It sounds like a net reduction of ~15% to fund other programs that may wind up being preventative in nature. It sounds like half the cut is actually going to set up a separate 'non-police' department to do 'non-police' work. I have no idea whether this would require cutting into muscle in Austin, or if there is plenty of fat to trim (and activities to stop engaging in that don't drive public safety).

So what does this translate to in terms of total officer hours logged or a reduction in response rate, if anything? I wouldn't expect Fox News to even attempt to get to any level of depth, that doesn't make for good scare journalism. Austin also has a very low crime rate for a city its size and is riding a wave of prosperity (probably subsidizing a bunch of hick towns across the state). We should all be looking at this with interest, the way we were all looking at Kemp's decision to open Georgia after a month of stay-at-home. Hopefully we will learn something out of the experiment (like we did Kemp's).

If we see crime continue to spike in these places that are reallocating funds, I would expect to see things snap right back to where they have been. Most big cities are safer now than they have been for decades (even Chicago). It is what people expect now. Honestly, I think some of these places will face more significant challenges in the aftermath of covid (like people with money moving out). I'm game for some experimentation, but I'd also like to see reform in how we go about the business of "policing".

But that's not the conversation Fox News is interested in having- they're just trying to frighten you into thinking our economic centers are dark, frightening places.