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Most Popular Stories
- How Trump’s federal funding freeze is beginning to affect Austin
- APD won’t enforce SB 14 as Paxton and Trump further attack gender-affirming health care
- After shutting off mental health care for Austin musicians, SIMS Foundation restarts services
- Council approves call for better coordination, planning among downtown projects
- Austin ISD announces hiring freeze as budget deficit grows to $110 million
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Public Safety
Notley/Monitor Poll: Austinites want more police officers, more accountability
More than two years after Austin City Council endeavored to “reimagine” public safety, a slight majority of residents believe there are too few police officers while a strong majority believe there is too little accountability in police-involved shootings and in…
Public Safety • By Emma Freer • Feb 13, 2023
Council delays vote on one-year police contract extension, citing confusion
After nearly a year of negotiations, with just seven weeks to go until the current police labor contract expires, with city staff and the police union working to finalize a tentative four-year agreement and in the run-up to a local…
Police • By Emma Freer • Feb 10, 2023
Fire, EMS stations lost power during ice storm
The leaders of the unions representing Austin firefighters and EMS employees both said Wednesday that many of their members had worked through the recent ice storm in stations that had lost power, depriving them of basics like warmth and light.…
Public Safety • By Jo Clifton • Feb 9, 2023
Dark traffic signals lead to havoc, hazards across Austin
As thousands awaited relief from dayslong power outages this past weekend, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians encountered hazards of another sort, as hundreds of stoplights went offline across the city. Richard Mendoza, the interim director of the city’s Transportation Department, addressed…
Public Safety • By Kali Bramble • Feb 8, 2023
CM Vela proposes one-year police labor contract extension
As the city of Austin and the Austin Police Association continue to negotiate a new, four-year labor contract, several Council members have endorsed a short-term extension of the current agreement that would allow voters a chance to weigh in. District…
Police • By Emma Freer • Feb 6, 2023
Public Safety Commission calls out APD’s resistance to training academy reform
The city’s Public Safety Commission criticized the Austin Police Department for stonewalling a committee formed by City Council in 2021 to review the police training academy curriculum as part of a broader push to “reimagine” public safety. “Just to summarize,…
Police • By Emma Freer • Jan 26, 2023
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Pflugerville FD board rejects tax rate petition
The Pflugerville Fire Department Board of Commissioners unanimously rejected an initiative petition that sought to reduce the department’s local tax revenue. “Based upon the advice of (legal) counsel and having duly considered the petition presented, we understand it is not…
Public Safety • By Emma Freer • Jan 24, 2023
City, police union move toward removing OPO from labor contract
With less than three months until the current police labor contract expires, the city of Austin and the Austin Police Association recently returned to the bargaining table and moved closer toward consensus regarding civilian oversight of the Austin Police Department. …
Police • By Emma Freer • Jan 23, 2023
Austin receives $2 million in federal funding for drug overdose prevention efforts
After a spike in the number of fatal drug overdoses last year, Austin is getting $2 million in federal funding for prevention programs, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) announced Tuesday. The money will be used to hire more peer-recovery coaches and for…
Public Health • By Haya Panjwani, KUT • Jan 18, 2023
Austin 911 is still strained by understaffing. Call takers brace for SXSW.
Austin’s 911 call center had about 200 calls on hold for hours on end New Year’s Eve and into the next morning. People waiting for emergency assistance were unable to get help. Those who hung up were bumped to the…
Public Safety • By Maya Fawaz, KUT • Jan 17, 2023
County nixes license plate surveillance cameras on public land
A minor debate flared up at Tuesday’s Travis County Commissioners Court meeting about installing Flock, a license plate surveillance system, on public lands in the county – specifically Rob Roy, a private residential neighborhood in Austin. Members of the homeowners…
Public Safety • By Seth Smalley • Jan 12, 2023
Pflugerville FD, city residents raise alarm about tax rate petition
Officials from the Pflugerville Fire Department and city residents fired back against an initiative petition they say would slash the department’s budget and force layoffs if approved by voters. “Without that revenue, we would not be able to maintain and…
