Austin business owner calls for more police after being denied help while facing shoplifter
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An Austin, Texas shopkeeper said he was urging voters to adopt a police-friendly initiative after city police refused to send officers to stop a shoplifter who tried to attack him in his shop, despite ” You can hear him screaming “. me while I’m on the phone. “
The Austin Police Department issued a guideline on Oct. 1, some of which will help alleviate the staffing challenges that would divert callers away from 911 if they did not view the incident as an emergency. Linh Tu said his shop had been broken into repeatedly and the police would only tell him to call 311 to file a complaint.
“We need more cops,” Tu told Fox News. “We have to change the policy … to have an officer for every type of crime.”
“I was born and raised here, and what I’ve seen in the last two or three years is horrible,” he continued. “It’s a nightmare.”
AUSTIN, TEXAS, DEFINED ITS POLICE DEPARTMENT. NOW THE VOTERS WILL DECIDE IF THE CITY NEEDS MORE OFFICERS
The broken windows of the supermarket after the recent break-in
(Fox)
Tu therefore supports Proposition A, an election initiative on Tuesday aimed at obliging Austin to employ two police officers for every 1,000 residents (currently around 1.6). It would also encourage additional annual training and increase the recruitment of minorities.
“The store has been broken into repeatedly, we’re being stolen,” Tu told Fox News. “When we contact 911, they refuse to send police officers to the scene because no one was injured.”
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“You’re … just telling us to call 311 and file a case,” he continued. “Right now it’s like you can do whatever you want in Austin.”
Tu said that on one occasion a shoplifter tried to attack him, but “911 said there was nothing they could do because he hadn’t hit me yet … but you can hear him yelling on the phone.”
He said crime would get worse if Proposition A failed.
Linh Tu, owner of the convenience store, tells Fox News about the past few weeks
He also told Fox News that crimes took a psychological and physical toll on him.
“I can’t sleep every night,” Tu told Fox News. “I’m watching the camera and see if some guys come back.”
While he was looking at the footage from his surveillance cameras, Tu discovered that a burglar had been in his shop for five minutes. He stayed because “he knows the police won’t show up,” Tu told Fox News.
A witness left a note on Linh Tu
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But proposal A, tabled by the Save Austin Now Political Action Committee, is met with opposition. Opponents believe that reallocating money to police staffing would undermine other Austin priorities.
Travis County’s Democratic Party leader Katie Narjani recently told Fox News that Save Austin Now is trying to “create an unfunded mandate that … would then compensate our schools, our libraries, our parks and emergency services and fires” .
Tu, meanwhile, told Fox News that if things continue as they are, “it will destroy the safety of this beautiful city of Austin.”
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https://www.foxnews.com/us/austin-burglary-more-police