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Tag Archives: Public Safety Commission
Public Safety Commission, APD reach a detente
The Public Safety Commission and the Austin Police Department are recovering from a tense meeting earlier this month, at which APD leadership threatened to no longer attend commission meetings and commissioners lamented APD’s unresponsiveness, revealing a widening chasm. That’s why…
City Hall • By Emma Freer • May 23, 2023
Public Safety Commission greenlights license-plate reader program amid police pushback
The Public Safety Commission voted unanimously on Monday that City Council approve a pilot program reinstating the Austin Police Department’s license-plate reader program – with caveats. Council is due to revisit a new contract for license-plate reader systems and related…
Police • By Emma Freer • May 18, 2023
City still needs more 911 operators
Although the city has stepped up recruiting efforts considerably for filling vacancies in its 911 call center, there are still 49 vacancies among the 104 positions, according to Maria Calagna, director of emergency communications for the Austin Police Department. Calagna…
Police • By Jo Clifton • May 17, 2023
APD, Public Safety Commission clash over decorum, responsiveness
Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon threatened to withhold his department’s participation in future meetings of the city’s Public Safety Commission, citing a lack of decorum and exposing deep-seated tensions between the two entities. Commissioners, in turn, spoke of APD leadership’s…
Police • By Emma Freer • May 3, 2023
Public Safety Commission chair joins family's calls for more information on Austin Police shooting death
The chair of the Public Safety Commission on Monday joined the family of a man fatally shot by Austin police in calling for more information from Chief Joseph Chacon. The comments from Chair Rebecca Bernhardt came during Monday’s meeting, after…
Police • By Nina Hernandez • Apr 7, 2023
Austin Police revert to decentralized traffic enforcement approach
The Austin Police Department’s staffing shortages are leading it to take a decentralized approach to traffic enforcement, the city’s Public Safety Commission learned during a traffic enforcement and management update on April 3. Most of the crashes that happen on…
Police • By Nina Hernandez • Apr 5, 2023
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Public Safety Commission calls out APD’s resistance to training academy reform
The city’s Public Safety Commission criticized the Austin Police Department for stonewalling a committee formed by City Council in 2021 to review the police training academy curriculum as part of a broader push to “reimagine” public safety. “Just to summarize,…
Police • By Emma Freer • Jan 26, 2023
Public Safety Commission raises questions about proposed tow fee increases
The city’s Public Safety Commission wants more information before recommending an updated non-consent towing fee schedule for the Austin Police Department. Commissioners voted to recommend City Council reject the study and send it back for additional work. The item went…
Public Safety • By Nina Hernandez • Jan 11, 2023
Virtual proceedings lead to harmful outcomes for inmates in Austin’s jails, advocates say
During talks about a program that provides counsel at first court appearance, Bradley Hargis with Capital Area Private Defender Service shared the experience of a former client. The person had been charged and processed with a felony, and faced a…
Public Safety • By Andrea Guzman • Dec 7, 2022
Pedestrians accounting for a higher proportion of Austin traffic fatalities
Despite city efforts to implement its Vision Zero strategy and end traffic fatalities in Austin, crash deaths and injuries are on the rise. Pedestrians in particular are accounting for a higher percentage of fatalities. So, what can the city do…
Transportation • By Nina Hernandez • Dec 6, 2022
EMS using medication-assisted treatment to reduce overdoses
Two Travis County programs are proving successful at reducing opioid overdoses and connecting people in need with treatment at a time when deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl are on the rise nationally. Last week, the Public Safety Commission…
EMS • By Nina Hernandez • Nov 14, 2022
Crash deaths, injuries on the rise despite Vision Zero interventions
Traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries in the city of Austin have increased in 2022 compared with the five-year average, highlighting the barriers that stand in the way of the city’s Vision Zero goals. The Vision Zero program, which originated in…
