Austin Cuts Police Budget By A Third As Defunding Efforts Gain Momentum

Amid a global reckoning over race and policing in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, Austin’s Police Department has come under fire for the killing of Mike Ramos, an unarmed Black and Latino man, as well as the use of force against protesters against police brutality.  

On Thursday, the capital city of Texas agreed to cut around one-third of its $434 million budget, immediately eliminating $21.5 million from the department and reallocating funds to social services like food access, violence prevention and abortion access, according to The Texas Tribune.

An additional $80 million will be slashed during a year-long process redirecting dollars to other departments, and $50 million will be diverted toward “alternative forms of public safety and community support” through a new program entitled the “Reimagine Safety Fund.” 

The Austin Police Association expressed opposition to the plan prior to the vote, calling the council’s budget proposals “ridiculous and unsafe for Austinites.”

Defunding efforts have swept across the country since early June, leading to budget cuts or decreased officer numbers in over a dozen cities including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, and Washington, D.C.. 

Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best, a 28-year veteran of the department and Seattle’s first Black police leader, stepped down after the City Council approved the country’s most ambitious police restructuring plan to date, including a $3.5 million budget cut and the reinvestment of over $17 million.