February 19, 20241 yr 13 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said: Ask an officer, that's not a typical number but it's occurring. As for 1,800 officers, that's the budgeted number. Actual number barely 1,400 right now. Losing patrol faster than anyone and once others get moved to patrol they are finding new jobs outside Austin quickly. Yep. Truth. Quite honestly, it’s what Austin deserves right now. Getting exactly what they think they want. Or been told to want. And with our ever expanding homeless population and traffic fuckery and all these fucking people moving here…it’s important that we have FEWER officers (fabulous plan.) Hey, I’m all for it. fewer officers near Rainey!!! The entertainment district just has a phantom drowning people and a few dipshits that get into shootouts on 6th who are wannabe gangsters from Killeen or drunk fucks who go batshit because they were asked to leave when the bar closed. And honestly, that’s fine too. Let them off each other. Darwinism. I'd let all the high crime areas police themselves (cuz it works just about as well as cops policing those neighborhoods) and have cops just patrol areas that are necessary to protect like hospitals and schools etc. Edited February 19, 20241 yr by Nicole44
February 19, 20241 yr 15 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said: I looked at it another way: my commute (when I go to the office) is 7 miles. I *always* see at least one patrol car on each leg, and I only spend a tiny fraction of that trip on anything but side streets. Austin has a bit over 2,500 miles of roadway, so if I'm seeing cops in a 7 mile stretch, it might imply something like 360 cops city-wide. That's mighty close to my other estimate. Sure, I'm often driving in higher-traffic times of the day, but I just don't buy 30-40 on the road at any time but the dead of night, that tiny window between "lots of drunks" and "oh shit it's morning rush hour". Well yeah it's night shift and maybe they are exaggerating the numbers some but that's what's been told to me. You're also likely driving during overlap periods where there are effectively twice the officers on patrol (on purpose during busy times during shift changes). For night shift it's incredibly hard to convince normally younger officers who want to spend time with their young family to instead work at nights when everything bad typically happens. You make them do it and hope you can manage it so they don't decide to relocate somewhere else.
February 19, 20241 yr On 2/18/2024 at 11:06 AM, Cap33 said: I don't think they really give a shit about smart traffic flow. How else are they going to convince people that mass transit is the solution to their traffic woes? Meanwhile, we have City Council members talking a big game about initiatives (read: spending money) to help combat climate change. How about all the cars sitting through multiple light cycles trying to make a fucking left turn to get to work because some dipshit timed the light to let exactly four cars through during rush hour? We'll be reminded that improved sidewalks and bike lanes are what passed in the mobility bond. I'm not sure it would have gotten the same support if people understood the trade off of constricting traffic flow to get those improvements. My favorite is Airport between 2222 and Lamar. holy hell I feel like they been working on god knows what (all I see are some new sidewalks) for this entire decade. and the lights are complete shit anytime the train is within 5 miles. I’ve found an alternate route I use when I need to be in that area but about once a month, I give a shot to see if things are better/construction is complete and it always ends with: Edited February 19, 20241 yr by UTexasFight
February 19, 20241 yr 22 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said: For night shift it's incredibly hard to convince normally younger officers who want to spend time with their young family to instead work at nights when everything bad typically happens. You make them do it and hope you can manage it so they don't decide to relocate somewhere else. If true, then it doesn't overlap with the vast majority of unenforced traffic fuckery being complained about on this thread.
