Expressing concern that they were moving too fast, City Council members voted 7-1 to delay the purchase of body cameras for the Austin Police Department for two weeks. At their meeting on June 9, Council members cited concerns with transparency when it came to who would be able to view footage from the cameras, as […]
Austin Police Department
the law enforcement entity for the City of Austin.
Posted inBudget
Chief praises assignment change for detectives
Although the president of the Austin Police Association has criticized the department’s decision to deploy detectives from their usual assignments to work patrol shifts for three weeks each on a rotating basis, Police Chief Art Acevedo told City Council during Wednesday’s budget work session that the change in assignments is a positive one. Acevedo said, […]
Posted inPolice
Committee wants more specifics from police on body cameras
Activists and members of the City Council Public Safety Committee made clear Monday that they want greater assurances from the Austin Police Department that the body cameras the department plans to implement will bring about transparency and accountability. In particular, the four committee members emphasized their hope that the department would develop a clear set […]
Posted inPolice
Council to take up APD gender identity proposal
The Public Safety Commission unanimously recommended a resolution Monday that it hopes will prompt the police department to reform its policies on how gender is reported in criminal complaints and other official reports. The resolution directs the city manager to develop a policy on how the Austin Police Department refers to transgender and gender nonconforming […]
Posted inTransportation
The tricky art of linking Uber and Lyft to DWI drop
In both sides of the tug of war over what rules should govern ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft in Austin, everyone seems to agree that having more transportation options is a potential antidote for DWIs. “We are safer in this community if we have ride-share companies operating at scale,” Mayor Steve Adler told the Austin […]
Posted inPolice
One way to protect pedestrians? APD says more ticketing power
More power over more highways. That’s part of what the Austin Police Department hopes to attain in its effort to reverse last year’s record number of fatal car accidents, which resulted in 102 deaths, and limit the number of pedestrian deaths, which totaled 30 last year. “There was a city ordinance … that had not […]
Posted inPolice
Officials reflect on safety at SXSW 2016
This year’s South by Southwest festival was one of the safest yet, say SXSW and public safety officials, thanks to overtime funding that allowed Austin Police Department officers to fill festival staffing spots internally. Overall, the number of festival-related arrests was lower than in recent years. “It went really, really well,” Brad Spies, SXSW’s special […]
Posted inPolice
500 body cameras soon to be within APD’s reach
The Austin Police Department is inching closer to acquiring at least 500 body-worn cameras, but some close to the process told the Public Safety Committee on Monday that more public input should be sought. This month, APD announced a “pilot confirmation process” with Taser International Inc., which bid on a job to procure the 500 cameras and provide […]
Posted inPolice
As APD tests out body cameras, state eyes in-house data storage
Local police agencies outfitting their officers with body cameras may have the option to store their data with the state. On Monday, Dale Richardson, chief operating officer of the Texas Department of Information Resources, told members of the House Select Committee on Emerging Issues in Texas Law Enforcement that his agency was working on opening […]
Posted inCourts
Suit against APD alleges excessive use of force, racial discrimination in jaywalking arrest
From KUT: A local law firm is suing Austin police officers involved in an incident on Sixth Street downtown early in the morning of Nov. 6, 2015. The lawsuit (embedded below) claims that officers used excessive force and singled out African-Americans in arresting people for the misdemeanor offense of jaywalking. A video of the incident […]
Posted inAustin
Grant project spurs crime drop on Sam Rayburn Drive
Antonio Mancinas, 68, leans against a tree in his front yard. He lives in a house with his wife at the end of Sam Rayburn Drive in the Rundberg neighborhood. Despite having spent roughly a quarter of a century on the street, he thinks back just a few years. “Just imagine,” Mancinas prompted in Spanish. […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Council will vote on new 911 call center backup
“Austin is growing.” By now this maxim has become the resounding, if not infuriating, anthem of the city. It affects various sectors of life in Austin, from transportation to housing to health. And, as it turns out, it also affects how the city of Austin runs its 911 call center. “If something catastrophic happened, whether […]