[CALL TO ORDER 3:00-3:05pm ]
[00:01:20]
I APOLOGIZE IN MY CALL TO ORDER.
I MEANT TO MENTION THAT, UH, BECAUSE OF SOME PRESSING ISSUES THAT WE HAVE TO GET INTO THIS MONTH'S AGENDA, WE'RE GOING TO MOVE OUR FIRST NEW BUSINESS ITEM OF THE AFD, THE FIRE DEPARTMENTS, QUARTERLY REPORT.
WE'RE GOING TO MOVE IT TO THE END, JUST IN CASE WE HAVE TO PUSH IT TO MARCH.
BUT AS OF RIGHT NOW, UH, WE'RE GOING TO BE THAT TO THE END.
AND IF WE HAVE TIME, WE'LL DO IT.
IF NOT, IT WILL BE PUSHED TO MARCH.
SO WE'LL START, UH, WITH APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.
SO WE HAVE TO BOTH DECEMBER AND JANUARY MINUTES TO APPROVE.
SO LET'S START WITH COMMISSIONER.
CAN WE USE BOTH AT THE SAME TIME OR DO I HAVE TO DO A ROLL CALL FOR BOTH OF THEM?
[Citizen Communications 3:05-3:20pm (from speakers signed up to speak) ]
PARDON THE INTERRUPTION? WE THINK WE MAY HAVE THE CITIZEN ALIGN AND WE'RE GOING TO PERFECT.SEE IF MR. LEE LEON IS ONLINE.
SO AT CARLOS LELAND, FIRST AND FOREMOST, COULD I SAY I SAW THE LIST FOR LETTING ME SPEAK TO THE LOCAL NATIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE AFFECTING US ALL THAT MUST BE FULLY FIXED RIGHT NOW, ELECTION INTEGRITY FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY, HEALING AND UNITY, UNPACK AND UNDO.
NOW THE MASSIVE VOTING COUNTING FRAUD GENERATING CERTIFIED FALSE RESULTS OF THE NUMBER THREE, NOVEMBER THREE, 2020 ELECTION BIDEN IS ILLEGITIMATELY ILLEGAL OCCUPYING THE WHITE HOUSE BECAUSE PRESIDENT TRUMP WON REELECTION IN A LANDSLIDE COUNTY, EACH LEGAL LEGITIMATE BOAT.
ONCE ONLY WITH EQUAL WAITING ONLINE, READ DR.
PIER NAVARRO, HIS THREE VOLUME EVIDENCE-BASED ELECTION REPORT AND ROBERT BURNS.
HOW DJT LOST THE WHITE HOUSE TO DEFEAT THE DEEP STATE GASLIGHTING YOU WITH THE UPSIDE DOWN THE BULL CRAP TRADER BIDEN IS THE ENEMY INSURRECTIONISTS TO IMPEACH WHEN MOVING PROSECUTED, NOT PRESIDENT TRUMP, MORE SWING STATE, DEEP DIVE FORENSIC OFFICE BUY HONEST, TRANSPARENT, INDEPENDENT ENTITIES LIKE ALLIED SECURITY OPERATION GROUPS.
AND FROM MICHIGAN FORENSICS REPORTS AND GIOVAN PULITZERS RELATED WORK IN GEORGIA MUST BE DONE NOW TO RIGHT THIS WRONG.
NOW THEN CANCEL THE TRONIC VOTING MACHINES AND MAIL IN BALLOTS AT EACH POLLING STATION.
USE PAPER BALLOTS AND VOTER ID ONLY.
SO CITIZENS VOTE IN PERSON ONCE ONLY ON ELECTION DAY, ONLY AT THE POLLING LOCATION CLOSEST TO THEIR HOME.
ONLY VOTER CHECKS IN GETS CLEANED BALLOT, AND THEIR NAME GETS CROSSED OFF THAT LOCATION UP-TO-DATE ELIGIBLE LIST.
HE OR SHE VOTES ALONE IN BOOTH THEN PUTS DONE BALLOT IN PLAIN VIEW, CLEAR CONTAINER, MULTIPLE OBSERVERS FROM MULTIPLE PARTIES, OBSERVE AND VIDEO RECORD THESE PROCESSES FROM START TO FINISH FROM POLE OPENING TO CLOSING WHEN EACH POLLING LOCATION CLOSES TABULATE, THE VOTES EVENT, AND THEY'RE IN PERSON ON VIDEO IN FRONT OF MULTIPLE FIGHTING PUBLICLY DOCUMENT AND REPORT EACH LOCATION RESULTS FOR EACH RACE SLASH ITEMS TO OBSERVERS AUTHORITIES AND AN ONLINE DATABASE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL IN REAL TIME.
IF NEEDED USE MAPS AND SIX FOOT DISTANCE THING AGAINST CHINA VIRUS ON LOCATION CANCELED BIG TECH AND THEY'RE STALKING CENSORSHIP IN SILENCING OF US DEPLORABLE, CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS FOR NETWORK AND SPEAKING TRUTH ONLINE ABOUT HOW THIS ELECTION WAS STOLEN FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP AND OUR COUNTRY FROM US, GOOGLE TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AMAZON, AND APPLE ARE TRUE DOMESTIC TERRORISTS WHO NEED TO BE PROSECUTED AND DEEP PLATFORM.
NOW LAST WEEK'S MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR WALL STREET BATTLE BETWEEN GAME STOP AND CORPORATE HEDGE FUNDS SHOWED REAL SECULAR WAR, NOT ABOUT RACE OR PARTY, BUT CLASS.
WE, THE PEOPLE FREE MARKET CAPITALISM AND HUMAN LIBERTY CHAMPIONED BY PATRIOT PRESIDENT
[00:05:01]
TRUMP VERSUS THE ESTABLISHMENT ALIEN DEEP STATE TROLLS AND THEIR GLOBALISTS COMMUNIST CRIMINAL PUPPET.CHINA, JOE NEVER ACCEPT THIS FAKE WOKE FALSE MATRIX.
WE NEED GOD'S HELP TO DEFEAT THIS SUPERNATURAL, EVIL AND DESTROY ITS WORKS TO WIN THE SPIRITUAL WAR TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT.
AGAIN, GOD BLESS AMERICA JESUS NAME.
THANK YOU, LORD GOD, TEXAS, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CONSTITUTIONAL LAW TRUTH AND ABOVE ALL GOD'S WORD.
[1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – December 7, 2020 and January 4, 2021 3:20pm-3:25pm ]
NOW WE'LL BE MOVING TO OUR FIRST ITEM ON THE AGENDA OF APPROVAL OF MINUTES.I ACTUALLY BELIEVE WE DON'T NEED TO TAKE A, I REMEMBER WE DON'T NEED TO TAKE A ROLE ON THE MINUTES, SO LET'S JUST START WITH THE DECEMBER 7TH, 2020 THERE, ANY DISCUSSION OF THOSE MINUTES.
UM, I THINK EVERYONE IS ON THAT'S EVERYONE'S ON VIDEO SO I CAN SEE IT.
SO WE WILL APPROVE THE MIS UH, DECEMBER 7TH MEETING MINUTES.
LET'S SHALL WE MOVE ON TO THE JANUARY 4TH, 2021 FIRST MEETING OF 2021.
UM, AND YOU DISCUSSION ON THOSE MEETINGS, THE MEETING MINUTES.
WITH NO DISCUSSION, UH, BOTH DECEMBER 7TH, 2020, AND JANUARY 4TH, 2021 MEETING MINUTES HAPPEN IN PRISON.
[2.a. Continued Presentation –Austin Police Department Audit, APD Racial Inequities and Institutional Racism report by Joyce James (sponsors: Commissioner Gonzales and Webber) 3:25pm-4:00pm ]
ALL RIGHT.MOVING ON TO OUR FIRST PRESENTATION OF OLD BUSINESS, WE HAVE THE CONTINUED PRESENTATION OF THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT AUDIT BY AN APD RACIAL INEQUITIES AND INSTITUTIONAL RACISM REPORT BY JOYCE JAMES AND CONSULTANTS.
MS. JAMES, THANK YOU FOR BEING ONLINE.
I SEE THAT COLLEAGUES WITH YOU AS WELL, MR. BAUMANN AND MS. HILL.
SO, UM, I BELIEVE WHAT WE WANTED TO DO.
IF, IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND, I KNOW YOU SENT US A QUICK OVERVIEW PRESENTATION.
UH, WE ACTUALLY HAVE, LET'S SEE HERE, I'VE GOT ABOUT, UH, A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN 30 MINUTES FOR YOU.
SO WE'VE GOT, UM, THAT PRESENTATION THAT YOU SENT AND THEN I JUST WANTED TO LOOK OVER THOSE HIGHLIGHTS AND THEN OPEN IT UP TO QUESTIONS SINCE WE DIDN'T HAVE QUESTIONS LAST TIME IS THAT WORK? THAT WORKS WONDERFUL.
SO IF WE CAN PULL UP THE POPE, UH, THE PRESENTATION, AND IF YOU CAN JUST TAKE US THROUGH, UH, THE OVERVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS BE, IT WOULD BE THE OTHER ONE, SORRY.
AND, UM, WE HAVE QUITE A FEW SLIDES, BUT WE HAD NO INTENTION OF GOING THROUGH ALL OF THOSE.
THE GESTURE CAN, UH, FRAME THE PRESENTATION AROUND THE REQUESTS COMING FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S OFFICE OF EQUITY BACK IN MARCH, UH, TO ENGAGE WITH US AND DOING A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF MULTIPLE OTHER REPORTS THAT HAD BEEN DONE ON, UH, BY TATUM, UH, USE OF FORCE POLICE PROFILE, AND A COUPLE OF OTHER REPORTS THAT WE WERE LOOKING AT TO TRY TO BRING IT ALL INTO ONE PLACE.
SO THAT, THAT IT WOULD BE EASIER FOR, UH, THE EQUITY OFFICE AND APD, UH, TO WORK FROM A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT.
UH, WHAT OUR DOCTOR JUST SAY IS THERE CONSISTENTLY ACROSS THE BOARD, IN THE REPORT FINDINGS AND IN THE INTERVIEWS AND SURVEYS THAT WE DID, THERE WAS CONSISTENCY IN TERMS OF WHAT PEOPLE SHARE AND, AND WHAT WAS FOUND IN THE REPORT.
SO IF WE COULD GO ONTO THE, UH, NEXT SLIDE, SO SOMEONE ELSE'S ADVANCING THOSE.
UH, WE'RE GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU JUST SOME BRIEF OVERVIEWS, THE QUICK WINS THAT WE RECOMMENDED THAT APD COULD START TO DO NOW, AND THEN SOME LONGER TERM STRATEGIES THAT WE WERE ASKED TO PROVIDE, UH, TO THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND APD.
AND ONE OTHER THING THAT WE'LL SHARE WITH YOU IS APDS RESPONSE, UH, TO THE INTENSIVE GROUNDWATER ANALYSIS WORKSHOP WE DID ON RACISM WITH THE CHIEF AND ASSISTANT CHIEFS AND SOME FOLKS IN OFFICES, EVEN FROM THE COMMUNITY.
SO WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
THIS IS JUST OUR MISSION AND WHY WE'RE ENGAGED IS BECAUSE I HAD DEVELOPED A MODEL WHEN I WORKED AT THE STATE LEVEL THAT HAD BEEN EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING RACIAL INEQUITIES.
WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, THE FRAMEWORK THAT I USED PREVIOUSLY AND THAT WE USE IN OUR CONSULTING WORK WITH OTHER SYSTEMS AND INSTITUTIONS IS THE SAME ONE THAT WE'RE USING, WHAT APD.
AND THE COMPONENTS WILL COME UP LATER.
UH, WE'LL HAVE SOMETHING UNDER
[00:10:01]
EACH OF THOSE.SO WE DON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH THOSE RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, THE NEXT ONE.
SO, UH, THE FIRST REPORT THAT WE ACTUALLY, UH, REVIEWED WAS THE TATUM REPORT REPORT.
AND WHAT WE FOUND IS THAT AS WE REVIEW THE FINDINGS IN THE TATUM REPORT, AND AS WE DID INTERVIEWS WITH BOTH, UH, CIVILIAN AND SWORN, UH, STAFF WITHIN APD AND PEOPLE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, UH, WE FOUND THAT ALL OF THESE THINGS REALLY CAME TOGETHER, UH, TO KIND OF REPORT ALLEGATIONS OF INTERNAL NEGATIVE ISSUES THAT APD, UH, BOTH IN THE AREAS OF RACE, GENDER, AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION.
UH, THERE WAS A SENSE FROM INTERVIEWEES REGARDING THE HANDLING OF THE REPORT.
UH, MANY PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT THE REPORT, BUT THEY WERE SOMEWHAT CONCERNED THAT NO SPECIFIC ACTION HAD BEEN TAKEN TO REMEDIATE THE PROBLEMS THAT WERE IN THE REPORT.
UH, THE SURVEY DATA ALSO INDICATED THAT AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE LESS SATISFIED WITH THE WORKPLACE CLIMATE RELATED TO THINGS LIKE PROMOTIONS, COMPLAINTS, FAIRNESS, UM, MELISSA, THEN OUR HISPANIC, LATINO, AND WHITE AND WOMEN WERE MORE DISSATISFIED THAN MEN ALONG ALL OF THESE SURVEY DIMENSIONS.
THIS IS ONE OF THE, UH, UH, THE SURVEYS THAT WE DID WHERE WE GATHERED INFORMATION FROM, UH, INTERNAL, UH, SWORN AND CIVILIAN.
BAUMAN TO JUST BRIEFLY SPEAK TO THE RESULTS OF THAT SURVEY.
UM, THE PATTERN YOU'RE WANTING TO LOOK AT ON THE RIGHT WITH THE GRAPHS IS THE BLUE PATTERN RELATIVE TO THE GREEN AND THE RED PATTERN.
THE BLUE PATTERN ARE AFRICAN-AMERICANS THE RED AND THE GREEN, WHITE, AND HISPANIC.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE ON, ON EVERY DIMENSION THERE, WHICH I'LL JUST LET YOU READ, UH, AFRICAN-AMERICANS FEEL LESS STRONGLY ABOUT, UM, THINGS LIKE, UM, HOW, HOW MUCH, UH, RACISM IS TOLERATED, UH, UH, HOW THE ORGANIZATION TREATS WOMEN AND SO FORTH AND SO ON.
AND YOU CAN SORT OF READ THEM OVER, BUT BASICALLY WHAT YOU GUYS HAVE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND HISPANICS AND THE, AND THE ANGLOS.
AND SO THIS IS, UH, COMPARED TO SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WERE IN THE CHATHAM REPORT.
AND THEN WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SURVEY, IT CONFIRMS THOSE SAME FINDINGS AS GOOD, THE INTERVIEWS THAT WE DID WITH STAFF, AS WELL AS WITH COMMUNITY.
AND YES, YOU DO YOUR OWN, UH, YOUR OWN SURVEY THAT YOU DID.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, THE PREVIOUS REPORTS, ABSOLUTELY.
WE DEVELOPED THE SURVEY, WE ADMINISTERED IT.
UM, THE RESPONSES CAME BACK THROUGH, UH, UH, MY NINE, EIGHT TO US.
AND WE HAD APPROXIMATELY 1000, UH, APD SWORN AND CIVILIAN STAFF.
SO IT'S, IT'S PRETTY VALID IN TERMS OF ITS FINDINGS.
AND AGAIN, THERE'S THAT PATTERN OF, UH, HISPANICS AND WHITES BEING MORE CLOSELY RELATED IN THEIR RESPONSES TO, UH, THE ORGANIZATION AND HOW IT HANDLES ISSUES OF RACE AND ETHNICITY, AND THERE BEING SOME OF, UH, FAIR TO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN THE RESPONSE OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS.
THE NEXT SLIDE IS, UH, THE REVIEW OF POLICE RACIAL PROFILE, AND WE NOT ONLY LOOKED AT APD DATA, BUT WE ALSO DID SOME NATIONAL COMPARISONS.
AND SO NATIONAL AND LOCAL DATA BOTH INDICATE A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND LATINOS WERE STOPPED, CITED, ARRESTED, AND SEARCHED THAN WHITES AND NATIONALLY.
ALTHOUGH THIS HASN'T BEEN STUDIED THIS WAY IN APD, WHAT WE SEE NATIONALLY IS THAT WHEN PEOPLE ARE STOPPED AT NIGHT, THAT RACE IS LESS OF A FACTOR IN TERMS OF WHO IS STOPPED.
AND SO THAT SPEAKS TO QUESTIONS RELATED TO RACIAL PROFILING.
IN THAT IT'S LESS, WHEN IT'S NIGHT DRIVING, I CAN GO ONTO THE NEXT GRAPH AND YOU WILL SEE THAT DR.
BAUMAN WILL SPEAK TO THESE BRIEFLY, BUT THEY PRETTY MUCH CONFIRMED WHAT WE SAW AT THE LAST MEETING.
I THINK THE OFFICE OF POLICE OVERSIGHT SHOWS SOMETHING DIFFERENT, VERY SIMILAR DATA.
AND WE'RE FINDING THAT ALL OF THE REPORTS PRETTY MUCH SAY THE SAME THING, BUT DR.
BAUMA CAN SPEAK BRIEFLY TO THIS.
[00:15:01]
IT SAYS IT'S THE SAME.IT'S REALLY THE SAME ANALYSIS IS DATA WE HAD WAS UP THROUGH 2018.
AND THIS IS THE, AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT ALL OF THE DATA SHOW, AND YOU CAN SEE ON THE FAR LEFT, UM, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN, UM, THE WHITES AND ON THE FAR RIGHT, THE AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE HISPANICS NEXT TO THAT, THAT THERE'S A GREAT DEAL OF DISPARITY ACROSS THE BOARD, WHETHER YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT STOPS WARNINGS, UH, CITATIONS OR ARREST, THE, UH, THE, THE DIFFERENCES ARE ON LARGEST IN REGARD TO ARRESTS.
UM, THE NEXT SLIDE, IF YOU LOOK THAT UP, JUST SHOW US, UM, THE DATA OVER TIME.
