[00:00:02]
AND BY MY WATCH, IT IS FOUR O'CLOCK.
[CALL TO ORDER 4:00-4:05pm]
SO GOOD AFTERNOON.I AM CHAIR REBECCA GONZALEZ OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION, OFFICIALLY CALLING TO ORDER OUR FEBRUARY 7TH, 2022 PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING FROM THE LOVELY DYESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL.
SO THANK YOU ALL FOR JOINING US, UH, BECAUSE WE HAVE A MAJORITY OF OUR COMMISSION ONLINE TODAY.
WE WILL HAVE TO TAKE ATTENDANCE AND I WILL NEED, UM, THE COMMISSIONERS TO RESPOND WITH THEIR AFFIRMATIVE IF THEY ARE HERE.
SO LET'S GET STARTED WITH CON UH, VICE CHAIR RAMIREZ HERE, COMMISSIONER WEBER, COMMISSIONER HUSSON FLOCK COMMISSIONER AUSTIN, COMMISSIONER KIRKOFF, COMMISSIONER LEWIS HERE, COMMISSIONER LANE HERE, COMMISSIONER SIERRA.
COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT HERE, COMMISSIONER HALL, MARTIN HERE.
THANK YOU ALL FOR, UM, FOR PARTICIPATING WITH THAT.
I DO NOT BELIEVE WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTARY TODAY.
NOPE, NO ONE SIGNED UP AND NO ONE IN THE ROOM.
SO WE DO NOT HAVE ANY CITIZENS, UH, COMMUNICATION TODAY.
UM, WANTED TO, UH, LET THE COMMISSION KNOW THAT, UH, THE MEETING MINUTES FROM OUR LAST SPECIALLY CALLED MEETING ARE NOT PREPARED YET.
THEY WILL BE ON THE AGENDA IN NEXT MONTH'S MEETING IN MARCH FOR US TO APPROVE THE MEETINGS FOR BOTH THE MINUTES.
I'M SORRY FOR BOTH THE JANUARY AND THE FEBRUARY MEETING.
SO ACTUALLY WE DID NOT DO THE APPROVAL OF MINUTES.
[2.a. TX SB69 from 87th Legislative Session -Vote on Recommendation for Council Action Sponsored by Commissioner Gonzales and Webber 4:25pm-4:35pm]
YOU WILL FIND IN YOUR PACKAGE THAT YOU RECEIVED FROM MS. JACKSON, WE HAVE A RECOMMENDATION BASED ON THE SB 69, UM, POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY AND POLICE OVERSIGHT, UH, BY MYSELF AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WEBBER.SO I'M ASSUMING YOU ALL READ IT, BUT, UH, NET NET, BASICALLY WHAT WE ARE, UH, ASKING THE COUNCIL TO DO IS TO CREATE A POLICY THAT REQUIRES THE REPORTING OF ALL INSTANCES WHERE USE OF FORCE WAS USED USED.
I'M SORRY, WHERE THE USE OF FORCE WAS PREVENTED AS WELL AS IF IT TOOK PLACE.
SO THIS IS THE, UH, DUTY TO REPORT METRIC FROM THE PRESENTATIONS THAT WE GOT.
THIS IS NOT NECESSARILY A METRIC THAT HAS BEEN PUT IN PLACE.
WE'RE ASKING THE POLICY TO SUPPORT A NON-RETALIATION POLICY AS WELL TO ENSURE SELF REPORTING.
THIS IS KEY TO THE ISSUES WITH SB 69.
SO I WILL OPEN UP THE FLOOR FOR ANY QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS BEFORE WE TAKE A VOTE ON THIS.
OH, COMMISSIONER SIERRA DEVELOP, PLEASE.
I WANTED TO GET CLARIFICATION ON THE TWO POINTS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE VOTING ON.
ONE IS TO INCLUDE LANGUAGE THAT IS TO PROTECT REPORTING.
AND THE SECOND WAS TO MANDATE REPORTING.
I CAN, CAN YOU JUST, CAN YOU CLARIFY IT? YES, YES, YES.
SO WHAT WE HAVE RECOMMENDED IS THAT THERE IS METRICS THAT ARE INTRODUCED TO MEASURE OUR ACCORDANCE WITH STATE BILL 69.
UH, THE CURRENT REPORTING ONLY IS AROUND USE OF FORCE WHEN IT IMPACTS THE INCIDENT.
SO IF USE OF FORCE HAPPENS AND THEN I'M SORRY IF INTERVENTION HAPPENS, BUT THEN THERE ARE STILL, UH, EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE.
IF THERE IS INTERVENTION AND IT STOPS, THERE IS NO EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE THAT WILL NOT BE MEASURED.
AND THEN HOPING TO EXPAND IT TO INCLUDE BOTH CASES.
AND THE THIRD POINT IS THE POLICY SHOULD INCLUDE A TRAINING PLAN FOR THE OFFICER THAT WAS IMPACTED BY THE INTERVENTION THAT COULD INCLUDE FURTHER INSTRUCTION ON DEESCALATION AND PROPER PROCEDURE.
[00:05:01]
ON THE RECOMMENDATION.SO THEN THERE'S THE TRAINING AFTER THE FACT, AND THEN THE THIRD PIECE WOULD BE THE PROTECTING THOSE WHO REPORT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT.
YOU ARE NOT ON VIDEO AND THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
SO IF THERE ARE NO FURTHER QUESTIONS OR DISCUSSION, WE WILL PUT THE, UH, RECOMMENDATION UP FOR A VOTE AGAIN.
WE WILL HAVE TO DO THAT VERBALLY.
COMMISSIONER AUSTIN IS STILL NOT PRESENT.
IS THAT CORRECT? COMMISSIONER KICKOFF? YES.
COMMISSIONER STEER OUT OF VELO.
AND I COMMISSIONER CHAIR GONZALEZ.
UH, THE RECOMMENDATION TO SEND TO COUNCIL ON THE, UH, APD ACCORDANCE WITH STATE BILL 69 PASSES, AND WE WILL GET THAT OVER TO OUR COUNCIL.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION.
[3.a. Public Safety Organizations Quarterly Report – Austin Police Department (sponsors: Commissioner Hausenfluck and Gonzales) 4:40pm-4:50pm]
NEW BUSINESS, WE HAVE THE PUBLIC SAFETY ORGANIZATIONS, QUARTERLY REPORTS, UH, BY CHIEF, UH, HENDERSON FOR THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.THANK YOU FOR HAVING US HERE TODAY.
UM, ALSO JOINING US ON THE LINE TO GO OVER OUR CRIME DATA IS GOING TO BE OUR CHIEF DATA OFFICER DR.
AND SO HE'LL BE GOING OVER THE, UH, FIRST 11 SLIDES.
AND THEN I WILL TAKE OVER ONCE WE GO INTO A DEPARTMENT STAFFING, HAS DR.
BEEN ALLOWED IN AS A PRESENTER.
I JUST WANT TO RUN OVER A FEW SLIDES HERE TO KIND OF GIVE US A SENSE ON THE QUARTERLY REPORT.
UM, SO IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND, WELL, THIS IS JUST AN OVERVIEW OF THE SLIDES THAT WE HAVE.
SO WE WANT TO JUMP TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
WE CAN START TO LOOK AT WHAT'S HAPPENING, UH, WITH CRIME IN THE CITY, UM, AND THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE, AND THIS IS JUST SOME DATA THAT WE PULL FROM A DASHBOARD THAT WE USE.
UM, IT JUST GIVES YOU TWO THINGS.
THE TWO COLUMNS ON THE LEFT IS A COMPARISON OF TOTAL COUNTS, UH, IN DECEMBER OF 2021, COMPARED TO DECEMBER OF 2020.
UH, THOSE THINGS ARE USEFUL INTERNALLY IN THE DEPARTMENT FOR, UM, BASIC, UM, ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS, BUT I CAUTION PEOPLE ALWAYS AGAINST PROVIDING MUCH INTERPRETATION IN THOSE NUMBERS.
UM, SINCE THAT INDIVIDUAL TIME PERIOD HAS A LOT OF PECULIARITIES, THE TWO COLUMNS, THE, UH, THE THIRD AND SECOND FROM THE RIGHT, WHICH IS TITLED 2021 AND 2022, THOSE ARE THE MORE INFORMATIVE COLUMNS.
THOSE ARE GOING TO BE ALWAYS IN THESE TYPES OF REPORTS A YEAR TO DATE COUNT.
UM, AND BECAUSE THIS WAS FOR DECEMBER, UH, THIS ACTUALLY REFLECTS THE ENTIRE YEAR OF 2020 AND THE ENTIRE YEAR OF 2021.
SO THOSE ARE THE ACTUAL COLUMNS THAT ARE MOST INFORMATIVE.
UM, WHEN WE ACTUALLY LOOK AT THOSE CHANGES, UH, THE CELL ON THE LOWER RIGHT-HAND CORNER, UM, SHOWS A NEGLIGIBLE REDUCTION IN ACTIVITY OVERALL ACROSS ALL DIFFERENT CRIME TYPES.
UM, AS YOU LOOK AT THAT COLUMN ABOVE IT, THE PERCENT CHANGE COLUMN, AGAIN, I URGE CAUTION AND THE INTERPRETATION OF, OF THESE PARTICULAR, UH, PARTICULAR NUMBERS.
