The city of Austin has agreed to pay a New York City-based consultant up to $1.3 million to investigate racism and bigotry in the Austin Police Department, including looking into materials used to train new officers and reviewing instances where police injured or killed someone. The contract took nearly a year to put in place. […]
Austin Police Department
the law enforcement entity for the City of Austin.
Posted inCourts
Another protester files suit over APD’s use of ‘less-lethal’ rounds. That’s the second this week.
The Austin Police Department is facing yet another lawsuit over its use of less-lethal rounds during protests this summer. A complaint filed on behalf of Steven Arawn accuses an unidentified officer of excessive force for using a so-called beanbag round against him, striking him in the hand and seriously injuring him on May 30. Arawn, […]
Posted inCourts
City faces another lawsuit over police using ‘less lethal’ round during protests
A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday argues an Austin police officer used excessive force when he shot a protester with a “less lethal” round in May, irreparably damaging the man’s eyesight. The suit is the latest against the city over the police department’s use of these rounds during largely peaceful demonstrations against police violence earlier this […]
Posted inPolice
Community Police Review Commission convenes
Austin’s new Community Police Review Commission kicked off its inaugural meeting the first week of October, setting guidelines for its activities and discussing how it can help city officials develop more transparent and effective public safety processes. The commission, which will advise and evaluate the city’s Office of Police Oversight, is the latest version of the […]
Posted inPolice
Anticipating election protests, Council members ask Austin police how they plan to avoid injuries
Four City Council members sent a letter Thursday to the chief of police asking him to explain how he plans to keep protesters safe during anticipated demonstrations following the results of the presidential election next week. “As we’re sure you agree, what happened at previous Austin protests this year represented a failure to keep people […]
Posted inAustin
New collective continues the fight to dismantle systemic racism
Mayor Steve Adler and a coalition of community activists launched a new nonprofit organization earlier this month, creating an entity to succeed the Mayor’s Task Force on Institutional Racism and Systemic Inequities and bring many of its 278 recommendations to fruition. Kazique Prince, who was a project manager for the task force, will serve as […]
Posted inPolice
Austin protester sues officer for shooting him in the face with ‘less-lethal’ round
An Austinite who was shot by a police officer with a so-called less-lethal shotgun round during a protest this summer is suing the officer and the Austin Police Department in federal court. A federal civil rights lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf of Anthony Evans alleges the unidentified officer used excessive force when he shot Evans […]
Posted inPolice
Mike Ramos’ mother asks Austin police chief whether he’ll fire officer who killed her son
The mother of Mike Ramos, a Black and Latino man who was shot and killed by an Austin police officer in April, is calling on the department to act on investigations into the officer. At a press conference Wednesday, Brenda Ramos asked Chief Brian Manley to respond to the findings of the investigations into Officer […]
Posted inPolice
Austin’s DNA lab has had issues for years. A new report outlines how it could be run in the future.
Poor supervision and untrained staff have long plagued the Austin Police Department’s DNA crime lab, forcing it to close briefly in 2016 and then be overseen by the state. So, what will a future lab look like? Consultants hired by the city of Austin in 2017 attempted to answer this question in a long-awaited report […]
Posted inPolice
Assistant chief talks APD headquarters
The movement for racial justice combined with the Covid-19 pandemic may be reshaping the future of the Austin Police Department and the use of the department’s headquarters at 715 E. Eighth St. While the conversation about reimagining the headquarters grew out of City Council’s work to reform the department budget, Chief of Staff Troy Gay […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Public Safety Committee examines the use of police time, asks for more data
As the city of Austin looks into redefining the duties of its police department, staffers are reaching out to community members to hear feedback about what the next iteration of the Austin Police Department could look like. Simultaneously, city staff are working to clean up 911 call center data to better understand how the police use […]
Posted inPolice
Public Safety Commission considers a new vision for APD headquarters
A conversation on the future of the Austin Police Department headquarters is following on the heels of City Council’s reformulation of Austin’s police budget last month. On Sept. 9, the Public Safety Commission articulated a new vision for the current headquarters on Eighth Street and Interstate 35. “APD headquarters would be moved somewhere else and […]