Austin by God Texas is woke. It is my hometown and by osmosis, I am woke as a joke.

Recently, the Austin Police Department — under the pressure of a lack of support and a lack of funding via “defund the police” sentiment emanating from the City Council — announced they would not respond to burglaries via 9-1-1 calls. A burglary is now a “non-emergency” even if an alarm goes off and will be investigated when the APD gets around to it.

Hmmm, that sounded bad from the beginning.

So, what happened, Big Red Car?

What happened, dear reader, was the burglary of La Barbecue in East Austin, a chapel of barbecue (not quite a cathedral, but certainly a chapel). This was the third time in three months.

La Barbecue was not alone. Recent restaurant burglaries include: Chez Zee Bistro, food truck R & B’s Steak and Fries, five other food trucks in the same food court as R & B’s, and El Dorado restaurant.

It is a bloody epidemic of crime! [Look up the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic.]

The Broken Windows Theory of Policing

There is a theory in criminal justice called The Broken Windows Theory that posits that visible signs of crime, anti-social behavior, and civil disorder in an urban environment encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes.

This theory understandably extends to utterances of City Councils and police departments as to how they will deal with crime.

The Broken Windows Theory is alive and well in the People’s Republic of Austin.

Bottom line it, Big Red Car

This all happened because the City Council defunded the APD, because the City Council disrespected the APD and law enforcement, because the APD reacted by making burglary a “non-emergency” crime, and now any Tom, Dick, or Harriet can have a side hustle of boosting restaurants.

But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.