On Monday, the Public Safety Commission addressed a situation that has crime scene fingerprints in Austin waiting years to be analyzed. According to Ed Harris Jr., chief of support services at the city’s forensics lab, the city has 1,693 latent assignments pending. Harris said that, with the addition of three senior examiners, the latent fingerprint […]
Public Safety Commission
The Public Safety Commission is a City Council advisory body charged with oversight of budgetary and policy matters concerning public safety These include matters related to the Austin Police Department, the Austin Fire Department, and the Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services Department.”
Posted inAustin, EMS, Public Safety, Travis County
Suicides highlight rift between EMS staff, managers
A second suicide by an Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services first responder within the past seven months has heightened visible tensions between the department’s leadership and its employees. And while multiple EMS first responders took to Facebook earlier this month to blast the departmental leadership following the suicide of a medic, Austin-Travis County EMS Association […]
Posted inAustin, Public Safety, Transportation
City considers big tow change
If approved later this month, the Austin Police Department will have a new way to manage some of the 30,000-odd tows it handles every year. Detective Robert Loosier presented the plan for a new managed towing program to the Public Safety Commission last week. The program, which will handle the tows needed as a result […]
Posted inPolice, Public Safety
Austin Police studying body cameras for officers
The Austin Police Department has plans for its officers to eventually wear body cameras, though Police Chief Art Acevedo says the technology isn’t up to speed yet. “We’re confident that within the next 12 months, the industry will rise to the challenge and we’ll have a system that will be seamless in terms of its […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Public Safety panel punts on Special Events regs
A vote, or more specifically, a non-vote, by the Public Safety Commission on the proposed Special Events Ordinance proved anticlimactic Monday night. Rather than vote on the proposed ordinance as a whole, commissioners voted only to approve a definition change for one section of the ordinance. The definition change approved by commissioners sought to clarify […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Commission studies hidden costs of SXSW
One day after the news that the 2014 South by Southwest Music, Film and Interactive Festival generated $315 million for the city, Public Safety Commissioners heard about the financial and staffing impacts that special events place on City of Austin departments. Specifically, a report presented to commissioners stated that city departments spent $4.265 million in […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Public Safety Commission endorses distracted driving ordinance
Public Safety Commissioners got a preview Monday of recommendations to expand the city’s ban on texting while driving. The recommendations from the Distracted Driving Working Group – formed by City Council in January via a resolution – propose banning the hands-on use of cell phones while operating a vehicle or bicycle. The proposed ban would […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Public Safety
City set to participate in early fire detection system
The severe drought gripping Central Texas brings a high degree of risk for wildfires, and that is a major concern for local fire officials, who do not want a repeat of the massive blazes that devastated areas like Bastrop and Spicewood in recent years. The Austin City Council could take a major step today […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Public Safety Commissioner criticizes APD’s sting operations
A member of the city’s Public Safety Commission is criticizing the Austin Police Department’s tactics in two recent sting operations in the downtown area. Commissioner Kent Anschutz last week accused police of clogging the jails and courts with people accused of petty drug crimes snared by undercover officers instead of pursuing violent felonies. Anschutz’s […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Public Safety Commissioners voice concerns over SXSW security
In their first meeting since the South by Southwest drunken driving tragedy that killed four people, Public Safety Commissioners voiced their concerns Monday that aspects of the festival are growing out of control. Commission Chair Kim Rossmo said the festival’s growth and transition into more of a party atmosphere creates issues for the city’s […]
Posted inEnvironment, Public Safety, Resources
Struggle coming over which agency should lead on prescribed burns
After hearing that wildfire prevention efforts led to the prescribed burn of approximately 200 acres in 2013, several Public Safety Commissioners said this week that they worried that any burn not led by the Austin Fire Department poses a safety risk. AFD implements prescribed burns, which reduces the risk of serious wildfires, with partners […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Public Safety panel backs expanding city’s texting-while-driving ban
After hearing the city’s chief prosecutor say that drivers on their cell phones are 23 times more likely to be in a wreck than a driver who isn’t distracted, the Public Safety Commission approved a resolution Monday asking City Council to form a task force to consider expanding the city’s texting-while-driving ban. Chief prosecutor […]