UM, WE COULD LOOK AT A FEW DIFFERENT ONES THAT YOU'LL SEE RELATIVELY LARGE CHANGES.
UM, NEGLIGENT MANSLAUGHTER, FOR EXAMPLE, SHOWS A HUNDRED PERCENT REDUCTION.
UH, THOSE PERCENTAGES ARE, ARE INEFFECTIVE.
THE NUMBER OF INCIDENTS WHEN YOU'RE A VERY SMALL NUMBER OF INCIDENTS, THE PERCENT CHANGES ARE VERY LARGE, ACTUALLY LOOKING THROUGH THESE DATA.
STATISTICALLY, THE ONE THAT'S ACTUALLY PROBABLY MOST, UH, OF INTEREST IS ACTUALLY THE AGGRAVATED ASSAULT COLUMN, WHICH SHOWS A 6% CHANGE IN INCREASE BETWEEN 20, 20 AND 2021 OF 6%.
AND GIVEN THE SIZE, UH, YOU KNOW, IN THE THREE THOUSANDS, THAT'S A CHANGE THAT WE, WE LOOK AT AS, UH, AS PARTICULARLY MEANINGFUL, THAT'S CONSISTENT WITH A LOT OF OTHER DATA THAT WE ANALYZE IN THE DEPARTMENT, UM, RELATED TO WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH CRIME.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE'VE COME TO, UH, OUR CONCERNS, WHICH WE SHARED, UH, IN THE, IN THE LAST COUPLE OF MEETINGS ABOUT
[00:10:01]
WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE INCREASE IN AGGRAVATED ASSAULTS.SO THAT'S THE MOST MEANINGFUL NUMBER ON THE SLIDE THERE.
SO, UM, WE CAN JUMP TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY, AND WE'LL TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT WHAT'S HAPPENING THERE.
SO AGAIN, THE INTERPRETATION IS THE SAME, THE 2021 AND 2020 COLUMNS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT.
UM, AGAIN, WE, UH, AGAIN, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT THOSE AND SORRY, MY SCREEN WAS A LITTLE DELAYED AND NOW THE SLIDES UP ON MY SCREEN.
AND SO TAKING A LOOK AT THOSE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE ONES THAT WE LOOK AT AGAIN, UH, THEFT OF MOTOR VEHICLE PARTS IS ONE THAT POPS OUT AS, AS REMARKABLY OF INTEREST, RIGHT? IN TERMS OF WHAT'S HAPPENING THAT 60% CHANGE IS MEANINGFUL IN THE CONTEXT OF THE UNDERLYING RATES, UH, CIRCLING AROUND 2000.
UM, BUT OVERALL, WHAT WE FIND IS IF YOU LOOK AT THESE, THE VARIOUS THEFTS AND VARIOUS LARCENY CHARGES, UM, WE HAVE SOME THAT ARE GOING UP, SOME THAT ARE GOING DOWN THAT'S, UH, INDICATIVE OF SORT OF BEHAVIORAL SHIFTS, NOT REMARKABLE CHANGES OVERALL.
AND IF YOU ROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER, YOU KNOW, WE DO SEE THIS, THIS 8% REDUCTION OVERALL.
UM, SO THAT'S CONSISTENT WITH THE KIND OF VOLUME CHANGE THAT WE'RE SAYING.
THERE'S THERE AREN'T CHANGES IN THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE THAT, THAT I THINK ARE PARTICULARLY MEANINGFUL FOR MAKING A DETERMINATION THAT SOMETHING ABOUT CRIME IS FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGING IN THE CITY.
THERE'S NOT ONE THAT I CAN POINT TO THE WAY THE PROP, THE CRIMES AGAINST PERSON ACTUALLY STACK UP.
WE CAN HOP TO THE LAST LINE, WHICH IS CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY.
AND SO IN THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE, THESE ARE THE FBI NEIGHBOR'S CRIMES CLASSIFIED AS CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, IF WE LOOK AT, UM, UH, DRUG AND DRUG EQUIPMENT VIOLATIONS, THOSE, UH, ARE SHOWING, YOU KNOW, YOUR YEAR CHANGES, NEGATIVE 15%, NEGATIVE 36%.
UM, WE OBVIOUSLY HAVING, WE DISCUSSED, I THINK MAYBE TWO OR THREE MEETINGS AGO, UH, WE HAD DISCUSSED, YOU KNOW, THE, UH, THE CHANGES IN SITE VERSUS ARREST, ET CETERA.
AND SO WE BELIEVE THAT WE'RE SEEING, YOU KNOW, SOME, SOME CHANGES AS A RESULT OF THAT.
UM, THOSE ARE, AGAIN, THE MOST MEANINGFUL, UH, THE REST OF THEM HAVE THESE KINDS OF, YOU KNOW, REASONABLY LOW WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE ONE THAT I THINK IS MOST IMPORTANT IN THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE, WHICH IS ACTUALLY THE SECOND COLUMN, SECOND ROW FROM THE BOTTOM, UH, WEAPON VIOLATIONS.
UH, WE DO SEE THAT 30% GAIN ON A 687 COUNTS IN 2020 TO 893.
THAT'S THE OTHER PIECE OF INFORMATION THAT THAT'S A LARGE ENOUGH RATE, UM, AND A LARGE ENOUGH PERCENTAGE CHANGE THAT, THAT WE THINK IT'S WORTH, UM, YOU KNOW, PAYING ATTENTION TO THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE'RE SEEING IN THAT AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, UM, CATEGORY THAT WE TALKED ABOUT ON THE CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS, WHERE WE HAVE, UH, PRESENTED DATA A COUPLE OF TIMES ABOUT IN PARTICULAR, UH, THE CRIME OF INTEREST BEING SORT OF AGGRAVATED ASSAULT WITH A FIREARM THAT'S NON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
UM, SO THIS IS A IMPORTANT PIECE OF INFORMATION.
SO KIND OF MOST IMPORTANT PART FROM THIS LINE.
UH, THE OTHER THING THAT WE BROUGHT UP AS WE HOP TO THE NEXT SLIDE IS WE'VE, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, UH, BEEN ASKED FOR CLEARANCE DATA.
UM, AND SO WE'VE PROVIDED SOME INFORMATION HERE AND I WANT TO GIVE A QUICK, UH, JUST A QUICK ASIDE ABOUT THIS.
SO WE KIND OF UNDERSTAND, UH, IMPORTANTLY, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I STARTED ABOUT NINE MONTHS AGO, LOOKING AT IN THE DEPARTMENT AND THE, UH, THE, UH, INFORMATION SYSTEMS TEAM, AND THE RESEARCH AND PLANNING DIVISION ARE LOOKING INTO IT.
UM, LOOKING AT CLEARANCES IS ANALYTICALLY CHALLENGING.
AND SO, UM, WHAT I SAY WHEN, I MEAN THAT AS THERE'S A LOT OF, UM, THERE'S A LOT OF PECULIARITIES IN THE WAY THAT YOU ACTUALLY TRY TO CALCULATE A RATE.
AND SO THESE DATA ARE ACTUALLY GIVING YOU THE NUMBER OF CLEARANCE BY EACH TYPE FOR EACH TYPE OF OFFENSE FOR THE PERIOD LISTED AT THE BOTTOM, WHICH IS QUARTER ONE OF FISCAL 2022.
SO THIS IS OCTOBER 1ST, 2021 TO DECEMBER 31ST, 2020.
AND SO IT'S, WE'VE BEEN ASKED FOR RATES, BUT WE'RE NOT PRESENTING RATES.
UM, THE REASON BEING IS THAT THOSE ARRESTS MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE CRIMES THAT OCCURRED DURING THAT PERIOD OF TIME.
AND SO FROM A, FROM A BUSINESS STANDPOINT, THIS IS WHAT WE'RE WORKING ON.
AS A PROJECT WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT, WE ARE WORKING ON ESTABLISHING CLEARLY ARTICULABLE, UM, VERY WELL-DEFINED, UH, RULES ABOUT HOW WE WOULD ACTUALLY CALCULATE RATES AND OTHER METRICS RELATED TO PERFORMANCE THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO SHARE THAT WE THINK WOULD BE MORE INFORMATIVE.
SO, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE LOOK AT, WHEN WE LOOK AT ARRESTS CLEARED BY ARREST FOR THESE CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS, IT'S VERY LIKELY THAT MANY OF THOSE WERE ACTUALLY CRIMES THAT OCCURRED DURING THAT QUARTER.
BUT RECOGNIZING THAT SINCE ALL CRIMES ARE SOLVED, WE OFTEN CARRY AN INVESTIGATIVE TOO FORWARD.
RIGHT? SO SOME OF THESE ARRESTS MAY HAVE HAPPENED BASED UPON SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED EARLIER IN THE YEAR, MAYBE EVEN THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
[00:15:01]
UM, THE OTHER ELEMENT THAT'S IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT IN TERMS OF CLEARANCES, AND THESE ARE INCIDENTS, THESE ARE INCIDENTS, RIGHT? SO THESE ARE INDIVIDUAL EVENTS IN WHICH WE ARE CLEARING BY ARREST.UM, THERE ARE A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF EVENTS WHERE WE MAY HAVE CLEARED AN INCIDENT YET WE ARE STILL WORKING THE INCIDENT, AND THAT HAPPENS IN THE CASE THAT IT'S AN INCIDENT THAT MIGHT HAVE MULTIPLE ASSAILANTS.