AND THE ONLY IMPORTANT POINT TO MAKE HERE IS YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THINGS SEEM TO BE GETTING WORSE AT LEAST FROM 2015 TO 2018, WHICH AS FAR AS WE HAD, I DON'T KNOW IF THE 2020 DATA THAT YOUR STAFF SHOWED LAST WEEK INCLUDED THIS, BUT IT'S INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT BOTH FOR HISPANICS AND AFRICAN-AMERICANS, UH, THE, UH, AT LEAST STOPS SEEMED TO BE WORSE.
AND, YOU KNOW, SO, YOU KNOW, WHAT THAT SAYS TO US IS THAT OVER TIME, EVEN THOUGH THESE REPORTS HAVE BEEN DONE ON A REGULAR BASIS, THAT THE INTERVENTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN PUT IN PLACE HAVE NOT ADDRESSED, UH, HAVE NOT REDUCED, UH, THE, THE PROFILE AND THE RACIAL INEQUITIES THAT WE SEE.
SO NEXT SLIDE IS LOOKING AT, UH, POLICE PROFILE AND, UH, IN OUR INTERVIEWS AND THE SURVEY DATA, WHICH WE ASKED QUESTIONS, AS IT RELATED TO ATTITUDES TOWARDS RACE, GENDER, AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION, ALL OF THAT CAME TOGETHER TO PAINT A PRETTY CONSISTENT, UH, PICTURE OF THE INSTITUTIONAL CULTURE AT APD.
AND WHAT IT SPEAKS TO IS THAT THERE WAS A LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY AT THE LEADERSHIP LEVEL IN RESPONDING TO REPEATED COMPLAINTS ABOUT RACISM, GENDER, AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION.
AND WHAT I, WHAT I WANT TO SAY HERE IS, YOU KNOW, BASED ON THE MANY, MANY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE THAT I'VE HAD DOING WORK WITH SYSTEMS, UH, TO WORK TO UNDO RACISM IS REALLY WHAT IT'S ABOUT IS THAT WHEN WE SPEAK TO THE LACK OF LEADERSHIP, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY THE SAME AS SPEAKING TO LEADERSHIP IN GENERAL, BECAUSE MOST LEADERS HAVE NOT BEEN TRAINED TO LEAD WORK, TO UNDO RACISM.
AND SO I JUST REALLY WANT TO WANT TO SPEAK TO THAT, THAT THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GENERAL LEADERSHIP AND LEADING SYSTEMS TO UNDO, UH, RACISM.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE SEE THE LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY, UH, IN RESPONDING TO COME REPEATED COMPLAINTS ABOUT RACISM, UH, IS THAT THERE, THERE NEEDS TO BE A LOT OF WORK DONE TO DEVELOP THE CAPACITY OF THE LEADERSHIP TO FOCUS IN ON THIS TYPE OF WORK, UH, BECAUSE THERE IS NO DISCIPLINE THAT REQUIRES THIS MEMBERS TO HAVE AN ANALYSIS ON UNDERSTANDING OF INSTITUTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL RACISM.
AND SO WE DON'T COME FROM OUR INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING TRAIN NOR REQUIRED, UH, TO HAVE THAT.
AND SO THE SURVEY DATA ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS RACE ALSO INDICATED THAT AFRICAN-AMERICANS ARE IN LESS AGREEMENT THAT APD DOES NOT TOLERATE RACISM, INSTITUTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL RACISM, NON-DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES, AND THEIR ABILITY TO RAISE QUESTIONS AND PROVIDE SOLUTIONS ALONG THESE LINES.
AND SO WE HAVE A GRAPH ON THE NEXT PAGE THAT SHOWS THE RESPONSE TO, UH, THE QUESTIONS ON THE SURVEY AS IT RELATES TO ATTITUDES TOWARDS RACE DR.
AND THEN THE PATTERN TO NOTICE HERE IS THAT THE BLUE LINE, THE AFRICAN-AMERICANS, UM, ARE ALWAYS LESS THAN, UH, EXCEPT ONE EXCEPTION THAT I'LL POINT OUT IN A MINUTE ARE LESS THAN HISPANICS AND, UH, AND WHITES.
THE THIRD ONE, I THINK IS INTERESTING IN THE SENSE THAT THE QUESTION I ASK IS EMPLOYEES.
MY
THIS IS THE ONE EXCEPTION YOU COULD ASK FOR AMERICANS RELATIVE TO HISPANICS AND ANGLOS.
THEY BELIEVE THAT EXISTS MORE SO THAN DO THE OTHERS, RIGHT? AND SO THERE'S JUST, IT'S A, IT'S A PRETTY SIMILAR PATTERN AGAIN, IN THAT AFRICAN-AMERICANS TEND TO, UH, HAVE A GREATER LEVEL OF DISAGREEMENT AS IT RELATES TO THE CULTURE AND ITS RESPONSE AND TOLERANCE TO, UH, ADDRESS AND RACE AND RACISM.
I HAVE A QUICK QUESTION ON THE QUEUE.
[00:20:01]
THAT SEEM IN CONFLICT TO ME ARE, UM, THE ONE THAT SAYS THAT INSTITUTIONAL RACISM ACTUALLY EXISTS.SO THE THIRD QUESTION, AND THEN ON THE BOTTOM, IT SAYS, I UNDERSTAND HOW SYSTEMIC INSTITUTIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL RACISM AFFECT THE ORGANIZATION'S OPERATIONS.
SO THAT SEEMS INTERESTING TO ME THAT ONLY 28% OR 28% BELIEVE THAT IT EXISTS YET 60% SAY THAT THEY UNDERSTAND HOW IT OPERATES WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION.
SO THAT SEEMS COUNTERINTUITIVE TO ME, DOES IT NOT EXIST? AND THEN HOW DOES IT, IF IT DOESN'T EXIST, HOW EXACTLY DO YOU KNOW THAT IT AFFECTS YOUR OPERATIONS? SO THAT'S INTERESTING TO ME, DO YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT ON THOSE TWO QUESTIONS THAT WAS REALLY STUCK OUT TO ME AS SOMETHING I WANT TO DIG INTO A LITTLE A NO, I ACTUALLY DON'T.
I, AND IT'S INTERESTING THAT YOU POINTED THAT OUT.
I, I HADN'T NOTICED THAT, BUT IT IS A CONTRADICTION IN A SENSE.
UM, I'D HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT A LITTLE BIT, BUT, UM, THAT, I THINK IT'S CLEAR TO ME THAT AFRICAN-AMERICANS DO SAY THEY BELIEVE THAT THAT INSTITUTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL RACISM EXISTS, UM, HOW IT AFFECTS THE ORGANIZATION.
THEY SEEM LESS, UH, I GUESS, LESS CERTAIN ABOUT IT AS DO HISPANICS.
IT'S INTERESTING THAT THEY'RE ABOUT THE SAME FROM A AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND MORE SO IN HIS HISPANIC, BUT IT'S ABOUT THE SAME 40 TO 44% AND BELIEVING IT GIVES US AND UNDERSTANDING HOW IT, HOW IT WORKS.
UM, THAT JUST, THAT JUST SEEMED INTERESTING TO ME.
SO, YEAH, AND IT, AND IT COULD BE THAT, UH, I HATE TO, I DON'T WANT TO SPECULATE HERE, BUT IT COULD BE THAT THE RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION, UH, EMPLOYEES IN MY ORGANIZATION BELIEVE THAT IT EXISTS, UH, WORTH SMALLER NUMBERS FOR, UH, WHITES AND HISPANICS, AND THEN UNDERSTANDING HOW SYSTEMIC AND INSTITUTIONAL RACISM AFFECTS THE ORGANIZATION, UH, COULD BE IN THE VEIN THAT IT'S NOT AS PREVALENT.
SO IT COULD BE THAT IT'S REALLY NOT AFFECTING.
UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE BILL AND THE WAIVER, UH, TRAINING.
SO, UM, THE DATA CLEARLY SHOWED, UH, THAT FORCE AND FOR SEVERITY IS DISPROPORTIONATELY USED ON AFRICAN-AMERICANS.
AND ONE OF THE, UH, INTERESTING THINGS FOR US IS EVEN WHEN OTHER NEIGHBORHOOD DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS.
AND SO WHAT WE MEAN BY THAT IS THAT, UH, IN NEIGHBORHOODS WHERE, UH, POVERTY AND CRIME IS, HAS BEEN CONSIDERED AS A FACTOR THAT RACIST A STRONGER PREDICTOR WHEN ALL OF THE FACTORS ARE THE SAME.
AND WE SEE THAT NOT ONLY IN USE OF FORCE, BUT I MEAN, WE SEE IT IN, IN ALL AREAS LIKE, YOU KNOW, DISCIPLINE AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND WHOSE CHILDREN GET REMOVED BY CHILD WELFARE AND, YOU KNOW, ALL, UH, WHO'S, WHO'S MORE LIKELY TO GO TO JUVENILE LOCKUP THAT IN THE VERY SAME OF SIMILAR, UH, SITUATIONS, THAT RACE WILL BE THE MOST PREVALENT PREDICTOR OF THE RESPONSE FROM THE SYSTEM.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE FOUND HERE IN TERMS OF USE OF FORCE.
AND SO EVEN WHEN WE LOOK AT, UH, NATIONAL DATA ON POLICE SHOOTINGS SHOW THAT AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEN AND WOMEN AND LATINO MEN AND LATINO WOMEN ARE FAR MORE LIKELY TO BE KILLED AND WHITE MEN AND WOMEN.
AND, YOU KNOW, SO INTERVIEWEES WERE SUGGESTING MORE CONSISTENT USE OF BODY CAMERAS AND TRAINING THAT FOCUSES ON EXAMINING THOSE ATTITUDES AND ASSUMPTIONS THAT LEAD TO OFFICES, BEING AFRAID IN SOME COMMUNITIES, MORE SO THAN OTHERS, UH, THAT WE CERTAINLY BELIEVE HAS A STRONG IMPACT ON ARRESTS AND EVEN SHOOTINGS BASED ON THAT BELIEF THAT THERE THEIR LIVES ARE IN MORE DANGER.
AND THE SURVEY ALSO INDICATED THAT MOST RESPONDENTS ARE AWARE OF THE POLICE REPORTS THAT ARE CONTAINED IN THESE DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING PROFILE AND THE USE SUPPORT.
SO IT WAS REALLY NO SURPRISE, UH, THE DATA AS IT RELATES TO WHAT PEOPLE KNEW.
UH, SOME OF THE, UH, DISAPPOINTMENT, AS WE MENTIONED EARLIER, WAS THE LACK OF ATTENTION TO THESE AREAS.
AND SO THIS IS REALLY, UH, ABOUT THE REPORTS AND WHO KNEW ABOUT THEM AND, AND, UH, ALL OF THOSE DIFFERENT SECTIONS.
JOHN, YOU WANT TO JUST BRIEFLY SPEAK TO THE SURVEY QUESTIONS ON THIS PART.
I THINK THERE'S ONE INTERESTING ONE TO POINT OUT.
I THINK THAT EVERYBODY PRETTY MUCH HAS AS
[00:25:01]
KNOWS ABOUT THE REPORTS.UH, SOMETIMES AFRICAN-AMERICANS A LITTLE BIT MORE SOMETIMES, UH, WHITES A LITTLE BIT MORE, BUT THE LAST QUESTION IS THE ONE THAT CAUGHT MY EYE.
IT SAYS MY ORGANIZATION'S COMMITTED TO REDUCING RACIAL PROFILING OF BLACKS AND HISPANICS.
THAT IS LIKE, YOU KNOW, UM, AND YOU'LL NOTE THAT BOTH AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND HISPANICS FEEL THAT, UH, THAT THERE ARE LESS THAN THE ORGANIZATION IS LESS COMMITTED THAN DO ANGLOS.
AND THAT'S JUST A REITERATION OF WHAT WAS ON THE PREVIOUS PAGE IS TO SHOW VAMP, READOUT THAT INFORMATION BY COLLECTING THE RESPONSES FROM THE SURVEYS AND INTERVIEWS.
AND THIS IS THE, UH, VILLAIN NEW WAIVER, UH, TRAINING REPORT.
UH, AND OF COURSE THE WEAKNESSES THAT WERE FOUND IN THE CURRICULUM, UH, PREPARE A MILITARY FORMAT AND BEST ATTENTION TO DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES AND COMMUNITY POLICE, AND WERE FOUND TO LEAD TO GREATER ATTRITION.
AND THIS WAS A CONSISTENT THEME, UH, BOTH IN THE REVIEW OF THE REPORT, AS WELL AS IN THE INTERVIEWS THAT WE DID.
AND SO SOME OF THE SUGGESTIONS THAT CAME OUT OF THAT ARE MORE DIVERSE RECRUITING, GREATER DISCUSSION ON THE CRITERIA FOR WHEN PEOPLE ARE REJECTED, AS IT RELATES TO CREDIT FINANCIAL STATUS, UH, THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.
AND WHAT WE FOUND WAS THAT, UM, INTERVIEWS ALONG WITH THE NEED FOR RESOLVING COMPLAINTS BY RECRUITS, THEY PEOPLE THERE SHOULD BE BETTER MENTAL HEALTH AND TRAUMA TRAINING, IMPROVE, RECRUITED MORE OFFICERS OF COLOR AND WOMEN, UH, THAT THERE NEEDED TO BE MORE DIVERSITY ON THE INSTRUCTORS AND THE MATERIALS TO THE VAN AND MORE INFORMATION ON INSTITUTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL RACISM, YOU KNOW, TO CREATE A, UH, A BETTER CAREER PATH AND TO, AND FOR STAFF RETENTION.
NEXT MONTH, NEXT MONTH YOU WON'T GO.
SO, UM, THIS IS, UH, SOME OF THE INFORMATION AS IT RELATES TO COMMUNITY POLICING BY RACE AND ETHNICITY AND THE RESPONSES ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION WORK TRAINER, UH, AND HOW IN, HOW IT IMPACTS THE LIVES OF ALL PEOPLE.
AND AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE THE, THAT AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE LESS LIKELY TO FEEL LIKE APD WAS FAIRLY IMPACT IN THE LIVES OF ALL THE PEOPLE THAT THEY SERVE.
UH, AND THEY WERE LESS LIKELY TO FEEL LIKE THE ORGANIZATION WORK WELL WITH THE COMMUNITY AND SOUGHT THEIR INPUT ON MATTERS THAT AFFECTED THEIR LIVES.
AND SO THAT'S PRETTY STANDARD AND IT IS CONSISTENT WITH THE SURVEYS FROM THE COMMUNITY AS WELL.
SO WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
I'M GOING TO TRY TO QUICKLY MOVE WITH FOUR BECAUSE WE HAVE, SO THESE ARE SOME OF THE QUICK WINS THAT WE CAME UP WITH.
UM, WE THOUGHT THAT THIS REPORT BEING VERY COMPREHENSIVE INCLUDE IN RECOMMENDATIONS COULD BE USED BY APD, UH, AS A, UH, TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION, WHICH WAS ANOTHER AREA THAT WAS SILENT AS BEING PRETTY WEAK WAS THE WAY THAT INFORMATION WAS COMMUNICATED.
AND TO USE THE REPORT AS A VEHICLE FOR OPENING THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION, ACKNOWLEDGING MISTAKES, MAKING THE COMMITMENT TO LEAD THE WORK OF CREATING AN ANTI-RACIST INSTITUTIONAL CULTURE.
AND THAT THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE IMMEDIATELY AND, AND USED ON AN ONGOING BASIS.
UH, WE ALSO FELT LIKE WE COULD HAVE, UH, SET UP, UH, A PLAN TO PROVIDE THE WORKSHOP TO THE RECRUITERS AND TRAINING OFFICERS, UH, IN ADVANCE OF THE NEXT CADET CLASS.
AND THAT WAS BASED ON THE VERY, VERY POSITIVE RESPONSE AS THE CHIEF AND ASSISTANT CHIEFS AND SOME OF THE OTHER COMMANDERS IN OFFICES AND COMMUNITY PEOPLE HAD, UH, IN THAT SPACE, WE HAD PEOPLE WITH HUNDREDS OF YEARS OF EXPERIENCE.
SO WE INDICATED THAT THIS WAS THE BEST WORKSHOP THEY HAD EVER ATTENDED.
THEY HAD A MUCH CLEARER UNDERSTANDING ANALYSIS OF WHAT WE MEANT WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT RACISM, SUCH THAT THEY COULD OPEN THEMSELVES UP TO SOME NEW THINKING AND A NEW LENS AND A NEW UNDERSTANDING.
AND SO WE TALKED ABOUT COLLABORATING WITH, UH, TO SHARE AND DISCUSS THE REPORT WITH THE COMMUNITY AND TO GET THEIR FEEDBACK ON THE RECOMMENDED STRATEGIES.
UH, OTHER, UH, QUICK WINS WAS TO BEGAN PLANNING TOWARDS SPECIFIC COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVES.
THAT WAS SOME DISCUSSION THAT ALSO
[00:30:01]
CAME OUT, UH, WITH THE CHIEF AND ASSISTANT CHIEFS, THAT TO REBUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH COMMUNITIES THAT PERHAPS WE COULD PICK, UH, ONE OF THE SECTORS, UH, DO SOME REAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN THAT SECTOR, INCLUDING BRINGING IN COMMUNITY, UH, AND TO DO TRAINING WITH APD OFFICES.UH, WE TALKED ABOUT INCORPORATING THOSE STRATEGIES, UH, THAT THEY WERE WORKING ON WITH TPO INTO THIS FRAMEWORK SO THAT IT WOULD NOT BE A SEPARATE PIECE OF WORK, BUT THAT IT WOULD ALL OPERATE UNDER ONE FRAMEWORK.
UH, ALSO IN THE IMPORTANCE OF ENGAGING AND UTILIZING THE VOICES OF THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE WORKSHOP WITH THE CHIEF AND ASSISTANT CHIEF SO THAT THEIR IDEAS DID NOT GET LOST.
THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO BE AN ALLY TO APG AND THE OLD AND REBUILDING THE TRUST OF THE COMMUNITY, WHICH THEY COMMITTED TO DO OPENLY IN THOSE SESSIONS.
