Breaking: The Austin City Council unanimously voted to cut its $434 million police department budget by one-third. bit.ly/3kHKN5d
The move comes after officers and the city’s top cop faced criticism for the killing of an unarmed Black and Hispanic man, use of force against anti-police brutality protesters and the investigation of a demonstrator’s fatal shooting by another citizen.
The proposal to cut police funding calls for immediately cutting around $21.5 million from the department.
This would include reallocating these funds to areas like violence prevention, food access, and abortion access programs.
This would include reallocating these funds to areas like violence prevention, food access, and abortion access programs.
Another $80 million in cuts would come from a yearlong process that will redistribute money used for civilian functions like forensics sciences, support services and victims’ services to other departments.
About $50 million would come from reallocating dollars to a “Reimagine Safety Fund” that would divert money toward “alternative forms of public safety and community support through the yearlong reimagining process.”
Read more: bit.ly/3kHKN5d
Read more: bit.ly/3kHKN5d
City councils around the country have been voting to cut police department budgets, including Los Angeles and New York City. bit.ly/3kHKN5d
Portland’s mayor and school board said they would discontinue the presence of armed officers from local schools and reallocate the $1 million designated for these officers into the community. bit.ly/3kHKN5d