UM, SO WE WOULD INDICATE HERE ONE EVENT CLEARED BY ARREST IF WE HAVE ACTIVATED ONE ARREST ON THAT INCIDENT.
UM, BUT IT DOESN'T GIVE YOU A STRONG INDICATION OF SORT OF PERFORMANCE OR WORKLOAD, UM, FOR KIND OF THE INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATIVE UNITS.
UM, BUT YOU CAN GET A GENERAL SENSE OF WHERE WE'RE AT BY COMPARING THE NUMBERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, HERE TO THE NUMBERS THAT WE SEE ON AVERAGE, IT'S REALLY MORE OF A RELATIVE COMPARISON.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE DO SEE IS, UM, WHAT WE DO SEE, YOU KNOW, HERE, IT GIVES US SOME SENSE OF, OF WHAT THE PERFORMANCE IS.
UM, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I WOULD LIKE TO, UM, AS WE MAKE PROGRESS ON THE PROJECT, I'LL DEFINITELY WORK TO CHANGE WHAT'S BEING REPORTED IN THESE SLIDES.
UM, SO WE THINK IT WOULD BE MORE INFORMATIVE.
AND I THINK WE HAVE SOME MEETINGS COMING UP TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT.
SO WITH THE CHANGE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, WE'VE GIVEN YOU THE SAME THINGS FOR, UH, FOR, UH, CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY.
UM, AND WE SEE THE NUMBER OF CRIMES.
YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE, UH, A REASONABLE NUMBER OF ARRESTS RELATED TO MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT, AND THAT RELATES TO THE FACT THAT IT'S A CRIME WHILE READ, ATTEMPT TO RECOVER WITH VEHICLES.
AND THERE'S A STRONG PROCESS FOR THAT AND JUMPING TO CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY.
UM, AGAIN, YOU DO SEE AGAIN HERE, YOU SEE, DESPITE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE NUMBER OF DRUG RELATED OFFENSES GOING DOWN FROM 2020 TO 2021.
UH, WE DO SEE THAT WE STILL HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF RESTS OCCURRING FOR DRUG AND NARCOTIC VIOLATIONS DURING THE PERIOD.
LIKEWISE, BECAUSE WE'VE, WE'RE TRYING TO PLACE AN EMPHASIS ON THAT.
YOU DO SEE, WE HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF ARRESTS RELATED TO WEAPONS VIOLATIONS.
SO THAT SHOULD GIVE A, THAT SHOULD GIVE A GENERAL KIND OF SENSE, LOOKING THROUGH IT, UM, AS TO, AS TO WHERE WE'RE AT WITH CRIME AND WITH CRIME RESPONSE, UM, WE WILL BE WORKING TO DEVELOP SOME DIFFERENT METRICS RELATED TO CLEARANCE AND WHATNOT.
I WANT TO STRESS WITH EVERYONE THAT IT IS A REMARKABLY COMPLICATED PROJECT, UM, BECAUSE IT BRINGS TOGETHER, UM, A NEED TO DEFINE, UM, HOW WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE ACTUALLY COUNTING.
UH, THERE'S A PRAGMATIC ELEMENT TO WHAT'S MEASURABLE IN OUR DATA, AND WE MAY HAVE SOME MADE SOME DATA SYSTEM CHANGES THAT HAVE TO GO INTO EFFECT, UH, TO ALLOW TO THAT.
BUT I'M HAPPY TO KEEP THE COMMISSION UPDATE ON THAT PROGRESS TO THAT POINT.
AND I BROUGHT DOWN OF THIS IS THAT YOU'LL NOTICE ON THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE AND I'LL MAKE, THIS IS THE SOURCES DPS WEB PORTAL.
UM, THESE CLEARANCES ARE NOT BASED UPON ANY DEFINITION IN THE DEPARTMENT.
THESE ARE THE CLEARANCES AS REPORTED TO DPS, ACCORDING TO STATE LAW AND REPORTING.
AND SO AS WE DEVELOP BUSINESS PROCESSES IN THE, IN THE, IN THE DEPARTMENT, AND THIS WOULD BE KIND OF AN EXAMPLE, OBVIOUSLY, UH, THE WAY IN WHICH DPS HAS DEFINED THIS FOR OFFICIAL STATE REPORTING PROCESSES IS GOING TO HAVE SOME IMPACT ON OUR DECISION ABOUT HOW DEVELOP METRICS, UM, BUT IT IS NOT THE ONLY ELEMENT THAT'S LIKELY GOING TO GUIDE THAT.
SO THAT SHOULD GIVE YOU SOME SENSE OF WHY I SAY THERE'S A COMPLICATED INTERPLAY BETWEEN WHAT WE DO FOR CERTAIN REPORTING ELEMENTS, UM, VERSUS WHAT WE MIGHT CHOOSE TO REPORT, BECAUSE WE MIGHT THINK IT MIGHT BE MORE INFORMATIVE TO THEM FOR THE DEPARTMENT, AS WELL AS THE PUBLIC.
SO AS I CANNOT SEE, UM, EVERYONE ON THE CALL, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE JUST OPEN YOUR MIC AND I WILL RECOGNIZE YOU, OH, THERE YOU GO.
UH, COMMISSIONER SARAH VOLO FIRST, UH, JUST A QUICK QUESTION, DR.
CRAIG AND I NOTICED THAT YOU REPORTED FREQUENCIES FOR MOST OF THESE TABLES, JUST RAW COUNTS.
UM, IS THERE A REASON WHY WE'RE NOT REPORTING THIS AT RATES EITHER PER INCIDENT OR PER POPULATION? UH, AND ARE WE GOING TO SEE RATES IN THE FUTURE ONCE YOU DECIDE ON Y'ALL'S END ON THE BACK END, HOW YOU'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND EITHER DO THAT A YEARLY BASIS CRIMES REPORTED THAT YEAR CLEARED THAT YEAR, SOME OF THAT INFORMATION WOULD BE USEFUL.
AND I THINK THAT'S, AND I APPRECIATE THE QUESTIONS.
UM, AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS SPEAKING TO IS THAT, IS THAT AT THIS POINT WE HAVE TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT THE ACTUAL PROPER DENOMINATOR IS.
AND SO, UM, IN ORDER TO DO THAT, WE HAVE TO FINISH SOME ELEMENTS OF, OF SOME SELF STUDY THAT WE'RE ENGAGED IN THAT HAVE TO DO THINGS WITH THINGS LIKE UNITS, UNIT VARIATION, AND LENGTH OF TIME FROM AN INITIAL
[00:20:02]
INDICATION OF INCIDENT TO THE TIME THAT WE MIGHT ACTUALLY SEE THE OUTCOMES.UM, SO AT THIS POINT I WOULD SAY I HAVE NO KIND OF AVAILABLE DATA TO HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHAT THE IMPACT OF USING A MONTHLY RATE VERSUS A YEARLY RATE.
AND THAT'S PART OF THE SELF STUDY IS THAT PROJECT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT, I DO FULLY ANTICIPATE THAT WE WOULD, UM, THAT WE WOULD BE, UM, YOU KNOW, PRESENTING THESE AS, UM, AS RATES IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
UH, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE KIND OF CREATE, WHEN WE KIND OF FINISHED THAT WORK, I THINK THE INTERESTING ELEMENT WE'VE SEEN THIS IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT REPORTING ISSUES, RIGHT, IS THAT PERCENTAGES HAVE A NATURAL INTERPRETATION IS RELATED TO A LIKELIHOOD 0% OF ZERO AND A HUNDRED IS A HUNDRED.
UM, THE CHALLENGE WITH PRODUCING RATIO METRICS LARGELY DEALS WITH THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, MATHEMATICALLY ALL ELEMENTS OF THE DENOMINATOR HAVE TO BE ELIGIBLE TO BE IN THE NUMERATOR.
AND BECAUSE OF THESE LINKS OF TIME AND PROCESS ISSUES, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY THE CASE.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO BEST, UM, YOU KNOW, ULTIMATELY WHERE WE WANT TO GET WITH THIS IS, UM, METRICS THAT WE CAN KIND OF USE TO TRACK SORT OF PERFORMANCE, UM, LOOK AT CHANGES IN PERFORMANCE OVER TIME, ET CETERA.
AND SO THE MEASUREMENT PART IS, UH, DEMANDS LIKE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF ATTENTION SO THAT WE'RE MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE GETTING SOMETHING THAT WILL BE SENSITIVE ENOUGH TO MEET BOTH OUR NEEDS INTERNALLY AND OUR REPORTING NEEDS, YOU KNOW, FOR THE PUBLIC.
SO, UH, BUT IN SHORT, IN SHORT, I ABSOLUTELY SEE THAT THAT RATIOS WOULD BE THE KIND OF THING THAT WOULD BE PRESENTED.
LONG-TERM NO, I, I UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE CHALLENGES AND, AND FIGURING OUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION VERSUS A STRONG ARMED ROBBERY AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN, UM, IT BEHOOVES A SERMON, BUT THAT THE, THE PERFECT CAN'T BE THE ENEMY OF THE GOOD AND LOTS OF DEPARTMENTS USE A YEARLY RATE.
UM, SO THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING BETTER THAN THAT, BUT RAW FREQUENCY IS, DO NOT, UH, A BIBLE SOLUTION MAKING THE LONGTERM.