February 19, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, MonkeyDoughnut said: Ask an officer, that's not a typical number but it's occurring. As for 1,800 officers, that's the budgeted number. Actual number barely 1,400 right now. Losing patrol faster than anyone and once others get moved to patrol they are finding new jobs outside Austin quickly. This is true, too. Look Garza doesn’t seem to be great at his job, but he’s really a symptom, and the department suffers greatly from a combination of things. The decade of leadership vacuum and political transition at city hall that led to poor management of public safety (and much else) by the CM’s office also led directly to the collapse election of Garza. The political climate has improved and will continue to get better and healthier. But many of the department’s problems are self-inflicted and require wholesale change to the culture and management of the department. I’m hopeful that the interim chief is up to the task and gets the job on a permanent basis. I’m also hoping that the new APD union head is more capable and savvy than his recent predecessors. BTW wrt your final point about jobs outside Austin - the number of police who don’t live in the city and aren’t from the city is a major problem I’d like to see addressed. We need to reconnect the department to the community it serves. That would benefit everyone. Edited February 19, 20241 yr by Bozo_Casanova
February 19, 20241 yr Yeah, Garza can get gone. I know a lady who's ex-husband tried to kill her, twice. His current charge (agg assault-family violence w/strangulation) carries a 2-10 year range. But he's had MULTIPLE previous convictions, so he'd be enhanced with a range up to 99 years if they charged it right. Assistant DA is not involving my friend in court dates, isn't saying anything but that "nothing is happening" and hasn't even shown interest in my friend's audio recording of the assault. ADA did ask her what she'd like to see happen, and my friend basically said, 10 years. The ADA said "oh my boss would never go for that." If you're not pursuing violent crime and keeping the most dangerous fuckers like this one off the street, what the FUCK are you even doing as DA?
February 20, 20241 yr Popular Post 9 hours ago, bolverk said: If it's any concern to you, it might be worthwhile to see who's funding his campaign. Because 10 “right wing” west Austin Republicans give money to a guy slightly less left wing (but still a democrat) it’s a “concern”. I could not care less. Garza fucking sucks and has not done his job. He needs to go. End of story. In any rational political environment the opposition candidate should be able to sweep the floor with him based on his ACTUAL performance, but knowing how stupid and tribal our populace is, they know that there is no way that will happen if they have an R next to their name in this city. So people who actually want the city to get better, donate to the to a more moderate opposition party candidate, and in turn that is used by the extremes as evidence to continue to support the failed incumbent.
February 20, 20241 yr 5 hours ago, Orange&White said: Then why do they dedicate so many of them to traffic enforcement in the same three sections of Mopac all day long? I assumed they enforce traffic along mopac so more of the tickets they write actually get paid and they’re less likely to get shot or run over
February 20, 20241 yr 7 hours ago, B00M said: I assumed they enforce traffic along mopac so more of the tickets they write actually get paid and they’re less likely to get shot or run over And if they got shot or run over, they’d have to shut down traffic to the entire city for the cop’s funeral.
February 20, 20241 yr 20 hours ago, bolverk said: If it's any concern to you, it might be worthwhile to see who's funding his campaign. And it's also worthwhile to point out that Garza is a piece-of-shit tapeworm who is an absolute disgrace to his office and the county he "serves". Anyone would be an upgrade. But I've absolutely no doubt that this garbage will be re-elected because of the unbridled idiocy that is our local electorate. Edited February 20, 20241 yr by Wally Pryor
February 20, 20241 yr Author On 2/16/2024 at 4:00 PM, crash_davis said: Tried to go work out. Gym was closed. Two dudes were arguing over a machine. One dude stabbed the other guy. It's closed until the cleaning crew can arrive to clean up the blood. https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/la-fitness-police-austin-texas-west-anderson-lane/269-66a8727b-d9ba-4a3a-9e9d-2c415682787c One person was arrested following a stabbing inside an LA Fitness in North Austin, according to police. The stabbing happened at around 11:30 a.m. Friday at the gym on West Anderson Lane, near Burnet Road. Police aren't sure what led up to the stabbing but said a man was taken into custody behind the building after running from the scene. He's expected to be charged with aggravated assault. The victim was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Update: I've been going to this gym for over 6 years. I don't ever recall seeing this dude, or maybe I have but never noticed. So, a 69 year old dude who was just recently paroled from prison for being stabby in Austin stabs another dude in Austin. I admire his dedication to his craft. Why isn't he at the cheap $10/month Planet Fitness down the street? I guess after being in prison, he hates poor people. https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/la-fitness-stabbing-austin-texas-may-have-started-as-dispute-over-leg-press/269-827735c9-29d2-4d58-b18b-b746a044e845 ...the victim told detectives he was waiting to use the leg press when Makinson told him to find something else to do. After Makinson finished, he walked to the locker room area, which led the victim to use the leg press. According to the affidavit, when the victim finished his workout, he and Makinson walked past each other near the locker room area when Makinson started yelling. That's when Makinson allegedly stabbed the victim in the buttocks. The victim told police Makinson then chased him through the gym while he was bleeding, stating Makinson was holding a 4- to 6-inch knife in the air. RELATED: APD: Man arrested after stabbing inside LA Fitness in North Austin The affidavit states people gathered around the victim to protect him from Makinson when he started yelling at them, "Who else wants some?" Police later found Makinson behind the gym where he allegedly told an officer, "I just got out of prison for this." Records show Makinson was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for another stabbing in Austin in 2011, before being paroled in 2021.
