Police in Austin, Texas, are asking residents to call 311 if they become victimized by robbers as crime plagues the leftist-run city, Fox News reported Monday.
“Did you get robbed on your way back from a bank or ATM? Call 3-1-1 or make an online report,” the Austin Police Department said in an infographic shared Friday:
Even if you are cautious & follow all the safety advice, you may still become the unfortunate victim of a robbery. Do you know what your next steps should be?
Make a police report & provide as much information as possible so we can recover your property quickly and safely. pic.twitter.com/79Cv0RI099— Austin Police Department (@Austin_Police) September 1, 2023
“Even if you are cautious & follow all the safety advice, you may still become the unfortunate victim of a robbery. Do you know what your next steps should be?” the post reads.
The number 311 is typically for non-emergency calls, the Fox News article noted, adding the directive was shared as the state’s capital city suffers from rising crime.
To make matters worse, Austin is facing a police officer shortage as current and former officers cite hostility towards law enforcement and conservatives as the reason behind the problem, according to a report from March.
It is important to note the Austin City Council caved to the leftist “defund the police” movement in 2020 and cut the budget by $150 million after the death of George Floyd. In addition, leaders also slashed 150 police officer positions out of the budget.
In 2021, the city council refunded the police department but there are reportedly still too few officers working to maintain proper safety for residents.
Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon recently announced he was stepping down from leadership after 25 years with the agency amid the rising crime and law enforcement officer shortage, News Nation reported August 22:
President of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund Jason Johnson told the outlet the exodus of officers across the country “is really entirely related to the professional esteem that law enforcement officers historically have had.”
Johnson continued:
They’ve been proud of the work that they do. The vast majority of police officers do a very good and honorable job in service to their communities and we’ve just seen a sea change and it’s very, very difficult to get young men and women to sign up for law enforcement agencies at this time in our history.
In July, a Texas man who found a dead woman in her backyard claimed it took several phone calls for Austin police to respond to the situation, saying the city “failed” its citizens, Breitbart News reported.
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