Budget recommendations from boards and commissions are due to city departments at the end of May. However, the Public Safety Commission did not feel there was ample review time since its April meeting was canceled, so commissioners postponed their recommendation on May 4 in favor of calling a special meeting within the next two weeks. […]
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
Public Safety Commission requests updates on APD’s response to Tatum investigation
At its May 4 meeting, the Public Safety Commission discussed the findings of a report by outside investigator Lisa Tatum that examined accusations of racism and homophobia leveled against APD’s top brass in recent months. While the report was unable to corroborate all of the claims, the commission determined it was necessary to receive periodic […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: The race is on
Biscoe looks like the answer for Travis County… Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt’s name moves from the “very likely” category of contenders to take over Austin state Sen. Kirk Watson’s seat at the Legislature to the “almost certain” category with an item on the Commissioners Court agenda for Tuesday. That item would allow commissioners to […]
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 inPolice
Public Safety Commission previews APD’s critical incident video policy
Following Council’s request in February for a policy governing the automatic public release of videos in critical cases, Farah Muscadin, director of the Office of Police Oversight, presented a draft policy to the Public Safety Commission on March 2. Muscadin, who has been working on a policy to release footage associated with critical incidents to […]
Posted inEMS
Austin EMS union outlines effects of high call volume and sick leave policies
In recent months, Austin Emergency Medical Services has implemented new policies to improve the lives of its medics. The department has adjusted its start times to be on a more natural wake-up schedule and has instated a new code for medics to call in the event of an assault, resulting in faster response times from […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: The breakdown of wide-eyed, optimistic exuberance
The trouble with working groups… At the Feb. 3 meeting of the Public Safety Commission, two agenda items required the appointment of commissioners to serve on working groups. These groups are tasked with assisting the city in determining the scope of work future consultants will need to complete for the APD systemic racism study and […]
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 inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Reverse correlations
Reports of sexual assault down in 2019 for Austin and the country… Juliana Gonzales, the senior director of sexual assault services at the SAFE Alliance, came to give her monthly update to the Public Safety Commission on Jan. 6. She told the commission that overall reports of sexual violence were down for 2019. “We’re not […]
Posted inPolice
Public Safety Commission pushes for an independent investigation into ‘endemic’ racism and homophobia in APD
Last month, City Manager Spencer Cronk announced that attorney Lisa Tatum would investigate allegations of racism among the executive staff of the Austin Police Department. The investigation follows complaints that APD Assistant Chief Justin Newsom used the N-word to refer to African Americans, including former City Council Member Ora Houston and former APD Chief Frank […]
Posted inPublic Safety
APD updates the Public Safety Commission after a day of homeless camp cleanups
Questions surrounding the city’s revised camping, sitting and resting ordinances were brought to the public’s attention Monday as the state stepped in for cleanup operations and the city of Austin simultaneously conducted an operation to enforce its camping ban outside the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless. At the Nov. 4 meeting of the Public […]