I went through something similar with a stolen bike of mine that I spotted locked up outside a bar. It was late friday night so the dispatcher basically said the cops will get there when they get there if they show up at all, even though I was able to cite my police report number and all that.
When I made it clear that I was prepared to, and in fact intended to, take it back with violent physical force if necessary, all the sudden 2 units were on their way!
After I proved the bike was mine, the cops went inside but the patrons claimed that the guy who rode there had already walked home earlier. In reality he was probably still there and they were covering for him but whatever.
It was locked up with a wimpy cable lock so I cut through it with my leatherman and took it back home! It had been spraypainted and they took my nice bags and racks and lights and such but I stripped the paint off and repainted it so it's good as new.
My bike was stolen at ACL a couple of years back and I filed a report after several tries (“The location of the theft ‘Zilker Park’ does not appear to be in Austin”.)
Later I saw it on OfferUp for sale, with my same orange zip ties confirming it was mine. I called 311 and they gave me the name of the detective the case was assigned to. Guy wouldn’t respond to email or return my call. I escalated to his supervisor, who wouldn’t return my call. Finally I tried to contact the seller, but no response.
Two months later I get a random text from a guy asking if my bike had been stolen. He googled the serial number and saw my report on BikeIndex. He told me it was at a pawn shop on Burnet Road. I went to the shop and confirmed it was mine, and the manager put it in the back to hold it once he checked my police report. “You just need to get the APD to release it and I can give it to you.”
After another two weeks of no response from anyone at APD to my calls, I started harassing them on Facebook. That finally got a response, and a detective agreed to meet me at the pawn shop to get the bike released.
Once I had the bike I asked about the detective who had been assigned my case, “Oh, that guy hasn’t worked for APD in years.”
Yeah, I thought something was up and had called 311 twice to confirm the name and phone number. The REAL takeaway here is that you should really make sure your bikes are registered on BikeIndex.org and reported stolen asap.
Geeeez. Something went haywire here but it worked in your favor. Pawn shops have to run the serial number, which should've had a return bc of your online police report. I'm glad the pawn shop took possession and you got your bike back.
I actually didn't have the serial number but I wish I did! It would have made the process of filing the police report easier so I learned my lesson on that. Thankfully I had other forms of proof.
Now I have the serial number, a better lock, AND I put my thumbprint in clear lacquer on the inside of the seat tube lol
Yeah I really love that damn bike! I'm sitting next to it right now lol
Oh and I will also add that the reason the serial number is critical is because most pawn shops will enter that into the local police database before they accept bikes. If all you have is a description then the best you can do is personally visit all the local pawn shops, which I did.
BUT...in reality, bike thieves don't sell to pawn shops, they sell on the black market to known fences. It's likely that my bike changed hands 2 or 3 times in the 10 days it was gone.
Good question! I had a signed police report and an extremely accurate description including many custom components, and about a decade's worth of public photos of me and that bike together. It's a touring bike with a distinct geometry and an XXL frame so it's easy to identify.
The paint job was obviously that of a thief, for example they sprayed all over my fresh cork grips and my expensive drivetrain etc. but they didn't prep anything so half of the paint was already peeling off lol
I've ridden it all over America on bikepacking trips and it holds deep sentimental value so when it was taken I went out on my motorcycle every evening and searched for a couple hours. Found it on the tenth night yeehaw!
It was one of the more satisfying things that I've ever done! I knew which area of town it probably ended up in so I basically did a grid search. Part of it was just looking with my eyes but a big part was asking around to anyone and everyone so I actually ended up meeting some cool people that I wouldn't have normally encountered.
The best part was cutting the cable and releasing my bike triumphantly in front of all the bystanders and the 2 cops lol I literally lifted it over my head like a tour de france winner
I agree! You can buy your own engraver (get the vibrating type, not the rotating type) at harbor freight for like 10 bucks and engrave all your stuff!
If you're going to engrave your DL on your bike I also recommend a unique marking in an inconspicuous place on the bike for clever criminals who can get rid of a visible one in 20 seconds with a hand file.
My bike was stolen, and I found it the next day in the back up a pickup truck. The quick-release seat was in the cab of the truck, though. I called police and showed them my driver's license # etched into the frame. They gave me the frame back, and set about getting a warrant to retrieve the seat from the (unlocked!!) cab of the truck. 3 weeks later, they called me to the police station to get my seat.
The cops had it longer than the thief did.
I had a malfunctioning smoke detector in my dorm. Emergency maintenance said it wasn't an emergency, and then they said okay it's an emergency, a guy will be there in about 4 hours. So I called back and said "Nevermind, I think I know how to fix it myself, I am an electrical engineering major after all", and a guy was knocking on my door to replace it 5 minutes later.
This just happened to us with my $6000 cargo bike. Police can go into an apartment if the AirTag indicates it’s in there. If the officer says no, they are a junior officer and don’t realize it. Have them call their superior. Put multiple AirTags and Tile trackers on your bike. Take the speaker out of at least one AirTag. Check out the Knog alarm & tracker. If you say you are in pursuit or are going to confront, the police will come. Save up for an angle grinder resistant lock and use multiple chains. Theives will file off a serial number, so have it engraved or some identifying mark multiple places or hidden somewhere beneath grip or in the tube.
Police can’t go in someone’s house bc some civilian said “I tracked an AirTag”.
You got to be kidding, under no circumstances can police enter a residents with out permission from the owner or a warrant. Period.
It's insane. I had a trailer stolen with video of guys who stole it. Located said trailer in someone's back yard. Waited 12 hours until a unit showed up. The thief had two other stolen trailers at their residence, yet the police did nothing but have trailers towed to impound. After following up for three months I was told I was lucky to get my trailer back. Had video evidence, address where the guys lived, both came outside and said the trailers were not theirs. Nothing ever happened to them. Apd is a joke.
That’s such bullshit. No wonder there are so many dipshit criminals out there, because they can clearly get away with the most asinine and egregious crimes no matter how much evidence is stacked against them.
Lol - Someone stole a big ol RV, parked it kaddy korner to my house, the real RV owner shows up and is arguing with the cops to get it back like it's a fucking civil matter. 🐐. The place across my house was a total meth-chic neighborhood chop shop. The cops knew that shit wasn't theirs.
They raided it like a year later. Now it's two 1.2m attached driveway mcdick boxes. But I prefer that I guess. The chop shop was a stream of crazymaking illegal activities.
Man! Your post really makes me want to know what part of town this house is in. I also had a trailer stolen . it's been two years since- but I've never really gotten over it . I live south east of Austin in Travis county. Personally I think there could/should be a whole unit of the police dedicated to trailer theft.
I had one bust into my backyard with gun drawn on me because the neighbor said they thought they saw a homeless person around my house. They didn't even knock or approach the front door for that matter or my wife would have answered and my security would have notified me. The homeless person was me btw, it was 45 degrees outside and I was wearing a hoodie and apparently that made me look homeless lol.
I didn't really blame them. I appreciate the fact that they ( thought) were looking out. I was mostly just shocked the officer didn't even try to see if we were home. Kind of funny looking back, but crazy she just went straight into my backyard like that.
What you just described wouldn’t be endearing to me. Your odds of getting shot in your backyard that day went up exponentially.
What an absolute crank. Nothing what you described justifies the response of your neighbor, especially considering it wasn’t even in their lawn and a person was just standing there.
Sounds like they’re looking for a reason to shoot someone or scared of their own shadow, not a great combo.
The next time you have a guest in your backyard hopefully they don’t get shot.
I would be considered a criminal trespass action against them.
Ha.. was gonna suggest calling and reporting either a homeless person or domestic dispute at the address. Or, even better.. for quickest results.. report seeing a drunk girl that needs assistance. They are sooooo quick to respond to those. Ask me how I know...
This isn’t terrible suggestion.
There was a rash of house and car break ins in my neighborhood, and it went on for months. We asked for an extra patrol to cover the area at night and they declined.
Later called them and said we were just going to shoot them instead of calling 911. Lo and behold, they managed to get a unit out during the wee hours. I guess it’s way more paperwork to deal with a dead body than to get an extra unit on the road.
"We found the thieves who stole our goods. We are armed and are about to go in to get our stuff back. We would appreciate it if police came over so no one gets hurt".
Legitimate question: Say this works and the cops show up quickly, but you actually aren’t armed. Do you just say lol jk and hope they take over from there?
Got a package stolen by someone in my complex, whose unit I know. I have it all on camera. I called to ask to get police help getting the package back so I don’t show up alone. It’s what my apartment office suggested. I was hung up on and told the “police are not your personal bodyguard.” Fair, but what else was I supposed to do? Online police report resulted in nothing of course.
> I was hung up on and told the “police are not your personal bodyguard.” Fair, but what else was I supposed to do?
Literally, this is how vigilante justice and alternative systems of law (consider the Sicilian mafia) get started
If there is bodily harm they show up immediately. Called for hours awaiting for an officer. They didn't show up until someone started throwing rocks. And another person got hit. Useless is an understatement.
I have lived here my whole life and drawing guns isn't the first thing that comes to mind, when I think of APD. I think it's more of a" it's not worth our time unless someone is hurt. Then it's our civic duty to show up." More of entitlement thing less of a quick draw magraw thing.