AND I'M SURE THAT YOU AND APD APPRECIATE THAT.
UM, LET'S GO TO COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT, THEN COMMISSIONER HOUSE AND FLOOD, UM, UH, DR.
CHRISTIAN, I REALLY APPRECIATE THIS EXPLANATION.
I'M THE ONE WHO STARTED THIS, UM, KIND OF FORAY DOWN, UM, STATISTICS LANE.
UM, AND I WANTED TO GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF AN EXPLANATION FOR WHY I ASKED FOR CLEARANCE RATES.
UM, I KNOW THAT THEY COULD BE SENSITIVE PARTIALLY BECAUSE THE AVERAGE CITIZEN, UM, IS NOT GOING TO UNDERSTAND, UM, WHAT CLEARANCE RATES ARE LIKE NATIONALLY, WHAT, UH, A NORMAL CLEARANCE RATE IS, UH, FOR, LET'S SAY HOMICIDES FOR A POLICE DEPARTMENT IN THE UNITED STATES.
AND SO THEY MIGHT LOOK AT CLEARANCE RATE AND BE REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT HOW EFFECTIVE, UH, POLICE ARE WHEN WE'RE ACTUALLY DOING BETTER THAN MOST POLICE DEPARTMENTS.
UM, AND, UH, AND THAT'S NOT WHERE I WAS HEADED.
UM, WHAT I'M MOST INTERESTED IN, UM, AND MAYBE THIS WILL HELP IS, UM, ONE IS EQUITY, WHETHER OR NOT, UM, WE ARE SOLVING HOMICIDES IN AN EQUITABLE WAY THAT IS WHETHER, UM, CRIME VICTIMS OF COLOR, UM, HOMICIDE VICTIMS OF COLORS, CASES ARE BEING SOLVED, UM, AT AN EQUIVALENT RATE, UM, TO, UM, WHITE VICTIMS OF HOMICIDE.
UM, AND THEN THE OTHER ONE IS WHETHER OR NOT, AND I, AND I ASSUME THIS IS VERY LIKELY TO HAVE CHANGED.
UM, WE'VE ADDRESSED ALL OF THE CONCERNS THAT CAME UP REGARDING THE WAY THAT WE WERE CALCULATING CLEARANCE RATES, UH, WHEN IT CAME TO SEXUAL ASSAULT, UM, THAT REALLY RADICALLY FUDGING THE NUMBERS IN THAT CATEGORY.
UM, I MEAN, I THINK, I THINK THAT IT'S LIKELY, AND MAYBE YOU CAN TELL ME THIS, THIS IS MY QUESTION.
IF, IF NATIONAL CLEARANCE RATES ARE PROBABLY CALCULATED IN THE WAY THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO DO IT, WHICH IS THEY JUST TAKE ALL THE CRIMES IN ONE CATEGORY FOR A YEAR AND THEY MAKE THAT THE, THE NUMERATOR OR THE DENOMINATOR, IS THAT RIGHT? YEP.
AND THEY JUST FIGURE THAT THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR GOVERNMENT WORK.
AND THAT'S, AND THAT'S, I MEAN, THAT'S KIND OF THE NATURE OF A LOT OF METRICS THAT ARE REPORTED AT A POLICING.
AND SO, UM, AND, AND SORT OF DEVELOPING MEASUREMENTS OR METRICS, YOU HAVE TO REALLY TAKE A STEP BACK AND, UM, AND REALLY TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS IT THAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH.
AND IT MAY BE THAT IT MAY BE THAT WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT AN ENTIRE YEAR THAT A RATE LIKE THAT MIGHT HAVE ADEQUATE PROPERTY TO THE ERROR THAT IT'S GOING TO CREATE, THAT WE WOULD SAY THAT'S A GOOD NUMBER FOR THE YEAR.
WHEN WE BREAK IT DOWN TO A MONTH OR A WEEK, AND IN THE EXTREME, WE COULD SAY, BREAK IT DOWN TO AN AN HOUR OR A DAY OR AN HOUR.
AND YOU BEGIN TO SEE HOW THIS NUMBER DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING RIGHT.
WHERE WE'RE AT WITH IT IS THAT
[00:25:01]
WE, WE DON'T HAVE THE, UH, LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT IN OUR SELF-STUDY TO UNDERSTAND, UM, WHAT'S THE RIGHT CUTOFF, RIGHT.ARE WE WILLING TO REPORT THIS FOR A QUARTER AND DO WE THINK IT'S ACTUALLY INFORMATIVE? AND SO, UM, I HAVE A LOT OF CONCERNS GENERALLY IN MY ROLE ABOUT MISINFORMATION.
AND SO I THINK THERE'S AN ETHICAL OBLIGATION TO BE VERY CAUTIOUS IN WHAT NUMBERS ARE REPORTED.
AND SO WHILE, UH, YOU KNOW, AS A STATISTICIAN, WHILE I UNDERSTAND THE KIND OF ARGUMENTS THAT CAN BE MADE ABOUT USING STATISTICS TO OBSCURE TRUTH, UM, THE REALITY IS, IS THAT MOST OF THAT IN MY EXPERIENCE ACROSS ALL FIELDS, UM, REALLY RELATES TO PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T DONE THAT THE ADEQUATE WORK TO SAY WHAT SHOULD AND SHOULD NOT BE REPORTED.
AND SO, UM, I AGREE WITH YOU THAT I THINK THAT KEY ELEMENTS LIKE EQUITY ARE THE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO BE MEASURING, AND WE NEED TO BE MEASURING A VARIETY OF OUTCOMES TO ADDRESS THINGS LIKE INEQUITY.
UM, WE ALSO NEED, UH, TO BE ABLE TO PLACE A VARIETY OF OTHER CHALLENGES IN THE CONTEXT OF PERFORMANCE.
AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'M SUBSTANTIALLY FOCUSED ON IS THE SENSITIVITY OF A MEASUREMENT.
AND SO WHAT HAPPENS IF WE REPORT A METRIC, THAT'S A RATIO FOR A SHORTENED PERIOD OF TIME IN WHICH THERE IS A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN ACTIVITY, RIGHT.
AND WHAT IF THAT HAPPENS AT THE SAME TIME IN WHICH THERE IS A REDUCTION IN STAFFING, RIGHT? ARE WE GOING TO BE, ARE WE GOING TO BE FACING ARGUMENTS ABOUT WHETHER THAT IS, OR IS NOT ABOUT STAFFING, UM, WITHOUT HAVING, YOU KNOW, DONE THE WORK IN ADVANCE TO BE ABLE TO REALLY PARSE AND SAY SOMETHING MEANINGFUL, THE OTHER THING THAT COMES INTO PLAY, AND THIS IS A CHALLENGING POSITION THAT THE DEPARTMENT'S IN, ALTHOUGH THAT HORIZON FOR CONCLUSION IS OUT THERE.
UM, SO I APPRECIATE THE KIND OF QUESTIONS THAT YOU'RE BRINGING AND WHAT YOU'RE BRINGING FOCUS TO BECAUSE, UH, AGAIN, A HUNDRED PERCENT AGREE.
WE, THE OTHER CHALLENGE IS THAT IN 2018, THE DEPARTMENT SWITCHED OVER THE TALK ABOUT THIS BEFORE TO THE NEIGHBOR'S REPORTING STANDARDS FROM THE UCR REPORTING STANDARD.
AND WE'RE JUST BEGINNING TO GET ENOUGH HISTORIC DATA, RIGHT? 20, 23 YEAR END.
YOU KNOW, WE'LL BE AT THE POINT WHERE WE'LL HAVE ENOUGH REPORTED UNDER NEIGHBORS, THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT WHAT IS HIGH WHEN YOU COUNT IT THIS WAY VERSUS WHAT IS LOW.
AND SO I'M, I'M GENERALLY LESS INTERESTED IN DEPARTMENT TO DEPARTMENT OR JURISDICTION TO JURISDICTION COMPARISONS, AND EVEN FBI AS THE REPOSITORY FOR ALL OF THIS INFORMATION, UH, VERY SPECIFICALLY TELLS PEOPLE NOT TO DO THAT.
UM, IN THE END, EVERYBODY TURNS THE NEXT DAY AND SAYS, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NUMBER 14 OR WHATNOT.
AND SO, UM, BUT IT'S REALLY ANALYTICALLY MISGUIDED.
I THINK FOR US AS A CITY, AS OUR ABILITY TO MEASURE WHAT'S HAPPENING TO MEASURE CHANGE, AND TO BE ABLE TO REALLY TRY TO MEASURE THE IMPACT OF ANY CHANGES WE MAKE OR INTERVENTIONS WE MAKE CHANGES THE POLICY, ET CETERA.
UM, SO THAT'S WHERE WE WANT TO GET.
AND I DO BELIEVE THAT WE'LL HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF PROGRESS IN THIS ARENA IN THE NEXT SIX TO NINE MONTHS.
THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL BECAUSE I THINK IN POLICING, UH, FOR A VERY LONG TIME, THERE HAVEN'T BEEN VERY MANY METRICS THAT HAVE BEEN PARTICULARLY ACCURATE.
