Please sign this petition if you agree with this letter:

Dear Austin leadership,

I am a resident of Austin. I’m writing to state my support for defunding Austin’s police department, motivated by the recent movements taking place around the country as a reaction to police brutality, the epidemic of police brutality itself, and because I believe Black lives matter and this current system does not value Black lives. I understand that budget talks are happening soon in Austin. The goal of Austin’s budget talks regarding policing should not be to increase APD’s already-bloated budget with more trainings and technology -- which have been proven time and time again, throughout the nation, to be ineffective. Instead, the solution lies in defunding APD and reallocating that money to 1) solve the issue of crime at the root and 2) create separate, specialized agencies who can respond more effectively to certain types of calls and citizen activity. Initiatives like this have started to gain traction around the US, and where they’ve been implemented, they’ve been successful. 

Crime occurs when citizens do not have their needs met -- affordable housing, access to food, clean water, healthcare, etc. APD takes up a huge portion of the city’s budget, when that money needs to be going towards creating a city where every citizen’s basic needs are met. For example, APD’s current budget is $434.48 million. This study shows that getting an additional ~$35 million would END HOMELESSNESS IN AUSTIN. That’s only 8% of APD’s budget! By solving homelessness, crime could be prevented, and homeless citizens would be safe too. This is just one example of how the money currently going to APD could instead be going towards fixing root issues -- investing in schools, community after-school programs, healthcare services, food banks, the list goes on.

As for reallocating police funds and calls to separate, specialized agencies -- considering the deep-seated issues within APD regarding sexism, racism, and homophobia + how APD has handled protests against police brutality + Austin’s history with discrimination -- I think it’s clear that people of color especially Black people, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people facing issues with mental health, survivors of sexual assault and domestic abuse, etc. would feel more comfortable reporting to separate, specialized agencies. Even Dallas’ former police chief agreed that the police should not be handling everything -- and when Dallas sent funding and calls to trained mental health responders instead of the police, the program was a success.

During the upcoming budget talks in Austin, we demand that the City of Austin’s leadership takes the time to fully understand the concept of defunding the police, and come up with a clear timeline to show how APD will be defunded by at least 50% in order to create separate, specialized agencies + programs to fix crime at the root. Austin is a great city, and we CAN and MUST do this, so every citizen in Austin is genuinely protected and served. Let’s be an example to the nation.

For your consideration -- accessible information about defunding the police:

This Instagram post has 10 quick slides that answer FAQs about defunding. It even includes a quote from a Dallas former police chief who agrees that the police should not be handling everything -- and guess what? Dallas sent funding and mental health calls to trained mental health responders instead of the police, and it was a successful program!
This Instagram post also gives an overview -- including a blurb about how Minnesota’s police *had* a bunch of reforms already implemented, but it didn’t work + Dallas’ successful mental health responder program
This Instagram post has a couple slides about defunding AND a link to get a FREE EBOOK about it!
These amazing posters help us to visualize a world where specialized departments and organizations respond to issues in the community based on what they’re trained in -- even if you don’t personally face racial issues with the police, defunding the police helps everybody -- from people who struggle with mental health, to survivors of sexual assault!
This poster compares “reform” action versus defunding action, and explains step-by-step why DEFUNDING is key