New leadership begins at Austin Police Association
AUSTIN, Texas - On this New Year's Day, a new president is taking over leadership of the Austin Police Association.
Michael Bullock spoke one-on-one with FOX 7 Austin's Meredith Aldis, discussing his goals and what he says needs to happen to ensure the community is safe.
Bullock says he wants to build better relationships with the community and elected officials and support each other, but acknowledges this past year was tough.
"I am proud to be an Austin police officer as are all of our officers," said Bullock. "There’s no doubt that we’re struggling."
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He says they’re down more than 500 officers, including the 150 positions cut from the department in 2020.
"Our officer burnout and exhaustion rate is about to hit a critical point where you are going to see crime spike dramatically because we don’t have the numbers," Bullock said. "Realistically, right now it will take probably ten years or more before we can recover from this staffing crisis."
He says a police contract would help and provide stability. "It’s a huge recruiting tool for us as well as it helps keep officers here because they know what the future looks like."
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However, negotiations are currently on hold because of the lawsuit filed by Equity Action, a group of police reform activists who claim the interim city manager, the Austin police chief, and the director of the Office of Police Oversight failed to implement the voter-approved Proposition A, also known as the Police Oversight Act.
"I think it shows that we’re in tumultuous times and that the city is not stable right now," Bullock said, adding that officers don't feel supported. "The police department and the officers of the Austin Police Department put in the most work in trying to keep our city safe, yet we get the most criticism when other people cause problems like the district attorney and the county attorney has some responsibility in that, too."
More than 20 Austin police officers were indicted in connection with their use of force during the May 2020 protests in Austin. Since then, 17 indictments have been dropped, but the district attorney says the office will move forward with prosecution against the four remaining officers.
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"When we have a district attorney that actively targets officers for doing their job, it is the most demoralizing thing that officers could go through and it takes a heavy toll on this department," said Bullock.
He says many officers are leaving the department.
"When we have this much political strife that we’re dealing with that’s leading to officers having to leave and look for other places where they feel more supported, where they feel more stable, then that’s a pretty big indicator that we have a lot to work on here," Bullock said.
He plans to do just that, and says he will work with anyone he can find common ground with so officers have what they need to ensure the safety of the community.