UH, YOU MENTIONED ON THIS A LITTLE BIT IN YOUR LAST STATEMENT, BUT I WAS CURIOUS IF THERE ARE ANY INITIATIVES OR DEEMPHASIS TOPICS THAT YOU KNOW OF THAT OCCURRED IN 2021 THAT COULD BE CAUSING THIS JUST TWO DISTRICTS TO GO UP OR DOWN ON PARTICULAR CRIME CLASSES.
I MEAN, I CAN TELL YOU NATIONALLY, UM, IT IS LIKELY, ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT SCIENTIFICALLY ESTABLISHED THE EFFECT OF COVID ON, ON OFFENDING PATTERNS HAS BEEN REMARKABLE.
UM, IN THAT IF YOU THINK ABOUT SOME OF THESE CRIMES, UH, WE, I WOULD REFER TO SCIENTIFICALLY AS DIRECT CONTACT, RIGHT? UM, WHERE A VICTIM MUST ENCOUNTER A SENDER IN SOME CIRCUMSTANCE FOR THE CRIME TO OCCUR AND THE FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT, UM, INACTIVITY.
RIGHT? SO IF WE TALKED TO ANYONE WHO OWNS A RESTAURANT OR A BAR OR A SHOPPING CENTER, UM, THERE'S THE CHANGES IN ACTIVITY PATTERNS THAT HAVE OCCURRED, UM, HAVE REALLY CHANGED THESE KINDS OF UNDERLYING STRUCTURAL FEATURES THAT WHILE YOU, AND I THINK INDIVIDUALLY ABOUT I'M GOING TO GO DO THIS, CAUSE THAT'S WHAT I'M DOING RIGHT NOW, ALL THESE THINGS THAT AGGREGATE AND THEY BECOME VERY DEFINED PATTERNS THAT REALLY DRIVE A LOT OF WHAT HAPPENS WITH CRIME, BECAUSE IT'S, IT DRIVES THE OPPORTUNITY FOR CRIME TO OCCUR.
UM, SINCE COVID, IT'S BEEN, IT'S BEEN A VERY, VERY INTERESTING PERIOD OF TIME.
UH, I CAN TELL YOU WHAT CONCERNS ME IS THAT IN A LOT OF PLACES, AND WE SEE THIS IN OUR DATA, WE SEE THIS REDUCTION OVERALL, RIGHT? A NEGATIVE 8%, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, IT'S QUESTIONABLE WHETHER OR NOT THAT REDUCTION IS SUBSTANTIAL ENOUGH TO ASSUME THAT LIKELIHOODS HAVE NOT GONE UP RIGHT, BECAUSE OPPORTUNITY HAS GONE
[00:30:01]
WAY DOWN.AND SO IF OPPORTUNITY GOES WAY DOWN AND WE SEE A REAL MINOR REDUCTION IN ACTUAL CHRONIC, THAT SEEMS TO SUGGEST THAT ACTUALLY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY NOT GO DOWN, THE CRIME WOULD HAVE, WOULD HAVE ATTRACTED UP.
IT'S ALSO POSSIBLE THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT COVID, AND COVID RESPONSE HAS EFFECTED OFFENDING PATTERNS, WHICH MAY BE DIFFERENT AS WELL, IN ADDITION TO SORT OF WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH SORT OF, UM, YOU KNOW, POTENTIAL VICTIMS. AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, OTHER THAN THAT, THERE HAS BEEN A GREAT DEAL AND I'M A SCIENTIST.
SO UNTIL I HAVE SOME SORT OF STATISTICAL EVIDENCE IN FRONT OF ME, I CAN TELL YOU WHAT PEOPLE HAVE DISCUSSED.
I CAN TELL YOU THERE EITHER IS, OR IS NOT EVIDENCE THAT THIS IS THE CASE.
OBVIOUSLY THERE IS A GREAT DEAL OF DISCUSSION ABOUT STAFFING LEVELS IN THE DEPARTMENT AND WITH A SUBSTANTIAL LEVEL OF REDUCTION.
UM, AGAIN, THIS IS AN ELEMENT WHERE THE NUMBER OF DATA POINTS THAT WE NEED TO REALLY BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND IT.
UM, I CAN TELL YOU THAT I HAVE LOOKED AT, UM, BY VARIOUS ARENA ANALYSIS LOOKING KIND OF AT NUMBER OF STAFF MEMBERS PER WEEK, WHO ARE ACTIVELY WORKING AND WHAT'S HAPPENING IN CRIME WISE.
I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE EXPLORATORY INITIAL EVIDENCE THAT I HAVE THAT'S IMPORTANT AND EXPLORATORY, INITIAL, UM, SUGGEST THAT THERE IS LIKELY A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOME OF THE STAFFING PROBLEMS AND SOME OF THE CRIME CATEGORIES THAT'S GOING TO REQUIRE CONFIRMATION.
IT'S GOING TO TAKE MORE TIME THAN NEED MORE DATA.
UM, SO I WOULD NOT MAKE A POLICY RECOMMENDATION PER SE, BASED UPON THAT EVIDENCE.
UH, BUT IT IS REMARKABLY STRONGER THAN SPECULATION.
RAMIREZ AND THEN COMMISSIONER LEWIS AFTER HER.
UM, YEAH, JUST A QUICK QUESTION ON TIMELINE.
YOU MENTIONED YOU'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS PROCESS FOR ABOUT SEVEN MONTHS, UM, AND WONDERING IF THERE IS AN ACTUAL, YOU KNOW, DEFINED PROJECT WITH A TIMELINE FOR COMPLETING THIS PROCESS AND COMING UP WITH DEFINITIONS FOR CLEARANCE RATES.
UH, THERE IS NOT AN ACTUAL PROJECT.
AND SO AS A MATTER OF, AS A MATTER OF TRANSPARENCY, UM, BECAUSE OF STAT, WE PUBLICLY, I THINK THERE'S BEEN A GREAT DEAL OF DISCUSSION ABOUT STAFFING ISSUES RELATED TO SWORN PERSONNEL.
UM, THERE HAVE BEEN LESS, THERE'S BEEN LESS EMPHASIS ON KIND OF STAFFING RELATED TO THE CIVILIAN PERSONNEL AND DEPARTMENT.
UM, SO THE UNIT, THE RESEARCH AND PLANNING UNIT, WHICH IS FUNDAMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR A LOT OF THIS ACTIVITY, AND I APOLOGIZE, THIS IS PART OF THE REASON THAT WE'VE HAD SOME OF THE RESPONSE LEVEL THAT I'D LIKE TO AMEND MOVING FORWARD.
UM, WE HAVE UNITS IN, IN THAT ARENA THAT ARE ABOUT 60% UNSTAFFED CURRENTLY.
AND SO WE'VE HAD A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF TURNOVER, A TREMENDOUS NUMBER OF RESIGNATIONS.
UM, IN FACT, THE RESEARCH AND PLANNING UNIT THAT PRODUCES THESE TYPES OF MATERIALS FOR THE COMMISSION OTHERWISE IS CURRENTLY, UM, CONSISTS OF TWO INDIVIDUALS REPORTING TO AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT DIVISION.
UM, GIVEN THE STAFFING NOW WE'VE MADE SOME GREAT PROGRESS IN THAT, UH, IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS, WE'VE SUCCESSFULLY HIRED A DIVISION MANAGER, UM, WHO CAN TAKE THE ADMINISTRATIVE LOAD OF TRYING TO PUT THE, TRYING TO INCREASE OUR CAPACITY THERE.
UM, BUT BECAUSE OF THAT, THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT FOR IS A PRIORITY FOR ME.
UM, I HAVE A, A, UH, UNIT SUPERVISOR WHO'S ACTUALLY WORKING ON IT.
WHO'S DONE SOME EXPLORATION INTO IT, BUT THIS IS NOT HAPPENING AS A, UM, AS A FORMAL PROJECT AT THIS POINT BECAUSE WE HAVE NO RESOURCES TO STARTING THEIR PROJECT.
UM, I HAD JUST RECENTLY A MEETING, UM, WITH TRAVIS COUNTY AROUND THEIR NUMBERS RELATED TO CASE OUTCOMES SPECIFICALLY FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT.
AND THEY HAD MENTIONED THAT THEY DON'T HAVE, UM, THE RIGHT SYSTEM TO, TO TRACK THINGS IN A WAY THAT MAKES SENSE.
SO THEY CAN'T REALLY AGGREGATE LIKE CASES, UM, IN A WAY WHERE, BECAUSE OF COURSE WE UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S REPORTED ONE YEAR AND THEN IT GOES THROUGH DIFFERENT STEPS AT DIFFERENT TIMES, AND THAT REALLY, YOU KNOW, MAKES IT HARD TO UNDERSTAND THE DATA.
SO, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF, IF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT ALSO KIND OF HAS THE SAME ISSUE WHERE IT IS ALSO KIND OF A MATTER OF THE TECHNOLOGY THAT'S BEING USED.
UM, SO I MEAN, THAT'S ONE QUESTION, IS THERE A TECHNOLOGY ISSUE OR AN ISSUE WITH, YOU KNOW, WHO'S GATHERING THE DATA AND THEN I THINK THERE'S THIS JUST NEED FOR THERE TO BE A, MORE OF A COMMUNITY DISCUSSION ABOUT WHAT DATA POINTS ARE IMPORTANT, BECAUSE, AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, OF COURSE INTERNALLY APD WATSI THAT DATA TO LIKE INFORM HOW THEY MAKE CHANGES, THAT KIND OF THING, OR WHAT'S NEEDED.
