Defunding the Police

Austin slashes $150 million from police department budget after months of unrest

APD's operating budget will be reduced by one-third in the upcoming fiscal year.

Courtesy of Austin Police Department/Facebook

Following a lengthy meeting stretching over two days, the Austin City Council unanimously voted on August 13 to cut $150 million from the Austin Police Department budget over the next year. The multimillion-dollar cut accounts for more than one-third of the department's current operating budget of $434 million.

The vote comes following months of protests in downtown Austin, which included the death of one protestor, as well as cries from justice organizations and residents to defund the department.

Throughout the summer, resident speaker registration for council meetings has been dominated by discussions about APD, with the majority of Austinites demanding to drastically reduce the department's budget.

The plan, spearheaded by Council Member Greg Casar, will immediately strip APD of about $21 million and will cancel all three upcoming cadet classes. Then, over the course of the next 12 months, about $80 million in services that are currently under APD (i.e., 9-1-1 call center, victims' services, forensics, community partnerships) will be separated from the department, a process that will be overseen by City Manager Spencer Cronk.

The remaining $49 million will be part of the "Reimagine Safety Fund," which has "the specific goal to ... divert dollars from the fund toward alternative forms of public safety and community support" and will also be rolled out over the next year.

Reimagine Safety Fund hopes to reimagine facets of the current APD department, such as mounted and K9 patrols, park police, lake patrol, traffic enforcement, training, and overtime, and how they can be used in alternative ways.

"We have many fights ahead. Extreme, anti-civil rights voices will try to send us backward and are already working [to] mislead people about this vote," said Casar on Twitter following the vote. "But today, we should celebrate what the movement has achieved for safety, racial justice, and democracy."

The new budget is officially adopted October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021.

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keep austin healthy

Austin is the 2nd 'healthiest' city in America, Forbes says

Photo by Max Bender on Unsplash

There are plenty of places for Austinites of varying abilities to be active.

The city's abundance of yoga studios, health-conscious restaurants, and run clubs is paying off: Austin was just named the second healthiest city in the nation in a new study by Forbes Advisor.

The report, "Cities With The Least Healthy (And Healthiest) Populations, Ranked" examined 2021 health data from the City Health Dashboard for 46 of the most populated cities in America. Eight metrics were analyzed for each city, such as the number of heart disease or opioid overdose deaths per 100,000 residents, the percentage of adults with diabetes or high blood pressure, among others.

The study focuses exclusively on physical health, and leans on broad risk factors more than the actual occurrence of specific diseases or conditions.

Austin ranked second to San Jose, California, which was dubbed the No. 1 healthiest city in America.

Forbes found that Austin has the lowest percentage of adult high blood pressure out of all 46 cities in the report, at just 22.5 percent. Only 7.4 percent of Austin residents have diabetes, which is the fourth-lowest rate nationwide. The city also boasts the fifth-lowest percentage of adults who smoke (11.3 percent).

Here's how the report ranked four other metrics for Austin:

Eighth-lowest number of heart disease deaths per 100,000 residents (175.5)
Eighth-lowest number of opioid overdose deaths per 100,000 residents (9.6)
10th-lowest percentage of adults who report having obesity (28.2 percent)
10th-lowest percentage of adults who report being physically inactive (18.5)

Austin has a reputation for being an accommodating city, whether it's through restaurants expanding their culinary offerings for vegans and vegetarians, or through local organizations adding exercise equipment to outdoor trails. And you can't forget about all the new gyms and country clubs opening around the city.

At the opposite end of the study, Detroit, Michigan landed as the most unhealthy city in the country.

Elsewhere in Texas
Though Austin is one of the healthiest cities in the U.S., and the healthiest in the state, several other Texas cities fell far behind. Houston appeared as the No. 12 most unhealthy American city on the list, and unhealthiest in Texas. The report attributes this to a high percentage of adults who report binge drinking (18.2 percent), smoking (17.2 percent), and more.

"Houston has the seventh-highest percentage of adults who report having obesity (37.7 percent) and the eighth-highest percentage of adults with diabetes (12 percent)," the report said.

San Antonio ranked as the 15th unhealthiest U.S. city, followed by Dallas (No. 18), El Paso (No. 22) and Fort Worth (No. 25). Arlington appeared as No. 30, technically making it the No. 18 healthiest city in the U.S.

The top 10 cities with the most healthy populations are:

No. 1 – San Jose, California
No. 2 – Austin, Texas
No. 3 – Seattle, Washington
No. 4 – San Diego, California
No. 5 – Denver, Colorado
No. 6 – San Francisco, California
No. 7 – Boston, Massachusetts
No. 8 – Raleigh, North Carolina
No. 9 – Colorado Springs, Colorado
No. 10 – Minneapolis

The full report can be found on forbes.com.

austin healthy reports rankings