(Photo: Statesman)
City Manager Spencer Cronk has until September 1 to come up with a plan to limit the way police can make arrests for low-level crimes. More than 100 people spoke about Greg Casar’s “Freedom City” package, and while plenty were in favor, there was also a lot of opposition, specifically to the questions surrounding Casar’s racial data that some fear is promoting “racially charged statistics”.
In the end, the council chose to approve the plan, as well as to move forward with protecting illegal immigrants in Austin by using city resources to teach them about interacting with police.
The other resolution protects illegal immigrants in Austin from deportation by teaching them that they have a right to not speak to police when confronted about immigration status.
