The Austin Police Department is hosting community input sessions this month as part of its process of developing a new strategic plan. That plan is intended to serve as the department’s road map for the future and provide direction and priorities for the next five years. The first two meetings have already taken place. The […]
Austin Police Association
The organization that represents Austin Police officers.
Posted inElections
May 2023 Austin election ballot propositions: Voter resource
Austin voters will soon decide the fates of two warring police oversight propositions on the May 6 ballot. The election arrives after more than a year of police labor contract negotiations with the Austin Police Association, which City Council scuttled, citing disapproval of former City Manager Spencer Cronk’s handling of the process and a desire […]
Posted inPolice
City announces police pay package ahead of police labor contract expiration
The city of Austin announced a plan to preserve police pay and benefits and to address long-standing staffing shortages when the current police labor contract expires at the end of this month with no likely successor in place. “We are delivering on our promises, and just one week after a Council directive, the interim city […]
Posted inPolice
Council adopts ordinance to preserve police benefits
City Council voted unanimously Thursday to approve an ordinance that preserves the pay and benefits Austin police officers currently receive and directs interim City Manager Jesús Garza to come up with incentives for new recruits to the department. Council also directed Garza to develop and implement a program to address the shortage of APD officers by March […]
Posted inPolice
Mayor seeks to add sweeteners to ordinance for cops
At Tuesday’s City Council work session, Mayor Kirk Watson added some details to the police pay and benefits ordinance that will be on this Thursday’s agenda. Council Member Ryan Alter authored the proposal in line with ideas Watson outlined on the City Council Message Board last week. Under that proposal, officers would not only continue […]
Posted inPolice
Ordinance would extend officer benefits if police labor contract expires
City Council will consider an ordinance Thursday that would preserve the current police labor contract’s provisions for officer pay and benefits, even if the contract expires without a successor in place, after the Austin Police Association said it wouldn’t negotiate a one-year labor contract extension with the city. “(L)et me be clear – this is […]
Posted inPolice
Council directs negotiators to bring back one-year police contract
City Council voted 9-2 on Wednesday to instruct staff and outside counsel to negotiate a one-year extension of the current contract between the city and the Austin Police Association without taking an explicit position on a four-year deal announced last week by outgoing City Manager Spencer Cronk. Council members Alison Alter and Mackenzie Kelly voted […]
Posted inPolice
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 election with two competing ballot measures related to police oversight, Austin City Council is weighing […]
Posted inPolice
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 4 Council Member Chito Vela proposed a resolution directing the city manager to negotiate the […]
Posted inPolice
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. Lowell Denton, an outside attorney for the city, acknowledged the union’s movement toward meeting the […]
Posted inPolice
City, police union resume labor contract negotiations
The city of Austin and the Austin Police Association returned to the bargaining table Wednesday after a brief hiatus stemming from an impasse on oversight provisions. The city initiated the pause early this month after the police union said it wouldn’t consider removing the Office of Police Oversight from the contract, raising questions about whether […]
Posted inPolice
Community advocates urge city, police union to return to negotiating table
Community advocates on both sides of the police contract negotiations say the city of Austin and the police union should return to the bargaining table. But their motivations and their priorities for a new contract are diametrically opposed. Last week, the city halted bargaining with the Austin Police Association, citing the union’s refusal to consider removing […]