SO I BELIEVE THIS IS THE TOP SEVEN OF YOUR QUICK WINS, IS THAT CORRECT? SO, UM, CAN WE, CAN WE TAKE A MOMENT RIGHT HERE? PAUSE, I WOULD LOVE TO, UH, TALK TO TEETH GATE.
MY FIRST QUESTION IS, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS SEVEN WINS THAT WERE RECOMMENDED TO APD BASED ON THIS REPORT.
AND CAN, CAN YOU LET US KNOW WHERE YOU ARE ON THOSE? AND THEN I'D LOVE TO OPEN IT UP TO OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSIONERS FLUENTLY.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER WEBER.
UH, WE HAVE BEEN IN EATING THIS WITH THE EQUITY OFFICE.
OF COURSE, SOME OF THE THINGS REQUIRE US TO ACTUALLY HAVE ANOTHER CONTRACT THAT WE NEED TO MOVE FORTH AND WORK ON THAT SCOPE.
UH, I HAVE ALREADY REACHED OUT TO BOTH EQUITY OFFICE AND MS. JAMES IN, UH, DOING A GROUNDWATER ANALYSIS FOR OUR TRAINING DIVISION.
SO HOPEFULLY THAT CAN OCCUR PRIOR TO THE NEXT ACADEMY CLASS.
SO SEVERAL OF THESE THINGS WE AGREE WITH, IT'S JUST GOING TO TAKE US TIME TO GO AHEAD AND WORK, TO DEVELOP OUR EQUITY ACTION PLAN, WHICH WE'RE WORKING WITH THE EQUITY OFFICE TO DO A CURRENT, BUT THE TIMELINE FOR THOSE, THE, JUST THE MOVING FORWARD OF GETTING THESE THINGS ON THE CALENDAR WITH EQUITY AND WITH, WITH MAKING THINGS, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT, WHAT THE TIMELINE IS FOR CONTRACT AND MOVING VOTED THAT RIGHT NOW, OF COURSE IT WOULD HAVE TO GO TO COUNCIL.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE AT LEAST TAKE EIGHT WEEKS OUT FROM, FROM THAT POINT.
UH, SO, SO I WOULD SAY PROBABLY TWO TO THREE MONTHS TO POTENTIALLY HAVING A CONTRACT, WE ARE LOOKING AT OUR CURRENT SPENDING AUTHORITY ON WHAT WE CAN DO OUTSIDE OF A CONTRACT TO GET SOME OF THESE THINGS MOVING FORWARD, BECAUSE IT SEEMED TO ME THAT THERE WAS SOME THINGS ON THERE THAT ARE FULLY IN THE CONTROL OF APG ABOUT, YOU KNOW, USING THE RECORD, THE COMMUNICATIONS, KEEPING THE COMMUNITY INVOLVED.
I DON'T BELIEVE THAT THAT WOULD NECESSARILY BE SUFFOCATED BY A CONTRACT OR EXCHANGES ORGANIZATION.
WE'VE, WE'VE MET WITH THE EQUITY OFFICE THIS WEEK OF THE CHIEF AND I, AS WELL AS OUR EQUITY MANAGER THAT WE'VE, UH, APPOINTED TO SORT OF HELP LEAD SOME OF OUR EQUITY EFFORTS HERE IN THE DEPARTMENT.
WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON AN EQUITY ACTION PLAN WITH THE EQUITY OFFICE TO INCLUDE A TRAINING PLAN.
UH, WE ANTICIPATE THAT WITHIN THE NEXT THREE TO SIX WEEKS IS THAT WE'LL HAVE AT LEAST A FRAMEWORK OF A GOOD ROADMAP MOVING FORWARD, AND THEN WE'LL START OUR IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? UH, LET'S GO WITH THAT COMMISSIONER HOFFMAN CLAP FOR BESIDE BRAD.
FIRST, I HAVE A SPECIFIC QUESTION.
I JUST KIND OF HAVE COMMENT AND I DON'T KNOW IF ANYBODY ELSE KIND OF IS THINKING THE SAME THING AS ME, BUT, YOU KNOW, JUST THINKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE POSTPONEMENT OF THE CONNECT CLASSES AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS, AND THEN THE MOVEMENT FORWARD WITH THE REP, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT RECOMMENDATIONS TO DO IMPROVEMENTS.
AND I FEEL LIKE WE'VE KIND OF GOTTEN A LITTLE BIT STUCK IN THIS WHIRLPOOL OF WE WANTED TO CONNECT CLASS, BUT WE NEED CHANGES TO HAPPEN.
WE CAN'T GET THE CHANGES TO HAPPEN WHEN YOUR TIMELINES, SO I JUST, I GUESS I JUST STRUGGLE WITH, I APPRECIATE SHE GAVE YOU KIND OF A TIMELINE ON SOME OF THE WEEKS, I GUESS, JUST GENERALLY A STRUGGLE WITH HOPEFUL PROGRESS.
I FEEL LIKE WE'RE MAKING TOWARDS GETTING THERE.
UNDERSTAND IF YOU WERE JUST SPEAKING ON APPRECIATING THAT TIMELINE.
I DON'T THINK THERE WAS A, UH, SPECIFIC QUESTIONS YOU CHEEK.
NO, I DIDN'T HAVE A SPECIFIC QUESTION.
I JUST, YEAH, I THINK BACK TO WHEN WE
[00:35:01]
FIRST STARTED THIS CONVERSATION AND NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, A YEAR AGO OR LONGER THAN A YEAR AGO AND, UM, I JUST FEEL KIND OF STUCK.AND I SECOND AND REFLECT YOUR FEELINGS.
RAMIREZ, DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? I THINK IT WAS ALONG THE SAME LINES.
JUST, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT SORT OF, WHAT THE TIMELINE WAS FOR WANTING TO GET THE NEXT CADET CLASS GOING.
IT SEEMS CRAZY TO NOT MAKE THESE CHANGES BEFORE THE NEXT CADET CLASS.
AND SO IT JUST SEEMS LIKE THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE URGENCY.
I FEEL WE'VE HEARD FROM SO MANY DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS AND SO MANY DIFFERENT, UM, REPORTS THAT HAVE BEEN CREATED THAN THAT HAVE BEEN GENERATED IN THE PAST YEAR.
THAT ALL SAY THE EXACT SAME THING AND IT JUST, IT NEEDS TO START, IT NEEDS TO GET KICK-STARTED.
AND I DON'T KNOW, LIKE I'M HEARING THAT WE'RE EIGHT WEEKS FROM SHOWING SOMETHING TO COUNCIL.
UM, AND THAT JUST DOESN'T THAT DOESN'T REFLECT THE URGENCY OF THE SITUATION.
IF, IF IN FACT THE NEED A NEW CADETS IS AS URGENT AS IT SEEMS TO BE.
CAN I, CAN I ADD SOMETHING REAL QUICK? I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE KNOWS THAT WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON A TIMELINE.
I DO KNOW THAT THE CITY MANAGEMENT SHOULD BE RELEASING, UH, OUR PROGRESS OF WHAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING OVER THE LAST YEAR.
VILLANOVA'S REPORT WAS RELEASED IN MAY OF LAST YEAR, AND WE'VE BEEN ACTIVELY WORKING ON THAT FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN.
UM, SO, UH, THIS REPORT WAS JUST RELEASED.
SO OF COURSE, IN REFERENCE TO DOING ANY CONTINUED WORK WITH MS. JAMES OR THE GROUNDWATER ANALYSIS DOES REQUIRE US TO GO BACK AND DO THE CONTRACTS, BUT WE HAVE PUT OUR CADET INSTRUCTORS THROUGH, UH, EXCELLENCE IN, IN TRAINING WORKSHOPS.
WE HAVE PUT THEM THROUGH BEYOND DIVERSITY TRAINING.
LEADERSHIP HAS GONE THROUGH UNDOING RACISM.
SO WE HAVE BEEN DOING THINGS IN THE DEI ARENA.
WE ALSO JUST RECENTLY RECEIVED THE REPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY PANEL ON SEVEN MONTHS WORTH OF WORK ON JUST VIDEOS IN A DEI LENS.
SO WE HAVE CONSTANTLY BEEN WORKING TOWARDS, UM, MOVING THESE TAGAMI FORWARD THAN ANY INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING.
AND IT'S A CONTINUOUS PROCESS.
IT'S NOT LIKE A ONE AND DONE, SO WE'RE, WE ARE CONSTANTLY WORKING TO IMPROVE THE ACADEMY.
AND IF THEY'LL FIND MY, JUST ADD TO THAT, UH, THERE, I BELIEVE THAT IN OUR REPORT, IN, AT THE REQUEST OF THE OFFICE OF EQUITY, UH, THAT WE HAD PRESENTED A FRAMEWORK OUT OF WHICH TO WORK SO THAT IT'S IT'S, IT'S LIKE, IT'S NOT A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS, BUT IT OPERATES UNDER ONE FRAMEWORK.
AND THAT'S ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE OUR FRAMEWORK, A FRAMEWORK, SOMEBODY IS DOING THIS AND SOMEONE ELSE IS DOING THIS AND THAT PEOPLE ARE CONFUSED.
AND I THINK THAT'S BEEN PART OF THE PROBLEM THAT WE'VE SEEN IN OUR FINDINGS IS THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE A COMMON FRAMEWORK OUT OF WHICH EVERYONE IS OPERATING THEATER AND CONCISE ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE NEED TO REALIZE.
IT BEGAN TO WORK, TO UNDO RACISM.
AND I, I LIKE TO CHIEF AND THE ASSISTANT CHIEFS FOR THEIR RESPONSE.
AND NOW THIS WORKSHOP THAT WE DID, AND TO TELL YOU THAT THEY CAME OUT WITH SOME STRATEGIES, UH, IN A SESSION THAT WE DID FOLLOW IN THE WORKSHOPS.
AND SO THEY TOO CAME OUT WITH A LIFT LIST OF STRATEGIES THAT VERY MUCH MIRROR, THE QUICK WINS THAT WE CAME UP WITH, ALL OF THOSE ARE, UH, DEFINED WITHIN THAT MODEL AND THAT FRAMEWORK THAT WE HAVE PUT FORWARD.
AND SO WE THINK THAT THAT'S THE BEST OPPORTUNITY TO, AGAIN, TO REALIZE SOME CHANGE AS WE HAVEN'T SEEN THE KIND OF CHANGE THAT I BELIEVE THE LEADERSHIP WANTS TO SEE, BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T HAD A FRAMEWORK THAT OPERATES IN A WAY THAT MOVES.
UM, THE TOP RECOMMENDATION IS TO WIDELY CIRCULATE, CIRCULATE THIS REPORT WITHIN THE AGENCY TO OPEN UP THE INTERNAL COMMUNICATION.
UH, I KNOW THE MISTAKES IS MAKING A COMMITMENT.
HAS THAT BEEN DONE INTERNAL TO ABD, CHEESECAKE THE REPORT ITSELF, HANKS GOING OUT CURRENTLY TRYING TO SET UP LIFTING SESSIONS TO TALK TO DIFFERENT GROUPS, SUCH AS TPO AND OTHERS, UH, IN REFERENCE TO THE ASSOCIATIONS, WE, WE HELD
[00:40:01]
FOUR MEETINGS WITH THE TPLF, WHICH IS THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN ASSOCIATION.WE ACTUALLY LEARNED A LOT FROM THOSE MEETINGS AND ACTUALLY HAVE SEVERAL ACTION ITEMS THAT WE ARE WORKING WITH THOSE BOARDS TO ADDRESS THOSE THINGS THAT WE'VE LEARNED IN THOSE MEETINGS.
SO WE ARE GETTING FEEDBACK FROM OUR EMPLOYEES AND WE ARE ACTIVELY TRYING TO FOLLOW UP ON THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THEY'RE MAKING THE RECOMMENDATION WAS MADE, UH, IN THE VEIN OF US SUPPORTING THE LEADERSHIP IN MESSAGING.
THIS, WE HAVE NOT BEEN TRAINED TO LEAD SOME CONVERSATIONS ON RACE.
IT WAS NOT HAVE WE BEEN LAID, TRYING TO LEAVE WORK, YOU KNOW, TO JUST BE ABLE TO DO IT.
AND SO I'M, MY RECOMMENDATIONS WERE ACTUALLY BASED ON CONTINUING TO SUPPORT THE LEADERSHIP MESSAGE TO SEND THE RIGHT WAY, YOU OUT TO YOUR ORGANIZATION AND TO SUPPORT THEM IN MESSAGING THEIR COMMUNITY.
OTHERWISE IT, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE IT BECOMES FRAGMENTED WHEN PEOPLE WHO MEAN, WELL, GO OUT AND WANT TO DO IT ON THEIR OWN, BUT WITHOUT THE SUPPORT AND YOU DON'T GET THE OUTCOMES THAT YOU WANT.
AND SO AGAIN, YOU KNOW, SO SOME OTHER EXPERT AROUND RACIAL EQUITY SHOULD BE SUPPORT SO THAT THIS TIME COMMITMENTS ARE MADE, WE MAY SEE THE DATA BEGIN TO CHANGE.
WE'VE GOT ABOUT FOUR MORE MINUTES.
DO WE HAVE ANOTHER, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? SO THE COMMISSION GOING SHARE WITH YOU IN THOSE FOUR MINUTES, A FEW OF THE COMMENTS FROM A WORKSHOP ABSOLUTELY ADVANCE THE, UH, THE SLIDES TO WHAT PAGE WENDY, YOU CAN ADVANCE THE SLIDES TO, UM, PAGE 21.
NOW THOSE ARE THE RECOMMENDATIONS.
I WANT SOME OF THEIR RESPONSES TO THE WORKSHOP.
THERE ARE A COUPLE ON THE, ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE THAT I THINK WOULD BE IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO HEAR.
AGAIN, THESE ARE, ARE EXCERPTED FROM THE FULL REPORT, UH, PART OF A PENDENCY, UH, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT SOME OF THE FEEDBACK WE HEARD ABOUT Y UNDO HELPED US TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE TEAM WAS THINKING VERY DEEPLY ABOUT GETTING TO THE ROOT CAUSE, UNDERSTANDING IT BETTER.
UH, MAYBE I HAD BLINDERS ON, BUT I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE I WAS WORKING IN A RACIST ORGANIZATIONS, HEARING COMMENTS OVER THE LAST 12 MONTHS HAVE BEEN DISHEARTENING THAT THEY CAME IN VULNERABLE, WILLING TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RACE.
UH, THE NEXT SLIDE, I'LL JUST MOVE THROUGH THESE QUICKLY.
JOYCE, YOU WANT TO CLOSE WITH, UH, IT'S OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO CARRY OUT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES THAT ARE FAIR TO EVERYONE.
UH, I'VE SEEN PEOPLE'S SELF-ESTEEM AND CAREERS RUINED BECAUSE OF RACISM.
SO THERE IS SOME AWARENESS OF IT, EVEN IF WE DIDN'T, WE DIDN'T SEE IT IN TOTAL NUMBERS IN, UH, THE SURVEY.
UH, IF WE COULD GO THROUGH ANOTHER SLIDE OR TWO, WE ASKED THEM TO KIND OF HELP US TO UNDERSTAND BETTER.
YOU KNOW, WHAT ASPECTS OF THIS PROCESS, UM, WAS MOST HELPFUL IN FOR THEM, NOT JUST IN THE DAILY LIFE, BUT AN BOARD, THE WORK EXPERIENCE.
AND YOU CAN JUST SEE THE RANGE OF FEEDBACK THAT WE GOT.
AND LET ME JUST SAY, THIS IS FEEDBACK THAT WE GOT AT THE END OF THE TRAINING, AND WE DO THIS IMMEDIATELY AT THE END OF THE TRAINING SO THAT WE CAN CAPTURE THAT EXPERIENCE, NOT TAINTED BY, YOU KNOW, MAYBE DISCUSSION, YOU KNOW, OUTSIDE THE REALM OF THE SPACE THAT WE CREATE, UNDERSTANDING AND DISMANTLING, SYSTEMIC RACISM, UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF SYSTEMS AND OUTCOMES, AND LOOKING WITH A NEW LANDS THERE CLEARLY WASN'T THIS KIND OF INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT INSTITUTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL RACISM AND HOW IT MANIFESTS IN SYSTEMS. AND WE REALLY SAW PEOPLE GRASP THAT TO MOVE BEYOND INDIVIDUAL ACTS OF MEANNESS AND BIAS AND BIGOTRY TO BEGIN TO THINK AT A SYSTEMS LEVEL.
SO WHAT IS IT THAT THE SYSTEM WAS DOING AND CREATING OF THAT WAS CREATING THE OUTCOMES THAT THEY SAW.
THE NEXT ONE, WAIT, JOYCE, THESE WERE THOSE, UH, PRIORITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES AND MEASURABLE ACTIONS THAT WE PULLED FROM THEIR FEEDBACK IN THE EVALUATION,
[00:45:01]
WHERE THEY TALKED ABOUT WANTING TO DEVELOP AND DELIVER A CONSISTENT MESSAGE.SOMEONE TALKS ABOUT IT BEING AT THE FRONT DOOR, THAT WHEN PEOPLE ENTER APD, THEY NEED TO HEAR THE MESSAGE ABOUT CREATING THIS ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE.
THEY, THEY THOUGHT THAT THERE NEEDED TO BE THIS THOROUGH ANALYSIS OF DATA TO ENSURE THE FOCUS WAS ON THE MOST APPROPRIATE AREAS.
THEY TALKED ABOUT CADETS, BOTH THE CADETS AND THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN IN DEPARTMENT FOR YEARS ENSURE POLICING IS HANDLED BY THE LEAST INTRUSIVE MEANS.
SO VERY DEEP THINKING HERE ABOUT ENGAGING COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND MAKING SURE THAT THERE WAS ANSWER REACHES A LANGUAGE IN THE APD CORE VALUES AND PRINCIPLES TO HELP STRENGTHEN THE MISSION AND VISION.
AND THESE WERE THEIR VARIOUS WERE THEIR THOUGHTS IN A STRATEGY SESSION.
THEY WERE VERY OPEN AND VULNERABLE AND WILLING, AND IT WAS REALLY AMAZING.