BUT I THINK THAT THAT INFORMATION IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THE COMMUNITY BECAUSE WE'RE ALL KIND OF LOOKING FOR WAYS TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES, RIGHT.
[00:35:01]
SOCIAL ISSUES.UM, AND I THINK IT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND, BUT BY CASE AND LESS SO ABOUT THE YEAR.
SO AS A CASE MOVES THROUGH THE SYSTEM, LIKE HOW LONG IS IT TAKING TO MOVE FROM ONE STAGE TO ANOTHER, HOW MUCH TIME, UM, PER CASE, UM, UH, THOSE TYPES OF DETAILS THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, UM, IF WE STILL HAVE CASES OPEN FROM FIVE YEARS AGO, OR LIKE, WHAT IS THE RATE THAT IT'S ACTUALLY CLOSING? IS THAT KIND OF INDICATIVE OF, YOU KNOW, LACK OF RESOURCES OR A LACK OF LIKE, UH, YOU KNOW, LIKE I THINK, I THINK UNDERSTANDING IT IN TERMS OF WHAT'S REPORTED AND NOT NECESSARILY BY YEAR.
UM, AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE, SO I DON'T HAVE A SUGGESTION.
AND I'M JUST WONDERING IF Y'ALL HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT LIKE USING TECHNOLOGY TO ACTUALLY GET US, UM, TO UNDERSTANDING KIND OF THE FLOW PER CASE.
UM, YEAH, I MEAN, HAPPY, HAPPY TO JUMP OFF OF THAT.
UM, THAT'S A REALLY, THAT'S A REALLY, UM, REALLY IMPORTANT POINT.
AND SO I, I WILL SAY TO YOU, I AGREE.
I THINK A, A LIKELY METRIC, I CAN'T SAY FOR SURE WOULD LIKELY METRICS THAT WE REALLY NEED TO THINK ABOUT WOULD BE THINGS LIKE, UM, YOU KNOW, MEDIAN NUMBER OF DAYS UNTIL THE CASE CLOSES OF ANY CASE THAT CLOSES OF A PARTICULAR TIME, RIGHT.
UM, YOU KNOW, NUMBER OR PROPORTION OR SOME RELATIVE RATIO, RELATIVE RISK RATIO OR SOMETHING, UM, FOR CASES THAT HAVE BEEN OPEN FOR A PERIOD OF TIME.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR SOME STAMP, SOME LEVEL THAT WE MIGHT THINK ABOUT AS THIS IS KIND OF WHAT WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND.
AND SO, UM, THE PERFORMANCE OF THE STATISTICAL PROPERTY OF PERFORMANCE WILL KIND OF LEAD US INTO THOSE DIRECTIONS.
AND SO, BUT I AGREE THERE, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT METRICS THAT FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES INTERNALLY, UM, AS WELL AS FOR PUBLIC REPORTING, UM, WOULD BE VERY USEFUL TO JUST UNDERSTAND BETTER WHAT'S HAPPENING.
UM, AND THAT'S ABSOLUTELY WHAT WE DO.
AND SO, UM, THE, UH, QUESTION THAT YOU BROUGHT UP THE POINT ABOUT TRAVIS COUNTY AND THEIR DATA SYSTEMS, UH, AND I CAN, I CAN TELL YOU THIS, THAT IN, IN MY PREVIOUS ROLE AS A PROFESSOR, I WORKED ON A BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE PROJECT WHERE WE EVALUATED DATA SYSTEMS IN 600 POLICE DEPARTMENTS.
SO THIS PHENOMENON, THESE CHALLENGES ARE NOT UNIQUE TO AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
THEY'RE NOT UNIQUE TO TRAVIS COUNTY.
UH, THEY ARE ENDEMIC, UH, IN US POLICING.
AND THAT STEMS FROM, UM, YOU KNOW, A RECOGNITION THAT DATA SYSTEMS AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS WERE INITIALLY DESIGNED AND BUILT TO MEET OPERATIONAL NEEDS, UH, NOT FOR REPORTING PURPOSES.
AND SO THERE ARE MANY SORT OF VESTIBULE FEATURES IN THE WAY IN WHICH DATA ARE USED IN, I'M NOT SAYING AUSTIN IN POLICING IN GENERAL, UM, THAT CREATE A LOT OF CHALLENGES.
AND SO NOW THERE IS A OFTEN A PERCEPTION THAT SAYS BUY A NEW SYSTEM, SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
AND I CAN POINT TO A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT JURISDICTIONS THAT WENT THAT ROUTE TO REALLY, UH, VERY, VERY NEGATIVE OUTCOMES.
AND SO IT'S SOMEWHAT OF A SORT OF, UM, AND SOMEWHAT, IT'S KIND OF LIKE A GORDIAN KNOT, RIGHT? SO WE HAVE DATA SYSTEMS THAT ARE REALLY CHALLENGING, BUT IF YOU'RE DATA SCIENTISTS LIKE ME, IT'S NOT, IT'S JUST, OKAY, THESE ARE HOW THE DATA IS STRUCTURED.
WE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE REMARKABLY TALENTED INDIVIDUALS TO BE ABLE TO TAKE THE INFORMATION APART AND REASSEMBLE IT IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT WOULD REPORT WHAT THE COMMUNITY WANTS TO KNOW.
IT'S JUST THE WAY THE DATA SYSTEM WORKS IS NOT SET UP TO DO, YOU KNOW, SORT OF SIMPLIFIED REPORTING.
THE REALITY OF THAT IS QUITE SIMPLE.
AUSTIN'S A REALLY HARD PLACE TO HIRE IT.
PEOPLE RIGHT NOW, THE EXPANSION OF THE ECONOMY AND WHATNOT HAS BEEN TREMENDOUS, UM, PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYERS THAT PAY TWICE WITH THE CITY PAY HAVE, UM, HAVE BEEN REPORTING, HAVING REALLY BIG CHALLENGES, HIRING ANALYTIC PEOPLE, DATA PEOPLE, AND TECHNOLOGY PEOPLE.
AND SO THE SOLUTION, AND THIS IS, YOU KNOW, PART OF MY ROLE IN THE DEPARTMENT IS TO MAP THE LONGTERM STRATEGY TO ADDRESS THE DISPARITY, IF YOU WILL, BETWEEN WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO BE RESPONSIVE IN THE WAY THAT WE WANT TO BE, UM, AND OUR ACTUAL ABILITY TO RESPOND.
AND SO WHEN, WHEN SOMETHING IS, UM, YOU KNOW, AS WE GO IN THIS ROAD OF THINKING ABOUT METRICS, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I DIDN'T PUT IN THE EARLIER CONVERSATION, THERE'S A PRAGMATIC COMPONENT AS WELL, WHICH IS TO SAY, I MAY WANT TO MEASURE IT THIS WAY, BUT I MAY CHOOSE TO MEASURE IT THAT WAY BECAUSE WITH OUR DATA SYSTEM, THAT'S POSSIBLE IN A WAY THAT WE CAN DO ON AN ONGOING BASIS AT A HIGH LEVEL OF RELIABILITY, EVEN IF THERE ARE SOME PARTICULAR PECULIARITIES, RIGHT? AND SO, UM, BUT YOU KNOW, IT'S A DATA SYSTEM PROBLEM TO THE EXPENSE, TO THE EXTENT THAT WE DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT DATA
[00:40:01]
PERSONNEL RIGHT NOW, WHETHER WE'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET THERE OR NOT.WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE ECONOMY? WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE, UH, UH, GROWING FIELD IN ACADEMIA, DATA SCIENCE AND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE COMING OUT, LOOKING FOR EMPLOYMENT.
UM, YOU KNOW, THIS IS KIND OF A LONG-TERM PROCESS WE ARE MAKING, I CAN SAY WE ARE MAKING A REMARKABLE STRIDES IN THE DEPARTMENT.
WE HAVE DONE SOME RESTRUCTURING.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, IN MY ROLE, UM, I HAVE ASSUMED THE BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY DIVISION IN ADDITION TO MY OTHER DIVISIONS.
AND THE REASON WE'VE DONE THAT IS BECAUSE THE RESEARCH DIVISIONS HAVE TO RELY ON THE TECHNOLOGY DIVISIONS TO GET TO THE UNDERLYING DATA SYSTEMS, TO FIGURE OUT AT THE MOST GRANULAR LEVEL WHAT'S THERE.
AND THE SYSTEMS DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE DATA SYSTEM HAS TO BE INFORMED BY WHAT THE RESEARCH TEAM DOES.
IT ALSO HAS TO BE INFORMED BY WHAT THE OPERATIONS TEAM NEEDS.
AND SO WE'VE DONE SOME RESTRUCTURING TO TRY TO ADDRESS THIS MOVING FORWARD.
UM, AND I EXPECT TO SEE, UH, THOSE THINGS WE'VE KIND OF TALKED ABOUT IN THESE MEETINGS BEFORE, UH, ABOUT MOVING IN THE DIRECTION OF A LOT OF PUBLIC DATA PORTAL IN, RIGHT.
UM, WITH KINDS OF INTERACTIVE, WAYS OF UNDERSTANDING WHAT'S GOING ON IN POLICING.
UH, WE HAVE IN THE LAST YEAR LAID A LOT OF GROUNDWORK FOR THAT.
