging."</p><p>Warner had been on the streets of Austin at least five years, according to one man who asked not to be named. The aforementioned witness said her life was hard on the street—especially because she was small in stature.</p><p>Decker said she and others who knew her were trying to locate her son to let him know.</p><p><strong>The arrest</strong></p><p>Police announced Friday the arrest of 21-year old Linton Alexander, who is accused of Warner's death.</p><p><br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="754daaefb134ed7fa662dacdc69dedc7" id="4d895"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1299485977392619522"><div style="margin:1em 0">UPDATE: APD arrests 21-year-old Linton Wilson Alexander (Homicide #32).
The decedent has been identified as Amy L… https://t.co/bXyCERZy0l</div> — Austin Police Department (@Austin Police Department)<a href="https://twitter.com/Austin_Police/statuses/1299485977392619522">1598656574.0</a></blockquote></div><p><br/></p><p>Police did not release where or when Alexander was arrested, or where he lives.</p><p>It is one of three homicides Austin police were investigating in a 12-hour period. The other two homicides to happen on Wednesday involved people who knew each other, Greenwalt said. There have been 33 homicides in Austin this year.</p>
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(Charlie L. Harper III/Austonia)
Legislation that would hamstring cities' abilities to raise property taxes if they cut police budgets will be a "priority" when Texas lawmakers meet for their regular session early next year, state leaders said Tuesday.
<p>Among the first cities to be affected would be Austin, where the Austin City Council voted last week to cut part of the police budget—earning Mayor Steve Adler and the rest of the council <a href="https://austonia.com/abbott-legislature-police-austin" rel="dofollow" target="_self">sharp and targeted criticism</a> from the state's conservative leaders.</p><p>"They will never be able to increase property-tax revenue again if they defund police," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a press conference Tuesday in Fort Worth.</p><p>Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen agreed that their chambers would support such a bill.</p><p>"We will be ready in the Senate to work on this legislation and make it a priority," Patrick said. "When I think about what Austin has done, had any other mayor of any other city in the state been as irresponsible as they had been, they would have chaos and their city would be in danger."</p><p>Bonnen promised 100% support from the House, although he is not returning for the session after <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2019/10/22/Dennis-Bonnen-to-not-seek-reelection-to-Texas-House/" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow" target="_blank">announcing last fall</a> that he would not seek re-election. A new House Speaker will be elected on the first day of the session in January 2021.</p><p>Legislation will not be filed until after the November election. Abbott and the others were not clear on how the legislation would define "defund"—whether it would be a percentage limit on reduction of budget or a requirement to increase funding by a certain amount, or another approach.</p><p>Adler said cities should be able to "decide their own priorities" and that state action to limit that is "a problem."<br/></p><p>"I think the press conference was mostly about trying to make us afraid and scared, and my concern is that we're going to see more of that," Adler said. "The kind of cap that is imposed at the state level on the local community is a problem. It takes away fundamental and basic freedoms and rights from local communities to be able to decide what their priorities are." </p><p><strong>Council action</strong></p><p>The Austin Police Department is still funded, but the <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-unanimously-passes-4-1b-budget-that-includes-5-percent-cut-to-police-budget-with-promises-for-more-reports" target="_self">Austin City Council voted on Thursday</a> to move $150 million out of the $440M police budget over the next six months, including $20 million immediately that would have filled 150 currently vacant officer spots in the department.<br/></p><p>The remaining $130 million will be negotiated with input from the community, including law enforcement and victims advocate groups, concerning where to best reappropriate the remaining funds for functions such as fighting domestic violence and responding to mental health crises. In total the cuts will amount to roughly one-third of the current 2019-20 police budget.</p><p>Thursday's action did not remove active-duty officers from the street, but it will eliminate positions that may have been filled later. </p><p><strong>Spike in homicides</strong></p><p>In his argument against the city council's actions, Abbott cited <a href="https://austonia.com/police-austin-homicide" rel="dofollow" target="_self">recent crime statistics</a> showing a spike in the number of homicides in the first half of this year compared to last year, pointing to national headlines showing Austin had the largest increase of any city in the country.<br/></p><p>Percentage-wise, that was true for January through June—a 64% increase translating to nine more homicides in the first half of the year.