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Public Safety
City may shorten ambulance provider workweeks
Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services ambulance providers are under a lot of strain as they try to keep up with population growth and an increasing number of special events, but a new proposal could reduce some of that pressure. On…
EMS • By Tyler Whitson • Aug 20, 2015
Committee restarts discussion of fire and EMS merger
Members of the Public Safety Committee heard testimony Monday on the idea of merging the Austin Fire Department with Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services, but city staff and organization heads reiterated time and again that anything official is a long way…
Public Safety • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Jun 23, 2015
Record rate of traffic fatalities confounds APD
Traffic fatalities are so frequent in Austin that it’s difficult to keep up. That much was clear at the Public Safety Commission meeting Monday, when a person who had been struck and killed by a car just that morning did…
Public Safety • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Jun 2, 2015
City, firefighters reach tentative agreement
After years of strife, the City of Austin and the Austin Firefighters Association successfully concluded the collective bargaining process Monday. Last November, City Council agreed to settle a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice over alleged discrimination in the…
City Hall • By Elizabeth Pagano • May 12, 2015
Momentum slows on Austin/Travis County EMS bill
A bill that supporters say would bring more transparency to the way Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services workers are decredentialed has slowed after some unanticipated momentum. Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services Association President Tony Marquardt has been trying to reform…
EMS • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • May 6, 2015
Public Safety Commissioners ask city to go slow on body cameras
The Public Safety Commission approved a draft recommendation Monday urging city staff to proceed carefully before equipping Austin police officers with body cameras. The commission’s recommendations were fourfold: consider any research analyzing the effects of body cameras on police work;…
Police • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • May 5, 2015
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Body cameras roll through Public Safety Committee
The long march to add body cameras to Austin Police Department’s official toolkit took a symbolic step forward Monday night when members of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee heard unanimous support from a diverse group of stakeholders. It was…
City Council • By Caleb Pritchard • Apr 28, 2015
Hays to ask voters to OK new funds for ESD2 growth
Is it time for northeastern Hays County residents to start paying the full price for emergency medical services? Buda Fire Chief Clay Huckaby hopes voters will think so come May 9 when they have a chance to make a difference…
EMS • By Kim Hilsenbeck • Apr 27, 2015
Safety chair questions commitment to Vision Zero
A city planner Monday gave the Public Safety Commission an update on the Vision Zero Task Force work toward devising a traffic safety plan for the city. The task force’s name reflects the blueprint it’s tasked with drafting: a Vision Zero…
Public Safety • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Apr 10, 2015
Hamilton upset over county's handling of report
Tuesday’s Travis County Commissioners Court voting session turned from sanguine to nearly sour when a stern Sheriff Greg Hamilton showed up to speak on the day’s final item, a report that would steer more money into an ongoing re-examination of…
Police • By Caleb Pritchard • Apr 8, 2015
Public Safety urges APD to wait on body cameras
The Public Safety Commission is urging the Austin Police Department to avoid making a hurried decision about when and how officers will wear body cameras. Commissioners said Monday they would consider adding a resolution on body cameras to next month’s…
Police • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Apr 7, 2015
Council delays fire department reclassification plan
A proposal to modify the Austin Fire Department’s leadership hierarchy has encountered headwinds at City Hall. City Council Member Don Zimmerman moved Thursday to prevent a vote on the resolution that proposes tweaking the department’s classification system, including removing several…
