Governor Greg Abbott plans to place Austin center under state police

In his latest move in a political fight against Austin over police funding, Gov. Greg Abbott says he’s considering a proposal to put the state in charge of monitoring a large area in the middle of town, including downtown, the Texas Capitol and the University of Texas at Austin.

Abbott pitched the idea during a Tele-Town Hall campaign on Wednesday while discussing his willingness to punish cities for “reporting the police” in the next legislative session, which begins in January. He denounced for months the August vote by Austin city council to cut its police department’s budget by a third, mainly by shifting some responsibilities out of law enforcement oversight. He has also already proposed measures such as the freezing of property tax revenues for cities that are cutting police budgets.

“I think I’m doing something else, and that’s because we have people coming from all over the world and all over the country to our capital, as well as to the university, we cannot make our compatriots the victims. … because of the direction of the city of Austin, “Abbott said,” and so what I think we need to do is have an area of ​​the Capitol area that the state will be in charge of. the police, and we can use the Austin City Police officers for that. “

The proposal follows a fight for police that became a centerpiece of the November elections across the country, playing out fears of increased crime in major cities amid calls for racial justice and reforms of police behavior.

Violent crime and property crime in Austin both declined slightly through October of this year compared to last year, according to city statistics. Homicide cases, however, reached the highest number in more than two decades: 44 in a city of around 1 million people. But the rise began before the city council vote in August, and it reflects a national and national trend for major cities.

Police officials argued that the increase in homicides was unrelated to the funding decision and could be a statistical anomaly. Austin’s homicide rate is still low among major cities in Texas and the country.

“I don’t think we can say the 2020 numbers reflect this problem,” Austin Police Lt. Jeff Greenwalt told reporters last month. “The murders we are investigating tend to stem from a common theme that someone puts themselves in a situation where they are not as sure as they could be.”

The council vote came after the department was criticized for months for its own use of force, and this coincided with the national outcry over the death of George Floyd, the black man from Minneapolis who died after a white policeman knelt on his neck during an arrest. And Austin officers seriously injured several non-violent protesters during protests after Floyd’s death.

Abbott argued that cutting police budgets during the rise in homicides is “absurd. “ He vowed on the call that he and lawmakers “will pass laws that defund the cities that defeat the police, but also make it financially impossible” to do it in the first place, “and we will force the city of Austin to reverse its strategy. “

Austin Mayor Steve Adler denounced the idea as an “unprecedented requisition from local law enforcement” and described Austin as one of the safest cities in the country. Abbott’s proposal, Alder said, is “designed to distract us from the truth.”

“It will be a long legislative session if it comes to rallying a political base and scaring each other,” he said. “Our state faces serious challenges with too many uninsured funds, insufficient funding for education and insufficient response to the pandemic. They must be our priority.”

Abbott said the area could range from Lady Bird Lake, which borders downtown to the south, to 32nd Street and from Interstate 35 to Lamar Boulevard or Texas State Highway Loop 1, known as MoPac. The area would include the entire downtown area, where crime has declined significantly this year as fewer workers fill offices there due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the area surrounding the governor’s mansion.

“We can make sure that this area is safer for anyone who walks downtown, walks the Capitol, walks the university,” Abbott said.

Abbott had previously suggested that the state could take control of parts of the Austin police force, but hadn’t elaborated as much.

Jolie McCullough and Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff contributed reporting.

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