How These Cities Are Breaking Up the Work of Police Departments As the country reassesses its relationship with law enforcement, Ithaca, New York; Berkeley and Oakland, California; and Austin, Texas, are defunding, replacing, or reducing the scope of their police departments. Eoin Higgins
Austin Uses Money From Police Budget to Fund Substance Use Care The city will use $1 million in funds diverted from its police budget to expand substance use treatments and harm reduction services for low-income people in Austin and Travis County. Meg O'Connor
Washington State’s Most Populous County Curbed Covid-19 Among The Homeless By Moving Them To Hotels. But One Local Government Fought Back. Seattle suburb Renton is battling an emergency homeless shelter through its zoning code. Rachel M. Cohen
Austin To Buy Second Hotel That Will Become Permanent Supportive Housing The city will use funds diverted from its police budget to set up wraparound services for the people who will live at the hotel. Meg O'Connor
Austin Will Use Money Cut From Police Budget To Establish Supportive Housing The City Council voted to buy one hotel and use funds diverted from its police budget to set up wraparound services for the homeless people who will live there. Meg O'Connor
Austin May Use Money Cut From Police Budget To Establish Permanent Supportive Housing The City Council will decide whether to buy two hotels and use funds diverted from its police budget to set up wraparound services for the homeless people who will live there. Meg O'Connor
Police Funding Is a Pivotal Issue in Two Austin City Council Runoffs Incumbents Jimmy Flannigan and Alison Alter have been targeted by conservative challengers because of the council’s votes to cut police funding and repeal a ban on public camping. Meg O'Connor
Some Texas Elections Suggest Voters Aren’t Afraid of Defunding Police None of the Austin City Council members who voted to cut police funding lost their elections, but a police union vice president who fearmongered about the defund movement did. Meg O'Connor
Austin Cuts Its Police Budget by About A Third The City Council passed a budget that cut nearly $150 million from the Austin Police Department. Millions will be reinvested in services like violence prevention and supportive housing. Meg O'Connor
Austin May Cut Police Budget by Nearly $150 Million The City Council will pass a budget this week that could cut nearly $150 million in funding from the Austin Police Department. The proposal appears to have majority support. Meg O'Connor
A City Council Resolution Could End Marijuana Arrests and Fines in Austin, Texas The move is made possible by a Texas law that legalized the production of hemp last year. Jay Willis
Austin Braces As Texas Officials Plan Crackdown On Homeless Encampments Last week, the City Council reinstated a “no camping” ordinance meant to discourage people experiencing homelessness from sleeping on sidewalks and outside a shelter. Advocates say the city is criminalizing poverty. Aaron Morrison
‘We thought it was important to knock down doors’ Lewis Conway Jr., a formerly incarcerated activist running for Austin City Council, sits down with The Appeal. Sylvia A. Harvey