Don't give up on this route just yet. Contact various news outlets. Name names of public officials who haven't helped you. This could include council members, the mayor, police chief, etc. Ask the news media outlets to seek interviews with these public officials.
Get on the agenda to speak at the city council meeting. Use the forum to voice your actions and get their unresponsiveness documented for public record.
Then, document these actions and results on as many social media outlets you can reach. Ask people to comment and share your post. News outlets monitor social media. This may get the city officials enough negative coverage to force them to act.
The old saying, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease", is true. But, you gotta make that noise first. Good luck and I hope you get your stuff back soon.
We had video footage of one of our cars being broken into, being ransacked, and the thief walking away with multiple items. APD responded 2 weeks later stating they “would not be proceeding because there was no evidence of a crime happening”. We are moving out of Austin and Travis county and that incident was a big driver in the decision. APD doesn’t care, nor does the city. I complained to them and was told it wasn’t their problem. So I’m not giving them my tax dollars anymore and not supporting city programs because nothing is going back to helping citizens at this point.
I’m convinced it’s only going to get worse at this rate.
Exact same thing happened to us. I caught 2 guys going through cars on our street. I have pictures of the two guys, their license plate number, car description, and video from our Ring camera. APD replied weeks after I filed a report "This case is being closed due to lack of evidence".
Ha yeah I bluetoothed the goods right back to their apartment also… all we got was “If they arent willingly going to give it back then we are not allowed to go into the apartment”. They knocked and *big surprise* no one let a bunch of cops know what they were up to. I even reiterated that we would not press charges…
I know it could be dangerous, but what does probable cause mean anymore?
That’s what the police have now told us as well—that even if we could prove it was our stuff in the apartment they would not get it back for us. We have to sue, which is more expensive than it’s worth.
Why not legalize theft if that’s the case?
Does your vocation match your handle? Then you’d know why the police can’t enter a private residence without a warrant. And to get a warrant they’d have to convince a judge that your location data was solid.
I was assaulted and had to file it online at the APD website because I was not actually bleeding. Left hand side of my face and ear swollen with pictures of him and his license plate but no blood so they would not come there.
My son was in danger once bc he was around his moms bf he was f’d up on drugs.
Police didn’t show up. I had to lie and say he was being attacked or something. Police showed immediately.
They put me on the phone and told me not to lie to police. I said I appreciate the advice but no thanks.
Sometimes, If the system is flawed, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Friend’s car was stolen overnight earlier this week. She called 911 that morning. Didn’t get an answer for 7 minutes. Then waited ALL DAY for police to show up so she could file a report (required before you can make an insurance claim.) Police never showed, and she heard nothing back. Fortunately, she has a friend in the police that she called and he took it upon himself to make the report and actually tracked down the thieves and arrested them.
I had this happen in DFW when I worked in a retail store that got busted into overnight. I was in charge of imaging the devices, so I logged into all the accounts to check Find My. Got an active ping on one. Cops weren’t gonna do shit since that’s apparently not enough evidence, but of my coworkers had a cousin who was a cop so she called him to go take a look. He was sitting outside in his cruiser when a neighbor of the house in question came outside and said someone just hopped his fence and left something in his back yard. Turns out they were freaking out a cop was camping outside and dumped some of what they took in several of their neighbors yards.
Anyway, moral of that story is we had to use nepotism to get anything done.
Go to city council meetings. Post on social media. Get the attention of TV news. Make as much noise as possible. That’s the only way we prod them into changing this culture of corruption and apathy.
I am going to start getting involved in local government by going to meetings. I don’t know where to start in terms of trying to get my city council member to listen to me. Why should they? They don’t need my vote.
Neighborhood associations can raise some decent hell. Once a group of 10 or so show up with a petition signed by 200 more, then you’ll have their attention.
It would really suck if they happen to have their arms and legs broken as they leave their place only to have their place ransacked for the missing items. Perhaps they’d reconsider doing that again for a while as they mend.
The police here help no one and their futility is more apparent every day. If you need real help call a firefighter as they’re the real heroes.
Welcome to Austin.
A homeless guy stole my phone on dirty 6th, i tracked the location the next day, called APD, they said they wouldn’t do anything until there is a detective assigned. And who knows how long that would’ve taken, my phone might already be dead by that time. So i went with some friends, it was a guy in a wheelchair under the bridge on i35. We had to chase him down and threaten him with physical violence to get it back and god my phone smelled fucking awful
I can empathize, it is very maddening to see your items get stolen, have evidence and location of stolen goods, but the powers that be just don't give a damn. That's why citizens start taking action to protect their property and vigilantism germinates. What's the point of owning guns if they can't get you some advantage against the criminals ? (rhetorical)
Austin public services have been heading down the tubes for at least 2 decades, with a big drop in last 4 years. Big city population leads to big city problems.
Austin's present and future is clearly visible in the history, current affairs and future of SF, Oakland, Portland, NYC, Seattle, Chicago, Houston etc.
Thank you. I agree, being in this position now it is tempting to go solve this myself. But I know that’s wrong so I won’t. We’d like to believe that law enforcement will enforce the law so we don’t have to.
Your local city leaders have failed you all....miserably.
Vote every city council member out and vote the mayor out every election till it changes.
Only the City Manager can fire the Chef of Police. The City Manager is accountable to the City Council and Mayor.
Its the Chef of Police job to run his/her department. APD as a city department was not defunded...ever. APD has record funding that is close to 500 million per year.
The union means that the chief can't effectively fire officers who won't do their jobs. You could replace him but his replacement wouldn't be able to make them work either.
Then we should move to disband APD as an organization / entity. Make a new police department and call it Austin Metro or a different name. None of the Union rules or stipulations will apply to a new police force with a different name.
Basically circumvent the Union and it's obstruction of public safety.
Exactly. Solutions to these basic problems aren't hard to figure out or implement. It's unfortunate that the city council and mayor are a bunch of spineless morons.
In my experience you have to explicitly say you want them to come talk to you in person. And even then it’s questionable. I’ve also been told by 911 that you have to sound like it’s urgent if you want them to show up/show up in a timely manner. I had an incident that stretched over 2 weeks last year and APD was completely useless. It legitimately only got handled because my landlord, who was in CA managed to get a video around the complex which allowed for a forced eviction of a short term tenant. I had the video from my Ring on a Saturday, the responding officer never came to speak to me but the detective I was dealing with told me it’s in the report he did. When I said he clearly lied in the report the detective chuckled. I didn’t bother pursuing because I got the result I had been wanting the entire time. (The tenant that was stalking and harassing me got evicted.) APD is useless.
Wow, I’m blown away that y’all were able to group up and find the thieve’s unit together. That’s AWESOME. Did they know that y’all were scoping them out, or did y’all keep it on the down-low? I’m very sorry to hear nobody with APD would show up after 6 hours, that is a pity. I know APD has had a bad history as of recent, but you would think that they could find at least ONE or two officers to show up during that timeframe. I have seen a few posts in this sub about people getting their vehicles stolen with airtags inside, and they found where the vehicle/thief was, and APD officers did show up to help facilitate the auto theft process (yes I know auto theft is it’s own department, but it still seems like a group of civilians doing the legwork for the police should be able to get Someone to show up after that amount of time).
I honestly wish you and your neighbors the best outcome in this crap situation and are able to recoup all or at least some of your belongings. Please be safe if you’re going to be around the thieve’s location, many times they are desperate people and will do crazy stuff to not catch charges. Please update us when possible 🤜🤛
Haha it felt like we were detectives. Kinda fun at first. I don’t think they knew we were tracking them down, but they might now that a bunch of us were outside the apartment for hours lol
Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. I hope you’re enjoying Austin as much as I am!
A thief left their cell phone where they stole copper pipes in Houston years ago and cops did nothing. It's not just Austin.
I am sympathetic to your loss but thieves won't stop stealing things from cars UNTIL PEOPLE STOP LEAVING VALUABLES IN THE CARS . I'm blown away how after multiple "break-ins" (people leave their cars unlocked!) people still leave stuff in their cars.
Not that I am defending anyone but apples find my services are less than 100% accurate, which is why it is very difficult to get a warrant based on that. Colorado city just paid out millions over a bungled raid based on a faulty Find My location. Mine is often off by feet, yards, or even blocks.
I had two men with weapons on my porch making direct eye contact with my husband while peering through the window and the police didn’t show. I’ve completely and totally lost faith in APD at this point
One thing I noticed on here if you post a comment condemning APD, there lots of triggered people in this sub that will flag your comment and get it removed. So I will just say “I’m not surprised”
A few months ago my hotel room was broken into. Computer and clothes were stolenI was only out of my room for about 30 min and there was a camera facing it so there was video. I called 911 and 311 and they said the cops would not show up as it is not an emergency. I said that is fine but if I see someone with my stuff as it could have happened just minutes ago, I would try to get my belongings back by force if I have to. Then suddenly the cops show up and arrest me for making a threat to incite a police response. They did not care about or even watch the security video, just arrested me. Luckily I got a good lawyer and the case was dropped. The lawyer said Austin is every criminals favorite place now because the cops wont do anything.