SO YOU DON'T SEE THE PROGRESS, BUT IT'S BECAUSE IT WAS FOUNDATION.
SO I EXPECT THAT WE'LL BEGIN TO SEE PROGRESS IN THOSE AREAS IN THE NEXT YEAR.
AND THESE KIND OF METRICS ARE SORT OF WITHIN THAT RANGE.
AND I BELIEVE THERE ARE STILL SOME SLIDES THAT NEED TO BE REVIEWED WERE NOT DONE WITH THE SLIDES.
SO THERE ARE A COUPLE MORE SLIDES IF WE WANT TO JUMP TO THEM AND HAPPY TO KIND OF RUN THROUGH THOSE REAL QUICK.
UM, YEAH, SO WE'RE STARTING AT CITY RESPONSE TIME AND CALL VOLUMES, WHICH I THINK IS SLIDE NUMBER EIGHT.
UH, SO WE'RE REPORTING OUR RESPONSE TIMES AND CALL VOLUMES.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU CAN KIND OF SEE, UH, IN THE, IN THE MIDDLE ROW IS WE PUBLISH A GOAL OF EIGHT MINUTES, 24 SECONDS JOINED P ZERO, RUINED P ONE RESPONSE TIME.
UM, THESE ARE URGENT EMERGENCY CALLS.
UM, THE DIFFERENTIATING FACTOR IS THAT AN URGENT CALL MEANS IT IS CURRENTLY HAPPENING, RIGHT? SO YOU CAN THINK ABOUT THIS AS SAYING, IF A STORE IS BEING ITS COMMERCIAL ROBBERY, A STORE IS BEING ROBBED.
UH, IF A BYSTANDER OUTSIDE CALLS 9 1 1, WHILE THAT IS HAPPENING, THAT'S AN URGENT CALL.
UM, IF AN EMERGENCY CALL MEANS MAYBE THE ASSAILANT HAS LEFT THEM, THIS SHOPKEEPER ACTUALLY MAKES THE PHONE CALL, BUT IT HAS JUST HAPPENED.
THESE ARE THE ONES WE FOCUS ON MOST WITH RESPONSE TIMES, BECAUSE THESE ARE THE ONES IN WHICH THERE IS A HIGH PROBABILITY OF A, OR A MUCH HIGHER PROBABILITY OF ARREST, UM, OR OTHER OUTCOMES LIKE SEIZING FIREARMS, ET CETERA.
SHOULD WE BE ABLE TO RESPOND THESE QUICKLY? SO 8 24 IS THE CURRENT TARGET.
UM, WE ARE, AS YOU CAN SEE, UH, OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS, WE ARE NOWHERE NEAR MEETING THAT TARGET RIGHT NOW.
UM, YOU CAN SEE IT'S WHERE ROUGHLY AVERAGING 10 AND A HALF MINUTES.
UM, AND THAT IS A FUNCTION THAT IS A FUNCTION OF STAFFING.
THAT'S BEEN, UH, VERY CLEARLY ARTICULATED AND SHOWN VIA ANALYSIS THAT, UM, THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE AVAILABLE ON PATROL AT ANY MOMENT IS THE MOST DRIVING IS THE LARGEST PREDICTOR OF WHAT OUR AVERAGE RESPONSE TIMES ARE GONNA LOOK LIKE.
UM, SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE WE'RE AT RELATED TO THAT, UM, TARGET, UH, YOU CAN SEE AS OUR, YOU KNOW, FACTOR OF CALL VOLUMES BELOW THAT, THAT, THAT WE'RE NOT, IT'S NOT A FUNCTION OF US.
HAVING MORE CALLS IS A FUNCTION OF US HAVING REDUCED LABOR.
SO HOP TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, FOR AWARENESS, WE DO BREAK THIS DOWN, UM, BY COUNCIL DISTRICT, UM, TO KIND OF GIVE A NUMBER OF, UH, THINGS AND IN THE READING OF IT AGAIN, THE PRIORITY ZERO CALL, THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT, THAT'S THE CURRENT, THE PRIORITY ONE CALL.
AND THEN THESE TABLES, WE GIVE KIND OF A BREAKDOWN, WHICH IS WHAT'S THE DIFFERENTIATING ART.
OUR CITYWIDE METRIC IS THE CONJOINT PZ ROPEY ONE RESPONSE TIME.
THE, BUT AS A BREAKDOWN, WE SHOW YOU THE INDIVIDUALS PRIORITY TWO AND PRIORITY THREE ARE MUCH LOWER PRIORITY CALLS.
UM, AND SO, UH, OBVIOUSLY WE WANT TO GET TO THOSE CALLS, UH, BUT THEY DON'T HAVE THE IMMEDIACY OF THE P ZERO P ONCE THIS BREAKS DOWN BY COUNCIL DISTRICT.
UM, ANOTHER ISSUE JUST FOR AWARENESS THAT COMES UP IN THIS IS THAT THESE DATA COME OUT OF OUR CAD SYSTEM NOTED DOWN LOWER LEFT-HAND CORNER.
UH, IF ONE WERE TO GO SO FAR AS TO ADD UP ALL OF THESE NUMBERS AND THEN STEP BACK TO COMPARE THEM TO THE NUMBERS ON PREVIOUS PREVIOUS SLIDE, THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE KINDS OF THINGS WE'RE TRYING TO MITIGATE.
UH, YOU WOULD NOT COME UP WITH THE SAME NUMBERS AND THAT JUST HAS, THAT HAS TO DO WITH, UM, THE WAY IN WHICH CALLS WITHIN THE DATA SYSTEM ARE CLASSIFIED AS COUNCIL DISTRICT FOUR OR FIVE.
UM, THERE IS A, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF CALLS IN THE CAD SYSTEM THAT DON'T ATTACH A COUNCIL DISTRICT.
UM, AND SO THAT'S A TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION THAT WE NEED TO LOOK INTO, BUT WE DON'T HAVE A GIS PROCESS TO ACTUALLY FIGURE THAT OUT.
SO THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF VARIATION, BUT THE PROXY IS CORRECT.
SO WE WOULD, THE NUMBER IS IT'S VERY CLOSE.
UM, SO THIS IS THE BEST ESTIMATE WE HAVE, UH, IMPORTANT IN THAT YOU CAN KIND OF LOOK AT VARIOUS COUNCIL DISTRICTS
[00:45:01]
AND YOU CAN UNDERSTAND, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE RELATIVE PERFORMANCE IS TO THAT KIND OF CITYWIDE AVERAGE AT ABOUT 10 AND A HALF MINUTES, UM, 10 AND A HALF MINUTE AVERAGE, WE WOULD EXPECT TO SEE P ZERO CALLS IN THE VICINITY OF, YOU KNOW, KIND OF INTO THE SYMPHONY OF NINE AND A HALF MINUTES IF WE HAVE A 10 AND A HALF MINUTE AVERAGE, AND WE'D EXPECT TO SEE, UH, P ONE CALLS CLOSER TO 11 ON AVERAGE.AND SO YOU CAN KIND OF SEE HOW INDIVIDUAL DISTRICTS ARE PERFORMING AND WE GONNA HOP TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
RIGHT? AND SO, AGAIN, JUST A COMPARISON, UM, TO GIVE YOU A SENSE OF THE KIND OF TOTAL VOLUME OF CALLS, NOT MUCH CHANGE AS WELL AS THE PERCENTAGES, RIGHT? THE BLUE DOWN THERE BEING THE IMR, THE PZ ROWS, WHICH ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT, UH, LAST COUPLE OF SLIDES THAT WE HAVE RELATE TO BUDGET OVER TIME AND IS TO THOSE WE CAN, THE NEXT SLIDE, WE CAN KIND OF GIVE A QUICK SENSE.
AND SO BASED ON OVERTIME BUDGET AND SEE WHAT OUR ACTUAL OVERTIME EXPENDITURES HAVE BEEN FOR THE PERIOD, UH, AS FAR AS THE DATES GO, UH, UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS THE BEST EFFORT TO ALIGN THE PAYROLL PERIODS TO QUARTER ONE OF 20, 22 OR ONE OF 22 IS ACTUALLY A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN THOSE DATES, BUT, UM, IT'S THE CLOSEST THAT WE CAN GET GIVEN THE PAYROLL SYSTEM.
AND THEN AS A COMPARISON, YOU CAN TURN TO SLIDE NUMBER 12, UM, WHICH JUST GIVES YOU AN INDICATION OF WHERE WE'RE AT RELATIVE TO, UM, SORRY, BACK ONE SLIDE, WHICH GIVES YOU AN INDICATION OF WHERE WE'RE AT RELATIVE TO PREVIOUS YEARS OVERTIME EXPENDITURES, RIGHT? UM, SO IN ONE QUARTER PER WORD, ABOUT $4.3 MILLION, YOU CAN KIND OF COMPARE THOSE TO PREVIOUS YEARS.
UH, LAST THING WE'RE GOING TO KIND OF CLOSE UP WITH HERE IS A STAFFING INFORMATION.
SO JUMPING TO THE NEXT SLIDE, WE CAN SHOW YOU WHERE WE'RE AT CURRENTLY.
UM, SO AUTHORIZED STAFFING FROM THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IS 1,809 POSITIONS.
UH, WE CURRENTLY HAVE 193 VACANCIES IN THE DEPARTMENT, AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT AS, AS COUNTING THE 66 CADETS, WHO WERE SWORN IN FROM THE 140 FOURTH ACADEMY AS FILLING SLOTS.
