Community Town Hall | Re-Imagining Our Future

900 Chicon Street,Austin TX 78702

30 January, 2021

Description

Re-imagining Public Safety through Community Conversations! Your voice and story matters, speak up at our community townhall. In August 2020, the Austin City Council unanimously voted to cut the police department budget by $150 million. Local officers and the city’s top cop faced months of criticism over the killing of an unarmed Black and Hispanic man, the use of force against anti-police brutality protesters and the investigation of a demonstrator’s fatal shooting by another citizen. Those criticisms coincided with protests across Texas and the country calling for reforms on police tactics and the “defunding” of law enforcement in favor of redistributing funds to social services and alternative public safety programs. Austin was the first of Texas' four biggest cities to drastically cut police department funding. The share of the police department budget that was cut is among the largest percentage decreases in the nation this year. The Austin Area Urban League has partnered with the City of Austin to provide a platform for the voices unheard. We want to know your story! We want to hear your voice! Together let's create impactful change in the communities we are apart of.