</p><p>In comparison, Chicago saw a smaller percentage increase from last year but still has recorded more than 320 homicides this year. In 2020, Austin police had responded to 29 homicides by July 31.</p><p>In spite of the increase, Austin still had the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/homicide-spike-cities-chicago-newyork-detroit-us-crime-police-lockdown-coronavirus-protests-11596395181" target="_blank">second lowest murder rate of any large city in the country,</a> according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.</p><p><strong>Austin council responds</strong></p><p>Adler said the council action was in response to "thousands of Austinites (who) marched in the streets demanding justice and action" during Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Michael Ramos at the hands of officers.</p><p>"The status quo and the past are no longer good enough," Adler said. "This is the inflection point and we all have a decision to make as to which side of history we choose to be on."</p><p>Council Member Jimmy Flannigan, chairman of the council's committee on public safety, pointed to a move by Abbott three years ago to cut funding for the Texas Department of Public Safety by 4 percent.</p><p>"I'm disappointed that the governor chooses this extreme political rhetoric at a time when we are implementing the most fiscally responsible reform movement in municipal history, to go through the largest bureaucracy in the general fund, line by line, and making sure taxpayers are getting the most for their investment," Flannigan said.</p><p><span></span>Some members of the Austin City Council fired back on social media, defending their decision.</p><p><br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="62f63d121a2c8005ac7f67894b77f089" id="d0dee"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1295791437406179329"><div style="margin:1em 0">.@GovAbbott said “defunding law enforcement is never the answer,” yet the Governor himself requested a 4% cut to D… https://t.co/9ZpwTHh0hF</div> — Gregorio Casar (@Gregorio Casar)<a href="https://twitter.com/GregCasar/statuses/1295791437406179329">1597775727.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Jordan Vonderhaar
Mounted officers from the Austin Police Department clash with protesters on the corner of Fourth Street and Congress Avenue in downtown Austin earlier this summer.
BY MANDI CAI AND JUAN PABLO GARNHAM, The Texas Tribune
Officials in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio each spent more than $434 million from their general funds on their respective police departments during the 2020 fiscal year. For each, that was more than a third of their general funds, the portion of city budgets that can largely be distributed to any department because it is not mandated to a specific function.
<p>Spending that much on police has rarely been challenged on a large scale, according to police reform advocates. But some Texas cities are rethinking how much they spend on police this year after the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by Minneapolis police officers during an arrest, <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/17/east-texas-george-floyd-killing-energizes-new-generation-fight-racism/" target="_blank">spurred protests against police brutality</a> and calls to reduce police funding <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/02/texas-police-george-floyd/" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow" target="_blank">across the state</a> and country.</p><p>On Thursday, the Austin City Council unanimously voted to cut its police department <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/13/austin-city-council-cut-police-budget-defund/" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow" target="_blank">budget by one-third</a> — or $150 million — over the next year.</p><p>Police reform activists like Nora Soto, the co-founder of Our City Our Future in Dallas, are <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/13/defunding-police-texas-organizers/" target="_blank">asking City Council members to reallocate part of these funds toward areas like housing, social services and public spaces</a> as part of an effort to end a history of discrimination, inequality and overpolicing of <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/04/austin-protests-racism-segregation/" target="_blank">Black and brown communities</a>.</p><p>In 2018, about a third of Texas prisoners were Black, a third were white and a third were Hispanic, <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p18.pdf" target="_blank">according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics</a>. That same year, about 12% of Texas' population was Black, about 42% was white and 40% was Hispanic, according to the <a href="https://demographics.texas.gov/Resources/TPEPP/Estimates/2018/2018_ASRE_Estimate_alldata.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow" target="_blank">Texas Demographic Center</a>.</p><p>Also in 2018, 19.6% of Black Texans lived below the poverty line, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, compared with 20.9% of Hispanic Texans and 8.5% of non-Hispanic white Texans.</p><p>"The only way that you're going to prevent crime is by addressing the root causes of crime, and the main one is poverty," Soto said. "Police have acted as a poverty patrol. They're criminalizing poor people."