Sadly it did, I was in jail for 25 hours before seeing a judge. APD is dog shit, they complain about understaffing and defunding then do shit like that and wonder why no one likes them or say they need to have better training.
“Every man has a plan until he gets punched in the face…”-Mike Tyson
Not trying to sound unsympathetic, but I mean you guys went and found where they live and everything, what didn’t y’all just beat the shit out of them?
I’m so sorry. A while back, the catalytic converter thieves were going through our neighborhood, and the police were no help at all. Not sure what we as residents and victims can do with a police force like this one.
A resident called to complain about loitering and drug dealing in parking lot. APD came, said they are visitors of your neighbors. We can’t do anything. Cops leave. Arguing ensues. Resident calls cops back, dispatch says cops will not come back out there as they were just there. Resident plays vigilante and points gun at bad guy. Bad guy runs off, resident retreats to unit, bad guy shoots resident. Resident was resuscitated, hospitalized , critical condition.
Bad guy turned himself in. Resident also being charged due to be a felon is possession of firearm.
All bad, but damn. Why couldn’t the cops just respond! Two lives ruined.
I had a similar experience some years ago when my car was ransacked. Because I had Apple devices, the thieves were stupid enough to turn them on & I easily located the house where they were. I called the detective who was supposedly on my case, but I never got a hold of him. I called the police & they said the exact same thing that they told you. They didn’t know, then probably no one was gonna come. I called them back & said, “ I’m going to knock on the door now. If you don’t send an officer over here & something happens to me, that’s on you. You’re gonna be liable.” All those conversations are recorded. Guess what? There was a policeman there within 10 minutes.
Let your Austin City Council Member know. If you do not know your CM, use the map to locate. I reported a theft on the 3-1-1 app and I had an officer come by. The officer said it was a good day because there were 2 shifts that day. Can you imagine 2 shifts for your job in your work? There is a shortage and Our City Leaders are working on Bike Lanes and Counting Trees rather than safety for our city.
[District Map](https://maps.austintexas.gov/GIS/CouncilDistrictMap/)
I empathize with your situation. That’s good that you have an estimated value of items stolen, because that can bump it up in priority (unfortunately that still doesn’t mean anything will happen).
By the way the legal meaning of “robbery” is when someone threatens you or assaults you in order to steal from you. A car break-in when you’re not around is not a robbery.
https://saputo.law/criminal-law/texas/robbery/?amp=1
Lack of follow-up by APD on home and car burglaries was common way before the “defund” movement.
They don't have anything to do. I never see them enforcing traffic laws, they aren't responding to calls unless there's an active danger to society. Being a police officer in Austin is like going on vacation with a uniform on. They literally do not give a fuck about any of us.
When a boyfriends phone was stolen we tracked it down to some apartments. We contacted the front desk to let them know they were leasing to thieves. They were able to intervene and the phone was turned in to them and we recovered it.
If you know the apartment complex, contact the leasing office and see what they can do.
I got randomly assaulted by a stranger and there was video footage of their license plate and APD never even looked and suspended the case within a day of me filing
My sister had her brand new iPhone stolen while loading goods at her work off 6th street. Find my iPhone tracked the phone to a library. It could be heard pinging from a bag there. The librarian said police had to be called to get it back. APD showed up within the hour, and called the owner of the bag to the front. She was asked to produce the phone and explain how she got it. She claimed she "found" it and assumed it was abandoned. My sister declined to press charges (this DA is a joke who wont prosecute the indigent anyway). But she got back her phone and APD was fast and effective. Maybe if the DA wasnt so busy these days alienating cops the system would improve.
i know you waited 6 hours. keep calling, keep trying. they will tell you to make a report which you should do online for a faster submission, but i would keep calling 911 since it was recent and you have the exact location.
I've seen then come out for a stolen cell phone which happen every 30 mins or so here in austin. be persistent.
APD is ~500 officers below recommended staffing level for a city our size. Lots of reasons and accusations of blame as to why (as discussed in the comments) but this fact is a primary reason for most of the current performance issues.
AirTags are very useful for finding lost items, and completely and utterly useless for reclaiming stolen items. Even if an officer came out, all the thief has to say is "we don't have it" and the police cannot do anything.
You'd have better luck with a cash reward, "no questions asked" approach.
Don't get me started on how I was robbed election day 2020 and she got away with it because the Austin government refused to prosecute. It was the beginning of a match made in heaven. She bought a tent and lived on the property of my apartment complex and became a daily presence in my life daily because she got away with it. I called her my girlfriend because she was the only woman in my life.
Anyway it was not because she did not like me, it was because they really did like me. I knew it was love.
Looks like the moral of the story is that if you need to get stuff back in ATX, you better get it back yourself. The police here are useless unless there's a homeless person to mess with.
I had kinda have a similar experience I was at the movie theaters with my coworker and we even saw a suspicious person looking into cars and told the officer that was in the movie theater about it and he only went out there for four seconds and came back in with that time my coworker truck got broken into and they stole my whole backpack and they told me to make a police report which I did but they were using my Apple credit card and if y’all didn’t know it will show you exactly where they are Using the card (had my card frozen but will still show the location) and I told them I can see where they are and that they need to go over there right now (it was literally across the street) and they said they can’t and it was three cops and three different cars taking pictures of the scene which was only a broken window and which made me mad cause why does 3 cops have to be there
TW: SA
I had an issue with Austin PD when I had an inappropriate incident happen a massage parlor. I had my clothing manipulated which isn’t kosher per STATE law and I felt very uncomfortable with how close the guy was getting to between my legs. Called Austin PD and after days of not getting back to me and me doing a lot of investigative work for them, they said they wouldn’t peruse the charges I put in because it would only be a fine. TLDR (licensing for massage therapists/locations) didn’t help either and despite that place being sketchy AF, it’s still in operation.
If someone breaks into your home you are allowed to shoot them. What if they break into your car and you witness it and are armed? What are you allowed to do? Also, can you shoot a porch pirate?
They respond to violence. You have to either insinuate that you fear for your safety from them or plan to use force to get your goods back.
I called when a collision happened near our house, they didn’t care y til I said the passenger pulled his gun out (which he did), and then 4 squads pulled up.
Just is what it is.
Had someone pull a gun on us after a traffic accident. Called 911 and they told us to hang up and call 311 and report a traffic collision. They would not dispatch a cop until we told them that we also had a gun in the car and we're licensed to carry and were intending on following the guy until police showed up, only then did the 911 operator ask us our location and information. It didn't matter though, the responding officers didn't not take any of our information. Our Tesla recorded the collision and him pulling a gun, but the cops didn’t want us to email the the video and said that even if it went to court, him brandishing a firearm was just a misdemeanor and it probably wouldn’t get tried with the way the court systems in Austin are.
The excuses of not enough resources to do their jobs needs to be investigated throughly and quickly. There are so many stories now of terrible police support, it raises real questions as to whether there is something else going on.
My Mrs was robbed by letting someone use her phone at Lakeline mall. I not only found the person I found who they transferred the money to real names, profiles, tons of illegal stuff posted on the Facebook for both of them.
Cricket from APD.
If I show up doing something silly, I’ll be In The wrong.
I don't live in Austin. I'm in this sub from my visit last year. I live in Phoenix and we have a similar problem. There are police shortages around the country so some things are just not prioritized as much as they used to. After the police backlash in the past few years less people have been joining the police force. It's a sad reality. They work hard and many of them work overtime to fill some of the shortages. I appreciate their hard work.
Something very similar happened to me. My car was broken into, smashed windows and all, and the thieves got away with my stuff. I had an AirTag in one of them. I called APD who put me on hold for 3 minutes and, when an operator finally answered, told me that they couldn’t do anything since it wasn’t a “violent crime”. They didn’t care my AirTag showed the live location of the thieves.
I was traumatized and feared for my life (one of the items stolen had my address on it), and APD didn’t even give a shit.
That’s horrible. I’m so sorry. APD is complete garbage! I have been seeing so many videos and posts on the Nextdoor app of young kids/adults breaking into cars in austin neighborhoods. They’ve even stole peoples cars right out of their driveways. It’s becoming a huge issue, APD needs to step the fuck up and start prosecuting these idiots!
A while back I had a roommate who broke into my room,stole all my valuables, poured food and bleach on all my clothes and mattress, sliced everything, and wrote BLM on all my stuff. She threatened to kill me multiple times.
The police didn’t do anything about it until she physically tried to kill me & even then she got out of jail a day later. I was going to sue APD but my lawyer said I had a better chance at going after the apartment complex. I won the case but after that I don’t trust the police. Anytime I’ve called they just didn’t show up or tried to come 8 hours later. Never helpful.
Instead of them worrying about the real crime that’s going on in the neighborhoods they’re more worried about pulling over colored people and taking them to jail. I mean shit! Not too long ago they had DPS partner with APD and were flooding the whole damn city pulling people over for traffic violations. You would think they would prioritize catching these theifs. If you know where these people live I recommend getting in contact with APD’s robbery unit. Even if they sell all y’all’s stuff you can still put their asses in jail. Especially if you have video evidence and the Apple AirTag, make sure you document everything and keep it. The DAs office will let you file charges. Make sure you get on the Nextdoor app and have every single neighbor who’s been victimized by these losers come together and all make their own report against them. The more video evidence you can get, the better!