BUT I WOULD EXPERIENCE TELLS US THAT THIS IS NOT SUSTAINED WITHOUT ONGOING LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT TO CONTINUE TO BUILD THE CAPACITY, TO HAVE THE LENS AND THE CONSCIOUSNESS, TO SEE RACISM AND TO PUT THE RIGHT STRATEGIES IN PLACE TO ADDRESS THEM.
BUT THERE WAS AN OPENNESS AND A READINESS AND EAGERNESS, AND THEY CAME UP WITH THESE IDEAS.
WELL, YOU KNOW, I HATE TO STOP THIS CONVERSATION BECAUSE WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS FOR THE WHOLE MEETING, PROBABLY FOR THE NEXT SESSION.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR, UH, JOINING US AGAIN, GIVING US AN OPPORTUNITY TO ASK MORE QUESTIONS.
UM, THIS IS NOT SOMETHING WE'RE GOING TO LET FALL BY THE WAYSIDE.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW UP.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
ALL RIGHT, MOVING ON TO OUR NEXT BUSINESS.
WE HAVE, UH, OUR FOLLOW-UP ACTION ITEM THAT WE HAVE TABLED LAST TIME ON THE RACIAL PROFILING REPORTS.
UM, WE HAVE A RECOMMENDATION ON FROM, UH, COMMISSIONER BURNER.
UH, CHRISTIAN, DO YOU WANT TO TAKE A SECOND TO GO OVER WHAT YOU ASSESSED US AND WHAT WE POSTED VIA EMAIL ON YOUR RECOMMENDATION THAT YOU HAVE DRAFTED? SURE.
LET ME TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT IT.
UM, ON MY MULTIPLE SCREENS, WHICH IS CONFUSING ME.
UM, SO, UH, WHAT IT BASICALLY SAYS IS THAT APD HAS COLLECTING RACIAL PROFILING DATA SINCE 2001.
UM, THROUGHOUT THAT WHOLE TIME, THE DATA HAS CONSISTENTLY SHOWN THAT, UH, BLACK AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN DRIVERS IN AUSTIN ARE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE LIKELY TO BE SEARCHED BY APD AT A VEHICLE STOP THAN WHITE AND CAUCASIAN DRIVERS, AND SIGNIFICANTLY MORE LIKELY TO BE ARRESTED.
THE 2019 DATA IN PARTICULAR SAYS THAT BLACK AFRICAN-AMERICAN DRIVERS ARE THREE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE SEARCHED AND APPROXIMATELY THREE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE ARRESTED THAN WHITE CAUCASIAN DRIVERS.
UM, AND THAT IT ALSO SPECIFICALLY POINTS OUT THAT 58% OF THE TOTAL SEARCHES OF, UM, BLACK AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN DRIVERS, UM, WERE HIGH DISCRETION SEARCHES, WHICH MEANS THAT, UH, THE POLICE DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THOSE SEARCHES.
UM, AND, AND IN COMPARISON OF THE TOTAL SEARCHES OF WHITE AND CAUCASIAN DRIVERS, UM, 34% WERE I, UH, DISCRETION SEARCHES.
UM, AND WE'RE, IT WAS A VERY MUCH SMALLER AMOUNT OF THE TOTAL SWITCHES FOR ACTUALLY CAUCASIANS SEARCHED A LOT LESS, UM, IN GENERAL, LIKE THE NUMBERS ARE JUST A LOT SMALLER.
UM, SO THE BASIC RECOMMENDATION IS THAT, UM, THE POLICE STOP REFERRING CASES.
IF THEY DO A HIGH DISCRETION SEARCH THAT THEY JUST DON'T REFER IT TO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY.
UM, BUT THEN THE RECOMMENDATION GOES ON AND I DON'T KNOW IF FOLKS THINK THIS IS SILLY, UM, BUT TO BASICALLY DEFINE HIGH DISCRETION SEARCHES, TO INCLUDE CONSENT SEARCHES AND SEARCHES CONDUCTED BECAUSE AN OFFICER BASICALLY SMELLED SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS, UM, BECAUSE WE'RE, WE'VE DECRIMINALIZED MARIJUANA, OR WE'RE NOT, I'M NOT ARRESTING PEOPLE FOR A SMALL AMOUNTS OF MARIJUANA IN AUSTIN.
SO IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO DO A SEARCH BASED ON SOMETHING SMELLING LIKE MARIJUANA.
AND THEN SECONDARILY OFFICER'S JUST STOP TAKING HIGH DISCRETION SEARCHES IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, THAT WE'RE JUST NOT GOING TO DO THAT ANYMORE BECAUSE THEY'RE ALWAYS SEARCHES FOR SMALL AMOUNTS OF DRUGS.
THAT'S WHAT THOSE SEARCHES ARE.
SO LET'S OPEN IT UP FOR DISCUSSION.
SO WE HAVE A POSSIBILITY TO, UH, TO VOTE ON THE RECOMMENDATION THAT, UH, MR. BERNARD HAS IN FRONT OF US.
IT'S BEEN SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WEBBER.
UH, I'D LIKE TO OPEN IT UP TO DISCUSSION
[00:50:02]
QUESTIONS, UH, COMMISSIONER SIERRA ANABOLIC, PLEASE.I WANTED TO GET SOME CLARIFICATION ON HOW HIGH DISCRETION SEARCH IS BEING DEFINED WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE APD STOP DATA.
BASED OFF OF THE LAST MEETING, I BELIEVE THERE WAS SOME CLARIFICATION FROM CHIEF GAY THAT HIGH DISCRETION WAS NOT EXCLUSIVELY.
THESE REASONABLE SUSPICION SEARCHES, AND I BELIEVE COMMISSIONER BERNHARD IS REFERRING TO IT.
IN FACT, INCLUDES CONSENT SEARCHES.
IT MIGHT EVEN INCLUDE PLAIN VIEW SEARCHES.
SO THE CHARACTERIZATION HERE THAT HIGH DISCRETION SEARCHES ARE SEARCHES, WHICH QUOTE DIDN'T HAVE AN OFFICER DIDN'T HAVE TO DO.
AND I WOULD LIKE CLARIFICATION FROM SOMEONE WHO KNOWS THE FORMAL DEFINITION OF HIGHTEST QUESTION SEARCH, UM, AND SHE'S GAY CAN HELP HER.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT FOR THE DATA THAT THE, UM, AUTHOR OF, UH, THE OFFICE OF POLICE OVERSIGHT COLLECTED, THEY USED A DEFINITION OF HIGH DISCRETION SEARCHES THAT THE POLICE DON'T USE.
UM, AND THAT DEFINITION INCLUDED, UM, PLAIN VIEW SEARCHES IN HIGH DISCRETION SEARCHES.
THE POLICE DON'T CONSIDER PLAIN VIEW SEARCHES TO BE HIGH DISCRETION SEARCHES.
UM, I THINK IF THE POLICE SEE SOMETHING IN PLAIN VIEW, UH, THEY'RE GONNA TAKE ACCOUNT OF IT IN EVERY CASE.
THAT'S NOT A SITUATION WHERE THEY EXERCISE A LOT OF DISCRETION.
UM, IF I'M MISUNDERSTANDING THAT THEN CHIEF GATES SHOULD DEFINITELY SPEAK.
UM, BUT YEAH, NO, I THINK YOU HAVE IT, UH, THAT WAS PRETTY CORRECT.
HE ACTUALLY WORKED WITH OPO IN THE INNOVATIONS OFFICE ON THE PARTICULAR REPORT AND, UM, CAN PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IF, IF, IF ANYONE HAS IT.
SO, UM, THIS IS, UH, JONATHAN, DR.
CREAGAN, UM, AS FAR AS THE OPO REPORT GOES, THEY USE TWO DIFFERENT CATEGORIZATIONS CATEGORIZATION CALLED LOW DISCRETION AND HIGH DISCRETION.
UM, THAT CHARACTERIZATION HAS COME OUT OF SORT OF ACADEMIC LITERATURE ON POLICING.
UM, AND YET THERE IS NO CONSENSUS AGREEMENT AS TO WHAT IS LOW AND HIGH SEARCH AND, AND, UH, HIGH DISCRETION.
AND IN FACT, IN DIFFERENT JURISDICTIONS, THESE CATEGORIES WOULD BE DIFFERENT.
UM, THEY WOULD ACTUALLY UP IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT HOW HIGH OR LOW, UH, BASED UPON STATE LAW, BASED ON LOCAL ORDINANCES AND POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.
UM, THE RATIONALE THAT WAS USED BY, BY THE AUTHORS OF THE REPORT WAS ADOPTING A SERIES OF DEFINITIONS THAT WERE MADE, THAT WERE USED BY THE URBAN INSTITUTE.
UM, AND THEY ARE PROBLEMATIC IN THAT HIGH DISCRETION IN THIS REPORT INCLUDES PROBABLE CAUSE IT INCLUDES CONSENT.
IT INCLUDES, UH, PLAIN EVIDENCE AND FRISK PERSONALITY.
AND SO THERE, THERE ARE ELEMENTS IN THAT THAT ARE PROBLEMATIC IN PARTICULAR.
UM, I DID WORK WITH LEGAL ON THIS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT UNDER STATE LAW PLAIN VIEW IS, OR IS NOT DISCRETIONARY.
AND IT'S CLOSING OUT A LEGAL AS IT IS.
ABSOLUTELY NOT WHAT THE GOVERNING, UH, LEGALITY OF IT IS GUIDED BY A STATEMENT THAT SAYS AN OFFICER SHALL NOT THAT AN OFFICER MAY.
AND SO THAT PARTICULAR CATEGORY IS ABSOLUTELY NOT HIGH DISCRETION.
UM, THE FIRST SAFETY IS BECAUSE INCLUDED IN THIS TO GENERATE THESE RATIOS IS A DIFFERENT MATTER BECAUSE IT HAS A FRISK FOR SAFETY OR A TERRI IS FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT THAN A SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE.
SO WE WE'VE DONE SOME INTERNAL ANALYSIS TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND, AND THERE ARE WAYS TO GET AT WHETHER OR NOT CHRIS FOR SAFETY ARE ACTUALLY BEING DONE IN A WAY THAT MIGHT CAUSE, CAUSE FOR CONCERN, THAT THEY'RE BEING MISUSED.
AS THAT WE HAVE DONE SOME INTERNAL ANALYSIS ON THAT.
WE ARE WORKING FURTHER WITH THAT.
NOW THE OTHER TWO CATEGORIES THERE ARE CONSENT, UM, AND PROBABLE CAUSE.
UNDERSTANDING AUSTIN CONTEXT AND HAD ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO, YOU'D HAVE SEVEN TO 800, YOU KNOW, SEVEN TO 800 CONSENT SEARCHES PER YOU IN THE 2000 TO 2010 CATEGORY.
AND CONSISTENTLY OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS, THIS NUMBER HAS GONE DOWN A YEARLY.
AND SO AS REPORTED IN THE, UH, AS REPORTED IN THE, UM, UH, I'VE HEARD ONE OF THE REPORT, UH, THAT, THAT POLICE DEPARTMENT HAD PRODUCED STARTING IN ABOUT 2014, THAT STARTS TO GO DOWN TO ABOUT 400.
I CAN TELL YOU THAT BY THESE DATA, THERE ARE ONLY 30 ACTUAL CONSENT SEARCHES IN THIS ENTIRE DATA SET.
SO THERE ARE SOME CHALLENGES HERE WITH AGGREGATING CATEGORIES TOGETHER.
THERE WERE SOME CHALLENGES WITH, UH, IN THIS REPORT ABOUT PRESENTING, UH, PERCENTAGES WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT BASE RATES.
AND SO, AND THEN, UH, SHE COULD SPEAK TO THIS IS THAT THERE'S ACTUALLY
[00:55:01]
A PROCEDURE IN PLACE WITH CONSENT SEARCHES, UM, TO PROVIDE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF, OF, UM, DEFAULT TO NOT CONDUCTING THE SEARCH.AND SO IT'S, IT'S ACTUALLY CHALLENGING FROM AN OFFICER TO AN APD TO ENGAGE IN CONSENSUS.
SO THE OTHER CATEGORIES THAT YOU HAVE THERE LEFT IS PROBABLE CAUSE IT'S NOT REASONABLE SUSPICION AS ILLEGAL IT'S PROBABLE CAUSE.
AND SO, UM, AND SO WE CAN REVISIT THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF, UH, THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF LEGAL JUSTIFICATION FOR SEARCHES, UM, PROBABLE CAUSE IS THE HIGHER STANDARD.
UM, SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU'D WANT TO THINK ABOUT AS WELL.
SO AT A MINIMUM, I WOULD RECOMMEND IT IF YOU WANT TO PURSUE THE IDEA THAT THERE SHOULD BE SOME CATEGORIES, THINGS THAT MIGHT NOT BE REFERRED TO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY, I WOULD ABSOLUTELY ADVISE AGAINST THAT, OF USING HIGH AND LOW DISCRETION.
UM, I ALSO THINK THAT IF YOU WANTED TO DO THAT, I THINK THAT ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS WOULD REALLY BE IMPORTANT AND THAT YOU'RE GETTING TO UNDERSTAND NOT JUST THE LEGAL JUSTIFICATION FOR THE SEARCH, BUT WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY, UH, RESULTING IN? SO GENERALLY SPEAKING, WHEN THIS IS LOOKED AT FROM A LEGAL SPERM ANALYSIS TO SUPPORT A LEGAL UNDERSTANDING, UM, WHAT LOOK AT IS ACTUALLY, WHAT ARE THE RATES, BUT WHAT ARE THE RATES OF IT'S REFERRED TO IN LEGAL DOCTRINE AS PRODUCTIVITY? UM, BUT WHAT IS IT ACTUALLY THAT IS BEING FOUND VIA THESE SEARCHES AND AT WHAT RANGE WE'RE FINDING GENERALLY SPEAKING, UM, ARE NOT LEGALLY TO BE, UM, TO BE, UH, AN IMPLICATE OR THEY'RE NOT TO BE BIASED AGAINST ANY PARTICULAR GROUP.
IF THE RATES BETWEEN GROUPS ARE DIFFERENT, IF THE RATES OF FINDING OF EVIDENCE AND PARTICULARLY MIGHT BE TALKING ABOUT THINGS HERE LIKE WEAPONS AND WHATNOT, WE'RE LOOKING INTO THAT VERY SUBSTANTIAL DETAILS SINCE THAT'S OBVIOUSLY A VERY IMPORTANT CATEGORY, UM, WHEN THOSE RATES ARE SETTLED AND I CAN, WE WORK THROUGH THE, UH, AUSTIN REPORT THROUGH THAT SAME DATA HERE SO THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND AND REPORT, UM, ON WHAT ARE THESE THINGS, WHAT ARE THEY FINDING AND AT WHAT RATES, UM, AND WE DO SEE, UH, WE DO SEE, ALTHOUGH WE SEE SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCES IN THE PERCENT OF STOPS THAT ARE PROBABLE CAUSE, UM, WE LOOK AT THE ACTUAL STOCKS THAT WOULD RESULT IN ARRESTS VERSUS STOCKS THAT RESULT IN FINDING THE CERTAIN KINDS OF EVIDENCE WHEN WE SEE THOSE TWO, THESE MUCH MORE BALANCED, RIGHT? SO WE DON'T SEE SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCES IN TERMS OF PROBABLE CAUSE SEARCH RESULTING IN AN ARREST.
UM, IN FACT, THE HIGHEST LIKELIHOOD OF A PROBABLE CAUSE SEARCH IS COMMUNAL CUSTODY AMONG IS AMONG WHITE MOTORISTS, WHICH ARE ARRESTED BASED UPON PROBABLE CAUSE.
WHEN WE LOOK AT BLACK AND HISPANIC MOTORISTS, 54 OR 56% AND ASIAN MOTHERS, DOC, DR.
SO I KNOW I'M PUTTING A LOT OF THINGS IN FRONT OF US THAT WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO SEE AND LOOK AT, AND THIS IS SEEMS COUNTERINTUITIVE AND COUNTER PRODUCTIVE TO WHAT WE'VE GOTTEN FROM THE OPO.
SO WE NEED TO STAY FOCUSED AND MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE RIGHT INFORMATION AND THAT WE'RE PUTTING THEM INTO OUR RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, COMMISSIONER SARAH, UH, REBOLLO IN ANOTHER WE'RE RUNNING SHORT.
SO THIS, THIS, THIS BRINGS ME TO WHAT I WAS ACTUALLY CONCERNED ABOUT WITH THE BOOK, WITH THE LANGUAGE THAT WAS PUT FORTH IN THE RECOMMENDATION.
UM, MY ASSUMPTION IS, AND I, IT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED THAT THESE CATEGORIES OF HIGH AND LOW DISCRETION ARE OVERLY BROAD AND I BELIEVE THE LANGUAGE WAS THAT ALL CONTRABAND, ANY CONTRABAND THAT WAS FOUND WOULD NOT BE RECOMMENDED TO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY.
UM, I'M NOT SURE OF THE PROPER PROTOCOL HERE, IF THE GOAL IS TO KEEP IN LINE WITH RECENT CHANGES IN AUSTIN LAW IN PRACTICE TO NOT CRIMINALIZE THE POSSESSION OF SMALL AMOUNTS OF NARCOTICS, SUCH AS MARIJUANA, SMALL AMOUNTS OF OTHER KINDS OF NARCOTICS.
AND I THINK THE RECOMMENDATION SHOULD HAVE A LANGUAGE EDITED TO SPECIFICALLY THINKING ABOUT NARCOTICS, UH, TO BE ABOUT THESE THINGS.
CURRENTLY, I BELIEVE IT TO BE A VERY OVERLY BROAD RECOMMENDATION.
UM, AS FAR AS I CAN TELL IT WOULD MEAN THAT ANY CONTRABAND, WHETHER THAT BE WEAPONS, WHETHER THAT BE LARGE AMOUNTS OF NARCOTICS, VARIOUS KINDS OF ALSO BE INCLUDED IN CHARTERS THAT WOULD NOT BE RECOMMENDED TO THE DA.
I DON'T THINK THAT THAT IS THE INTENTION.
UM, THAT WOULD BE A RECOMMENDATION THAT I WOULD PUT FORWARD TO THE COMMISSION.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT EDIT TO THE, TO THE RECOMMENDATION? I MEAN, I'M, I'M NOT SURE.
