Advocates say President Donald Trump’s immediate actions on immigration have created a climate of fear among immigrant communities in Austin. On his first day in office, Trump signed more than 200 executive orders, many related to immigration, and issued a policy allowing authorities to enter churches and schools to detain undocumented people. Danny Moreno and his colleagues […]
Andrew Weber, KUT
Posted inPolice
Austin City Council passes new police contract
Austin City Council approved a five-year, $218 million contract with the city’s police union Thursday. The deal passed on a 10-1 vote. The approval came after hours of impassioned testimony from scores of Austinites. Supporters argued the contract is necessary to stem years of attrition at the police department and address crime throughout the city. […]
Posted inElections
Where do Austin’s mayoral candidates stand on public safety issues?
Austin has seen meteoric growth over the past decade and a half, and its police department has found itself rethinking its priorities to address public safety amid the influx of newcomers. So, we asked the five candidates for Austin mayor where they stand on the following issues and how they would broadly address public safety […]
Posted inPolice
Austin’s previously secret ‘G-files’ on police misconduct are now public. Here’s what that means.
More than a year after Austin voters OK’d a measure to make them public, the so-called “G-files” of police officers accused of misconduct are now available to the public. Disclosure of these disciplinary files was a sticking point in discussions around the voter-approved Austin Police Oversight Act and the city’s tentative labor agreement with the […]
Posted inPolice
Austin’s police union, city agree to a $218 million, five-year labor contract
Austin’s police union and the city agreed in principle Monday to a five-year labor contract. The $218 million deal, which comes after years of occasionally contentious negotiations, would give police officers a 28 percent raise over the next five years. The complete details have not yet been made available to the public. City Council is […]
Posted inPolice
Why doesn’t the Austin Police Department publish yearly reports on the crimes it solves?
People have opinions on policing, but there’s one unifying constant in discussions around the practice: Crimes are bad, and they should be solved. To measure that efficacy, departments across the country use clearance rates, an imperfect metric but one that is crucial in determining a department’s impact. But, for years, the Austin Police Department hasn’t […]
Posted inCourts
State court rules Austin must release files on police complaints. Here’s what that means.
Austin police must release records of officer complaints previously kept in house to the police oversight office, a state district judge has ruled. The personnel files – known colloquially as “g-files” – were a cornerstone of the Austin Police Oversight Act, which passed last year. Under the act, records of any complaint – even if no […]
Posted inAustin
Animal advocates re-up calls for the closure of the Austin Aquarium
Animal rights advocates are calling for the Austin Aquarium to shut down. The new push comes after a high-level resignation at the aquarium’s parent company – and years of controversy surrounding the strip mall-based aquarium. In late 2013, the Austin Aquarium opened in North Austin. The founder, Ammon Covino, pleaded guilty to animal trafficking charges that […]
Posted inPolice
Lisa Davis confirmed as the next head of the Austin Police Department
Lisa Davis is the new head of the Austin Police Department. City Council approved the nomination of the nearly 32-year law enforcement veteran, who comes to Austin from Cincinnati, to take the helm at APD. Davis’ approval comes after a monthslong, national search. Davis worked her way up in her hometown police department over her […]
Posted inPolice
Travis County grand jury decides against charging Christopher Taylor with murder again
Austin police officer Christopher Taylor will no longer face prosecution for the fatal shooting of Mike Ramos in 2020. The shooting was a month before the murder of George Floyd, and Ramos’ name was invoked in racial justice protests in the summer of 2020. Taylor was indicted by Travis County District Attorney José Garza in […]
Posted inEnvironment
A ‘heat dome’ is back over Texas. Here’s what that means (and why it’s the worst).
Last year was a lot. It was the second-hottest summer in Texas. Much of that heat is because, well, Texas is hot as all get-out. Not just some get-out. It’s hot as all get-out. But last year, we thought, was novel: a pressure system, formally known as a heat ridge, crept up from the South and parked a mass […]
Posted inPolice
Austin police knew ‘less-lethal’ rounds could seriously injure people. They used them anyway.
Austin police officers shot scores of racial justice protesters in May 2020 with lead-pellet bags used to control crowds. Dozens of people were seriously injured by the so-called “less lethal” ammunition. The city has paid out more than $20 million in civil lawsuits over the use of these rounds, and the Austin Police Department vowed […]