Although Austin has fewer overall automobile crashes than other major Texas cities, the percentage of crashes involving serious injury or death of a pedestrian is still at the same rate — 27.9 percent– as other large Texas cities. That is one conclusion of the special report from the Austin City Auditor’s Office. Council members Zo […]
Austin Police Department
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Posted inPublic Safety
Austin launches pilot for 911 response to mental health crises
The city of Austin has begun dispatching a team that includes both mental health experts and police to address mental health emergency calls coming from the downtown area. The Austin Field Integrated Response Support Team, or Austin FIRST, includes an Austin-Travis County EMS paramedic, an Integral Care mental health clinician and an Austin Police officer […]
Posted inPolice
Commission calls for full audit of police training academy
Members of Austin’s Public Safety Commission approved a resolution on Monday calling for a full audit of the progress made on police training academy reforms. In November, 2020, the city hired Kroll Associates to review and evaluate the Austin Police Department (APD) on the extent to which discrimination, racism and bigotry are present in […]
Posted inPolice
Austin police canceled a shelter-in-place order while a shooter was on the loose
People in parts of Austin were told Wednesday morning just after 6:30 that a man who shot a police officer and another person near Zilker Park was no longer a threat. But, he was. The man was still at-large just outside an elementary school – armed and on the run from police. The Austin Police […]
Posted inUncategorized
200 have drowned in Austin’s Lady Bird Lake since 2004. A serial killer isn’t to blame, study says.
A new study released this week aims to put a stop to the rumors swirling about a potential serial killer in Austin. Researchers from Texas State University in collaboration with the Austin Police Department found no evidence of a serial murderer during a review of nearly 200 cases. While the idea of a Rainey Street […]
Posted inBudget
Austin spends millions on overtime pay for police officers. The city is scaling that back.
For Austin’s fire, police and emergency medical professionals, overtime is just a fact of life. In the last budget year, overtime spending on those three departments was $84 million, according to city payroll data. But after years of ballooning overtime payouts, Austin is throttling back some of that spending, asking its fire and police departments […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Public Safety Commission hears about legislation impacting Austin
Last week, members of the Public Safety Commission heard from Intergovernmental Relations Deputy Officer Rick Ramirez about bills the city helped pass and those the city opposed during the regular session of the state Legislature. Among those important to Austin and its public safety employees was one making changes to the firefighters’ pension fund. Under […]
Posted inPolice
Public Safety Commission clashes with Office of Police Oversight
“It deeply concerns me that we’ve put a retired police officer in charge of taking complaints from the community about police,” Commissioner Rebecca Bernhardt told staff from Austin’s Office of Police Oversight (OPO) during a heated Public Safety Commission meeting this month. The OPO was scheduled to present an overdue annual report for 2023 (which […]
Posted inPolice
Study finds Austin police response times continue to lag
Austin police officers took on average just over 45 minutes to respond to 911 calls last year, a new study found. The analysis from national crime data expert Jeff Asher found the department’s average response times consistently increased over five years, going from 29 minutes in 2019 to nearly 47 minutes last year. Austin’s worsening response […]
Posted inBudget
City looks to cut some costs on police, fire budgets
City budget planners had to make some tough decisions in proposing a budget for the upcoming fiscal year and the following year. As part of the proposal laid out by City Manager T.C. Broadnax and Budget Officer Kerri Lang at Tuesday’s Council work session, staff is proposing a $9 million decrease in the Police Department […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Austin’s sexual assault response: Small steps forward despite federal challenges
Austin and Travis County are facing new federal roadblocks to their work to respond to sexual assault. However, local progress continues. On Monday, the Public Safety Commission convened their second discussion of local data related to sex crimes. The commission heard presentations from Austin Police Department (APD), the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, and The […]
Posted inPublic Safety
After years of dysfunction, Austin Police and the Travis County DA say they’re trying to mend fences
The relationship between the Travis County District Attorney’s office and the Austin Police Department is fraught. It has been since José Garza was elected DA in 2020. Indictments, bungled prosecutions and miscommunication have all played a hand in the less-than-functional relationship between the two parties. But since Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis took over last year, the two sides […]