Governor Orders Bolstered Troops Around UT-Austin Amid Robberies

AUSTIN, TX — Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday dispatched bolstered patrols around the University of Texas at Austin campus in response to a recent spike in robberies, he announced Friday.

To that end, Abbott directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to ramp up its patrols, specifically in the West Campus area. As a result, patrols and the number of troopers in the area will be increased, Abbott said in an advisory.

"The recent string of robberies in West Campus, including a violent home invasion, are unacceptable and the State of Texas will not tolerate violent crime in our communities," Abbott said in a prepared statement. "These extra patrols provided by DPS will help keep students safe and deter criminals from preying upon innocent people. Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our communities, and the state will continue to provide resources to put an end to these attacks and robberies."

On Twitter, Abbott acknowledged his decision was largely prompted by a previous city council decision to take $150 million from the police budget in the body's move toward law enforcement reform. City officials have countered the budget cut does not impact patrol functions, instead representing a transfer of certain functions — dealing with the homeless or the mentally ill, to cite a pair of examples — away from law enforcement to groups specializing in those population segments.

Abbott, however, sees the move as nothing short of a defunding of the police department, an inference he made on Twitter following his move dispatching troopers to the UT-Austin area: "We won't allow the Austin City Council's refusal to support law enforcement to endanger the university community," Abbott wrote.