AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- After nearly eleven hours Thursday, the Austin City Council voted unanimously to approve a number of reforms for the Austin Police Department.
More than 300 people signed up to speak during Thursday's meeting, pushing a vote on proposed police reforms into the evening hours.
The resolutions ban tear gas and strictly limit the use of impact munitions, call on the department to reduce the amount of military-style equipment "to the greatest extent possible", and implement changes to the department's use of force policies - including a prohibition on using force on those fleeing from police. Council also approved a sweeping resolution that will reduce the department's budget, on which discussions will begin next month.
Not all of the public testimony was in favor of the changes. Cary Roberts, executive director of the Greater Austin Crime Commission, called the changes "symbolic" but they wouldn't solve "inequity, poverty, and racism." Roberts continued, "Making the community less safe doesn't fix the failures in affordable housing or education and public health. And so, like public camping last summer, the city council considered policy changes with limited public input and without knowing the consequences."
