AUSTIN, Texas — Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk said he hopes to begin new police cadet classes in the coming months but expects the city will need another year to 18 months before it has a proper number of police officers on the street.
Policing is one of three topics Cronk addressed in an interview with KVUE following recent months of controversial public policy debates.
Cronk also said that the city continues to address homelessness with efforts to find housing for thousands of unsheltered people on Austin streets. Earlier this year, Austin residents voted to restore a ban on public camping after city council members repealed it in 2019, making the city's homeless population more visible than it had historically been.
Cronk also shared his thoughts on why affordable housing is critical to Austin's future and the ongoing difficulty the city has in filling certain critical positions.
Watch the second part of the three-part interview where Cronk talks about housing and homelessness here:
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