(FixThisNation.com) – In Texas, the Austin Police Department has informed residents that they should call 311 for incidents related to robberies close to ATMs. As the department noted 311 is the number that should be used in the case of all non-emergency requests, while 911 should only be used for emergencies.
The police Department has been struggling in recent months to deal with the rise in urban crime as there are many staffing shortages. Along with a graphic, the department posted on X, formerly referred to as Twitter, that even those who are cautious could end up becoming the victims of robberies.
The post proceeded to note that in these cases the victim should make a police report with all of the information they had so that the department could look into recovering their property. As part of the information, the victim should inform the department of the date and time that the cash withdrawal had been made.
The new procedures have been put in place as Austin is trying to deal with the increase in crime. When compared to 2020, the Texas capital has had a 30 percent increase in murders, 18 percent increase in aggravated assaults, and a 77 percent increase in auto thefts.
Thomas Villarreal, the President of the Austin Police Association in an interview on “Fox & Friends” in August had disclosed that the city’s department did not have the required resources to deal with the increase in crime. He added that the city should have around 2,000 officers or more and currently they only have 1,475 officers in the police department.
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