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Abbott Defends Police and Shoots Down Defunding in Texas By Agreeing to Sign Bill
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott posted a tweet late Sunday, announcing his intention to sign a bill that would effectively prevent cities in the state to defund the police.
Abbott quote-tweeted a post from Kenneth Casaday, who serves as the Austin Police Association’s president. In the post, he was critical of the response time for a call connected to a shooting early Sunday.
This is what defunding the police looks like.
Austin is incapable of timely responding to a victim shot in the head.
Texas won't tolerate this.
We're about to pass a law-that I will sign-that will prevent cities from defunding police.
Sanity & safety will return. https://t.co/UtQVoUXzBL
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) May 24, 2021
As per Casaday, the call came at 5:35 in the morning. However, no units were available in the city to come and respond for 12 minutes. He then added that the victim in the incident suffered a critical injury after the person was shot in the head. Police officers arrived at the scene at 5:51 a.m.
The governor used the incident to emphasize the need for police funding. He said that what happened is what “defunding the police looks like.”
The governor further pointed out that Austin was incapable of responding to victim with a fatal injury in a timely manner. Abbott added that the state “won’t tolerate this.”
Austin’s City Council voted in 2020 to reallocate the $150 million funding from the police department, as per The Austin American-Statesman. According to the publication, the city reduced law enforcement’s budget by around $21.5 million. It also mentioned that the savings have been made via the delay to police academies.
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