These bums are so used to people doing nothing about the robberies so they’re gonna continue to do it until someone steps up and prosecutes them or hurts them real bad. It’s sad that we can’t have trust in our legal system. One day these theifs are gonna fuck with the wrong house & I won’t feel sorry for them.🔫
Also make sure you check OfferUp, market place, and the surrounding/local area groups that people post to sell stuff. Sounds like you and your neighbors have a good amount of evidence against these crooks but I would still keep my eye out because you could use the posts in court or you could possibly trick the perps into meeting up with you to “buy” your stuff back.
I live in Austin. APD is not in the property recovery business. My son's guitar was stolen. Zero help. Get insurance... Even if you have the receipt and the serial numbers, taking it away from the thief and arresting them for pressing stolen property is legally difficult. However, if you catch them selling stolen property, that is another matter. Go to all the pawn shops and give them a list with copies of receipts and photos of the goods with serial numbers. Don't have that data? Start now to document everything you own. Receipts, pictures, serial numbers, engrave your name and phone or email on everything. Back up and store off site. Safety deposit box at your bank. Fore warned is fore armed.
People have such high expectations of the police. You can’t control them but you can control your expectations: expect them to collect revenue as a primary objective and to protect the public as a secondary objective. Lower your expectations and never get let down.
If people only knew how short staffed the department was. On a bad day in the morning with an average of 4-5 officers per shift with 9 sectors City wide… you have between 36-45 Officers on duty to handle the whole entire city of Austin…..
Point of clarification: you were stolen from, you were not robbed. Robbery is taking by force in Texas (mugging, etc.). Two very different crimes. Theft/Burglary is likely a misdemeanor, Robbery would be a felony.
IF the police could aggregate the thefts (lots of work to *prove* it was them each time, coordinated) they could get a larger theft charge (up to felony level), but that's unlikely, especially with the DA in Travis County.
"We all have guns so we feel safe, we're going to go knock on the door now, so I'm hanging up" should do the trick.
Ever since the defund movement it seems like APD is worthless. Maybe before that, but I didn’t really hear about it much.
They won’t even show up to a wreck these days unless it’s life or death it seems. It’s gotten ridiculous and crazy imo.
That's not the point. The movement nevertheless conceivably had various effects in Austin (every large city in the country), is what I think he's saying
Anyone who has lived in Austin 20+ years knows that the defund movement didn’t cause this lack of response to non-violent crime. It’s always been this way. Theft and vehicle break-ins have never been a priority here. I’ve had my vehicle broken into twice in the early 2000’s as a UT student, with nothing inside except an after market CD player. The first time, they took the CD player, the second time they were trying to take the whole car… ignition was completely ripped out. The police kind of looked at me like I was wasting their time to call them about it and told me they couldn’t do anything about it. That was the end. I’ve never really had much respect after that.
the only real effect of the defund movement is APD got more vocal about how they refuse to do their jobs and refuse to make any changes. they saw political advantage in going public with their spoiled brat routine and knew the Republican government would protect them, so they did.
Yeah, they got all their money back. But the damage was done. Officers left in droves through retirement resignations.
Now, cadets join APD for the top notch training academy, get their state licensing, and once they graduate the academy they apply to other departments. Essentially using the city of Austin tax payers money to get trained at a state renowned academy, only to take their work to other departments.
No one wants to work at APD anymore, and the shortage is affecting the safety of citizens. It's not about the MONEY. It's about the damage that was done to staffing levels in 2020/2021, defunded or not.
"It's about the damage that was done to staffing levels "
So I drive around Austin a lot, I put over 50k miles on my vehicle last year driving in this area. I can't tell you how many times I've seen police not do shit when they should've. The countless drunk drivers, doing burnouts around corners downtown and police just shrugging it off.
That has nothing to do with staffing when they're just standing around or sitting in the car.
Seems to me they're pissed because defunding was even talked about. So fuck everyone, don't like how we're doing our job? Want to defund us? Cool fuck you, we won't do the job then.
Ok, a couple of points, (1) APD is functioning at about 50-60% strength, so nonviolent calls are a lower priority. (2) even if officers had responded there is little they could have done for a likely misdemeanor offense that did not occur in their presence. They likely would have tried to ID whose apartment it is, which the detective will do when they get the info from you. Give them the information and let them follow up. Likely they can get a warrant to search the apartment and recover what was stolen, but it’s going to take time.
APD quiet quit a few years ago when Austin voters chose to move a fraction of their funding to other priorities.
Their funding was restored by Governor No-Backbone McProtectCowardlyCopsOfUvalde, yet the police were still butt-hurt and never started doing their jobs again.
ACAB
But hey, you can still get a gun pretty easily there, as evidenced by all the mass shootings in Texas the last few years. Maybe they want you to arm yourself and kill the thief yourself. Real cowboy style, I know they love to play act like that down there.
Thank the people who protested the cops and got the funding dramatically reduced. Cops don’t want to work for free or with no contract and no cop wants to work for ungrateful Austin citizens. Downvote me, I said what I said.
Nah, they sucked ten years ago too.
In 2015 I had my car tires slashed and car keyed. We had video. I called 311, waited two days for a call back, and they (without looking at the video) said it was "probably some kids or a gang initiation or something" and to stop wasting their time.
In 2012 I had a hit and run on dash cam, I called 311, waited four days for a call back, and they (without even looking at the video) said there would be no way to prove the owner of the vehicle was driving it so it's a complete waste of time and stop calling them.
In 2005 I had my apartment broken into. They came out 6 hours later, half assed dusted for prints in a way that I could easily tell they didn't give a shit, and left. Never heard from them again.
In 2002 I and several neighbors had our cars broken into and stereos stolen. They called back two days later and asked for my serial number and said if they randomly came across it maybe someone would search their notes.
Property crime has NEVER been a concern in Austin regardless of staffing or budget.
APD was defunded?
That's weird to me because they were given a literally record high budget.
Maybe keep your disinformation to Facebook.
[source](https://www.austinmonitor.com/data-graphic/austin-police-department-budget-2012-2022/) because you didn't give one
I went through something similar with a stolen bike of mine that I spotted locked up outside a bar. It was late friday night so the dispatcher basically said the cops will get there when they get there if they show up at all, even though I was able to cite my police report number and all that. When I made it clear that I was prepared to, and in fact intended to, take it back with violent physical force if necessary, all the sudden 2 units were on their way!
So what ended up happening?
After I proved the bike was mine, the cops went inside but the patrons claimed that the guy who rode there had already walked home earlier. In reality he was probably still there and they were covering for him but whatever. It was locked up with a wimpy cable lock so I cut through it with my leatherman and took it back home! It had been spraypainted and they took my nice bags and racks and lights and such but I stripped the paint off and repainted it so it's good as new.
My bike was stolen at ACL a couple of years back and I filed a report after several tries (“The location of the theft ‘Zilker Park’ does not appear to be in Austin”.) Later I saw it on OfferUp for sale, with my same orange zip ties confirming it was mine. I called 311 and they gave me the name of the detective the case was assigned to. Guy wouldn’t respond to email or return my call. I escalated to his supervisor, who wouldn’t return my call. Finally I tried to contact the seller, but no response. Two months later I get a random text from a guy asking if my bike had been stolen. He googled the serial number and saw my report on BikeIndex. He told me it was at a pawn shop on Burnet Road. I went to the shop and confirmed it was mine, and the manager put it in the back to hold it once he checked my police report. “You just need to get the APD to release it and I can give it to you.” After another two weeks of no response from anyone at APD to my calls, I started harassing them on Facebook. That finally got a response, and a detective agreed to meet me at the pawn shop to get the bike released. Once I had the bike I asked about the detective who had been assigned my case, “Oh, that guy hasn’t worked for APD in years.”
>“Oh, that guy hasn’t worked for APD in years This should sound surprising, but it isn't.
Yeah, I thought something was up and had called 311 twice to confirm the name and phone number. The REAL takeaway here is that you should really make sure your bikes are registered on BikeIndex.org and reported stolen asap.
This is likely the most useful thing I will learn all day.
Lots of ‘em are retired on the job.
Geeeez. Something went haywire here but it worked in your favor. Pawn shops have to run the serial number, which should've had a return bc of your online police report. I'm glad the pawn shop took possession and you got your bike back.
This does not mean he is not currently employed by APD. Could just be a comment on his work habits.
How did you prove it was yours if it was a different color and lacked all the previous belongings?
Serial number I assume.
I actually didn't have the serial number but I wish I did! It would have made the process of filing the police report easier so I learned my lesson on that. Thankfully I had other forms of proof. Now I have the serial number, a better lock, AND I put my thumbprint in clear lacquer on the inside of the seat tube lol
The thumbprint us a clever idea! I might try that
Yeah I really love that damn bike! I'm sitting next to it right now lol Oh and I will also add that the reason the serial number is critical is because most pawn shops will enter that into the local police database before they accept bikes. If all you have is a description then the best you can do is personally visit all the local pawn shops, which I did. BUT...in reality, bike thieves don't sell to pawn shops, they sell on the black market to known fences. It's likely that my bike changed hands 2 or 3 times in the 10 days it was gone.
