AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Police Association released a statement Wednesday, the day after a judge sentenced Christopher Taylor to two years in prison on a deadly conduct charge, calling on officers to stop responding to mental health calls.
Taylor’s sentence stems from the 2019 police shooting of Mauris DeSilva. Police responded to 911 calls reporting DeSilva walking around his downtown condo complex with a knife to his throat. When police confronted DeSilva outside of an elevator in a common area of the complex, they told him to drop the knife, and Taylor and another officer ultimately shot and killed him.
View body camera video of the shooting here.
As of Wednesday, Taylor is no longer employed by APD. He’s out of jail on an appellate bond.
Michael Bullock, president of the Austin Police Association (APA), released a video statement following the outcome of the trial. You can watch the video in the player at the top of this story.
“In light of all of this, I believe the Austin Police Department must stop responding to mental health calls,” he said. “We have never claimed to be mental health experts, yet we are continually scrutinized for our handling of these situations. Now that we’re left with the options of being stabbed or going to prison, Travis County and the District Attorney’s Office should be the ones to incur the risk.”
NewsNation affiliate KXAN has reached out to APD and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office about these sentiments and will update this article when we receive a response.
“I am saddened by the fact that so many have been impacted by this tragic event. This is a tragedy for the Austin community and the Austin Police Department,” Chief Lisa Davis said in a statement Tuesday evening, prior to the release of the aforementioned statement from the APA.
Davis, who just assumed the role in September, did not publicly address her thoughts on Taylor’s actions that day, but said she is proud to lead this department and that APD is “continually re-evaluating its training and practices.”
