Crime & Safety
Police Want More Staff As Austin City Limits Festival Grows
As music festival attendance increases, Austin police are asking for more help.
As the city heads into it second weekend of hosting the Austin City Limits Music Festival, the Austin Police Department (ADP) is getting ready for yet another record crowd. About 450,000 people attend ACL each year. With large numbers comes bigger security demands, and the ADP is asking for a larger police staff to accommodate the Austin crowds.
“Those events are just becoming a huge burden for the department, and those events take a large portion of the APD overtime budget,” said President of Austin Police Association Ken Casaday in a statement to KXAN.
Casaday is asking for 30 to 40 more officers to be stationed in downtown during big events like ACL and SXSW.
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Recently, the city council approved a budget for 50 new department-wide officers and staff. Cassidy is asking for 30 to 40 more officers in addition to this initiative to be stationed in downtown during big events like ACL and SXSW.
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