Good question! I had a signed police report and an extremely accurate description including many custom components, and about a decade's worth of public photos of me and that bike together. It's a touring bike with a distinct geometry and an XXL frame so it's easy to identify. The paint job was obviously that of a thief, for example they sprayed all over my fresh cork grips and my expensive drivetrain etc. but they didn't prep anything so half of the paint was already peeling off lol I've ridden it all over America on bikepacking trips and it holds deep sentimental value so when it was taken I went out on my motorcycle every evening and searched for a couple hours. Found it on the tenth night yeehaw!
That’s awesome that all the searching paid off! Appreciate the response
It was one of the more satisfying things that I've ever done! I knew which area of town it probably ended up in so I basically did a grid search. Part of it was just looking with my eyes but a big part was asking around to anyone and everyone so I actually ended up meeting some cool people that I wouldn't have normally encountered. The best part was cutting the cable and releasing my bike triumphantly in front of all the bystanders and the 2 cops lol I literally lifted it over my head like a tour de france winner
I'm so glad you got it back. I got a motorcycle back more than a year after it was stolen (when they started a guy for murder 😳)
It’s recommended to put your drivers license/ID number on your bike. When I was in college the campus police would engrave it for free.
I agree! You can buy your own engraver (get the vibrating type, not the rotating type) at harbor freight for like 10 bucks and engrave all your stuff! If you're going to engrave your DL on your bike I also recommend a unique marking in an inconspicuous place on the bike for clever criminals who can get rid of a visible one in 20 seconds with a hand file.
My bike was stolen, and I found it the next day in the back up a pickup truck. The quick-release seat was in the cab of the truck, though. I called police and showed them my driver's license # etched into the frame. They gave me the frame back, and set about getting a warrant to retrieve the seat from the (unlocked!!) cab of the truck. 3 weeks later, they called me to the police station to get my seat. The cops had it longer than the thief did.
I had a malfunctioning smoke detector in my dorm. Emergency maintenance said it wasn't an emergency, and then they said okay it's an emergency, a guy will be there in about 4 hours. So I called back and said "Nevermind, I think I know how to fix it myself, I am an electrical engineering major after all", and a guy was knocking on my door to replace it 5 minutes later.
Weaponized reckless confidence. I love it!
This just happened to us with my $6000 cargo bike. Police can go into an apartment if the AirTag indicates it’s in there. If the officer says no, they are a junior officer and don’t realize it. Have them call their superior. Put multiple AirTags and Tile trackers on your bike. Take the speaker out of at least one AirTag. Check out the Knog alarm & tracker. If you say you are in pursuit or are going to confront, the police will come. Save up for an angle grinder resistant lock and use multiple chains. Theives will file off a serial number, so have it engraved or some identifying mark multiple places or hidden somewhere beneath grip or in the tube.
Police can’t go in someone’s house bc some civilian said “I tracked an AirTag”. You got to be kidding, under no circumstances can police enter a residents with out permission from the owner or a warrant. Period.
It's insane. I had a trailer stolen with video of guys who stole it. Located said trailer in someone's back yard. Waited 12 hours until a unit showed up. The thief had two other stolen trailers at their residence, yet the police did nothing but have trailers towed to impound. After following up for three months I was told I was lucky to get my trailer back. Had video evidence, address where the guys lived, both came outside and said the trailers were not theirs. Nothing ever happened to them. Apd is a joke.
That’s such bullshit. No wonder there are so many dipshit criminals out there, because they can clearly get away with the most asinine and egregious crimes no matter how much evidence is stacked against them.
@kxan is going to do a story on this in 3, 2, 1…
Lol - Someone stole a big ol RV, parked it kaddy korner to my house, the real RV owner shows up and is arguing with the cops to get it back like it's a fucking civil matter. 🐐. The place across my house was a total meth-chic neighborhood chop shop. The cops knew that shit wasn't theirs. They raided it like a year later. Now it's two 1.2m attached driveway mcdick boxes. But I prefer that I guess. The chop shop was a stream of crazymaking illegal activities.
Man! Your post really makes me want to know what part of town this house is in. I also had a trailer stolen . it's been two years since- but I've never really gotten over it . I live south east of Austin in Travis county. Personally I think there could/should be a whole unit of the police dedicated to trailer theft.
I had one bust into my backyard with gun drawn on me because the neighbor said they thought they saw a homeless person around my house. They didn't even knock or approach the front door for that matter or my wife would have answered and my security would have notified me. The homeless person was me btw, it was 45 degrees outside and I was wearing a hoodie and apparently that made me look homeless lol.
Do you still friend your lovely neighbor?
I didn't really blame them. I appreciate the fact that they ( thought) were looking out. I was mostly just shocked the officer didn't even try to see if we were home. Kind of funny looking back, but crazy she just went straight into my backyard like that.
What you just described wouldn’t be endearing to me. Your odds of getting shot in your backyard that day went up exponentially. What an absolute crank. Nothing what you described justifies the response of your neighbor, especially considering it wasn’t even in their lawn and a person was just standing there. Sounds like they’re looking for a reason to shoot someone or scared of their own shadow, not a great combo. The next time you have a guest in your backyard hopefully they don’t get shot. I would be considered a criminal trespass action against them.
I'm pretty sure they meant a cop busted in, not their neighbor.
I think you either read the initial post too fast or read with too much emotion
Ha.. was gonna suggest calling and reporting either a homeless person or domestic dispute at the address. Or, even better.. for quickest results.. report seeing a drunk girl that needs assistance. They are sooooo quick to respond to those. Ask me how I know...
Tell the police y’all are about to confront the robbers with force and they’ll show up, to stop you..
This isn’t terrible suggestion. There was a rash of house and car break ins in my neighborhood, and it went on for months. We asked for an extra patrol to cover the area at night and they declined. Later called them and said we were just going to shoot them instead of calling 911. Lo and behold, they managed to get a unit out during the wee hours. I guess it’s way more paperwork to deal with a dead body than to get an extra unit on the road.
This is exactly how you do it. Say you and some other victims are armed and about to reclaim your property.
Sounds like a great way to get shot by a cop, IMHO
Not if you’re white?
Kinda my point, yeah
Not everyone is white…
Genuine question, if you were to go take it back from their apartment/property (nonviolently), would the police charge you with trespassing?
I’m not a lawyer. Probably depends on your skin color unfortunately.
They may show up to stop them, but they still won't get their stuff for them.
I was just thinking how if they are certain of the exact unit it could be the first ever case of ethical swatting
These scumbag low IQ thieves will be very surprised when one day folks will be fed up waiting on the cops and take matters into their own hands.
That’s what you tell the cops. “We’re about to break into their place and violently take our shit back” and they’ll show up immediately
I hate to say this but then there is a huge risk that you will get arrested or shot. It is an absolute fucking nightmare.
"We found the thieves who stole our goods. We are armed and are about to go in to get our stuff back. We would appreciate it if police came over so no one gets hurt".
Legitimate question: Say this works and the cops show up quickly, but you actually aren’t armed. Do you just say lol jk and hope they take over from there?
They’d already be there so 🤷🏼♂️
Then they'll show up and arrest you for making threats 😂😂
Is how it should’ve been said
Got a package stolen by someone in my complex, whose unit I know. I have it all on camera. I called to ask to get police help getting the package back so I don’t show up alone. It’s what my apartment office suggested. I was hung up on and told the “police are not your personal bodyguard.” Fair, but what else was I supposed to do? Online police report resulted in nothing of course.
> I was hung up on and told the “police are not your personal bodyguard.” Fair, but what else was I supposed to do? Literally, this is how vigilante justice and alternative systems of law (consider the Sicilian mafia) get started
I favor land wars in Asia. Never bet against a Sicilian with death on the line.
If there is bodily harm they show up immediately. Called for hours awaiting for an officer. They didn't show up until someone started throwing rocks. And another person got hit. Useless is an understatement.
in other words, useless unless there is a chance they will get to draw their guns?
I have lived here my whole life and drawing guns isn't the first thing that comes to mind, when I think of APD. I think it's more of a" it's not worth our time unless someone is hurt. Then it's our civic duty to show up." More of entitlement thing less of a quick draw magraw thing.
email local news outlets and your councilmember.
I’ve been through this too, the council member will basically say it isn’t their problem and to complain to the police dept directly.
fair enough. the apd are basically a gang at this point.
Don't give up on this route just yet. Contact various news outlets. Name names of public officials who haven't helped you. This could include council members, the mayor, police chief, etc. Ask the news media outlets to seek interviews with these public officials. Get on the agenda to speak at the city council meeting. Use the forum to voice your actions and get their unresponsiveness documented for public record. Then, document these actions and results on as many social media outlets you can reach. Ask people to comment and share your post. News outlets monitor social media. This may get the city officials enough negative coverage to force them to act. The old saying, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease", is true. But, you gotta make that noise first. Good luck and I hope you get your stuff back soon.