February 20, 20241 yr Popular Post 1 hour ago, crash_davis said: Update: I've been going to this gym for over 6 years. I don't ever recall seeing this dude, or maybe I have but never noticed. So, a 69 year old dude who was just recently paroled from prison for being stabby in Austin stabs another dude in Austin. I admire his dedication to his craft. Why isn't he at the cheap $10/month Planet Fitness down the street? I guess after being in prison, he hates poor people. https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/la-fitness-stabbing-austin-texas-may-have-started-as-dispute-over-leg-press/269-827735c9-29d2-4d58-b18b-b746a044e845 ...the victim told detectives he was waiting to use the leg press when Makinson told him to find something else to do. After Makinson finished, he walked to the locker room area, which led the victim to use the leg press. According to the affidavit, when the victim finished his workout, he and Makinson walked past each other near the locker room area when Makinson started yelling. That's when Makinson allegedly stabbed the victim in the buttocks. The victim told police Makinson then chased him through the gym while he was bleeding, stating Makinson was holding a 4- to 6-inch knife in the air. RELATED: APD: Man arrested after stabbing inside LA Fitness in North Austin The affidavit states people gathered around the victim to protect him from Makinson when he started yelling at them, "Who else wants some?" Police later found Makinson behind the gym where he allegedly told an officer, "I just got out of prison for this." Records show Makinson was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for another stabbing in Austin in 2011, before being paroled in 2021. Pete Carroll is really taking being removed as HC of the Seahawks hard man.
February 20, 20241 yr Who brings a 4-6 inch knife to the gym? And who stabs someone in the ass? THE ASS!
February 20, 20241 yr Author 9 minutes ago, Js1 said: Who brings a 4-6 inch knife to the gym? And who stabs someone in the ass? THE ASS! I'm guessing always have a knife is a lesson learned in prison. Also, if the victim is not in the mood, create is new hole to plunder.
February 20, 20241 yr 4 minutes ago, crash_davis said: I'm guessing always have a knife is a lesson learned in prison. Also, if the victim is not in the mood, create is new hole to plunder. Personally, I'd be pissed if someone stabbed me in the ass after a leg day workout. That is just cruel.
February 20, 20241 yr 12 hours ago, B00M said: I assumed they enforce traffic along mopac so more of the tickets they write actually get paid and they’re less likely to get shot or run over I get it, but my main point is that if you have limited officer coverage, and skyrocketing crime, maybe you should dedicate fewer officer to writing tickets and more of them towards assaults and thefts. But we all know why. They are more concerned about revenue than actually helping stop real crimes.
February 20, 20241 yr 23 minutes ago, Js1 said: Personally, I'd be pissed if someone stabbed me in the ass after a leg day workout. That is just cruel. Bro, why you always skipping leg day? "Dude, I was literally stabbed in the back of my thigh." Even still.
February 20, 20241 yr 37 minutes ago, Js1 said: Who brings a 4-6 inch knife to the gym? And who stabs someone in the ass? THE ASS! Guessing they are describing the overall length of the knife, not the blade? A knife with a 6” blade is some Rambo shit. My little mini-trapper is roughly 6” overall, and while it would suck to be stabbed with, would be a helluva lot better than some 6” bladed machete bullshit. Either way, dude had some adrenaline pumping while outrunning the stabby health concious dickhead
February 20, 20241 yr And nobody's gonna post the Crocodile Dundee knife meme? This place used to fucking mean something!
