AUSTIN, Texas — A pair of billboards purchased by the Texas Municipal Police Association are greeting drivers along Interstate 35 near FM 1325 as well as near Kyle.

What You Need To Know

  • Billboards addressing APD budget reduction located along Interstate 35

  • Warn drivers "Austin Police Defunded. Enter At Your Own Risk!"

  • Austin City Council voted to reallocate some of APD's budget to other programs

  • Move vehemently apposed by Gov. Greg Abbott, others 

The billboards read:

“Warning! Austin Police Defunded. Enter At Your Own Risk!”

Austin City Council recently voted to slash the Austin Police Department’s budget by about $20 million immediately and eventually reallocate a total of $150 million from the budget.

A picture of one of the billboards was shared on Facebook by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who framed the issue as a battle between Republicans and Democrats, writing: “Check out the new billboard the Texas Municipal Police Association put up as you enter Austin… It’s unfortunate visitors have to be warned that Democrat politicians purposefully made our capital city less safe.”

 

Check out the new billboard the Texas Municipal Police Association put up as you enter Austin... It’s unfortunate that...

Posted by Ken Paxton on Thursday, September 10, 2020

Of course, the move to reduce the police department budget was made by Austin City Council and not all Democratic politicians or candidates have signaled they support reallocating police budgets to social service programs. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in recent weeks has discussed legislation that would freeze property tax hikes for cities that defund police departments as well as a proposal for a state takeover of the Austin Police Department.

On Wednesday, the governor on Twitter shared a pledge against defunding police and urged Texans to sign it. He was slated to share more information during a news conference at 2 p.m. Thursday.