I THINK THAT, UH, IN REALITY, IN BOTH CONSENT SEARCHES AND PROBABLE CAUSE SEARCHES THAT ARE TRIGGERED BY, UH, SMELLING SOMETHING FUNKY IN THE CAR, THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE CONTRABAND IS NARCOTICS.
UM, I THINK YOU'RE RIGHT THAT OCCASIONALLY WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT A CONSENT SEARCH THAT COMES UP WITH AN ILLEGAL WEAPON.
UM, I'M, UM, I'M NOT REALLY THAT CONCERNED ABOUT IT.
MY MOTIVATION WAS BASICALLY TO CREATE AN INCENTIVE FOR THE POLICE TO STOP RACIAL PROFILING, THAT IF THEY COULD BEHAVE AND
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NOT RACIALLY PROFILE, THEN THEY GET THEIR POWER TO SEARCH BACK.UM, BECAUSE SINCE 2001, I MEAN, WE HAVE A 20 YEAR RECORD OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TARGETING AFRICAN-AMERICANS AT A RATE THREE TIMES THE CAUCASIAN POPULATION AND NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
UM, AND I, UM, I'M, I'M WILLING TO LET A HANDFUL OF CASES GO BECAUSE THE POLICE ARE NOT BEHAVING APPROPRIATELY AND THEY SHOULD, THERE SHOULD BE SOME ACCOUNTABILITY.
UM, IF TO GET THIS PROPOSAL PASSED, WE NEED TO NARROW IT.
UM, I'M OKAY WITH THAT BECAUSE I THINK THE POLICE REALLY CARE ABOUT ARRESTING PEOPLE FOR SMALL AMOUNTS OF NARCOTICS, EVEN THOUGH IT'S RIDICULOUS AND, AND DOES NOT SERVE A PUBLIC SAFETY PURPOSE.
SO, UM, SO, SO WE CAN PUT IT BACK ON THE TABLE, UNLESS THERE'S ANY OTHER DISCUSSION, I DON'T KNOW WHERE OTHER FOLKS ARE ADDING, IF THEY FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT THE GUN ISSUE.
UM, YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I WOULD LOVE TO GET.
IT'S LIKE, IF SOMEONE FEELS STRONGLY, IF SOMEONE HAS QUESTIONS, I'LL JUST MAKE A COMMENT REAL QUICK.
I MEAN, I, I WE'RE
UM, I ALSO WORRY A LITTLE BIT THAT, YOU KNOW, CURE THE OTHER SIDE WHERE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS SO GENERAL, WILL IT EVEN HAVE ANY EFFECTS? YOU KNOW, WE SEND SOMETHING AS GENERAL COUNSEL WE MAKE JUST GO RIGHT THROUGH THERE AND THEY MAY NOT DO ANYTHING.
AND SO I'M KIND OF ON THE FENCE, BUT I JUST WANT TO THROW THAT OUT THERE THAT MAYBE BY MAKING IT MORE SPECIFIC, IT WOULD STICK WELL, EVEN THOUGH I UNDERSTAND THAT THE BIGGER POINT IS MADE BY KEEPING IT GENERAL.
SO LET ME KNOW, UM, QUICK, QUICK PAUSE.
I'LL, I'LL GIVE, UH, I'LL GIVE HIM A TIME BACK UP THERE.
THANK YOU GUYS FOR BRINGING HER UP.
WONDERFUL, UH, COMMISSIONER LONDON, YOU HAD SOMETHING ELSE.
UM, JUST, I, I TOTALLY SUPPORT THE SPIRIT OF TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO, UM, MATCH THE, THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE EQUITY IN THERE WITH REGARDS TO RACIAL PROFILING.
LIKE IT NEEDS TO GO AWAY IN ORDER BEFORE WE CAN START.
SO I, I GET THE SPIRIT OF IT, BUT DEFINITELY THE LANGUAGE IS FEELING A LITTLE BROAD AND I, MYSELF DON'T FEEL, UM, EQUIPPED TO PARSE THE LANGUAGE RIGHT AT THE SECOND MUTED.
WE CAN VOTE TO, UM, IF, IF, UH, COMMISSIONER VERMONT AND COMMISSIONER WEBER, WHO ARE THE AUTHORS OF THIS, UM, RESOLUTION RECOMMENDATION, IF THEY AGREE, WE CAN VOTE, AGREE TO GET THEM TO, UH, WITH THOSE, UH, NARROWING DOWN.
AND THEN WE CAN, UM, I BELIEVE IS WHAT, AND IF YOU, IF YOU DON'T SUPPORT IT, EVEN WITH THE LIMITATIONS, YOU DON'T HAVE TO VOTE FOR IT, OBVIOUSLY.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, DISCUSSION, BEFORE WE TAKE A VOTE.
UH, WE ARE OPENING TO VOTE FOR THE RECOMMENDATION, UH, FROM, UH, COMMISSIONER
DID YOU AGREE TO NARROW THE, UH, LANGUAGE COMMISSIONER? OKAY.
UM, WE CAN NARROW THE LANGUAGE TO SEARCHES THAT RESULT IN, UM, CONTRABAND.
SO THE LANGUAGE WILL BE EDITED TO SAY, UH, SEARCHES WHERE THAT RESULT IN
IS THAT, IS THAT, IS THAT OKAY WITH EVERYBODY? SO I THOUGHT, SO THE CLARIFICATION WAS THAT IS THE, THAT IS THE OUTCOME.
SO THOSE CHARTERS HAVE NOT TO REPORT TO THE DA, I BELIEVE IS WHAT IT'S CAUSE WHAT'S HAPPENING.
THAT MEANS THAT I THINK THE LANGUAGE CAN STAY ABOUT THIS VERY DICEY, REASONABLE SUSPICION ABOUT SMELLING IS, IS ALL WELL AND GOOD.
THAT'S A THAT'S ANY ONE THAT'S ONE OF ANY NUMBER OF OFFICERS CAN SAY TO, TO ENABLE A THEN LEGAL STOP.
UM, WHAT IS THE LANGUAGE AROUND? WHAT KIND OF STOPS ARE, SAY WHAT KINDS OF SEARCHES? UM, IF WE'RE KEEPING WITH THE OPO DEFINITION THAT HIGH DISCRETION ENCOMPASSES BASICALLY ALMOST EVERY KIND OF SEARCH THAT YOU CAN DO.
IT INCLUDES PROBABLE CONSENT, SORRY, PROBABLE CAUSE CONSENT PLAINVIEW AND TERRY FOR RISKS THAT WOULD EFFECTIVELY TAKE AWAY ANY ABILITY FOR POLICE TO DO ANY
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KIND OF INVESTIGATORY SEARCH.UM, SO IF THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT SPECIFICALLY DOING AWAY WITH THE SMELLS, I HAVE NO ISSUE AT ALL.
WITH THAT, THAT SEEMS VERY SPECIFIC AND DOABLE.
UM, I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE SPECIFICITY IS.
THAT'S REQUIRED TO NOT MAKE THE H DO AWAY WITH EFFECTIVELY, ALMOST ALL KINDS OF SEARCHES.
SO IT HAS A DEFINITION IN THE RECOMMENDATION AND THE DEFINITION IN THE RECOMMENDATION IS CONSENT SEARCHES AND SEARCHES CONDUCTED BECAUSE THE OFFICER SMELLS MARIJUANA OR SMELL SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS.
SO IT, IT ATTEMPTS TO SORT OF CREATE ITS OWN DEFINITION.
SO THE DEFINITION OF HIGH DISCRETION IS IN THE RECOMMENDATION AND WE WILL, UH, COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT AGREES TO SAY, UH, SEARCHES WHERE A CONTRABAND, THAT IS A NARCOTIC SPECIFICALLY.
IF WE ARE IN AGREEMENT, WE WILL TAKE A VOTE ON THAT.
SO WE WILL START, UH, WITH, UH, COMMISSIONER SIERRA ARE INVOLVED.
IT WAS, UH, WHATEVER TURNS ALL AS I SUPPORT.
IT'S PASSED UNANIMOUSLY CHAIR, CHAIR.
PARDON? INTERRUPTION, COMMISSIONER.
WEBER'S NOT ELIGIBLE TO VOTE TODAY.
SHE SIGNED IN AS PARTICIPANT, UM, BECAUSE SHE WASN'T ABLE TO JOIN THE MEETING AFTER 30 MINUTES.
SO, SO SHE'S PARTICIPATING, BUT NOT AS A COMMISSIONER RIGHT NOW.
THE MOTION STILL PASSES FOR THE RECOMMENDATION.
UH, COMMISSIONER BARNHART, ADD WEBER.
A FEW GUYS CAN WORK ON THE UPDATED LANGUAGE AND GET THAT SENT BACK TO US.
[3.b. Discuss and provide input on resolution supporting City of Austin’s Agenda for 87th Legislative Session (sponsors: Commissioner Webber and Gonzales) 4:30pm -4:40pm ]
THE NATURE OF OUR NEXT, UH, I DON'T WANT NEW BUSINESS, SO, UH, WE HAVE THE, UH, THREE B DISCUSS AND PROVIDE INPUT ON RESOLUTION SUPPORTING CITIES OF AUSTIN'S AGENDA FOR 87 LEGISLATIVE SESSION.UH, DO WE HAVE MS. FRANCO ONLINE? NOPE, WE DO NOT HAVE, UM, MS. FRANKEL ON THE LINE.
NEXT WE I'M SORRY, KATHLEEN, YOU MISSED THAT.
WE MOVED IT TO THE END BECAUSE WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION ON THESE TWO SPECIFICALLY.
YOU MISS OUT AT THE TOP OF THE MEETING.
UM, WE CAN, I MEAN, WE HAVE THE RESOLUTION THAT WAS GIVEN TO US.
UM, MS. JACKSON, CAN WE JUST MOVE FORWARD WITH, UM, APPROVING THE LANGUAGE IF EVEN THOUGH MS. FRANCO IS NOT HERE? OF COURSE, IF THE BOARD IS COMFORTABLE AND WANTS TO TAKE A VOTE ON THAT RESOLUTION, UH, YOU CAN DO THAT AND FORWARD THE RESULTS TO MS. FRANKEL'S OFFICE.
SO, UM, THERE'S NOT A RESOLUTION NUMBER, BUT MS. FRANCO DID FORWARD US THE RESOLUTION, UM, UM, THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND OUR LEGISLATIVE ISSUES.
UM, I GUESS I COULD READ THAT OUT OR WE CAN TOLERATE THE, THE, UH, WHEREAS ON THE BOTTOM.
WE'RE GOING TO BRING UP A COPY OF THE RESOLUTION.
I'M NOT GOING TO GO THROUGH ALL THE, WHEREAS WE HAD A PRESENTATION FROM MS. FRANCO.
THAT WAS THE MONTH I WAS OUT, BUT LET'S GO DOWN TO THE BOTTOM.
AND WHAT THEY'RE ASKING OF US IS, UH, OBVIOUSLY THE BLANK WOULD BE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION.
SO, UH, THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN HEREBY ADOPTS THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION THAT WE ENDORSED THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S 20, 20 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL ON SEPTEMBER 17TH, THAT WE BELIEVE THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE POLICY AND POSITION STATEMENT CONTAINED IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN STATE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA CAPTURES THE POSITIONS OF ITS MEMBERS AND THE COMMUNITY.
IT REPRESENTS THAT WE, THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION URGES ALL AUSTIN DELEGATION MEMBERS OF THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE TO PROTECT THE CITY'S RIGHT TO EFFECTIVELY REPRESENT THE TAXPAYERS AND CONTINUE TO AMPLIFY THEIR COLLECTIVE VOICES THROUGH ADVOCACY AT THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE.
AND FINALLY, THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION STRONGLY SUPPORTS THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S ENGAGEMENT OF AND FUNDING FOR A COMMUNITY ADVOCACY TEAM TO ASSIST THE CITY IN ADVOCATING FOR AND PROTECTING AUSTIN'S VISION AND POSITION AT THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE.
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AND I'M SORRY, I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS AS THEY'RE OUT HERE.DO WE HAVE ANY DISCUSSION ON THIS RESOLUTION? RIGHT? NO DISCUSSIONS, NO QUESTIONS.
THEN LET'S TAKE A VOTE ON THE RESOLUTION.
SO LET'S START AGAIN WITH COMMISSIONER
COMMISSIONER BERNARD, UH, MOTION.
UH, AND I MYSELF WILL, UH, VOTE.
THE RESOLUTION HAS PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION AT ONE PARTICIPATION VOTE.
[3.c. Provide feedback on the report responsive to Council Resolution No. 20190619-092, which highlights gaps and areas of improvements of mental health services for public safety first responders. (sponsors: Commissioner Gonzales and Webber) 4:40pm-4:55pm ]
NEXT, UH, THREE B UM, 33 C UH, PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON THE REPORT, RESPONSIVE TO CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION NUMBER ZERO 19, WHICH HIGHLIGHTS GAPS AND AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR PUBLIC SAFETY.FIRST RESPONDERS AND PATRICIA AIN IS HERE TO TAKE US THROUGH THAT.
UM, WE DO HAVE A PRESENTATION IF WE COULD PULL THAT UP AT THIS TIME.
THANK YOU SO GOOD AFTERNOON, COMMISSIONERS.
WE WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO BRIEF YOU ON THIS COUNCIL RESOLUTION, WHICH HIGHLIGHTS MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR OUR FIRST RESPONDERS.
MY NAME IS PATRICIA
JOINING ME TODAY FOR THIS BRIEFING IS AFDS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, DR.
RANELL PAULSON AND APDS HEALTH AND WELLNESS DIRECTOR, RICK RANDALL.
WE ALSO HAVE ON THE LINE OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY CHIEF OF STAFFS FOR EACH DEPARTMENT, WE'RE GOING TO PROVIDE YOU SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT THE RESOLUTION AND AN OVERVIEW OF CURRENT OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO PERSONNEL AND THE GAPS AND IMPROVEMENTS IDENTIFIED DURING THE PROCESS.
AND DO 2019 COUNCIL PASSED A RESOLUTION, DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT, OUTLINING KEY INFORMATION RELATED TO THE CITY'S MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR OUR FIRST RESPONDERS.
IT ALSO TOUCHES, UM, ON PRIVACY MEASURES, BEST PRACTICES, AND ALSO WILL SHED LIGHT ON AREAS WHERE THE CITY NEEDS TO IMPROVE UPON.
IN ORDER TO DEVELOP THIS REPORT, WE ARE TO RECEIVE INPUT FROM SEVERAL DIFFERENT STATE STAKEHOLDERS.
I DO WANT TO NOTE THAT DUE TO SOME STAFF TURNOVER IN THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, UM, AND OUR FOCUS SHIFTING HEAVILY TO THE COVID PANDEMIC LAST YEAR, THERE WAS A DELAY IN THE COORDINATION OR DEVELOPING THIS REPORT.
SO STARTING THIS PAST FALL, UM, WE BEGAN REACHING OUT TO THE CITY'S CORPORATE HR DEPARTMENT, THE PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENTS AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS, AND OUR FIRST RESPONDERS FOR INPUT ON JANUARY 12TH, WE HELD AN INPUT SESSION TO GAIN ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK, SPECIFICALLY FOCUSING ON RECEIVING INPUT FROM OUR FIRST RESPONDERS AND STAFF PSYCHOLOGISTS.
THIS FEEDBACK GAIN DURING THIS INPUT SESSION WAS EXTREMELY HELPFUL IN SHAPING THE REPORTS RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WAS SUBMITTED TO YOUR COMMISSION LAST WEEK, THE RESOLUTION ALSO CALLED FOR THE CITY TO RECEIVE INPUT FROM OUTSIDE AGENCIES, SUCH AS THE CAPITAL AREA COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS AND THE DON'T MEDICAL SCHOOL.
AND WE HAVE REACHED OUT TO BOTH AGENCIES AND ANTICIPATE RECEIVING FEEDBACK FROM THEM.
THE RESOLUTION FURTHER OUTLINE THAT WE GAIN INPUT FROM YOUR COMMISSION, THE AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY EMS ADVISORY BOARD, THE PUBLIC SAFETY CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, AND THE CITY AUDITOR ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER.
RAY, ARIANO SHARED THE REPORT WITH YOUR COMMISSION FOR YOUR REVIEW.
AND WE ASK THAT AS YOU REVIEW THE REPORT AND LISTEN TO THE OVERVIEW THAT RICK AND DR.
PAULSON PROVIDE TODAY, THAT YOU BE THINKING OF ANY AREAS WE MAY HAVE MISSED.
SO NOW, UM, WITH NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, I'M GOING TO HAND OVER THE PRESENTATION TO RICK RANDALL AND DR.
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THANK YOU, PATRICIA.UM, SO JUST TO TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT, UM, OUR CURRENT, UM, OFFERINGS IN TERMS OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, UH, UH, AND ASSETS FOR OUR EMPLOYEES, AND THEN I'M GOING TO PASS THE BATON TO DR.
UM, IF YOU'LL NOTICE THAT WE TALKED FIRST OF ALL, ABOUT THE WELLNESS CENTER AND JUST AS A QUICK REMINDER, UH, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND EMS HAD A COLLABORATIVE ARRANGEMENT FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, UH, TO, FOR PUBLIC SAFETY WELLNESS, AND ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, APD JOINED IN FIRST IN A CONVERSATION, BUT THEN STARTING TO BRING RESOURCES AND ASSETS INTO THAT RELATIONSHIP AS WELL.
AND I WILL TELL YOU, IT WAS FORTUITOUS THAT WE DID BECAUSE HAVING TRANSFERRING OUR MEDICAL HEALTH RESOURCES OVER TO THE PUBLIC SAFETY WELLNESS CENTER HAS ENABLED OUR MEDICAL STAFF TO BE ABLE TO BOTH TAKE CARE OF, UH, TESTING.
AND NOW VACCINATING OUR, UH, EMPLOYEES FROM ALL THREE AGENCIES.
AND WE COULDN'T HAVE RAMPED THAT UP, UM, THAT FAST.
SO, UH, THE WELLNESS CENTER AT IS ABSOLUTELY AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS CERTAINLY COME.
