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1/13
THREAD: Today, Gov. Abbott held a press conference about Austin's recent efforts to re-imagine policing. As your mayor, I want you to know the truth. Tonight at 7pm my media avail will stream again. Tune in here: . Recap below.
THREAD: Today, Gov. Abbott held a press conference about Austin's recent efforts to re-imagine policing. As your mayor, I want you to know the truth. Tonight at 7pm my media avail will stream again. Tune in here: . Recap below.
2/13 Today we mourn the deaths of more than 10,000 Texans that have died from #COVID19. Why wasn't the press conference this afternoon about the biggest single public health safety crisis in our state?
3/13 The governorâs press conference today was not about facts. It presented no plans, it presented no data. It was about trying to make us scared, frightening us, and furthering lies.
4/13 Todayâs press conference mentioned a @WSJ article that said that Austin had the highest rate of increased homicides.
What that article also said was that Austin had the second lowest homicide rate of major cities in the entire country. https://on.wsj.com/2EgUw1w
What that article also said was that Austin had the second lowest homicide rate of major cities in the entire country. https://on.wsj.com/2EgUw1w
5/13 The facts. What did #ATXCouncil do? Think of it in buckets. We cut $20 million. How do we pay for the $20M? We cut about 4% of the police budget only going after unfilled positions. About the same as the governor requested be cut from DPS budget last session.
6/13 Why did we do that? Because safety is our primary concern. And that means safety for all. We used the $20M to house people without homes, expand EMS, increase shelter for domestic violence victims, invest in violence prevention programs & expand mental health 1st responders.
7/13 The second bucket with $80 million was to move certain functions to civilian control and more independent status. No function was ended. No function was reduced. #ATXCouncil voted to not take a penny away from any of these functions.
8/13 The third bucket was $50 million. These were not cuts, these are not things removed from the police department. In fact, there was no decision made as to if, when or what functions should be changed, but we have started the work already taking a look at those functions.
9/13 It's not just about George Floyd, it's about the fact that George Floyd is not alone. It's not just about reforming & changing & training because Minneapolis was doing a lot of both.
10/13 It's about redefining public safety into a conversation that centers on the safety of the most marginalized among us. It's recognizing that public safety is also about health care delivery and delivery of opportunity.
11/13 It's about culture, it's about reimagining & it's about trust. It's about black lives matter. It's about searching for the promise of finding & institutionalizing justice. It's about making us all safer. 1000s of Austinites marched in the street demanding justice & action.
12/13 Our state should be celebrating and learning from its cities rather than threatening them and trying to change them. Together our cities help make our state stronger.
13/13 To my community: your safety is our highest priority. Your in that sentence means everybody in this city, those that have historically felt safe & those that have not. We do that by becoming a more fair & equitable city. We do that by making justice part of everything we do