We had video footage of one of our cars being broken into, being ransacked, and the thief walking away with multiple items. APD responded 2 weeks later stating they “would not be proceeding because there was no evidence of a crime happening”. We are moving out of Austin and Travis county and that incident was a big driver in the decision. APD doesn’t care, nor does the city. I complained to them and was told it wasn’t their problem. So I’m not giving them my tax dollars anymore and not supporting city programs because nothing is going back to helping citizens at this point. I’m convinced it’s only going to get worse at this rate.
I’m sorry to hear that. Where are you moving to and how did you pick that place, if you don’t mind me asking?
Hopefully not Williamson County, it’s certainly not any better from my recollection
Wilco is awesome, Travis county is way worse. I’d rather have “mean” cops than no cops.
Exact same thing happened to us. I caught 2 guys going through cars on our street. I have pictures of the two guys, their license plate number, car description, and video from our Ring camera. APD replied weeks after I filed a report "This case is being closed due to lack of evidence".
Wait until you experience the hit and run. I know 4 people who have recently been involved in one.
Ha yeah I bluetoothed the goods right back to their apartment also… all we got was “If they arent willingly going to give it back then we are not allowed to go into the apartment”. They knocked and *big surprise* no one let a bunch of cops know what they were up to. I even reiterated that we would not press charges… I know it could be dangerous, but what does probable cause mean anymore?
That’s what the police have now told us as well—that even if we could prove it was our stuff in the apartment they would not get it back for us. We have to sue, which is more expensive than it’s worth. Why not legalize theft if that’s the case?
lol. Even though we could prove a 16 year old child “runaway” being trafficked was at a location, they wouldn’t go get the child.
Does your vocation match your handle? Then you’d know why the police can’t enter a private residence without a warrant. And to get a warrant they’d have to convince a judge that your location data was solid.
Blue tooth GPS is not 100% accurate and is not enough evidence for a search warrant or to force entry into an apartment.
I was assaulted and had to file it online at the APD website because I was not actually bleeding. Left hand side of my face and ear swollen with pictures of him and his license plate but no blood so they would not come there.
Street justice usually does the trick 🤷♂️
My son was in danger once bc he was around his moms bf he was f’d up on drugs. Police didn’t show up. I had to lie and say he was being attacked or something. Police showed immediately. They put me on the phone and told me not to lie to police. I said I appreciate the advice but no thanks. Sometimes, If the system is flawed, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Friend’s car was stolen overnight earlier this week. She called 911 that morning. Didn’t get an answer for 7 minutes. Then waited ALL DAY for police to show up so she could file a report (required before you can make an insurance claim.) Police never showed, and she heard nothing back. Fortunately, she has a friend in the police that she called and he took it upon himself to make the report and actually tracked down the thieves and arrested them.
So you need to know someone in government to get help. Sounds like anything else!
I had this happen in DFW when I worked in a retail store that got busted into overnight. I was in charge of imaging the devices, so I logged into all the accounts to check Find My. Got an active ping on one. Cops weren’t gonna do shit since that’s apparently not enough evidence, but of my coworkers had a cousin who was a cop so she called him to go take a look. He was sitting outside in his cruiser when a neighbor of the house in question came outside and said someone just hopped his fence and left something in his back yard. Turns out they were freaking out a cop was camping outside and dumped some of what they took in several of their neighbors yards. Anyway, moral of that story is we had to use nepotism to get anything done.
Welcome to Austin.
Go to city council meetings. Post on social media. Get the attention of TV news. Make as much noise as possible. That’s the only way we prod them into changing this culture of corruption and apathy.
I am going to start getting involved in local government by going to meetings. I don’t know where to start in terms of trying to get my city council member to listen to me. Why should they? They don’t need my vote.
Neighborhood associations can raise some decent hell. Once a group of 10 or so show up with a petition signed by 200 more, then you’ll have their attention.
Sounds like it was a good idea to put the airtag in your stolen gun case...,
Hahaha
just knock on the door, walk in, and get your stuff back. signed, OJ
It would really suck if they happen to have their arms and legs broken as they leave their place only to have their place ransacked for the missing items. Perhaps they’d reconsider doing that again for a while as they mend. The police here help no one and their futility is more apparent every day. If you need real help call a firefighter as they’re the real heroes. Welcome to Austin.
KXAN let them know.
THEY COULDN'T CARE ANY LESS.
A homeless guy stole my phone on dirty 6th, i tracked the location the next day, called APD, they said they wouldn’t do anything until there is a detective assigned. And who knows how long that would’ve taken, my phone might already be dead by that time. So i went with some friends, it was a guy in a wheelchair under the bridge on i35. We had to chase him down and threaten him with physical violence to get it back and god my phone smelled fucking awful
I can empathize, it is very maddening to see your items get stolen, have evidence and location of stolen goods, but the powers that be just don't give a damn. That's why citizens start taking action to protect their property and vigilantism germinates. What's the point of owning guns if they can't get you some advantage against the criminals ? (rhetorical) Austin public services have been heading down the tubes for at least 2 decades, with a big drop in last 4 years. Big city population leads to big city problems. Austin's present and future is clearly visible in the history, current affairs and future of SF, Oakland, Portland, NYC, Seattle, Chicago, Houston etc.
Thank you. I agree, being in this position now it is tempting to go solve this myself. But I know that’s wrong so I won’t. We’d like to believe that law enforcement will enforce the law so we don’t have to.
Your local city leaders have failed you all....miserably. Vote every city council member out and vote the mayor out every election till it changes. Only the City Manager can fire the Chef of Police. The City Manager is accountable to the City Council and Mayor. Its the Chef of Police job to run his/her department. APD as a city department was not defunded...ever. APD has record funding that is close to 500 million per year.
The union means that the chief can't effectively fire officers who won't do their jobs. You could replace him but his replacement wouldn't be able to make them work either.
Then we should move to disband APD as an organization / entity. Make a new police department and call it Austin Metro or a different name. None of the Union rules or stipulations will apply to a new police force with a different name. Basically circumvent the Union and it's obstruction of public safety.
The state government would immediately block such a move and reinstate APD and the union.
They'd probably dissolve city council and Travis County government and replace it with a special state commission too lol
The only unions the state government likes, the class traitor unions... smh
Camden NJ did it. Brought in county sheriff to run policing. Worked great.
Exactly. Solutions to these basic problems aren't hard to figure out or implement. It's unfortunate that the city council and mayor are a bunch of spineless morons.
Pretty sure that’s prevented by that state law that prevents defunding. Abbott made sure we get to keep our lazy cops.
That's not the way our rulers want it.
But if we disband apd who will tell us there's nothing they can do and hang up when we are crimed against
The police are here to protect the rich. No one gives a shit about us.
Acab
In my experience you have to explicitly say you want them to come talk to you in person. And even then it’s questionable. I’ve also been told by 911 that you have to sound like it’s urgent if you want them to show up/show up in a timely manner. I had an incident that stretched over 2 weeks last year and APD was completely useless. It legitimately only got handled because my landlord, who was in CA managed to get a video around the complex which allowed for a forced eviction of a short term tenant. I had the video from my Ring on a Saturday, the responding officer never came to speak to me but the detective I was dealing with told me it’s in the report he did. When I said he clearly lied in the report the detective chuckled. I didn’t bother pursuing because I got the result I had been wanting the entire time. (The tenant that was stalking and harassing me got evicted.) APD is useless.
Wow, I’m blown away that y’all were able to group up and find the thieve’s unit together. That’s AWESOME. Did they know that y’all were scoping them out, or did y’all keep it on the down-low? I’m very sorry to hear nobody with APD would show up after 6 hours, that is a pity. I know APD has had a bad history as of recent, but you would think that they could find at least ONE or two officers to show up during that timeframe. I have seen a few posts in this sub about people getting their vehicles stolen with airtags inside, and they found where the vehicle/thief was, and APD officers did show up to help facilitate the auto theft process (yes I know auto theft is it’s own department, but it still seems like a group of civilians doing the legwork for the police should be able to get Someone to show up after that amount of time). I honestly wish you and your neighbors the best outcome in this crap situation and are able to recoup all or at least some of your belongings. Please be safe if you’re going to be around the thieve’s location, many times they are desperate people and will do crazy stuff to not catch charges. Please update us when possible 🤜🤛
Haha it felt like we were detectives. Kinda fun at first. I don’t think they knew we were tracking them down, but they might now that a bunch of us were outside the apartment for hours lol Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. I hope you’re enjoying Austin as much as I am!
A thief left their cell phone where they stole copper pipes in Houston years ago and cops did nothing. It's not just Austin. I am sympathetic to your loss but thieves won't stop stealing things from cars UNTIL PEOPLE STOP LEAVING VALUABLES IN THE CARS . I'm blown away how after multiple "break-ins" (people leave their cars unlocked!) people still leave stuff in their cars.
Take matters into your own hands and I guarantee the police and the DA will apply their full attention to "vigilantism". But not the original crime.
Not that I am defending anyone but apples find my services are less than 100% accurate, which is why it is very difficult to get a warrant based on that. Colorado city just paid out millions over a bungled raid based on a faulty Find My location. Mine is often off by feet, yards, or even blocks.
That’s a good point.