AND THE W FROM HERE MOVING FORWARD, WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS, IS, UH, IMPLEMENT MORE FULLY THAT THIS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OUR THREE AGENCIES, SO THAT SOME OF THE RESOURCES THAT YOU SEE SEPARATED OUT HERE WILL ACTUALLY BE CONSOLIDATED TO WORK BETTER TOGETHER AT THE WELLNESS CENTER, WE HAVE A WEBSITE, UH, THAT DOES, UM, FEATURE, UH, RESOURCES FOR, UH, FOR ALL KINDS OF HEALTH ISSUES, UH, AND CONCERNS, MENTAL HEALTH, PHYSICAL HEALTH.
UH, UNFORTUNATELY THE WEBSITE IS A LITTLE BIT ANTIQUATED AND NEEDS TO BE UPDATED.
UH, BUT THAT THOSE RESOURCES ARE STILL THERE.
UH, WE HAVE AMONG OUR THREE AGENCIES, WE DO HAVE A CADRE OF CHAPLAINS.
WE HAVE A CORE, UH, 12 CHAPLAINS THAT WORK WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
WE HAVE THREE CHAPLAINS THAT WORK WITH THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND, UH, CURRENTLY APD SUPPORTS EMS FOR CHAPLAIN SERVICES.
UM, AND THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT WHEN YOU'RE DEALING WITH MORAL TRAUMA, UH, THAT IN FACT, ALL THREE OF THESE AGENCIES, THE EMPLOYEES HAVE TO GO THROUGH, UH, WE HAVE A FIRST RESPONDER MENTAL HEALTH BRAND THROUGH, UH, THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT, BUT WE HAVE OPENED THAT UP AND MADE THAT ASSET, THAT RESOURCE AVAILABLE TO EMPLOYEES FROM ALL THREE AGENCIES AND ANY FIRST RESPONDER, ANY EMPLOYEE OF OUR AGENCIES CAN GO THROUGH A PROCESS.
AND, UH, IF THEY WANT MENTAL HEALTH CARE, THEY CAN GET SUPPLIED TO, UH, THEY CAN GET CONNECTED WITH A THERAPIST AND GET UP TO 17 SESSIONS AT NO CHARGE.
IT'S A STATE GRANT IT'S DONE COMPLETELY INDEPENDENTLY OF ANY OF OUR ORGANIZATIONS.
SO THERE'S NO TRACKING OF THE EMPLOYEE AND WHAT CARE THAT THEY RECEIVED.
ALL THREE AGENCIES HAVE PEER SUPPORT PROGRAMS OF VARYING VARYING DEGREES OF, OF ROBUSTNESS.
UH, AND, UH, AT APG WE HAVE FIVE FULL-TIME PEOPLE IN THAT PEER SUPPORT ROLE.
AND CERTAINLY ALL THREE OF OUR AGENCIES HAVE SEEN THAT PEER SUPPORT IS A VERY VALUABLE ASSET FOR OUR EMPLOYEES AND ALL THREE AGENCIES DO CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS DEBRIEF.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, THE SHOOTING, THE MURDER SUICIDE AT THE PEDIATRICIAN'S OFFICE, UM, SPARKED CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS DEBRIEFS FOR EVERYONE WHO RESPONDED AND THE COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS THAT WERE ON THE CALL AND THE FORENSICS TEAM THAT SHOWED UP BECAUSE IT WAS A PRETTY HORRIFIC SCENE.
AND WE DO THAT ROUTINELY, ALL THREE AGENCIES DO THAT ROUTINELY FOR DIFFICULT CALLS, UH, BREAKING IT DOWN JUST REALLY QUICKLY IN THE THREE SPECIFIC AGENCIES, AUSTIN FIRE FOR MENTAL HEALTH CARE HAS TWO FULL-TIME PSYCHOLOGISTS, UM, DR.
BUTLER WHO PROVIDE, UH, SERVICES THAT OBVIOUSLY THESE ARE FREE OF CHARGE, BUT THEY PROVIDE, UH, SERVICES, UH, MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES TO THE EMPLOYEES.
AND THEY DO TEACHING IN THE ACADEMY, SUPPLYING TRAINING ABOUT SUICIDE PREVENTION, UH, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, UH, STRESS MANAGEMENT, THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.
AND THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
WE ALSO HAVE TWO FULL-TIME PSYCHOLOGISTS WHO DO VERY SIMILAR THINGS TO WHAT DR.
AND IN ADDITION, WE HAVE THE WELLNESS BUREAU AND, UH, WE'RE ABOUT TO ACTIVATE AN, A PHONE APP FOR ALL OF OUR EMPLOYEES WHERE THEY CAN ACCESS WELLNESS RESOURCES DIRECTLY BY THEIR PHONE, UH, IN AN ANONYMOUS WAY.
UM, THEN WE HAVE AT APD, WE HAVE FOCUSED A GREAT DEAL OF, UH, ENERGY AND RESOURCES ON THE EMDR, WHICH IS THE STATE
[01:20:01]
OF THE ART, UH, THERAPY FOR DEALING WITH TRAUMA, UM, AND, UH, BRAIN TRAUMA.AND SO, UH, THAT, THAT IS, UH, AN ASSET FOR US IN BOTH OF OUR PSYCHOLOGISTS.
AND WE HAVE A GRANT THERAPISTS THAT HAVE ALL BEEN TRAINED IN EMDR THERAPY AND SUPPLY THAT, UM, REGULARLY, UM, EMS HAS A CONTRACT WITH A PSYCHOLOGIST, UH, THAT SUPPLIES THEIR PEER SUPPORT TRAINING THEY'RE CRITICAL INCIDENT, STRESS DEBRIEFING, AND DOES PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT FOR EMS EMPLOYEES WHO NEED IT.
NOW, LET ME BACK UP A LITTLE BIT AND SAY THAT BECAUSE OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY WELLNESS CENTER, WE HAVE EMPLOYEES THAT WILL CROSS LINE.
SO YOU'LL HAVE FIRE EMPLOYEES WHO ARE SEEING APD PSYCHOLOGISTS OR APD EMPLOYEES WHO ARE SEEING FIRE PSYCHOLOGISTS.
WE ALLOW THEM TO HAVE THAT FREEDOM TO CHOOSE A THERAPIST BECAUSE FINDING A THERAPIST IS MORE A MATTER OF WHO YOU FIT WITH AND WHAT A PARTICULAR PATCH THEY MAY BE WEARING.
UH, IN ADDITION TO ALL THESE THINGS, WE HAVE THE MEDICAL, OF COURSE, WE HAVE THE BLUE CROSS MEDICAL PLAN THAT THE CITY PROVIDES FOR OUR EMPLOYEES.
AND YOU GET A NUMBER OF, UH, SESSIONS IF YOU HAVE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES THROUGH THAT, WE HAVE THE EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
AND, UH, THEN THERE'S, UH, WE HAVE A PROGRAM AVAILABLE THROUGH THE CITY, UM, FOR IF OUR EMS HAS A PROGRAM THAT'S AVAILABLE.
IF A PERSON, FOR EXAMPLE, NEEDS A RIDE, UM, BECAUSE THEY, UH, WERE OUT PARTYING OR WHATEVER.
SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE PUT IN THE AWKWARD POSITION OF, UH, OF TRYING TO DRIVE HOME.
APD HAS A SIMILAR PROGRAM THROUGH OUR ASSOCIATION.
NOW THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE IN PLACE.
UM, BUT WE HAVE IDENTIFIED THAT THERE ARE SOME AREAS OF NEED, AND THESE HAVE BEEN EXPRESSED NOT JUST BY OUR LEADERSHIP, BUT BY THE HEADS OF OUR VARIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.
PAULSON, UH, RUN WITH THE BATON FROM THIS POINT.
SO LET ME CLARIFY JUST A LITTLE BIT.
THE REASON RICK AND I WERE ASKED TO SPEAK TO YOU IS THAT, UM, THE WELLNESS CENTER ACTUALLY HAS A GOVERNANCE BOARD AND ON THAT GOVERNANCE SPORTS, IT'S THREE REPRESENTATIVES OF LABOR AND THREE REPRESENTATIVES OF MANAGEMENT.
AND RICK CURRENTLY IS A MANAGEMENT REPRESENTATIVE WHO ALSO SERVES AS THE CHAIR OF THAT GOVERNING BOARD.
UM, SO HE WAS PRESIDENT AND PRESENT NATURALLY WHILE WE WERE DOING THOSE INPUT SESSIONS, I'VE BEEN FUNCTIONING AS SORT OF A FACILITATOR FOR THAT GOVERNING BOARD AND THEN WAS ASKED TO HELP WITH THE JANUARY MEETING, UM, TO GATHER INPUT.
SO THOSE ARE OUR ROLES WITH ALL OF THIS.
ONE OTHER POINT OF CLARIFICATION IS THAT EMS HELPS TO PAY FOR THOSE TWO PSYCHOLOGISTS THAT ARE ACTUALLY, THAT ARE, UH, FIRE EMPLOYEES, BUT EMS, UM, PAYS A PORTION OF THEIR SALARY BACK TO US, AND THEY DO, UM, PROVIDE SERVICES TO EMS EMPLOYEES IN ADDITION TO THE CONTRACT THAT THEY HAVE THAT I'LL GET TO IN JUST A MINUTE.
SO WE ACTUALLY THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE MORE EFFICIENT TO SKIP OVER THE GAPS AND GO STRAIGHT TO THE IMPROVEMENTS.
YOU CAN SEE THOSE GAPS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED WITH OUR INPUT SESSIONS AND WITH THE INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS THAT PATRICIA CONDUCTED WITH VARIOUS PEOPLE.
UM, AND, AND THEY DEFINITELY HAVE A CORRELATION, A ONE-TO-ONE CORRELATION WITH THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'D LIKE TO SUGGEST THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT IMPROVEMENT THAT ALL THREE DEPARTMENTS AGREE UPON IS THAT THERE IS A LACK OF PSYCHIATRIC PSYCHE.
WE NEED A PSYCHIATRIST, UM, TO WORK WITH THE PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEES.
IT TURNS OUT IN THE AUSTIN AREA, PSYCHIATRISTS ARE IN SHORT DEMAND AND THEY DON'T TAKE WORKERS' COMP.
UM, FOR THE MOST PART, THEY DON'T HAVE TO, THEY'RE, THEY'RE KIND OF A RARE, A RARE RESOURCE.
UM, SO WHAT WE'D LIKE TO PROPOSE IS SOME SORT OF A FUND TO BE ABLE TO RETAKE CHEAPER A PSYCHIATRIST SORT OF ON A RETAINER OR, UM, TO, UH, PRODUCE A SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH SOME GROUP OF PSYCHIATRISTS, UH, POTENTIALLY, UM, WE'VE GOT SOME LEADS WITH DELL, UH, THE DELL MEDICAL SCHOOL AND ALL THAT.
WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO, TO ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP THERE.
UM, AS YOU KNOW, THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGISTS AND PSYCHIATRISTS IN TERMS OF THE SERVICES THAT THEY CAN PROVIDE.
AND, UM, WHILE IT IS NOT NEEDED A LOT WITH THE PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENTS, UM, IT IS NEEDED PERIODICALLY.
AND SO IT'S A GAP, A BIG GAP THAT WE NEED TO RESPOND TO.
UM, THE OTHER THING THAT'S SORT OF A BLEND BETWEEN, UM, OUR RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE AND OUR COVERAGE FROM EITHER WORKER'S COMP OR FOR MEDICAL, UH, COVERAGE, IS THE NEED TO WHEN SOMEBODY NEEDS TO GO INTO REHAB FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE.
UM, AND AS YOU MIGHT GUESS, UH, INPATIENT REHAB FOR ALCOHOL TREATMENT OR OTHER SUBSTANCE ABUSE IS VERY EXPENSIVE.
UM, WHILE WE CAN GET THE INSURANCE TO COVER PART OF IT, OFTENTIMES, UH, FIRST RESPONDERS LIKE OTHER CITY EMPLOYEES
[01:25:01]
ARE LEFT, UM, TRYING TO DEAL WITH A FAIRLY LARGE, UH, UH, DEBT AFTER GOING THROUGH THAT SORT OF REHAB.AND SO IF THERE WAS A WAY FOR US TO BE ABLE TO SUPPLEMENT, UM, WHAT, WHAT THE INSURANCE PAYS FOR WITH SOME SORT OF A FUND THAT'S ALSO BEING REQUESTED, UH, WE NEED TO, UH, ESTABLISH SOME SORT OF PROTOCOL FOR MENTAL HEALTH DAYS.
AS WE TALKED ACROSS THE THREE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS, ALL THREE TREAT A MENTAL HEALTH DAY.
WHEN, WHEN, WHEN EMPLOYEE, AN EMPLOYEE JUST NEEDS TO DECOMPRESS FROM THE STRESS FROM THE VICARIOUS TRAUMA.
UM, IN SOME DEPARTMENTS IT'S DECLARED A SICK DAY AND ANOTHER DEPARTMENT, IT MIGHT BE DECLARED A VACATION DAY AND THERE COULD BE SOME, UM, SOME DIFFICULTY IN OBTAINING THAT AS A, AS A, UH, AS A BENEFIT, UM, WHEN, WHEN THERE ARE SHORTAGES OF STAFF, UM, IT SEEMS LIKE SOMETIMES IT'S INTERPRETED AS A LUXURY RATHER THAN A NECESSITY.
AND ALL THREE DEPARTMENTS DESCRIBED THAT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN EMPLOYEES ARE UNDER SUCH STRESS, THAT IT IS NOT, IT IS NO LONGER A, UH, A, UH, A LUXURY, UH, THAT NEEDS TO BE SOME MECHANISM TO KICK IN, TO ALLOW THEM TO TAKE THAT DAY TO DECOMPRESS.
THE THIRD BULLET OVER UNDERNEATH THE IMPROVEMENTS IS THAT WE NEED SOME SPECIALIZED TRAINING.
UM, UH, IT'S IT WAS EMPHASIZED FOR LEADERSHIP IN TERMS OF HOW TO HANDLE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, AND THAT REFLECTS BACK ON THAT PROTOCOL FOR MENTAL HEALTH DAYS.
UM, BUT IT'S ALSO FOR THE FIRST RESPONDERS THEMSELVES.
UM, IT'S A, IT'S A FIRING MEDICINE AND POLICE ARE OBVIOUSLY A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT ALWAYS, UM, OPEN TO, UH, EXHIBITING OR ASKING FOR HELP AND TALKING ABOUT THESE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES.
AND SO THE SORT OF TRAINING THAT WE MIGHT NEED, UM, COULD BE ALONG THE LINES OF HOW DO IDENTIFY SOMEONE WHO COULD BE EXHIBITING SORT OF SUBTLE, UM, SYMPTOMS OF BEING, UM, BEING SUICIDAL OR HAVING SOME KIND OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROBLEM.
UM, BUT IT COULD BE MORE SPECIFIC.
WE, WE HAD A CONVERSATION THIS GOES INTO THE NEXT BULLET, UM, THAT EVEN OUR PSYCHOLOGISTS HAVEN'T BEEN TRAINED, PARTICULARLY IN THE AREA OF SOCIAL JUSTICE, INFORMED MENTAL HEALTH CARE.
UM, WHEN THE PSYCHOLOGISTS I'LL GO TO SCHOOL THERE, THEY'RE LEARNING, LEARNING THE BASICS WELL, WELL, THE WORLD HAS CHANGED AND WE NOW KNOW THAT THERE'S A LENCH LENS, AN EQUITY LENS THAT, UH, THINGS LIKE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES NEED TO BE SEEN THROUGH.
AND THEY WOULD LIKE SOME, SOME TRAINING WITH REGARD TO THAT, SO THEY COULD APPLY IT TO WHAT THEY DO AND WHAT THE PEOPLE THEY WORK WITH, UM, HOW THEY INTERACT WITH THE PEOPLE THEY WORK WITH AND THE PEER SUPPORT OR THE CHAPLAINS GROUP.
UM, SO THAT'S OUR FOURTH BULLET.
UM, LET ME STOP THERE AND SEE IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THOSE.
WELL, LET ME DO A COUPLE MORE AND THEN WE'LL KIND OF TAKE A, TAKE A BREAK, SEE IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS OF US.
UM, THERE'S SOME SPECIFIC NEED FOR A COUPLE OF FTES, THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH COMPONENT AT THE WELLNESS CENTER.
AND WE'RE TRYING TO PULL IN THE PSYCHOLOGISTS FROM, FROM POLICE A LITTLE BIT MORE TO, UM, THAT BEHAVIORAL SUPPORT OR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH COMPONENT DOESN'T HAVE ANY ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.
DOESN'T HAVE ANYONE TO DO PROGRAM COORDINATION, JUST THE BARE BONES OF GETTING THINGS SCHEDULED AND GETTING PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME.
UM, SO WE ARE GOING TO BE ASKING IN THE NEXT BUDGET FOR TWO FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES RELATED TO THOSE KINDS OF ACTIVITIES.
UM, AND THEN AN ADDITIONAL FUNDING.
ALSO, WE'LL BE PUTTING INTO OUR BUDGET REQUESTS, ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR PEER SUPPORT FOR, UH, UH, ACTIVITIES IT'S BEEN SUGGESTED, FOR EXAMPLE, FROM EMS THAT, UH, WE, WE NEED TO HAVE PENS FOR ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE OUR PEER SUPPORT COUNSELORS.
UM, SO THAT THEY'RE EASILY IDENTIFIED OUT IN THE FIELD.
IT'S A SIMPLE THING TO BUY A PIN, UM, BUT IT MEANS A LOT TO THE PERSON WHO'S HAD ALL THIS TRAINING TO BE IN PEER SUPPORT, AND IT WILL HELP WITH THAT IDENTIFICATION ON A VERY SUBTLE SORT OF INTERACTION BETWEEN GETTING HELP AND BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE HELP BECAUSE OF TRAINING.
LET ME STOP AFTER THOSE FEW AND SEE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THOSE PARTICULAR REQUESTS AND ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSIONERS.
UM, I HAVE A GENERAL QUESTION.
I WAS WONDERING IF, UM, ANY, UH, EMPLOYEES ARE STILL WELCOME TO SEEK, UM, COUNSELING OR PSYCHIATRY OR PSYCHOLOGY SERVICES THROUGH THEIR HEALTH PLAN.