February 20, 20241 yr 33 minutes ago, Js1 said: Personally, I'd be pissed if someone stabbed me in the ass after a leg day workout. That is just cruel. Well, it is a good reason to skip leg day.
February 20, 20241 yr 4 minutes ago, YGIFS said: And nobody's gonna post the Crocodile Dundee knife meme? This place used to fucking mean something!
February 20, 20241 yr Popular Post LA Fitness is no picnic. The trick is - kick someone's ass the first day. Or become someone's bitch.
February 20, 20241 yr 13 hours ago, TKthunder2 said: Because 10 “right wing” west Austin Republicans give money to a guy slightly less left wing (but still a democrat) it’s a “concern”. I could not care less. Garza fucking sucks and has not done his job. He needs to go. End of story. In any rational political environment the opposition candidate should be able to sweep the floor with him based on his ACTUAL performance, but knowing how stupid and tribal our populace is, they know that there is no way that will happen if they have an R next to their name in this city. So people who actually want the city to get better, donate to the to a more moderate opposition party candidate, and in turn that is used by the extremes as evidence to continue to support the failed incumbent.
February 20, 20241 yr 2 hours ago, fattyflattie said: Guessing they are describing the overall length of the knife, not the blade? A knife with a 6” blade is some Rambo shit. My little mini-trapper is roughly 6” overall, and while it would suck to be stabbed with, would be a helluva lot better than some 6” bladed machete bullshit. Either way, dude had some adrenaline pumping while outrunning the stabby health concious dickhead I’m prepared for any kind of fuckery from the crazies….
February 20, 20241 yr 1 minute ago, Armybrat said: I’m prepared for any kind of fuckery from the crazies…. Keep that tucked in your garter?
February 20, 20241 yr https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/alex-okafor-pflugerville-school-board/269-99a82c6b-6aee-4124-822c-979f6c1c6f88 Alex Okafor, a former 🤘🏼Texas Football 🤘🏼and NFL star, has filed to run for the Place 1 seat of the Pflugerville ISD school board. The seat, currently held by David Aguirre, is up for election, as is Place 2, currently held by Tony Hanson. ———- Hook’em and good for him.
February 21, 20241 yr He obviously wanted to find an excuse to get back to the penn. can’t function on the outside like Brooks from Shawshank.
February 21, 20241 yr Just a reminder for your Austin folks that early voting for the primaries is currently open. If there were a certain DA position you thought could be doing a better job with another occupant.
February 21, 20241 yr On 2/19/2024 at 12:00 PM, bolverk said: If it's any concern to you, it might be worthwhile to see who's funding his campaign. Dude, Soros funded his first go round. Soros has no ties to Austin, it's just a goon throwing around money to get his way. At least the local people donating are donating to affect their LOCAL municipalities. This EXACT mindset is what's going to screw Travis County over for years to come. We'll support someone who's backed by some National Level PAC over a local moderate who's ACTUALLY qualified but has some moderates donating to his or her cause. Then again, Austin masses are freaking idiots and refuse to vote on anything other than a letter after their name or what the Statesman endorses.
February 21, 20241 yr I wish one of you lawyer types always squawking on here would run for shit in Austin.
February 21, 20241 yr Author Just now, Nicole44 said: I wish one of you lawyer types always squawking on here would run for shit in Austin. We already hate every single one of them, are you encouraging us to hate them more?
February 21, 20241 yr Just now, Nicole44 said: I wish one of you lawyer types always squawking on here would run for shit in Austin. Why would we? To win public office, you have to appeal to idiots. The only idiots I like to appeal to are the denizens of this board. That's enough idiot-pandering for me. Also, he went to Oklahoma freakshow and I am the idoit, so there's that.
February 21, 20241 yr 8 minutes ago, Brisketexan said: Why would we? To win public office, you have to appeal to idiots. The only idiots I like to appeal to are the denizens of this board. That's enough idiot-pandering for me. Also, he went to Oklahoma freakshow and I am the idoit, so there's that. That's a lot of words to say you have an anti-stabbing/machete stance. We are pro machete in this town, sir. Edited February 21, 20241 yr by FirstTimeCaller
February 21, 20241 yr 10 minutes ago, Brisketexan said: Why would we? To win public office, you have to appeal to idiots. The only idiots I like to appeal to are the denizens of this board. That's enough idiot-pandering for me. Also, he went to Oklahoma freakshow and I am the idoit, so there's that. But don’t you think that makes you uniquely qualified to run? If you can be the King of the Dipshits of this palace of degenerates, you can convince and influence the entire flock man. Think!
