A new report by a city-appointed firm found that local medical and emergency service providers could do more to help address sharp health disparities in East and West Austin. The equity study, which was completed this summer by Public Consulting Group, examined Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services and the Austin Fire Department with an eye toward […]
Public Safety
Posted inPublic Health
Resilience hub initiative continues to evolve
Winter Storm Uri, the extreme weather event that left an unknown number of Austin residents dead last February, inspired the initiative to create resilience hubs across the city that would act as a public resource in times of crisis. The initial idea of creating two centers independent of the energy grid to pilot the initiative has […]
Posted inEMS
EMS makes progress on billing backlog
Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services is chipping away at a billing backlog that started with a demanding learning curve associated with a new patient records system implemented in 2019. Additional billing delays carried over into 2020 as city staffers started setting up workspaces at home during the pandemic, interim EMS Chief Jasper Brown told the […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Council members pose tough questions about city’s storm response
During Wednesday’s City Council Audit & Finance Committee meeting, Chair Alison Alter and fellow committee members Kathie Tovo and Mackenzie Kelly praised city staffers’ heroic efforts as Winter Storm Uri ground the city to a halt in February. But those heroic efforts were not enough and Council members had many questions after hearing the city […]
Posted inPublic Health
Council votes to protect rights of intersex children
Austin is one of the first cities in the South Central U.S. to pass a resolution formally condemning non-consensual and medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children. “There is an ‘I’ in LGBTQIA – it stands for intersex,” Mayor Pro-Tem Natasha Harper-Madison said at City Council’s Oct. 21 meeting. “Approximately 2 percent of people are born […]
Posted inEMS
Pflugerville area voters making decisions about EMS service
Travis County commissioners Jeff Travillion and Brigid Shea are urging voters they represent in Pflugerville and its extraterritorial jurisdiction to vote in favor of two propositions on today’s ballot that would expand the geographic boundaries of Travis County Emergency Services District No. 17 to include those areas. The vote comes in the midst of a […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Ingredients for safer Sixth Street include daytime activities, alternate land uses
The city hopes a plan to increase daytime non-drinking activity, promote a variety of land uses and coordinate safety plans with bar owners will lead to a safer atmosphere in the Sixth Street entertainment district. Following a recent report to City Council from Chief Joseph Chacon on Austin Police Department’s progress on improving safety in […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Emergency alerts now available in American Sign Language
For the first time, community members who are deaf, hard of hearing or blind will be able to receive accessible emergency notifications. The city of Austin and Travis County launched the Accessible Hazard Alert System, or AHAS, on Oct. 4. The new program allows users to receive emergency notifications in the form of a video with […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Council postpones decision on City Marshal Office
Last Thursday, City Council considered the creation of a new municipal court division that would replace its use of sworn Austin Police Department officers. The ordinance would create a City Marshal Office, an agency separate from the Austin Police Department, whose members would handle enforcement of Class C misdemeanor cases. City marshals would carry out […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Chacon gives progress report on making Sixth Street safer
After decades of discussion about the culture and safety of the Sixth Street entertainment district, a team of city staffers from multiple departments is making headway toward carrying out City Council-directed measures to ensure the public’s safety. Council adopted a series of distinct action items in July for the interdepartmental team to review and implement, […]
Posted inPublic Safety
County votes to decommission 48 jail beds
Travis County commissioners unanimously approved a resolution on Oct. 12 to decommission and remove 48 beds from Building 250 in the Travis County Correctional Complex in Del Valle. The building will continue to exist and be operated by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, but will no longer house pre-release inmates from a state program. The CC Baker […]
Posted inPolice
APD should follow national best practices on use of force and make guidelines clearer, watchdog says
The Austin Police Department’s policies governing when an officer can and can’t use force don’t align with Austinites’ expectations, according to a new report from the city’s independent police monitor. The Office of Police Oversight collected feedback from 1,400 Austinites on APD’s use-of-force policies and examined how these polices stack up against national standards. The report will […]