</p><p>Jennifer Szimanski, public affairs coordinator for the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, said funding that police departments receive is <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/19/houston-police-sylvester-turner/" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow" target="_blank">proportional to their responsibilities</a>, which include everything from responding to potentially dangerous emergency 911 calls to attending monthly neighborhood meetings. And police unions like CLEAT have warned that cuts to public safety funding could increase crime.</p><p>"Just because of the sheer volume of tasks that we are responsible for dealing with, public safety is going to be the most expensive part of a city budget across the board. That's really just demand," Szimanski said.</p><p>Houston has the largest police budget in Texas and spent more than $899 million on police in the fiscal year that ended in June. But Austinites spent more on police per resident than their counterparts in the state's three other biggest cities in the 2020 fiscal year before the City Council there slashed police funds in the 2021 budget. </p><p>There, the city was budgeted to spend $443.84 per resident on police from its general fund in the 2020 fiscal year, which ends in September. The Austin Police Department also constituted 39.9% of the city's general fund this fiscal year, a share that was larger than in Dallas, Houston or San Antonio.</p><p>According to Austin spokesperson Andy Tate, the high cost of living there drives officer's wages up. The city also previously included many items in its police budget that other cities list separately, like park police and emergency communications centers. The 2021 Austin budget approved Thursday calls for approximately $20 million in immediate cuts, money that will be redirected to fund areas like violence prevention, food access and abortion access programs. </p><p>Another $80 million in cuts would come from a yearlong process that will redistribute money used for civilian functions. About $50 million would come from reallocating dollars to a "Reimagine Safety Fund" that would divert money toward "alternative forms of public safety."</p><p><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/10/texas-defund-police-dallas/" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow" target="_blank">The Houston City Council approved a minor funding increase to its police department in June</a>, but an amendment that tried to redistribute some of the money to other areas, like the police oversight board and loans for businesses owned by Black and brown people, was rejected.</p><p>In San Antonio, the budget proposal presented on Aug. 5 includes raises for police officers and an $8 million increase in overall police funding. But it also cuts overtime and moves $1.3 million from the police department to the local health authority to create a new division of violence prevention, <a href="https://www.tpr.org/post/san-antonios-proposed-budget-gives-police-5-raise-moves-13-million-sapd-metro-health" target="_blank">according to Texas Public Radio</a>. This budget is scheduled to be approved by Sept. 17.</p><p>Dallas officials, who should vote on their budget by Sept. 23, are considering <a href="https://dallascityhall.com/departments/budget/financialtransparency/Pages/Upcoming-Budget.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow" target="_blank">a proposal</a> that doesn't make large cuts to the police department, but adds $3.2 million for mental health services and increases housing, employment and other safety net resources.</p><p><em><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/14/texas-police-budgets-austin-dallas-houston-san-antonio/" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">Click here and scroll down</a> for interactive Tribune graphics comparing major city police budgets in Texas and showing how cities spent general fund revenues on police compared to other departments and initiatives in their 2020 fiscal year budgets.</em></p><p>It can be difficult to compare spending toward a goal, like decreasing homelessness or increasing workforce development because some cities may have an agency or a position dedicated to solve these challenges, while others have many departments contributing to the goal. Austin, for example, allocated $73.4 million toward homelessness, but a long list of agencies were involved in this effort, from public health to the design and delivery office.</p><p>Academic research has shown that <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/~smello/papers/cops.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow" target="_blank">hiring more officers can reduce crime</a>. But experts and advocates say that spending a lot on public safety may also have negative outcomes, like overpolicing marginalized communities. At the same time, there's evidence that shows that investing in areas like early childhood education or offering food stamps can also create safer neighborhoods. Police reform advocates said that policing is not able to solve deeper problems, as law enforcement mostly reacts to particular emergencies. Soto said, for example, investing in affordable housing is more important than funding police.</p><p>"Once you solve the issue of housing, you solve most of the issues that stem and that causes chronic poverty," she said.</p><p>Szimanski said CLEAT doesn't oppose more funding for other areas like mental health, as long as it doesn't mean cuts to police departments.</p>
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