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What does it mean when people say defund APD?
There are calls from the community to reallocate money for APD elsewhere.
AUSTIN, Texas - Theresa Hodges grew up on the eastside. Recent police killings highlighted in Austin and in other places have called her to question her own police department.
“The mistakes they have made is too much aggressiveness, understand what people are going through in their lives and why these actions are coming up,” said Hodges.
She's not alone, several in the community share the same sentiment, like Brian Mays, the owner of Sam's BBQ, who said he also had a rough experience with cops. “They are killing folks, for what? I love police so I respect police but they have to respect us too now,” he said.
On Thursday, Austin City Council will take up items aimed at reforming the Austin Police Department. Some of the changes include banning chokeholds, bean bags, and other less-lethal force. Another item will look at planning the police budget.
“We need our department. We need our people. We need more police officers. If we have less police we will have more problems,” said Mays.
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Austin City Council to take up police reform issues in next meeting
The Austin City Council explained what agenda items will be discussed in the next meeting this Thursday.
The president of the local NAACP chapter Nelson Linder has lived in Austin since 1980. “When I first got here you had a consolidated black community, more community policing, as a result, a lot less violence,” he said.
He said reform in the past never stuck. But with this new push to end police brutality, he thinks council's items may make a difference this time. “We can have the policies in the world, but if you don't enforce them across the board, it doesn't matter,” he said.
RELATED: Austin City Council set to vote on variety of police reform items, including defunding APD
There are calls to defund APD. The Austin Justice Coalition is asking to defund by $100 million.
“If we would take a lot of that money from them and put it into every community, it will be better for everyone,” said Hodges.
“It's not about taking away, it's about better management. Once you address poverty, cultural differences, and unemployment issues, that affects the whole environment,” said Linder.
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Austin City Council set to vote on variety of police reform items, including defunding APD
After more than a week of protests in the city following the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Mike Ramos in Austin, the council added three items to Thursday's agenda.
“We don’t use the word defunding, we prefer a more positive term like reallocating, and divesting,” said Rahki Agrawal, chief empowerment officer at Measure Austin.
Regardless of which way the city goes about fixing the system, there remains one common goal, to make sure all are treated fairly and given due process.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THE PROTESTS CONCERNING POLICE VIOLENCE IN THE U.S.