Tag Archives: Public Safety Commission
Tuesday, April 6, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Budget
Public Safety Commission recommends budget requests – with one exception
The Public Safety Commission “wholeheartedly” recommended City Council adopt all budget items requested by Austin’s police, fire and EMS departments for Fiscal Year 2022 – with the exception of money for a new police helicopter. The budgets await review by…
Tuesday, February 2, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Police
Racial inequity at APD front and center at Public Safety Commission
Public Safety commissioners took a closer look at racial issues in the Austin Police Department, diving into a recent report on the subject at their Monday meeting. A survey of over 1,000 APD officers and staff about their attitudes toward…
Monday, January 11, 2021 by Seth Smalley
EMS
Committee reviews EMS response times
Jasper Brown, chief of staff for Travis County Emergency Medical Services, spoke before the Public Safety Commission on Jan. 4 to report the quarterly incident response times for the county. The goal response time for all priority-one calls – a…
Thursday, December 10, 2020 by Ryan Thornton
Public Safety
Commission moves to bring transgender voices to public safety table
A discussion on providing support to victims of anti-transgender violence quickly gravitated toward the work of the city’s “reimagining public safety” initiative at this week’s meeting of the Public Safety Commission. In line with repeated requests from local LGBTQ community…
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 by Ryan Thornton
Police
Police department sees trend in violent crime uptick
Breaking from typical practice, the Austin Police Department presented the Public Safety Commission with a monthly crime report for the month of October as part of its routine quarterly update on Monday afternoon. While department representatives said the crime report…
Tuesday, October 6, 2020 by Ryan Thornton
Police
Assistant chief talks APD headquarters
The movement for racial justice combined with the Covid-19 pandemic may be reshaping the future of the Austin Police Department and the use of the department’s headquarters at 715 E. Eighth St. While the conversation about reimagining the headquarters grew…
Thursday, September 10, 2020 by Jessi Devenyns
Police
Public Safety Commission considers a new vision for APD headquarters
A conversation on the future of the Austin Police Department headquarters is following on the heels of City Council’s reformulation of Austin’s police budget last month. On Sept. 9, the Public Safety Commission articulated a new vision for the current…
Friday, August 7, 2020 by Jessi Devenyns
City Hall
Public Safety Commission considers how to restructure its partnership with Council
The Public Safety Commission is working with City Council Member Jimmy Flannigan to offload some of its oversight duties in favor of becoming more of an advisory body. “We are particularly ill-suited for oversight,” Commissioner Rebecca Webber said at the…
Tuesday, August 4, 2020 by Jessi Devenyns
Public Safety
SAFE Alliance reports escalating domestic violence is ‘another public health pandemic’
Between April and June, the SAFE Alliance recorded a 25 percent increase in calls to its 24/7 SAFEline compared to the same time period in 2019. This spike in calls coincides with a reduction in visits from survivors of sexual…
Tuesday, May 19, 2020 by Jo Clifton
Public Safety
Public Safety Commission gives EMS a boost, criticizes APD
On Monday the city’s Public Safety Commission unanimously recommended an additional $2.3 million for Austin-Travis County EMS to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, while rejecting almost every request from the police department for additional funding. The commission also voted to…
Friday, May 8, 2020 by Jessi Devenyns
Police
Public Safety Commission postpones budget recommendation, calls emergency meeting
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…
Tuesday, May 5, 2020 by Jessi Devenyns
Police
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…
Monday, March 9, 2020 by Austin Monitor
Reporters' 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…
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…
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,…
Monday, February 10, 2020 by Jessi Devenyns
EMS
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…
Monday, February 10, 2020 by Austin Monitor
Reporters' 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…
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.…
Monday, January 13, 2020 by Austin Monitor
Reporters' 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…