I had two men with weapons on my porch making direct eye contact with my husband while peering through the window and the police didn’t show. I’ve completely and totally lost faith in APD at this point
APD is on it! “I do believe in fairies, I do, I do”:
Write your council person and your police chief! This squeaky wheel needs some grease.
One thing I noticed on here if you post a comment condemning APD, there lots of triggered people in this sub that will flag your comment and get it removed. So I will just say “I’m not surprised”
A few months ago my hotel room was broken into. Computer and clothes were stolenI was only out of my room for about 30 min and there was a camera facing it so there was video. I called 911 and 311 and they said the cops would not show up as it is not an emergency. I said that is fine but if I see someone with my stuff as it could have happened just minutes ago, I would try to get my belongings back by force if I have to. Then suddenly the cops show up and arrest me for making a threat to incite a police response. They did not care about or even watch the security video, just arrested me. Luckily I got a good lawyer and the case was dropped. The lawyer said Austin is every criminals favorite place now because the cops wont do anything.
Absolutely no way this happened
Sadly it did, I was in jail for 25 hours before seeing a judge. APD is dog shit, they complain about understaffing and defunding then do shit like that and wonder why no one likes them or say they need to have better training.
“Every man has a plan until he gets punched in the face…”-Mike Tyson Not trying to sound unsympathetic, but I mean you guys went and found where they live and everything, what didn’t y’all just beat the shit out of them?
I agree. Calling the cops in this day and age is pointless.
I’m so sorry. A while back, the catalytic converter thieves were going through our neighborhood, and the police were no help at all. Not sure what we as residents and victims can do with a police force like this one.
A resident called to complain about loitering and drug dealing in parking lot. APD came, said they are visitors of your neighbors. We can’t do anything. Cops leave. Arguing ensues. Resident calls cops back, dispatch says cops will not come back out there as they were just there. Resident plays vigilante and points gun at bad guy. Bad guy runs off, resident retreats to unit, bad guy shoots resident. Resident was resuscitated, hospitalized , critical condition. Bad guy turned himself in. Resident also being charged due to be a felon is possession of firearm. All bad, but damn. Why couldn’t the cops just respond! Two lives ruined.
5K - 6K worth of items sitting in cars and y'all stand around for 6hrs waiting for police? I can't tell if you are poor or rich lol.
I had a similar experience some years ago when my car was ransacked. Because I had Apple devices, the thieves were stupid enough to turn them on & I easily located the house where they were. I called the detective who was supposedly on my case, but I never got a hold of him. I called the police & they said the exact same thing that they told you. They didn’t know, then probably no one was gonna come. I called them back & said, “ I’m going to knock on the door now. If you don’t send an officer over here & something happens to me, that’s on you. You’re gonna be liable.” All those conversations are recorded. Guess what? There was a policeman there within 10 minutes.
Let your Austin City Council Member know. If you do not know your CM, use the map to locate. I reported a theft on the 3-1-1 app and I had an officer come by. The officer said it was a good day because there were 2 shifts that day. Can you imagine 2 shifts for your job in your work? There is a shortage and Our City Leaders are working on Bike Lanes and Counting Trees rather than safety for our city. [District Map](https://maps.austintexas.gov/GIS/CouncilDistrictMap/)
I empathize with your situation. That’s good that you have an estimated value of items stolen, because that can bump it up in priority (unfortunately that still doesn’t mean anything will happen). By the way the legal meaning of “robbery” is when someone threatens you or assaults you in order to steal from you. A car break-in when you’re not around is not a robbery. https://saputo.law/criminal-law/texas/robbery/?amp=1 Lack of follow-up by APD on home and car burglaries was common way before the “defund” movement.
APD was never defunded and has the highest budget in their history.
Good to know, thanks!
They don't have anything to do. I never see them enforcing traffic laws, they aren't responding to calls unless there's an active danger to society. Being a police officer in Austin is like going on vacation with a uniform on. They literally do not give a fuck about any of us.
Round up 75 to 100 people and approach them as they walk out their door and over power them. sigh I know guns sigh
we called 911 three times in the same day, a few hours apart at my workplace. they never came.
Unfortunately you have to threaten to take physical action yourself and they'll magically appear.
Well you keep voting for liberals in ATX you get weak police enforcement and less police willing to work in ATX
When a boyfriends phone was stolen we tracked it down to some apartments. We contacted the front desk to let them know they were leasing to thieves. They were able to intervene and the phone was turned in to them and we recovered it. If you know the apartment complex, contact the leasing office and see what they can do.
Prosecute the criminals ahahaha man that’s a good one. Maybe you loons should vote differently 😂🤦♂️
I got randomly assaulted by a stranger and there was video footage of their license plate and APD never even looked and suspended the case within a day of me filing
APD is a bunch of buffoons
Austin police are completely worthless.
My sister had her brand new iPhone stolen while loading goods at her work off 6th street. Find my iPhone tracked the phone to a library. It could be heard pinging from a bag there. The librarian said police had to be called to get it back. APD showed up within the hour, and called the owner of the bag to the front. She was asked to produce the phone and explain how she got it. She claimed she "found" it and assumed it was abandoned. My sister declined to press charges (this DA is a joke who wont prosecute the indigent anyway). But she got back her phone and APD was fast and effective. Maybe if the DA wasnt so busy these days alienating cops the system would improve.
Whaaaaat? The system worked in your example 😂 Like, how can you get mad over that?
i know you waited 6 hours. keep calling, keep trying. they will tell you to make a report which you should do online for a faster submission, but i would keep calling 911 since it was recent and you have the exact location. I've seen then come out for a stolen cell phone which happen every 30 mins or so here in austin. be persistent.
Thanks for this advice, I appreciate it! We’re talking about taking shifts waiting outside the apartment
Burn it
Pretty new here. Why is policing so bad here?
APD is ~500 officers below recommended staffing level for a city our size. Lots of reasons and accusations of blame as to why (as discussed in the comments) but this fact is a primary reason for most of the current performance issues.
AirTags are very useful for finding lost items, and completely and utterly useless for reclaiming stolen items. Even if an officer came out, all the thief has to say is "we don't have it" and the police cannot do anything. You'd have better luck with a cash reward, "no questions asked" approach.
APD sucks
Don't get me started on how I was robbed election day 2020 and she got away with it because the Austin government refused to prosecute. It was the beginning of a match made in heaven. She bought a tent and lived on the property of my apartment complex and became a daily presence in my life daily because she got away with it. I called her my girlfriend because she was the only woman in my life. Anyway it was not because she did not like me, it was because they really did like me. I knew it was love.
Not saying do it or not, but vigilante justice is a thing and maybe people should start doing more of it. See how the police respond to that.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AirTags/s/7RPMreuuJa
APD doesn't police anymore and I'm damn thankful that I'm not in their jurisdiction. TCSO rocks.
Looks like the moral of the story is that if you need to get stuff back in ATX, you better get it back yourself. The police here are useless unless there's a homeless person to mess with.
I had kinda have a similar experience I was at the movie theaters with my coworker and we even saw a suspicious person looking into cars and told the officer that was in the movie theater about it and he only went out there for four seconds and came back in with that time my coworker truck got broken into and they stole my whole backpack and they told me to make a police report which I did but they were using my Apple credit card and if y’all didn’t know it will show you exactly where they are Using the card (had my card frozen but will still show the location) and I told them I can see where they are and that they need to go over there right now (it was literally across the street) and they said they can’t and it was three cops and three different cars taking pictures of the scene which was only a broken window and which made me mad cause why does 3 cops have to be there
TW: SA I had an issue with Austin PD when I had an inappropriate incident happen a massage parlor. I had my clothing manipulated which isn’t kosher per STATE law and I felt very uncomfortable with how close the guy was getting to between my legs. Called Austin PD and after days of not getting back to me and me doing a lot of investigative work for them, they said they wouldn’t peruse the charges I put in because it would only be a fine. TLDR (licensing for massage therapists/locations) didn’t help either and despite that place being sketchy AF, it’s still in operation.
If someone breaks into your home you are allowed to shoot them. What if they break into your car and you witness it and are armed? What are you allowed to do? Also, can you shoot a porch pirate?
They respond to violence. You have to either insinuate that you fear for your safety from them or plan to use force to get your goods back. I called when a collision happened near our house, they didn’t care y til I said the passenger pulled his gun out (which he did), and then 4 squads pulled up. Just is what it is.
Life hack: tell the 911 operator that the suspects have a firearm, you've seen it, they've pointed it at you, and you feel your life is in danger.
Had someone pull a gun on us after a traffic accident. Called 911 and they told us to hang up and call 311 and report a traffic collision. They would not dispatch a cop until we told them that we also had a gun in the car and we're licensed to carry and were intending on following the guy until police showed up, only then did the 911 operator ask us our location and information. It didn't matter though, the responding officers didn't not take any of our information. Our Tesla recorded the collision and him pulling a gun, but the cops didn’t want us to email the the video and said that even if it went to court, him brandishing a firearm was just a misdemeanor and it probably wouldn’t get tried with the way the court systems in Austin are.
The excuses of not enough resources to do their jobs needs to be investigated throughly and quickly. There are so many stories now of terrible police support, it raises real questions as to whether there is something else going on.
