The Austin Police Department is advising residents to call a non-emergency phone line — not 911 — if they become the victim of robbery.
Last Friday, the APD posted an infographic on social media informing Austin residents what they should do in the event they become the “unfortunate victim of a robbery,” specifically while exiting a bank or departing an ATM machine.
“Call 3-1-1 or make an online report,” the infographic advises. “Mention in your report that you were coming from a bank when the crime was committed.”
Yes, that’s right: Police in the Lone Star State’s capital city are advising residents not to call 911 if they are robbed.
Asking residents not to call 911 if they are robbed is surprising counsel because, by definition under the Texas penal code, robbery is a crime of theft in which the perpetrator “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury to other; or intentionally or knowingly threatens or places another in fear of imminent bodily injury or death” when trying to “obtain or maintain control of the property” being stolen.
Robbery, a second-degree felony in Texas, is not simply a crime against property, but it’s a crime against a person. Texas, therefore, considers robbery a violent crime.
The advisory was posted more than a week after Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon abruptly announced his retirement from the Austin Police Department.
The last several years have been tumultuous for the APD after the department’s budget was slashed in the wake of demands for police reforms following George Floyd’s murder. And while that funding has been mostly restored, the department is suffering from a troubling officer shortage. There are currently more than 300 officer vacancies in the department.
The shortage of sworn officers means there are fewer resources to respond to crime in the Democrat-controlled city. The police department is also experiencing a backlog of 311 calls, which makes the advice to call 311 if robbed even more confusing.
TheBlaze reached out to the Austin Police Department for comment, but the department did not respond to multiple requests.
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