Public Notice: Thinking Outside the Litter Box
A less than purrfect solution to police staffing?
By Nick Barbaro, Fri., May 12, 2023
It happened one night this week, in an Austin neighborhood. It could have been any neighborhood; maybe it was near where you live. Police suddenly showed up with a number of cars, and with all the flashing lights in the street, neighbors had no idea what was going on. A little after midnight, one of them made this post to the neighborhood listserv:
"Hey folks,
"Anyone know why there's a million cops in front of my house on Xxxx St. right now? I can't tell what's up …" – again, it could have been any neighborhood at any time, but what came next provided the surprise – "at one point my Ring picked up multiple guys in front of my house and 8 police cats."
Now, that made people sit up and take notice. Police cats? What sort of investigation was afoot that police cats could be helpful in? Does the Austin Police Department even have such a unit, or could this be a new partnership, akin to the city's deal with the state to bring in the Texas Rangers? Intrigued, I started to look into the matter, and have hit pretty much a brick wall.
I've gotten neither confirmation nor denial of such a unit from APD, and there's been no public announcement or indication. The APD website has a section about the APD K-9 Unit, which has its own vehicles and a current roster of 10 trained dogs, but there's no mention of a Feline Unit. A quick online search showed that a number of law enforcement agencies around the country appear to have such units, but on closer investigation, it turned out that most of these were actually April Fools' jokes. (Another was rather disturbing, and one went to a Japanese porn site.) So at press time, I don't really have anything more on the matter, but will let you know if I find out more.
The O. Henry Museum Pun-Off World Championships are back to their traditional springtime date, the day before Mother's Day – hence this year's theme, "Spring for Words!" Things kick off Friday evening with the P.U.N.Y. Social (Punsters United Nearly Yearly), 6-9pm in the Brush Square Courtyard, next to the O. Henry Museum, with games for the contestants, pun practice rounds, and the Punster of the Year Award. But the main event is on Saturday, May 13, next door at the Hilton, starting with the Punniest of Show Competition at 11:30am: 32 contestants doing 90-second pun routines for the judges; the PunSlingers Competition at 2pm, with contestants competing face-to-face, getting five seconds to come up with spontaneous puns on a topic; plus live music starting at 1:30pm, and an auction from noon to 4pm. Details at punoff.com.
The city's Development Services Department is holding two virtual general stakeholder meetings this month for the interim leadership to introduce themselves, and some updates in the department, and to take questions about city development services. This coming Tuesday, May 16, 2:30-4pm, they'll present on Site and Subdivision Plan Review and Inspections, and on the next Wednesday, May 24, 2-3:30pm is Building Plan Review and Inspections. Register at austintexas.gov/dsd.
AIA Austin presents their annual Design Awards Celebration next Wednesday, May 17, 6-9pm at the PBS Media Center, 6101 Highland Campus Dr., recognizing the winners of their annual competition, which have included some worthy projects in the past. Tickets are $30-50; see aiaaustin.org for more information.
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