Murders on the rise in Austin as police deal with staffing shortage

AUSTIN, Texas - A murder a week is what the Austin Police Department says is happening in the city, after the most recent case happened Wednesday night in a northwest Austin hotel room.

The body found at the Intown Suites Extended Stay Hotel on Research Boulevard is Austin's eighth murder of the year, essentially putting the city at a murder a week.

It is a bright red flag that Michael Bullock, president of the Austin Police Association, is tracking.

The head of the APA says the staffing shortage at APD is hampering efforts to solve these crimes.

"I think the bottom line is that, over the last three years, we've seen the highest homicide rates we have seen ever in the city," Bullock said. "So either way, no matter which way we look at it, we're not on a good trend. We're headed in the wrong direction."

While there is no apparent connection between these recent homicides, Bullock says that the rise of random homicides throughout the city is concerning.

"There was no seeming connection as to why this individual should have had their life taken from them," Bullock said. "The more we have of these random ones, the more concerning it is, because those are more difficult ones for us to solve."

Many of this year's homicide cases remain unsolved, including that of 21-year-old Francisco Miranda, who was murdered over a month ago. 

Bullock says that the police staffing crisis plays a role in why these cases are not being solved.

"Our homicide detectives, who should be able to devote all of their energy towards these critical cases to make sure that we solve them; they have to go work back on a regular basis," Bullock said. "They have to come back to patrol to take 911 calls."

APD has made efforts to try to fill the gap in staffing. Bullock says it's not enough.

"We just can't seem to recruit enough people, and that's the problem," Bullock said. "A lot of it has come down with the politics that we're living under right now."

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The Austin City Council recently voted on securing police pay and benefits without a long-term contract, including an added paid incentive to try and bring the APA to the negotiation table. Bullock says this is not enough to solve the staffing shortage.

"We want to find a long-term contract, there's no denying that," Bullock said. "That is one of the primary things that we have to do, and we are working towards that goal. But the only way we're going to get out of this is for the city council to invest resources, and our department to update our training facilities and to be able to hire more officers, and to create an environment here that motivates people to want to come and be an officer here."

In terms of a short-term solution, Bullock says he would welcome another deployment of state troopers to Austin to help fill in the staffing gap.

DPS ended its Violent Crime Initiative in Austin when troopers were pulled to the border to address a surge in migrant crossings.

A spokesperson at DPS said they were not aware of any request from city officials for another Austin deployment.