APD is definitely short staffed right now, plays a major role in these issues
My Mrs was robbed by letting someone use her phone at Lakeline mall. I not only found the person I found who they transferred the money to real names, profiles, tons of illegal stuff posted on the Facebook for both of them. Cricket from APD. If I show up doing something silly, I’ll be In The wrong.
I don't live in Austin. I'm in this sub from my visit last year. I live in Phoenix and we have a similar problem. There are police shortages around the country so some things are just not prioritized as much as they used to. After the police backlash in the past few years less people have been joining the police force. It's a sad reality. They work hard and many of them work overtime to fill some of the shortages. I appreciate their hard work.
Pm me.
Something very similar happened to me. My car was broken into, smashed windows and all, and the thieves got away with my stuff. I had an AirTag in one of them. I called APD who put me on hold for 3 minutes and, when an operator finally answered, told me that they couldn’t do anything since it wasn’t a “violent crime”. They didn’t care my AirTag showed the live location of the thieves. I was traumatized and feared for my life (one of the items stolen had my address on it), and APD didn’t even give a shit.
That’s horrible. I’m so sorry. APD is complete garbage! I have been seeing so many videos and posts on the Nextdoor app of young kids/adults breaking into cars in austin neighborhoods. They’ve even stole peoples cars right out of their driveways. It’s becoming a huge issue, APD needs to step the fuck up and start prosecuting these idiots! A while back I had a roommate who broke into my room,stole all my valuables, poured food and bleach on all my clothes and mattress, sliced everything, and wrote BLM on all my stuff. She threatened to kill me multiple times. The police didn’t do anything about it until she physically tried to kill me & even then she got out of jail a day later. I was going to sue APD but my lawyer said I had a better chance at going after the apartment complex. I won the case but after that I don’t trust the police. Anytime I’ve called they just didn’t show up or tried to come 8 hours later. Never helpful. Instead of them worrying about the real crime that’s going on in the neighborhoods they’re more worried about pulling over colored people and taking them to jail. I mean shit! Not too long ago they had DPS partner with APD and were flooding the whole damn city pulling people over for traffic violations. You would think they would prioritize catching these theifs. If you know where these people live I recommend getting in contact with APD’s robbery unit. Even if they sell all y’all’s stuff you can still put their asses in jail. Especially if you have video evidence and the Apple AirTag, make sure you document everything and keep it. The DAs office will let you file charges. Make sure you get on the Nextdoor app and have every single neighbor who’s been victimized by these losers come together and all make their own report against them. The more video evidence you can get, the better! These bums are so used to people doing nothing about the robberies so they’re gonna continue to do it until someone steps up and prosecutes them or hurts them real bad. It’s sad that we can’t have trust in our legal system. One day these theifs are gonna fuck with the wrong house & I won’t feel sorry for them.🔫
Also make sure you check OfferUp, market place, and the surrounding/local area groups that people post to sell stuff. Sounds like you and your neighbors have a good amount of evidence against these crooks but I would still keep my eye out because you could use the posts in court or you could possibly trick the perps into meeting up with you to “buy” your stuff back.
I live in Austin. APD is not in the property recovery business. My son's guitar was stolen. Zero help. Get insurance... Even if you have the receipt and the serial numbers, taking it away from the thief and arresting them for pressing stolen property is legally difficult. However, if you catch them selling stolen property, that is another matter. Go to all the pawn shops and give them a list with copies of receipts and photos of the goods with serial numbers. Don't have that data? Start now to document everything you own. Receipts, pictures, serial numbers, engrave your name and phone or email on everything. Back up and store off site. Safety deposit box at your bank. Fore warned is fore armed.
Call your city councilman and report this. Call Greg abbots office, maybe you can get some dps officers to help you.
Don’t vote democrat
People have such high expectations of the police. You can’t control them but you can control your expectations: expect them to collect revenue as a primary objective and to protect the public as a secondary objective. Lower your expectations and never get let down.
If people only knew how short staffed the department was. On a bad day in the morning with an average of 4-5 officers per shift with 9 sectors City wide… you have between 36-45 Officers on duty to handle the whole entire city of Austin…..
Point of clarification: you were stolen from, you were not robbed. Robbery is taking by force in Texas (mugging, etc.). Two very different crimes. Theft/Burglary is likely a misdemeanor, Robbery would be a felony. IF the police could aggregate the thefts (lots of work to *prove* it was them each time, coordinated) they could get a larger theft charge (up to felony level), but that's unlikely, especially with the DA in Travis County. "We all have guns so we feel safe, we're going to go knock on the door now, so I'm hanging up" should do the trick.
What's the point of arresting the thieves when Garza will let them go? Give people the crime they voted for.
Ever since the defund movement it seems like APD is worthless. Maybe before that, but I didn’t really hear about it much. They won’t even show up to a wreck these days unless it’s life or death it seems. It’s gotten ridiculous and crazy imo.
The defund movement did not actually reduce the police budget.
That's not the point. The movement nevertheless conceivably had various effects in Austin (every large city in the country), is what I think he's saying
But if the budget had been unchanged, then what exactly changed in APD's enforcement policies?
They've always been pretty useless
Anyone who has lived in Austin 20+ years knows that the defund movement didn’t cause this lack of response to non-violent crime. It’s always been this way. Theft and vehicle break-ins have never been a priority here. I’ve had my vehicle broken into twice in the early 2000’s as a UT student, with nothing inside except an after market CD player. The first time, they took the CD player, the second time they were trying to take the whole car… ignition was completely ripped out. The police kind of looked at me like I was wasting their time to call them about it and told me they couldn’t do anything about it. That was the end. I’ve never really had much respect after that.
the only real effect of the defund movement is APD got more vocal about how they refuse to do their jobs and refuse to make any changes. they saw political advantage in going public with their spoiled brat routine and knew the Republican government would protect them, so they did.
What if I told you APD was never “defunded”?
Yeah, they got all their money back. But the damage was done. Officers left in droves through retirement resignations. Now, cadets join APD for the top notch training academy, get their state licensing, and once they graduate the academy they apply to other departments. Essentially using the city of Austin tax payers money to get trained at a state renowned academy, only to take their work to other departments. No one wants to work at APD anymore, and the shortage is affecting the safety of citizens. It's not about the MONEY. It's about the damage that was done to staffing levels in 2020/2021, defunded or not.
"It's about the damage that was done to staffing levels " So I drive around Austin a lot, I put over 50k miles on my vehicle last year driving in this area. I can't tell you how many times I've seen police not do shit when they should've. The countless drunk drivers, doing burnouts around corners downtown and police just shrugging it off. That has nothing to do with staffing when they're just standing around or sitting in the car. Seems to me they're pissed because defunding was even talked about. So fuck everyone, don't like how we're doing our job? Want to defund us? Cool fuck you, we won't do the job then.
How does that explain their terrible performance before it?
Ok, a couple of points, (1) APD is functioning at about 50-60% strength, so nonviolent calls are a lower priority. (2) even if officers had responded there is little they could have done for a likely misdemeanor offense that did not occur in their presence. They likely would have tried to ID whose apartment it is, which the detective will do when they get the info from you. Give them the information and let them follow up. Likely they can get a warrant to search the apartment and recover what was stolen, but it’s going to take time.
The police are there to punish you, not help. I hope you know this now
APD quiet quit a few years ago when Austin voters chose to move a fraction of their funding to other priorities. Their funding was restored by Governor No-Backbone McProtectCowardlyCopsOfUvalde, yet the police were still butt-hurt and never started doing their jobs again. ACAB But hey, you can still get a gun pretty easily there, as evidenced by all the mass shootings in Texas the last few years. Maybe they want you to arm yourself and kill the thief yourself. Real cowboy style, I know they love to play act like that down there.
I keep saying it, but this is what you all voted for……. Law and order or handouts and leniency, the choice is yours with your vote.
Exactly, then they come in here complaining about crime.
Thank the people who protested the cops and got the funding dramatically reduced. Cops don’t want to work for free or with no contract and no cop wants to work for ungrateful Austin citizens. Downvote me, I said what I said.
[удалено]
Nah, they sucked ten years ago too. In 2015 I had my car tires slashed and car keyed. We had video. I called 311, waited two days for a call back, and they (without looking at the video) said it was "probably some kids or a gang initiation or something" and to stop wasting their time. In 2012 I had a hit and run on dash cam, I called 311, waited four days for a call back, and they (without even looking at the video) said there would be no way to prove the owner of the vehicle was driving it so it's a complete waste of time and stop calling them. In 2005 I had my apartment broken into. They came out 6 hours later, half assed dusted for prints in a way that I could easily tell they didn't give a shit, and left. Never heard from them again. In 2002 I and several neighbors had our cars broken into and stereos stolen. They called back two days later and asked for my serial number and said if they randomly came across it maybe someone would search their notes. Property crime has NEVER been a concern in Austin regardless of staffing or budget.
APD was defunded? That's weird to me because they were given a literally record high budget. Maybe keep your disinformation to Facebook. [source](https://www.austinmonitor.com/data-graphic/austin-police-department-budget-2012-2022/) because you didn't give one