IN ADDITION TO THE ONES THAT ARE THEY, THEY ARE CERTAINLY, UM, ENCOURAGED TO SEEK IT THROUGH THAT MORE INDEPENDENT SOURCE.
BUT WHAT WE FIND IS THAT, UM, PSYCHOLOGISTS AND COUNSELORS, UM, WHO HAVE NOT WORKED WITH THE PA WITH FIRST RESPONDERS AS A, AS A GENERAL SORT OF POPULAR AS A, AS A GROUP, OFTENTIMES ARE MODEST, UM, SENSITIVE TO SOME OF THE NUANCES OF THE STRESSES THAT THEY'RE UNDER.
SO HAVING SPECIALISTS WITHIN THE WELLNESS CENTER WHO HAVE A BACKGROUND IN, UM,
[01:30:01]
WHAT'S GOING ON WITH FIRST RESPONDERS, UM, ARE SOUGHT OUT MORE OFTEN THAN GOING TO A, AN INDEPENDENT.NOW THERE ARE TIMES, ESPECIALLY WITH THINGS LIKE FAMILY COUNSELING, UM, THAT, THAT OUR FOLKS WILL GO TO AN OUTSIDE COUNSELOR, UM, JUST BECAUSE OF THE ANONYMITY OF IT.
UM, BUT IT'S THAT, IT'S THAT SORT OF, UM, BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN WANTING SOMEBODY WHO UNDERSTANDS YOUR JOB AND WANTING TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S, UM, IT'S FAIRLY ANONYMOUS AND ANOTHER OF THE BULLETS, THE ONE AT THE VERY BOTTOM, LET ME GO AHEAD AND REFERENCE THAT RIGHT NOW.
THERE'S ALWAYS A DISTRUST ABOUT HAVING WELLNESS SERVICES, BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES IN A WELLNESS CENTER, AND THAT DISTRESSED, UM, NEEDS TO BE OVERCOME THROUGH A VARIETY OF MEANS MOSTLY IT'S WORD OF MOUTH AS THEY DESCRIBE HOW THEIR EXPERIENCES WITH THE PSYCHOLOGISTS HAD BEEN GOOD, OR WITH PEER SUPPORT HAS BEEN GOOD, THAT GETS OUT THERE.
UM, BUT THIS GROUP ALSO THOUGHT IT'D BE IMPORTANT TO, TO ISSUE A JOINT STATEMENT, UM, NOT JUST FROM THE DEPARTMENT LEADERSHIP AND THE ASSOCIATIONS, BUT ALSO FROM CITY LEADERSHIP, THAT INFORMATION THAT'S, THAT'S IDENTIFIED DURING, UM, COUNSELING SESSIONS, WON'T BE USED AGAINST THE FIRST RESPONDERS, UNLESS IT IS, UM, BECAUSE SOMEONE'S IN DANGER TO THEMSELVES OR OTHERS.
UM, BUT, BUT JUST THE BASICS OF, UH, OF, YOU KNOW, DAY TO DAY HEALTH ISSUES, UM, THAT IT, THAT IT WOULD BE PRIVATE INFORMATION FOR THEM THE WAY IT IS FOR ALL OTHER, UH, CITY EMPLOYEES.
UM, SO THAT'S ACTUALLY THE LAST BULLET IN OUR LIST.
THEY WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE THERAPY ISN'T GOING TO HAVE NEGATIVITY NEGATIVE REPERCUSSIONS FOR THEIR CAREER.
UM, SO I HOPE THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION.
DID YOU HAVE ANY YEAH, KIND OF RELATES FOR SURE.
IT'S JUST MAKING SURE THAT THEIR PRIVACY IS, THEY SEE THESE SERVICES.
AND, UM, I THINK ALSO IF YOU COULD QUICKLY RECAP JUST, UM, WHAT ACTIVITIES THE PEER SUPPORT, UM, SERVICES DO, PEER SUPPORT ARE LITERALLY PEERS.
THEY'RE THE OTHER FIREFIGHTERS THEY'RE CIVILIANS WITHIN THE THREE DEPARTMENTS ALSO.
AND SO, UM, THINGS LIKE, UM, LIKE FAMILY MATTERS, YOU KNOW, YOU GOT A TEENAGE KID THAT'S ACTING OUT AND YOU'RE JUST NOT SURE WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.
AND IT'S STRESSING YOU OUT AT WORK TOO.
YOU MAY SEEK OUT ANOTHER PEER WHO HAS EXPERIENCED MAYBE KIDS A LITTLE BIT OLDER, UM, JUST TO TALK IT THROUGH AND THEY RECEIVE SPECIALIZED TRAINING.
SO THEY KNOW WHEN IT'S JUST TALKING IT THROUGH LIKE A MENTOR AND WORK IT'S CROSSED OVER TO BEING A PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUE OR, UM, AGAIN, IF THEY ARE A DANGER TO THEMSELVES OR TO OTHERS.
SO, UH, THEY'RE NOT JUST PEERS, THEIR PEERS WITH TRAINING ON HOW TO, UM, MAKE THAT A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP.
IF I COULD ADD ONE THING TO THAT ON, UH, WHEN WE HAVE, UH, AN EMPLOYEE WHO'S GOING THROUGH A PARTICULAR ISSUE THAT WE'VE BECOME AWARE OF, FOR EXAMPLE, WE HAD AN EMPLOYEE WHO LOST THEIR, THEIR CHILD, AND WE'VE GOT A PEER SUPPORT PERSON WHO'S BEEN THROUGH THAT SIMILAR EXPERIENCE.
WE PUT THOSE TWO TOGETHER, UH, EVEN IF THEY DON'T NORMALLY WORK TOGETHER BECAUSE WE THINK THAT'S A VERY HELPFUL JOURNEY, UH, TO ENCOURAGE.
SO IN THAT WAY, OUR PEER SUPPORTS BECOME ALMOST SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS, UH, IN PARTICULAR ISSUES.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE ARTHRITIS SO FAR? CAN YOU GO AHEAD AND CONTINUE DR.
PAULSON, PLEASE? THERE'S A FEW MORE THAT ARE ON THE REQUEST LIST AND THEY TEND TO BE A LITTLE MORE SPECIFIC TO A PARTICULAR DEPARTMENTS.
FOR EXAMPLE, UH, YOU MAY HAVE HEARD EMS, UM, DESCRIBE THEIR DESIRE TO, UH, TO MAKE A CBD OIL, UM, LESS OF A NEGATIVE, LESS, LESS PROHIBITED WITHIN THEIR RANKS.
UM, AND THAT IS PRETTY SPECIFIC TO EMS AT THIS POINT.
AFD AND POLICE ARE FINDING THAT THE, THE LAWS ASSOCIATED WITH CBD CBD OIL AT THIS TIME ARE STILL, UM, CREATING ISSUES.
UM, WITH, WITH FIRE, IT'S GOT TO DO WITH THE, THE LAWS ABOUT DRIVING BIG OLD FIRE TRUCKS AROUND IF, IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING IN YOUR SYSTEM AND IT'S IMPOSSIBLE AS FAR AS WE COULD TELL NOW, NOT AS FAR AS WE CAN TELL, WE KNOW THAT THAT DETERMINING THE THC LEVEL IN SOMEBODY'S, UH, IF THEY WERE IN AN ACCIDENT OR IF THERE WAS AN OFFICER INVOLVED INCIDENT, UM, WITH POLICE THAT, THAT YOU CAN'T DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN CBD OIL AND OTHER KINDS OF, OF PARTAKING IN CANNABIS.
SO, UM, THAT, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT SELENA AT EMS IN PARTICULAR IS VERY INTERESTED IN PURSUING, UM, AUSTIN FIRE, UH, HAS IN THE PAST, BEFORE COVID HIT, WAS ABLE TO DO WHAT WE AFFECTIONATELY CALL A CHECKUP FROM THE NECK UP, THAT WHEN THEY SHOW UP FOR THEIR ANNUAL MEDICAL EXAMS, THEY ARE SPENDING 10 MINUTES OR SO WITH A PSYCHOLOGIST AND GOING THROUGH A CHECKLIST OF, ARE YOU SLEEPING? OKAY, ARE YOU, HAVE YOU LOST A LOT OF WEIGHT OR GAINED A LOT OF WEIGHT? UM, YOU KNOW, THOSE KINDS OF HEALTH KINDS OF QUESTIONS THAT COULD BE RELATED
[01:35:01]
TO MENTAL HEALTH.UM, AND THEY'RE A GREAT FORAY BY TOUCHING, YOU KNOW, GETTING INVOLVED WITH EVERY SINGLE FIREFIGHTER.
IT'S A GREAT WAY TO, UM, DO DEMYSTIFY THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES THAT ARE PROVIDED AT THE WELLNESS CENTER.
THERE IS A DESIRE TO EXPAND THAT TO POLICE ALSO, UM, IT WOULD BE VERY EXPENSIVE TO, TO BRING, THEY HAVE SO MANY MORE PEOPLE AND THEY AREN'T ALREADY IN THE HABIT OF BRINGING THEIR, UH, WORKFORCE IN FOR ANNUAL EXAMS, ANNUAL MEDICAL EXAMS. UM, BUT THERE IS A DESIRE TO MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION.
WE THINK IT'D BE A VERY HEALTHY THING FOR POLICE, AS WELL AS FIRE AND EMS HAS KIND OF A BLEND.
SO COMING IN AND OUT IN SOME, SOME DON'T, UM, EMS HAS REQUESTED FOR INCREASED FUNDING ALLOCATION FOR DR.
UM, IT GOES TO THEIR SERVICE CONTRACT THAT, THAT RICK RANDALL MENTIONED EARLIER.
UM, AND THEN THE LAST BULLET HERE HAS TO DO WITH THAT JOINT STATEMENT.
AND THAT'S LESS OF A REQUEST OF, OF A GROUP LIKE YOURS TO SUPPORT, UM, THAN IT IS FOR, UM, FOR US TO JUST REALIZE THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO CONTINUALLY, UM, REFLECT ON AND, UM, AND PUT OUT THERE THAT THERE IS SUPPORT FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND THAT THERE SHOULDN'T BE REPERCUSSIONS FOR IT FOR PERSONS WHO PARTAKE IN IT.
SO I THINK THAT COVERS THE REST OF THOSE, UH, THOSE BULLETS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? SO, UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS COMMISSIONERS, UH, SCROLLING THROUGH THIS? SEE IF THERE'S ANY HANDS? NOPE.
UM, SO I BELIEVE, UH, PATRICIA AT THE, THE, UH, PURPOSE PLUS PLEASE GIVE FEEDBACK ON THE PRESENTATION, CORRECT? YES.
UM, SO IF YOU COULD ADVANCE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO, SO FOR NEXT STEPS, WE WILL, UM, CONTINUING GATHERING, GATHERING INPUT THE REMAINDER OF THIS MONTH AND YOUR BOARD CAN PROVIDE VERBAL INPUT TODAY, WRITTEN INPUT, OR SHOULD YOU WANT TO SEND A RECOMMENDATION TO MAYOR AND COUNCIL? HE CAN DO THAT AS WELL.
WE ARE ASKING THAT ANY BRITTANY INPUT BE SUBMITTED TO JIM AND JACKSON BY FEBRUARY 12TH, THAT IS KIND OF A SHORT TIMELINE.
SO IF YOU NEED MORE TIME, UM, JUST LET US KNOW ONCE I RECEIVE YOUR BOARD'S INPUT, IT WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE FINAL REPORT.
AND OUR GOAL IS TO SEND A FINAL REPORT TO COUNCIL NEXT MONTH.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I'M JUST, I WANT TO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY AND WE'RE AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, ANY, SO IS THERE A DESIRE TO PROVIDE, UH, ANYONE ONLINE THAT WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE VERBAL FEEDBACK FOR WHAT WE'VE SEEN SO FAR WHEN YOU'VE GOT THE PRESENTATION LAST WEEK? UM, EVERYONE WOULD LIKE TO DO THAT NOW, UH, COMMISSIONER WEBBER, I GUESS WHAT IT'S MISSING FROM MY PERSPECTIVE IS A PLAN TO IMPLEMENT AT A TIMELINE AND ONE, AND WHAT'S NEEDED.
CAN YOU SAY THAT AGAIN? I'M SORRY.
SO I WAS SAYING THAT WHAT'S MISSING FROM THE REPORT IS FOR ME, IT'S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL BUDGET ITEMS AND THE TIMELINE FOR MAKING SURE THAT THESE IMPROVEMENTS WITH A GREAT AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GATHERING THIS INFORMATION.
LIKE WHAT IS THE PLAN TO GET IT INTO PLACE? SO REALLY THE REPORT IS IT WHAT'S IT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT IT WAS SO MUCH OF THEIR INTENTION IS TO JUST HIGHLIGHT IN DAYLIGHT WHAT IMPROVEMENTS NEED TO OCCUR.
AND THEN WE WOULD INFORM COUNCIL AND THEN THEY WOULD, I WOULD, I WOULD THINK THAT THEY WOULD GIVE US DIRECTION ON IMPLEMENTING THE IMPROVEMENTS.
AND, AND I THINK IT'S THE INTENT OF THE DEPARTMENTS THAT THE ITEMS THAT RE THAT WILL RECEIVE THAT FUNDING WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO OUR BUDGETS.
UM, IT NEEDS TO HAPPEN AT THIS TIME BECAUSE WE'RE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BUDGET CYCLE FOR NEXT YEAR.
THAT MAKES A LOT MORE SENSE TO ME THAN THAT YOU WOULD HAVE WORKED SO HARD TO IDENTIFY GAPS, AND THEN YOU WOULD JUST GIVE IT TO CANCEL AND WAIT.
SO I THINK THAT NEEDS TO BE IN THE REPORT THAT THE DEPARTMENTS, YOU KNOW, AND TEND TO FILL THESE YET.
AND THERE ARE SOME LOW HANGING FRUIT THAT YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH, UH, WITHOUT EVEN COUNCIL'S, UH, INPUT OR ANYTHING.
IF WE HAVE THE BUDGET SUCH AS WHAT WAS DISCUSSED TO SOME OF THE OPINIONS AND DIFFERENT RECOGNITION THINGS OR OTHERS, WE COULD DO THAT WORK, WE'D FIND OUT, SPEAK FOR EMS. WE PLAN TO DO THAT, UM, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
I MEAN, I THINK IT MAKES SENSE TO TELL COUNCIL WE'VE IDENTIFIED THESE GAPS AND WE'RE ALREADY DEALING WITH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALREADY DEALING WITH THEM AND WE MAY NEED SOME ADDITIONAL FUNDS
[01:40:01]
TO DEAL WITH THESE OTHER ONES.IS THERE ANY FEEDBACK THAT YOU HAVE BASED ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF HOW YOU'RE MOVING FORWARD, IF YOU WERE BUDGETS, IS THIS SOMETHING THAT YOU ARE SUPPORTING AS WELL WITH DEPARTMENTS? THERE'S CHIEF FIRES? I THINK I WOULD ECHO WHAT, UH, UH, CHIEF JASPER BROWN JUST SAID, AND THAT WE CAN, UH, LOOK AT THINGS LIKE THE PEER SUPPORT LAPEL PINS.
I THINK IT'D BE GOOD IF THEY WERE THE SAME TYPE OF PIN ACROSS ALL THREE DEPARTMENTS.
IF, IF THE GROUP WAS AGREEABLE TO THAT, THAT WAY, UM, ON ANY GIVEN SCENE, IF A PEER SUPPORT PERSON COULD STEP IN, INITIALLY, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL VERSUS WAITING FOR ONE FROM A PARTICULAR, UH, ONE OF OUR SECTIONS FROM APD.
WE CONCUR THAT THERE ARE ITEMS THAT WE CAN MOVE FORTH WITH.
AND OF COURSE, EVEN WHEN BUDGET CONSTRAINTS DON'T ALLOW US, WE CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR OTHER WAYS TO FIND FUNDING AS WE DID WITH THE CORTICO APP, IS THAT IT'S SOMETHING THAT SOMEONE IS HELPING TO FUND.
SO WE DEFINITELY ARE LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO MOVE TO THESE IMPROVEMENTS.
UH, SO TRYING TO DEMYSTIFY, UH, PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES, ONE OF THE OTHER THINGS NOT ILLUSTRATED IN THE PRESENTATION TODAY THAT WE PUT FORWARD IS TO HAVE OUR, UM, PSYCHOLOGISTS AND DOCTORS AND THE CHAPLAIN BY THE GRACE OF HIS SHARING TIME, VISITING THE FIRE STATIONS, A RELATIONSHIP IS HUGE AND GIVING FOLKS CONFIDENCE TO USE THOSE RESOURCES AND BY THEM GOING AND HANGING OUT AT THE STATIONS AND VISITING WITH OUR FOLKS, UH, JUST TO GET ACQUAINTED WITH EACH OTHER, WE'RE HOPING THAT THE POSTAL HAVE A GREATER COMPETENCE IN USING THOSE RESOURCES AT A TIME WHEN, WHEN, WHEN THEY FEEL LIKE THEY NEED THAT TO HELP THEM THROUGH A SITUATION, WHATEVER IT MAY BE.
AND THEN WE'VE GOT THOSE UPDATES, THE CHIEFS, UM, ANYONE, ANY OTHER, UH, COMMISSIONER HAVE A QUESTION OR CLARIFICATION OR FEEDBACK? NOPE.
UM, YOU MENTIONED THAT IF WE, UM, WE COULD ALSO PUT TOGETHER A RECOMMENDATION TO GO ALONG WITH YOUR PACKAGE TO THE, UM, CITY COUNCIL.
UM, I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING THAT, UH, ADDING A RECOMMENDATION FROM PUBLIC SAFETY THAT WE SUPPORT, UH, THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT YOU WERE TRYING TO MAKE TO THE MENTAL HEALTH OF OUR FIRST RESPONDERS.
UM, DO I THINK THE SECOND ON, UH, ON CREATING THAT RECOMMENDATION SECOND PERFECT MISSIONARY LANE, I WILL, UM, START THE DRAFT ON THAT AND I WILL DO MY BEST PATRICIA TO GET IT INTO YOUR TIMELINE.