February 21, 20241 yr 13 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said: That's a lot of words to say you have an anti-stabbing/machete stance. We are pro machete in this town, sir. That is untrue. I am quite pro-Machete. He's awesome.
February 21, 20241 yr Author 11 minutes ago, Deej said: I thought the ass stabbings happened in the men's locker room? ...so that's what the kids are calling it now.
February 21, 20241 yr Hasn’t read about this case/followed it. But I guess it’s making the rounds on local news 24 years later. Maybe he walked into the lake? I doubt it from the details of the disappearance and possible person of interest. Or maybe he’s in hiding in another country? Anyway, I was in school then and always following true crime so don’t know why I don’t remember hearing about the below disappearance. Paresh Patel owned several bars around 6th in the late 90’s early 2000. https://www.kvue.com/article/news/crime/6th-street-paresh-patel-dissapearance-missing-persons/269-988d4466-df7a-4d33-a4f0-d72ff90bfa16 It was September of 2000. Patel, a 36 year-old club owner and entrepreneur, was in charge of some of the hottest nightlife spots in Downtown Austin. "He was a a well known, established figure in the downtown entertainment district," Wood said. "He owned multiple bars." One of those bars was called Metro. On Monday, Sept. 25, Patel swung by the club. "That was standard practice for him. He would pick up the weekends, take of the money," Wood said. Carrying a large amount of cash, Patel then made his way toward Azucar, a Latin dance club he also owned, located on Lavaca Street. Soon after that, he was never seen again. Edited February 21, 20241 yr by Nicole44
February 21, 20241 yr 42 minutes ago, Nicole44 said: Hasn’t read about this case/followed it. But I guess it’s making the rounds on local news 24 years later. Maybe he walked into the lake? I doubt it from the details of the disappearance and possible person of interest. Or maybe he’s in hiding in another country? Anyway, I was in school then and always following true crime so don’t know why I don’t remember hearing about the below disappearance. Paresh Patel owned several bars around 6th in the late 90’s early 2000. https://www.kvue.com/article/news/crime/6th-street-paresh-patel-dissapearance-missing-persons/269-988d4466-df7a-4d33-a4f0-d72ff90bfa16 It was September of 2000. Patel, a 36 year-old club owner and entrepreneur, was in charge of some of the hottest nightlife spots in Downtown Austin. "He was a a well known, established figure in the downtown entertainment district," Wood said. "He owned multiple bars." One of those bars was called Metro. On Monday, Sept. 25, Patel swung by the club. "That was standard practice for him. He would pick up the weekends, take of the money," Wood said. Carrying a large amount of cash, Patel then made his way toward Azucar, a Latin dance club he also owned, located on Lavaca Street. Soon after that, he was never seen again. sounds to me like he got hoffa'd.
February 21, 20241 yr Man... this is a mystery... Carrying a large amount of cash, Patel then made his way toward Azucar, a Latin dance club he also owned, located on Lavaca Street. Soon after that, he was never seen again. Followed by... "We haven't narrowed down the exact motive for his disappearance, so that leaves a lot of options on the table," Austin Police Department (APD) Det. Christophe Wood said. I just don't know. What could the motive be. Hmmm. I'm stumped.
February 21, 20241 yr 33 minutes ago, MAUFRAIS said: We used to joke about the Lebanese Mafia. It was never a joke, they're the original criminals in Austin and they're still around.
February 21, 20241 yr Austin Biz Journal article today that Waterloo Records is expected to lose their location at the end of their current lease term (per the article, 3 years appx from now). Endeavor is planning on re-developing that site (although article mentions that they might be able to lease space in the new project, that never happens in my experience). When I first moved to town they were just across Town Lake on South Lamar. @YGIFS you know anything about this travesty?
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