Public Safety
Thursday, March 5, 2020 by Jessi Devenyns
Police
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…
Wednesday, March 4, 2020 by Chad Swiatecki
Health & Human Services
Public health experts address state of COVID-19, with no plans to scrap SXSW
Tuesday’s Travis County Commissioners Court meeting was virtually a preview of a news conference scheduled for today regarding the region’s response to the ongoing spread of COVID-19, more commonly known as the coronavirus.During a presentation to the five-member board, Dr.…
Tuesday, March 3, 2020 by Jessi Devenyns
Police
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…
Friday, February 28, 2020 by Andrew Weber
Health & Human Services
With state approval, ATX Helps will take over the homeless campsite at U.S. 183
State officials agreed Thursday to lease state-owned land to an Austin nonprofit for $1 a month to house homeless Austinites, with the goal of ultimately building a shelter on the 6.7-acre tract.The approval from the Texas Transportation Commission will allow…
Thursday, February 27, 2020 by Andrew Weber
EMS
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…
Monday, February 24, 2020 by Chad Swiatecki
Police
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…
