Texas General Land Commissioner George P. Bush on Tuesday said his vehicle was broken into in downtown Austin, commenting that he was worried about rising ‘lawlessness’ in the city.
“This morning, my vehicle was broken into near one of the homeless camps in downtown Austin. These camps pose a serious safety concern for Austin residents. It’s far past time to reinstate the camping ban. Thank you to the Austin Police Department for all that you do to help keep our community safe,” he wrote on social media.
(In a photo that he shared of the area, however, only one tent was visible, and Bush didn’t offer any other evidence that it was a homeless person who had perpetrated the crime).
Bush and other Republican politicians in the state’s capital have been critical of a recent City Council move to decriminalize public camping. Council members and the mayor have defended the changes as humane and unrelated to reports of a rise in crime.
Bush also said, “I love living in Austin — the city is rapidly growing and changing dynamically. But for those raising kids and building businesses, the safety of our city is a concern. This isn’t San Francisco. Lawlessness is not the answer.”
Police Step Up Efforts
Austin Police Chief Brian Manley in October said that he wanted to keep the camping ban, despite what his bosses at City Hall wanted to do. He also said that since the ordinances changed in July certain bad actors within the homeless population had been emboldened.
The Police Department said in a report to the City Council, “We hear that they [the homeless] have become more emboldened since the ordinances changed, so this leads to an increase in negative encounters (verbal assault, physical assault, etc.) with homeless persons.”
UT Austin Police Chief David Carter has recently expanded university police efforts beyond campus in an effort to assist understaffed city police. He sent bike patrols out into the downtown and the 6th Street bar area, a popular destination for UT students.
Carter recently also said that he is refining a proposal to the UT president “for funding more officers in west campus.” He noted, “we are currently pushing out into back streets and alleyways.”
