Austin police to stop responding to non-emergency calls amid ‘dire’ staffing crisis

Austin police officers will stop responding to non-emergency calls next week amid severe staffing shortages in the department.

Austin residents in these situations and others like it will have to call 311 and file a non-emergency report. 

Austin Police Association President Ken Casaday told Fox News that APD has gone nearly two years without a police academy and does not have enough patrol officers to respond to non-emergency calls. 

"Probably about 95% of the time our shifts don’t meet minimum staffing … and that is the reason they’ve started cutting back on what types of calls are answered," Casaday said.