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- 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
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- Council approves call for better coordination, planning among downtown projects
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Police
Police reform activists call for city-funded nonprofit for police complaints
Representatives of Austin’s police union said Monday that they’re eager to begin negotiations with the new city manager on a contract that can hopefully win approval from City Council. Ron DeLord, an attorney for the Austin Police Association, told members…
Police • By Jack Craver • Feb 6, 2018
APD makes final push to get body cameras on all patrol officers
By March, all Austin patrol officers will be wearing body cameras, according to estimates by the Austin Police Department. Currently, 658 body cameras are in use; another 200 will be added. “After that, we’ll be looking to (give them to…
Police • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Jan 18, 2018
Most Austin police officers will soon have body cameras
It may not be long before every Austin police officer is wearing a body camera. Since October, the Austin Police Department has equipped officers at three of its four substations with body cameras, Assistant Police Chief Ely Reyes told the…
Police • By Jack Craver • Jan 9, 2018
Police decline further contract talks for now
The Austin Police Association on Tuesday resoundingly rejected the City Council’s request that it continue its current contract for a few months and return to the negotiating table. Groups that had urged Council to reject the new contract were apparently…
Police • By Jo Clifton • Dec 20, 2017
Advocates urge more assistance for sexual assault victims
A backlog of evidence going back to the 1990s is not the only major challenge the Austin Police Department has faced in prosecuting sex crimes and helping survivors of sexual assault heal. Advocates for survivors have also said the sex…
Police • By Jack Craver • Dec 19, 2017
By outsourcing, APD has made major progress on sex assault kit backlog
The Austin Police Department’s embarrassing backlog of sexual assault kits will hopefully soon be a thing of the past. APD told members of the Public Safety Commission Monday that there are 856 kits from the backlog left to be analyzed,…
Police • By Jack Craver • Dec 12, 2017
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Public Safety Commission endorses police union contract
Rejecting the pleas of police accountability activists, the Public Safety Commission voted Monday night to recommend the approval of the proposed new union contract between the city of Austin and the Austin Police Association. Both Police Chief Brian Manley and…
Police • By Jack Craver • Dec 5, 2017
Commission fails to endorse police contract
Citing a lack of information, the Public Safety Commission on Monday declined to endorse the union contract recently hammered out between the Austin Police Association and city labor negotiators. In addition to concerns expressed by some commissioners about shortcomings of…
Police • By Jack Craver • Nov 7, 2017
Police contract with city heads to vote
If an agreement finalized between the city and the Austin Police Association on Tuesday is adopted, the Office of the Police Monitor will have more power to investigate allegations of police misconduct and Austin police will get a 9.5 percent…
Police • By Jo Clifton • Oct 25, 2017
Police chief describes new community policing focus
The Austin Police Department is no longer recruiting new officers by promising them an action-packed thrill ride. In a presentation to City Council members on Tuesday, Interim Police Chief Brian Manley described the video that the department used as part…
Police • By Jack Craver • Oct 4, 2017
Despite Austin’s crime lab meltdown, Texas is working to clear its DNA backlog
When Wendy Davis decided to find out how many untested rape kits there were in the state of Texas, she readily admits she had no idea what she was getting into. Davis, a former state senator, was first told that…
Police • By Cate Malek • Sep 20, 2017
Austin's crime lab failure points to national crisis
The latest audit of the Austin Police Department’s crime lab would read as a comedy of errors, if the stakes weren’t so high. Some concerns in the report released last fall are simpler to fix – equipment failures or cross-contaminating…
