Save Austin Now submits 25K-plus petitions to address APD staffing
AUSTIN, Texas - Save Austin Now PAC and its #MakeAustinSafe coalition leaders say they have submitted almost 26,000 signed petitions to address staffing concerns at the Austin Police Department.
Organizers held a press conference Monday to announce the submission.
Save Austin Now co-founders Matt Mackowiak & Cleo Petricek, Austin Police Association President Ken Casaday, Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas executive director Charley Wilkison, and Texas Police Association executive director Erwin Ballarta were all in attendance.
In late May, Save Austin Now PAC launched a petition to increase APD staffing. On Monday, the PAC said it submitted more than 25,600 signed and self-validated petitions to the city.
The petition is seeking to place an ordinance on the November 2 ballot to do the following:
- Ensure adequate police staffing by requiring a minimum of two officers per 1,000 citizens and a minimum of 35% community response time or uncommitted time
- Doubles police training by requiring an additional 40 hours of post-cadet class training hours per year
- Enacts police reforms by including provisions to boost minority hiring through foreign language proficiency, ensure racially diverse community policing, and provides retention bonuses for officers without police complaints
The PAC says that SafeHorns, APA, TPA, TMPA, CLEAT, Austin Police Retired Officers Association (APROA), the United Hispanic Contractors Association and Amigos en Azul are all organizations supporting the initiative.
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