Austin police chief resigns amid staffing shortages and surge in crime

The police chief of Austin, Texas, has announced his retirement from office. The information comes amid a significant shortage of personnel, the absence of a police union contract and other situations also generated by the impetus for the defunding of the police.

"It is with great regret that I am announcing my retirement as Chief of the Austin Police Department. I have come to this decision after much thought. It has been an honor to serve this department and this wonderful community, and I know I am leaving you in good hands," Joseph Chacon wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

“We are moving in the wrong direction.”

Thomas Villarreal, leader of the Austin Police Association (Texas), denounced that the defunding of the police is affecting the residents of the community, since the authorities are unable to respond to emergency calls.

Villarreal explained to Fox & Friends that not only is crime getting out of control, but staffing shortages are also causing 911 callers to be put on hold. The leader of the Police Association blamed the problem on the city council for not caring about its police authorities.

“We’re moving in the wrong direction. There’s less and less and less resources to go out and do the job. I’ve got detectives who are pulled away from their caseload just to help answer 911 calls because we just don’t have the resources to adequately police the city,” Villarreal said.

At the beginning of 2023, Austin ranked 15th among cities with the highest homicide rate problems, according to a WalletHub study reviewed by the Daily Mail. In addition, the media outlet recalled how the police were being defunded in the wake of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots. "The $150million cut represented a third of the police force's budget - by far the largest proportion of any American city which slashed funding after the BLM riots."