The Travis County District Attorney’s Office and Austin’s Office of Police Oversight are investigating an officer-involved shooting that took place Friday night in Southeast Austin. Local organizations have deemed the shooting, which resulted in the death of a 42-year-old man, unjustified, and members of the community protested the incident on Saturday. After receiving a 911 […]
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Posted inPolice
Investigator largely unable to corroborate claims of bigotry against high-ranking Austin police
An outside investigator hired by the city of Austin to look into allegations of racism and homophobia against two assistant police chiefs has largely been unable to corroborate the accusations. “At this investigation’s conclusion, we can say we have a gathered a great deal of information and have a significantly increased knowledge about the culture […]
Posted inPublic Safety
No hiring freeze for public safety employees
While most city departments are exploring how to do more with fewer employees in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Austin’s public safety departments are currently on track to continue hiring as previously budgeted. Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Captain Christa Stedman told the Austin Monitor on Thursday the department has filled 529 sworn positions, with […]
Posted inPolice
APD’s curtailed operations could impact equity
Last week, the Austin Police Department announced changes to its daily operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While there will be no change to the department’s response to critical calls where life and safety are jeopardized, smaller offenses and administrative tasks have taken a back seat. APD will no longer respond to low-priority calls […]
Posted inBudget
Public safety departments present preliminary budget requests
Budget season at the city has already begun for the 2021 fiscal year. In preparation for its deep dive into budget requests from the public safety departments, the Public Safety Commission listened to preliminary budget forecasts at its March 2 meeting. Even with the looming budget caps imposed by the state Legislature, which limit the […]
Posted inPolice
Austin Police Department sees increase in violent crime
While the Austin Police Department is still finalizing crime numbers for 2019, the end of the last decade and the beginning of this one saw an uptick in violent crime, according to APD Chief of Staff Troy Gay. Gay told the Public Safety Commission at its March 2 meeting, “At the end of the year […]
Posted inEMS
Austin 911 operators effectively field calls, but audit finds gaps in dispatching overall
Operators field roughly a million calls for emergency services in Austin a year. A new city report says those operators do a serviceable job of answering that glut of calls, but found a disconnect between those calls and the delivery of crucial services. There are a lot of reasons for that, according to the Office […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Seeking increased safety, Downtown Commission asks city to fully staff APD
The Downtown Commission has asked City Council to increase staffing levels for the Austin Police Department in the next budget year, while adding more public video cameras and lighting to busy pedestrian areas. The unanimously approved resolution came at last week’s commission meeting amidst debate over the state of public safety in downtown Austin. Much […]
Posted inPolice
Cronk promises new body cam video policy soon
What started out as a routine approval of an amendment for a large contract for police body cameras and Tasers turned into a discussion about the city’s new policy on releasing body cam footage at Thursday’s Council meeting. With the exception of Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza, Council members voted unanimously to approve the contract […]
Posted inPolice
Community reacts to APD racial profiling study at Public Safety Commission
Last week, a report from the city’s Office of Police Oversight, Office of Innovation, and Equity Office showed that black and Hispanic drivers are more likely to be stopped in their vehicles by Austin police than white and Asian drivers. Following the release of the report, the Public Safety Commission heard from the community and […]
Posted inPolice
Black and Hispanic drivers are increasingly more likely to be stopped by Austin police
While the black population in Austin hovers around 8 percent, black people made up roughly 15 percent of drivers pulled over by police and 25 percent of people subsequently arrested in 2018 – a disparity that has worsened since 2015. At the same time, white and Asian people were underrepresented in motor vehicle stops and […]
Posted inPolice
Got guns or ammo you don’t want anymore? Austin police will take them, ‘No questions asked’
Residents with unwanted firearms and ammunition can turn them over to the Austin Police Department on Tuesday at the first of a series of no-questions-asked gun surrender programs. The point of the program is to prevent weapons from ending up in the wrong hands, Police Chief Brian Manley said – not to identify people turning […]