I KNOW WE WON'T, UM, BE ABLE TO, UM, UH, MS. JACKSON, SINCE WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DO A FULL VOTE, UM, ON THE RECOMMENDATION BEFORE THE TIMELINE, WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE ON, ON GETTING THAT DONE OR OUR COMMISSIONER, WHENEVER YOU HAVE WAY MORE EXPERIENCE THAN I DO.
UM, IS THERE ANY WAY TO GET THAT RECOMMENDATION CLEARED THROUGH COMMISSION? UM, BEFORE, SINCE WE CAN'T, WE WON'T HAVE A TIME TO COME BACK AND VOTE ON IT UNTIL MARCH, ARE YOU ASKING ME, I WAS JUST ASKING EITHER YOU OR MS. JACKSON, IF THERE'S A WAY TO GET THAT RECOMMENDATION THROUGH A COMMISSION, EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T MEET BEFORE.
I MEAN, I THINK IT CALLED A SPECIAL MEETING AND WE COULD VOTE ON IT, BUT I DON'T.
I MEAN, I, I WOULD BE COMFORTABLE SAYING, THANK YOU.
THIS IS GREAT COUNCIL SHOULD DO WHATEVER NEEDS TO BE DONE TO FILL IN THESE GAPS.
UH, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE EAGER TO SEE A TIMELINE OR I'M SORRY, COULD YOU JUST, YOU HAD SOMETHING THAT YOU WERE SAYING WE NEED TO WAIT TILL YOUR MARCH MEETING.
WE CAN DO SO, BECAUSE I JUST WANT TO GET IT TO THE FINAL REPORT TO COUNCIL BY THE END OF MARCH, WE WILL HAVE TIME.
SO, SO LET ME WORK ON THAT WITH THE SECOND FROM, UH, COMMISSIONER LANE, AND WE WILL GET THAT WRITTEN UP.
I'LL GET IT TO THE COMMISSION HERE AT, UH, W WE'LL OUR VOTE.
OUR GOAL WILL BE TO VOTE ON IT ON THE FIRST WEEK OF MARCH AND GET IT TO YOU IMMEDIATELY AFTER THAT.
UH, WE ARE AT FOUR 45, UH, CHIEF FIRES.
UH, DO YOU WANT TO SQUISH PRESENTATION IN FOR 10 MINUTES OR WOULD YOU RATHER MOVE TO MARCH, UH, MORE, LEAVE IT UP TO YOUR STORY? I'M UP TO THE CHALLENGE, IF YOU LIKE.
[01:45:01]
GO AHEAD, SIR.THE FLOOR IS YOURS, OUR QUARTERLY REPORT FROM, UH, TWO FIRES IN AUSTIN FIRE.
AND WE'VE GOT OUR CALL REPORT.
IF WE COULD START WITH SLIDE NUMBER TWO, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SEE SINCE WE'VE HAD THE PANDEMIC IN PLACE.
UH, JUST LIKE THE PREVIOUS FEW QUARTERS IS VERY SIMILAR INFORMATION WHERE WE'VE HAD A REDUCTION IN CALL VOLUME, UH, FOR ALL INCIDENTS.
THAT MEANS WHETHER IT'S A CODE ONE, DRIVING WITHOUT LIGHTS AND SIRENS.
UH, IT'S BEEN ABOUT A 9% DROP.
AND THEN FOR OUR EMERGENCY RESPONSES WHERE WE'RE GOING WITH LIGHTS AND SIRENS, THERE'S BEEN ABOUT A 22% DROP FROM LAST YEAR'S EQUIVALENT QUARTER TO THIS YEAR'S QUARTER, UM, TO NO SURPRISE THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
UH, SO COUNCIL DISTRICT NUMBER NINE, IT SEEMS THE LARGEST DECREASE IN CALL VOLUME, UH, AND THAT'S ATTRIBUTED TO LIMITED DINING, UH, THE CANCELLATION OF LARGE-SCALE EVENTS AND TELEWORK.
SO, UM, THE, THE COMMON THEME THROUGHOUT THIS, YOU'LL SEE BASICALLY THINGS EQUIVALENT TO PREVIOUS QUARTERS.
THE NEXT TWO SLIDES SLIDES NUMBER, UH, THREE AND FOUR ARE DISTRICT REPRESENTATION OF THE OVERALL TRENDS THAT I JUST MENTIONED.
SO LIKE IN A THREE, THAT'S GOING TO BE REQUESTS FOR SERVICE, ALL CALLS AND SLIDE.
NUMBER FOUR IS GOING TO BE FOR THE EMERGENCY RESPONSES.
AND YOU SEE THAT LABELED OUT BY A DISTRICT, MOVING ON TO SLIDE NUMBER FIVE, YOU SEE COMPARISONS OF THE CALL TYPES.
AND IT'S RELATIVELY SIMILAR BEFORE JUST A, AN OVERALL REDUCTION FROM LAST YEAR'S QUARTER TO, TO THIS YEAR'S QUARTER, AND THAT'S GOING TO BE FOR ALL CALLS.
AND THEN IF YOU MOVE TO SLIDE NUMBER SIX, THAT'S GOING TO FOR EMERGENCY CALL TYPES WITH, UH, THE MEDICAL RESPONSE, BEING THE GREATEST PORTION AND VERY SIMILAR IN NATURE.
MOVING ON TO SLIDE NUMBER SEVEN, UH, RESPONSE TIMES, UH, WE'VE INCREASED BY ROUGHLY 30 SECONDS TO A MINUTE.
IN SOME AREAS, A DISTRICT NINE IN SAN SAW A DECREASE.
I GO BACK TO THE RE THE REDUCTION IN CALL VOLUME THERE, UH, BEING THE MOST SIGNIFICANT IS TO SPEAK WHY THAT, AND THE LACK OF TRAFFIC IN THAT DOWNTOWN AREA, UM, THE OVERALL INCREASE IN RESPONSE BE ATTRIBUTED TO CHANGES IN MEDICAL RESPONSE PROTOCOL.
I WANT TO CALL HER IDENTIFIED AS A POTENTIAL EXPOSURE TO COVID OR ILI FLU LIKE SYMPTOMS. UH, THE, UH, THE CALL TAKING IS ADJUSTED SLIGHTLY THAT TO GOT THAT INFORMATION AND THE, THE PPE THAT OUR FOLKS PUT ON AND HOW THEY APPROACH THE CALLS IS ADJUSTED A LITTLE BIT FOR, FOR PRECAUTIONS.
THAT'S GOING TO BE YOUR DISTRICT REPRESENTATION OF THE, THE COMPARISONS FROM LAST YEAR'S QUARTER TO THIS YEAR'S QUARTER, THE RESPONSE TIMES, UH, AS YOUR ANALYSIS, WHICH WE JUST DESCRIBED, THE DIFFERENCE YOU'RE SEEING IN THAT PREVIOUS SLIDE, MOVING ON TO SLIDE NUMBER NINE, PLEASE.
SO PROTECTING OUR WORKFORCE WORST IS, IS OUR DEPARTMENT'S HIGHEST PRIORITY.
UH, FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE DECLARATION OF THE PANDEMIC IN MARCH OF LAST YEAR, WE MADE SIGNIFICANT ADJUSTMENTS TO PROTECT OUR PERSONNEL TO INCLUDE HOW WE RESPOND THE PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT THAT WE WEAR WHEN WE'RE ON SCENE.
HOW MANY FOLKS ARE, UH, UH, IN PROXIMITY TO THE PATIENT BASED ON THE MEDICAL ISSUE AT HAND, WE'RE REDUCING THAT JUST TO REDUCE THE EXPOSURE AND TO INCLUDE THE DECONTAMINATION AFTERWARDS, UH, AS FOLKS HAD HIGH-RISK EXPOSURES.
INITIALLY WE STARTED OFF WITH QUARANTINE PEOPLE AND WE QUARANTINE ANYONE THAT WAS EXPOSED THAT COULD BE A WHOLE, A WHOLE UNIT, OR EVEN A WHOLE STATION, WHICH COULD BE TWO UNITS OR THREE UNITS IF IT'S A DOWNTOWN STATION.
AND THAT WAS CREATING SOME STAFFING CHALLENGES FOR US THROUGH, THROUGH THE PANDEMIC.
UH, SOME ADJUSTMENTS HAD BEEN MADE WITH, UH, ADVISEMENT FROM OMD AND, UH, THE DOCTORS AT THE PUBLIC SAFETY WELLNESS CENTER TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF, OF, UH, QUARANTINE TIME, UH, TO INCLUDE A TEST AT THE END.
AND THEN, UH, THE BIGGEST, UH, BENEFIT TO US HAS BEEN IN DECEMBER.
WE'VE GOT THE ABBOT BY NEXT, UH, RAPID TESTS.
AND NOW EVERY SHIFT, WHEN A CREW COMES ON BEFORE THEY DO ANYTHING BEFORE THEY GET NEAR EACH OTHER, THEY DO A RAPID TEST.
AND, UH, IT'S A, IT'S A NASAL SWAB, UH, INTO, UH, A TEST PACK WITHIN 15 MINUTES.
THEY KNOW IF THEY'RE SHEDDING COVID OR NOT, IF THEY ARE, WE QUICKLY REMOVE THEM FROM THE STATION TO AVOID EXPOSURE TO THE OTHERS.
AND NOW, INSTEAD OF HAVING TO QUARANTINE A LARGER GROUP, WE'RE ONLY HAVING A QUARANTINE, THE ONE INDIVIDUAL, WHICH HAS BEEN HUGE FOR US TO, TO MANAGE THE, OUR STAFFING ON-DUTY AND FOR THE WELLNESS OF PEOPLE, TO BE ABLE TO NOT BE QUARANTINED AND LIVE THEIR DAILY LIVES, UH, OFF DUTY
[01:50:01]
AS WELL.SO THAT'S BEEN A PHENOMENAL ASSISTANCE TO US IN MANAGING OUR FOLKS.
UH, AND WE CONTINUE TO WORK WITH A MEDICAL DIRECTOR AND SAFETY WELLNESS TO, UH, FIGURE OUT THE PROPER RETURN TO WORK WITH THE NEW NEXT TESTING, THE MANAGE THAT AS FAR AS GETTING FOLKS BACK TO WORK IN A RESPONSIBLE TIMEFRAME THAT THEY'RE HEALTHY, AND THERE'S NOT A RISK TO THEM OR OTHER FOLKS, IF WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, THESE ARE THE STATS RELATED TO COVID AS, AS IT STANDS AS OF JANUARY 25TH.
UH, SO AS SOON AS I CLEAR THE PANDEMIC, WE'VE HAD A TOTAL OF 179 PEOPLE SWORN THAT HAVE TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID.
AND WE'VE HAD TWO CIVILIANS, THE, UM, COVERED BY WORKERS' COMP FOR ANYONE WHO HAS SUBMITTED A FIRST REPORT OF INJURY, WHICH REFERRED TO AS A FREUD 100% HAVE BEEN COVERED BY WORKERS' COMP.
UH, CURRENTLY WE HAVE APPROXIMATELY 13, AGAIN, AS, AS OF JANUARY 25TH, THIS, THOSE CHANGE DAILY, UH, PER TEAM PEOPLE SWORN OFF DUE TO COVID.
UH, THE, THE TOTAL NUMBER BELOW THAT TWO 60 IS NOT AN EXACT NUMBER BECAUSE INITIALLY WE WEREN'T KEEPING TRACK OF THE QUARANTINES BEFORE THE ACTUAL NUMBERS WOULD BE MUCH HIGHER THAN THAT.
BUT SINCE WE SPEND DOCUMENTING THIS ABOUT 260 TOTAL EMPLOYEES OFF DUE TO COVID TWO 73, SEVEN CIVILIANS, UH, THE AMOUNT OF ADA ACCOMMODATIONS REQUESTED HAD BEEN ZERO.
IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING, UH, AND THEN EMPLOYEES WHO RECEIVE CITY EMERGENCY LEAVE, UH, 734 AND, UH, UH, CALENDAR YEAR 20, 20, 69.
SO FAR IN 2021 FOR SWORN 30 AND FOUR FOR YOUR CIVILIAN.
AND THEN, UH, THE CITY EMERGENCY LEAVE THE EXPANDED FEMLA, UH, 260 SWORN 11 CIVILIAN MOVING ON TO SLIDE NUMBER NINE ON CORY, FIVE, NUMBER 11, UM, THINGS WE'VE BEEN DOING SO FAR, WE'VE BEEN ASSISTING, UH, SUPPORTING THE AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH WITH THE COVID 19 VACCINATION EFFORT, UM, OR, UH, PRIMARY SUPPORT WAS AN INCIDENT MANAGEMENT.
SO IT'S SETTING UP THE SYSTEM COMMAND AND CONTROL AND EVEN ADMINISTERING THE VACCINATIONS, UH, THIS ISN'T LAST QUARTER, BUT A BIG, AND IT WAS CURRENT AND MADE MORE SENSE TO COVER IT.
NOW, THEN, THEN LATER ON DOWN THE ROAD, UH, IN JANUARY 11TH AND JUNE 23RD AFD, HOPEFULLY MIXTURE OVER 20,000 VACCINATIONS FT PROVIDED SUPPORT FOR SEVEN VACCINATION CLINIC, DAYS TO DATE WITH UP TO 30 FIREFIGHTERS HELPING EACH DAY.
WE ALSO PROVIDE EMERGENCY RESPONSE STANDBY, UH, WHEN PEOPLE ARE ESPECIALLY WITH THE SECOND SHOT, AT LEAST INTERNALLY, WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF ADVERSE REACTIONS.
AND SO WE, WE HAVE A UNIT STANDING BY THAT.
IF SOMEONE'S NOT FEELING WELL, WE CAN PROVIDE AND THERE'S FOR MEDICAL CARE TO ADDRESS THEIR SITUATION.
THEY, THE CREW GO IN THERE, ROTATES EVERY COUPLE OF HOURS, MOVING ON TO SLIDE NUMBER 12.
UH, WE'RE ABOUT TO, UH, START A NEW CADET HIRING PROCESS.
UH, WE'VE GOT A NEW CLASS STARTING IN MARCH, WHICH WILL HAVE 37 CADETS AND, UM, UH, A NEW HIRING PROCESS.
CAUSE IT'S THE CURRENT ONE'S ABOUT TO EXPIRE IS, IS IN THE PROCESS OF OPENING UP, UH, APPLICATIONS OR SOMETIME HERE IN THE SPRING WITH A WRITTEN EXAM SCHEDULED FOR JUNE.
AND THE STRUCTURAL ORAL PROCESS IS IN JULY.
AND WE HOPE WITH THIS PROCESS GOING THROUGH THAT, THE FIRST CADET CLASS FROM THE NEW HIRING PROCESS FOR 2021 WILL START SOMETIME IN JANUARY WITHOUT THE LAST SLIDE.
AND BECAUSE WE'RE ABOUT TO, UH, OPEN UP FOR APPLICATIONS, WE WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW THAT WE WERE STRIVED TO RECRUIT AND RETAIN A DIVERSE WORKFORCE.
IF YOU OR ANYONE, YOU KNOW, IS INTERESTED IN JOINING THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT, PLEASE VISIT OUR RECRUITING WEBSITE AND JOIN AFD.COM.
SO WITH THAT, THAT CONCLUDES MY REPORT AND I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS YOU ALL MAY, AND WE WILL PUT IT ON YOUR BILL FOR THAT FREE RECRUITING COMMERCIAL.
YOU JUST GOT HERE ON OUR, ON OUR MEETING, UH, CHIEF FIVES.
I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR YOU.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND FOR YOUR FLEXIBILITY IN MOVING ON THE, ON THE SCHEDULE.
AND DON'T FORGET THAT WEBSITE IS JOIN F.COM.
[4. Future Agenda Items (4:55-5pm) ]
[01:55:01]
UH, COMMISSIONERS, OUR FINAL AGENDA ITEM IS FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. ANYONE HAVE ANYTHING WE WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IN OUR NEXT COUPLE OF SESSIONS HERE? I GOT MR. WEBER.UM, SO THERE IS A, UH, A REPORT OUT, I THINK AS A FRIDAY, IT'S LIKE A REPORT CARD ON THE EIGHT.
CAN'T WAIT, HE'LL REMEMBER THAT, UM, CAMPAIGN FROM THIS SUMMER.
AND I THINK IT WOULD BE, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO GET A PRESENTATION ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND THEN CO-SIGN ANY OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THE COMMISSION SUPPORT.
I'D LIKE TO HAVE A REQUEST TO FOLLOW UP ON OUR PREVIOUS RESOLUTION ABOUT ADDING SOMEONE TO THE PUBLIC SAFETY TASK FORCE FROM THE TRANS COMMUNITY THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE, WE NEED IT.
IT SEEMS THAT WE NEED, MIGHT NEED AN UPDATE FROM WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON IN THAT.
SO I'D LIKE TO INVITE PEOPLE BACK TO TALK ABOUT THAT.
ANYONE ELSE? UM, I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE TRAINING ACADEMY.
UM, THERE'S BEEN SEVERAL REPORTS ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE TRAINING ACADEMY, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING TO CHANGE THE TRAINING ACADEMY.
I'M ASSUMING YOU'RE TALKING TO APD, CORRECT? YES.
THIS PROBABLY ISN'T FOR A COUPLE MONTHS, BUT I KNOW THAT WE'RE REVISITING SOME OF THE OTHER ENTITIES IN THE CITY WITH SOME NEW HIRES.
SO MAYBE GETTING SOMEBODY TO HER NOW TO GET A PROGRESS REPORT ON THAT AS WELL.
CAUSE I FEEL LIKE THAT'S FALLEN OFF BECAUSE OF COVID.
WELL WITH THAT, I WANT TO THANK THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION AGAIN FOR A RARE, EFFECTIVE MEETING.
UM, THANK YOU AGAIN TO THOSE OF YOU WHO WILL NOT BE RETURNING, UH, WITH US, UH, NEXT MONTH WE APPRECIATE YOUR SERVICE.
AND UH, ON THAT I WILL TAKE A, UH, ABOUT TO ADJOURN AND WE GOT TO SEND IT OVER.
SO LET'S GO TO THE VOTE COMMISSIONER.
COMMISSIONING YES, YES, YES, YES.
COMMISSIONER