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Comment by manuelabeledo | Hacker News Reader

Sounds like Austin.

City council approved an increase in taxes, and used part of it to raise the APD budget [1]. This didn't translate into a more effective force, and the perception among citizens is that police has given up on misdemeanors or infractions.

Incidentally, one of my neighbours is an officer, and his major complaints are the lack of new recruits, which is odd since that is ultimately the department responsibility, and the inability to charge people with possession of weed, since the city has effectively decriminalise it.

[1] https://www.kut.org/austin/2021-08-12/austin-passes-4-5-bill...

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Why is your neighbor complaining about not being able to charge people with possession of weed? If anything, you'd think that would make their job easier. I don't know about you, but I certainly appreciate anything that makes my job easier, all else remaining equal.

He seems to think that his inability to charge people with misdemeanors may lead to other crimes, quite a leap if you ask me.

I think it may just be a talking point in the police force.

That sounds an awful lot like the "broken windows" theory, which has multiple issues, including very mixed evidence regarding its effectiveness in preventing bigger crimes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory

Cops can't always prove a suspect has committed the crime they actually care about, and in such cases will look for other crimes the suspect has committed that might be easier to prove. The most famous example is that Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion.

Marijuana possession is both very common and easy to prove, so it works well for that purpose. If a cop happens to come across it on a "good" person, they can always look the other way.

(not endorsing this approach, just speculating as to how police may view the situation)

Yes, it's the whole "criminalize everything but protect the in-group and use the laws as a cudgel against the outgroup" approach to governing, sometimes called "rule by law".

According to body cam footage, marijuana is also very easy for police to plant on civilians.

Denver, too. DPD budget is higher than ever before, and they can't be bothered to respond to calls like:

- non-lethal car accidents - disturbances of the peace - illegal drug selling/use in public spaces - car thefts - break-ins

Let alone deal with predatory towing, which has really taken off in town, too. With crime skyrocketing and housing costs higher than they've ever been, I really don't understand why anyone would want to live here any more.

I posit that many people are not bothered by what you described because it "feels like home" to them.

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