Tag Archives: Austin Police Department
Friday, April 3, 2020 by Jo Clifton
Public Safety
No hiring freeze for public safety employees
While most city departments are exploring how to do more with fewer employees in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Austin’s public safety departments are currently on track to continue hiring as previously budgeted.Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Captain Christa Stedman…
Wednesday, March 25, 2020 by Jessi Devenyns
Police
APD’s curtailed operations could impact equity
Last week, the Austin Police Department announced changes to its daily operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While there will be no change to the department’s response to critical calls where life and safety are jeopardized, smaller offenses and…
Friday, March 6, 2020 by Jessi Devenyns
Budget
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…
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…
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…
Friday, February 7, 2020 by Jo Clifton
Police
Cronk promises new body cam video policy soon
What started out as a routine approval of an amendment for a large contract for police body cameras and Tasers turned into a discussion about the city’s new policy on releasing body cam footage at Thursday’s Council meeting.With the exception…
Wednesday, February 5, 2020 by Jessi Devenyns
Police
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.…
Friday, January 31, 2020 by Audrey McGlinchy
Police
Black and Hispanic drivers are increasingly more likely to be stopped by Austin police
While the black population in Austin hovers around 8 percent, black people made up roughly 15 percent of drivers pulled over by police and 25 percent of people subsequently arrested in 2018 – a disparity that has worsened since 2015.At…
Tuesday, January 28, 2020 by Jerry Quijano
Police
Got guns or ammo you don’t want anymore? Austin police will take them, ‘No questions asked’
Residents with unwanted firearms and ammunition can turn them over to the Austin Police Department on Tuesday at the first of a series of no-questions-asked gun surrender programs.The point of the program is to prevent weapons from ending up in…
Friday, January 24, 2020 by Audrey McGlinchy
Police
Austin will not pay to test for marijuana, effectively decriminalizing small amounts of pot
As law enforcement agencies in Texas figure out how to test suspected marijuana following the legalization of hemp in the state, the Austin City Council responded Thursday with its fix: a measure that effectively decriminalizes small amounts of pot.“It’s the…
Wednesday, January 15, 2020 by Audrey McGlinchy
Police
Activists say officers allege retaliation for speaking to investigators in racism probe of APD
Activists and a City Council member say they’ve heard claims of possible obstruction in the investigation into alleged racism and homophobia among the highest ranks of the Austin Police Department.“It seems that people are not able to wholeheartedly and openly…
Friday, January 10, 2020 by Jessi Devenyns
Police
APD survey shows police officers are proud but frustrated
As the Public Safety Commission came back to a new year on Jan. 6, members began with a lengthy discussion about the state of the Austin police force.After receiving a presentation from the department highlighting the personal, professional and emotional…
Friday, December 6, 2019 by Audrey McGlinchy
Police
Austin orders sweeping probe of alleged racism, bigotry among police, including social media audit
The city of Austin will conduct a department-wide investigation of discrimination in the Austin Police Department, following accusations of racism and homophobia among the highest ranks.“There comes a time in everybody’s existence to have to do something really hard because…
Tuesday, December 3, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
Police
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…
Tuesday, November 5, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
Public 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…
Wednesday, October 9, 2019 by Nadia Hamdan
Police
Austin’s review of how police handle sexual assaults won’t be finished until 2022
An independent review of how Austin police investigate sexual assault cases won’t be completed until February 2022, the Austin Public Safety Commission said.Austin City Council agreed last month to pay up to $800,000 to the Washington, D.C.-based Police Executive Research…
Tuesday, October 8, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
Police
Public Safety Commission talks homelessness with APD
Last week brought a new level of scrutiny to the way the city polices individuals experiencing homelessness. The governor declared he would “unleash” state resources if Austin doesn’t address its homelessness issues by Nov. 1. Police Chief Brian Manley suggested…
Friday, September 27, 2019 by Jo Clifton
Police
Report faults APD’s handling of information
The Austin Police Department has failed to comply with the federal policy relating to access to criminal justice information maintained by the FBI, according to a special report from the Office of the City Auditor.Assistant City Auditor Andrew Keegan briefly…
Tuesday, September 10, 2019 by Jo Clifton
City Hall
Auditors report on community policing efforts
The Austin Police Department has made considerable progress in implementing recommendations from the 2016 Matrix Consulting Group study on community policing, according to an audit update from the city auditor’s office recently provided to the mayor and City Council.The report…
