The Austin Police Department could begin issuing citations this Sunday, July 11, for camping, panhandling and resting in the public right of way in downtown, West Campus and part of East Austin – areas where such activities were allowed before Proposition B passed in May – Lt. Lawrence Davis told the Public Safety Commission yesterday. […]
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 inPolice
New police chief expected to be named by late summer
More than three dozen people have applied to become Austin’s next police chief, a role that comes with a number of challenges critical to the success of the city and its process to reimagine public safety. Recruitment for the position will continue until the position is filled. As of mid-afternoon, about 36 applicants had filed […]
Posted inBudget
Public Safety Commission recommends budget requests – with one exception
The Public Safety Commission “wholeheartedly” recommended City Council adopt all budget items requested by Austin’s police, fire and EMS departments for Fiscal Year 2022 – with the exception of money for a new police helicopter. The budgets await review by City Manager Spencer Cronk and approval from Council in August. APD forecasts a $302.7 million […]
Posted inPolice
Racial inequity at APD front and center at Public Safety Commission
Public Safety commissioners took a closer look at racial issues in the Austin Police Department, diving into a recent report on the subject at their Monday meeting. A survey of over 1,000 APD officers and staff about their attitudes toward race and racism found “significant differences” in responses from white, Black and Hispanic respondents. The […]
Posted inEMS
Committee reviews EMS response times
Jasper Brown, chief of staff for Travis County Emergency Medical Services, spoke before the Public Safety Commission on Jan. 4 to report the quarterly incident response times for the county. The goal response time for all priority-one calls – a category that includes cardiac arrests, patients who are no longer breathing and a variety of […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Commission moves to bring transgender voices to public safety table
A discussion on providing support to victims of anti-transgender violence quickly gravitated toward the work of the city’s “reimagining public safety” initiative at this week’s meeting of the Public Safety Commission. In line with repeated requests from local LGBTQ community leaders, the commission passed a unanimous recommendation to City Council to place a transgender or […]
Posted inPolice
Police department sees trend in violent crime uptick
Breaking from typical practice, the Austin Police Department presented the Public Safety Commission with a monthly crime report for the month of October as part of its routine quarterly update on Monday afternoon. While department representatives said the crime report was not meant to serve as a commentary on the ongoing effort called “reimagining public […]
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 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 […]
Posted inCity Hall
Public Safety Commission considers how to restructure its partnership with Council
The Public Safety Commission is working with City Council Member Jimmy Flannigan to offload some of its oversight duties in favor of becoming more of an advisory body. “We are particularly ill-suited for oversight,” Commissioner Rebecca Webber said at the commission’s Aug. 3 meeting. Webber sent a letter to Council members Greg Casar and Jimmy […]
Posted inPublic Safety
SAFE Alliance reports escalating domestic violence is ‘another public health pandemic’
Between April and June, the SAFE Alliance recorded a 25 percent increase in calls to its 24/7 SAFEline compared to the same time period in 2019. This spike in calls coincides with a reduction in visits from survivors of sexual assault to the nonprofit’s Eloise House for post-trauma care. The SAFE Alliance hotline is a secure and […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Public Safety Commission gives EMS a boost, criticizes APD
On Monday the city’s Public Safety Commission unanimously recommended an additional $2.3 million for Austin-Travis County EMS to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, while rejecting almost every request from the police department for additional funding. The commission also voted to recommend $3.8 million for overtime at the Austin Fire Department, $818,000 for an additional cadet […]