SO THOSE CADETS ARE GOING INTO FIELD TRAINING, SO THEY'RE NOT AVAILABLE TO CONDUCT PATROL OPERATIONS.
SO, UM, AS FAR AS A WORKING NUMBER GOES, WE HAVE 193 VACANCIES.
WE HAVE 66 PEOPLE WHO ARE IN A FIELD TRAINING PERIOD AND NOT WORKING INDEPENDENTLY, UH, WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT.
SO I'M JUMPING TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
THIS WAS THE DISCOVERING KIND OF WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE ACADEMY.
UM, THE 140 FOURTH CADET CLASS, WHICH JUST FINISHED, GRADUATED ON JANUARY 28TH.
AND WE ENDED UP WITH 66 NEW OFFICERS.
UH, IT'S AN IMPORTANT STEP FOR THE DEPARTMENT IN THAT IT WAS THE MOST DIVERSE, UH, ACADEMY CLASS THAT AUSTIN HAS HAD.
AND SO, UH, WE HAVE THE 66 ASSERTIVE GOING INTO FIELD TRAINING, AND SO WE WILL HAVE THEM AVAILABLE.
UM, WE WILL HAVE THEM AVAILABLE SOON, UH, TO BE ABLE TO JOIN, UH, IN OUR PATROL EFFORTS.
UH, THE NEXT SLIDE, WE'RE JUST GOING TO GET A LITTLE BIT OF INDICATION OF WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH CADET CLASSES.
SO THE 140 FOURTH JUST ENDED THE HUNDRED 45TH CAT TAX LAST IS SCHEDULED TO START AT THE END OF MARCH.
AND SO THIS IS THE FIRST AVAILABLE DATE WHERE WE'RE ABLE TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS TO GET THE NEXT CLASS GOING.
UM, THE NUMBER OF CADETS HASN'T BEEN FINALIZED YET, WE'RE STILL WORKING THROUGH THAT PROCESS.
UM, THAT'S A REGULAR CLASS, SO THINGS WE'RE HIRING IN GENERAL, WE HAVE A SCHEDULED 146 CLASS, WHICH IS, UM, A CLASS IN WHICH WE HIRE PEOPLE WHO ALREADY HOLD A PEACE OFFICER'S LICENSE.
SO IN ESSENCE, UM, IT'S HIRING PEOPLE WHO HAVE PREVIOUSLY WORKED IN LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
AND SO THAT'S SCHEDULED TO START JULY 18TH.
WE'RE LOOKING AT BOTH OF THOSE 140 FIFTH FULL ACADEMY CLASS AND THE 146 TRANSITIONAL CLASS SCHEDULED TO GRADUATE AROUND NOVEMBER 18TH.
UM, SO THE 66 NEW CADETS FROM THE HUNDRED 44TH, PLUS THOSE TWO, UM, THAT'LL REPRESENT THE ENTIRE NUMBER OF ADDITIONAL OFFICERS THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO ONBOARD.
UM, DURING THIS CALENDAR YEAR, A HUNDRED FORTY SEVEN, SEVEN CLASS HAS A TENTATIVE TIMELINE OF STARTING IN NOVEMBER, DECEMBER.
OBVIOUSLY THOSE CADETS WILL BE GRADUATING IN 2023, LOOKING AT THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, THIS IS JUST TRACKING WHAT'S HAPPENED WITH AUTHORIZATIONS ARE CURRENTLY AUTHORIZED 1809.
YOU CAN LOOKING BACK OVER THE YEARS, 1929 WERE AUTHORIZED IN 2019.
UM, THERE HAD BEEN 150 POSITIONS AUTHORIZED THAT WERE BEING ADDED AT A RATE OF 30 PER YEAR 30 WERE ADDED INTO 2020 AND TAKING IT TO 1,959 AUTHORIZED POSITIONS.
AND THEN IN TWENTY TWENTY ONE, A HUNDRED FIFTY POSITIONS WERE REMOVED FROM THE DEPARTMENT AND WE'VE BEEN AT 1809 FOR THE NEXT FOR 2021 AND 2022.
NEXT SLIDE, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK REALLY QUICKLY AT, UM, WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING
[00:50:01]
WITH ATTRITION, OBVIOUSLY A KEY CONCERN AND MIGHT HAVE VACANCIES.UM, YOU NOTICE THAT OBVIOUSLY 2020 HAD A HIGHER NUMBER OF A LOT LARGER RATE OF ATTRITION THAN 2019, UH, 2021 EVEN GREATER, STILL, UM, THROUGH QUARTER ONE, WE'RE AT 35, UM, FOR 2022.
SO, UH, GIVEN OUR, OUR POSITION OF BEING DOWN 193 OFFICERS, UM, WHAT PREDICTION, UH, THE PROJECTIONS ON NUTRITION FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE YEAR ARE GOING TO BE IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND WHERE WE'RE GOING TO BE AT FROM A POLICE FORCE STANDPOINT.
AND I KNOW THAT'S IT SO HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ANY OF THAT INFORMATION.
UM, I REALIZE YOU MIGHT HAVE SOME QUESTIONS, BUT WE ARE AT OUR TIME FOR, UH, MOVING ON TO OUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
IF YOU, IF ANYONE HAS QUESTIONS AROUND THE REST OF THE INFORMATION, I, UH, PLEASE EMAIL THEM TO ME AND I WILL MAKE SURE THEY GET ANSWERED.
[3.b. Discussion on 911 Call Center and Forensics Lab under Austin Police Department (sponsors: Commissioners Bernhardt and Ramirez) 4:50pm-5:20pm]
NEW BUSINESS IS THE DISCUSSION ON THE NINE 11 CALL CENTER AND FORENSICS LAB UNDER APD, UH, COMMISSIONERS BERNHARDT AND RAMIREZ ARE THE SPONSORS, UH, DO EITHER ONE OF YOU WANT TO DO A BRIEF INTRODUCTION, FEEL FREE.UM, I CAN JUST SAY A LITTLE BIT, UM, WHICH IS, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO HAVE, UM, A LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT, UM, WHY IT'S PROBLEMATIC THAT WE ARE MOVING OR HAVE MOVED, UH, THE CRIME LAB AND NINE ONE ONE CALL CENTER BACK UNDER ATD.
UM, AND WHY IT WOULD BE GOOD IF WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, UH, TO MAKE THEM INDEPENDENT AGAIN.
SO, UM, I'M HOPING WE WOULD LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT THAT TODAY.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT.
UH, ACCORDING TO MY LIST, OUR SPEAKERS ARE LIEUTENANT KENNETH MURPHY.
I APOLOGIZE IF I BUTCHERED YOUR LAST NAME.
UM, KATHY MITCHELL, AS WELL AS JENNIFER LAUREN.
DO WE HAVE EVERYONE PRESENT? YEAH.
WE WILL GO AHEAD AND START WITH, UH, THE PEOPLE HERE IN THE ROOM AND WE'RE PULLING UP SOME, UH, PRESENTATIONS.
I THINK, UH, WE WILL OPEN IT UP TO, UM, HERE ON THE FLOOR.
WE HAVE HELLO, ACM, ARIANA, GOOD AFTERNOON, CHAIR GONZALES AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSIONERS.
AGAIN, RAY ARIANNA ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER OVER THE PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENTS.
MY PLEASURE TO BE HERE TO HELP RESPOND TO THE QUESTIONS AND INTERESTS THAT THE COMMISSIONERS MAY HAVE ON THIS PARTICULAR TOPIC.
AND I WANTED TO PROVIDE SOME INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS TO HELP FRAME THE CONVERSATION THAT I BELIEVE YET YOU'D LIKE TO HAVE BY STARTING WITH, UH, THE FACT THAT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF FYI 21 BUDGET COUNCIL CERTAINLY HEARD SOME OF THE INTERESTS.
AND WE ENDED AS A RESULT OF THE QUATRO, UM, STUDY THAT WAS DONE ON THE DNA LABS.
SPECIFICALLY, WE HAD INSERTED BOTH THE FORENSIC SCIENCE, UH, UNIT AS WELL AS THE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS FOR CONSIDERATION TO BE SEPARATED OUT OF THE APD, UH, BUDGET.
AND IN FACT, COUNCIL DIDN'T THAT CREATE A SEPARATE BUDGET FROM APD GOING INTO THE FY 21 BUDGET SUBSEQUENTLY FEBRUARY, 2021 AND APRIL, 2021 COUNCIL, UH, CREATE OR APPROVE ORDINANCES TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO SEPARATE OUT THOSE TWO UNITS, UH, RESPECTIVELY FORENSIC SCIENCE AND THE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS SUBSEQUENTLY, UH, LEGISLATURE PASSED HB 1900, WHICH, WHICH THEN IN FOUR THOSE TWO UNITS, AS WELL AS OTHER UNITS THAT WERE SEPARATED OUT OR REINCORPORATED BACK INTO APDS BUDGET, WHICH IS WHERE THEY SIT NOW.
UM, WE RECOGNIZE THAT THERE IS CERTAINLY FOR IN PARTICULAR FOR THE FORENSIC SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OR, UM, UH, UH, UNIT THAT THERE STILL IS AN INTEREST, UH, AND, UM, UH, A RECOMMENDATION THAT IS, UH, OUTSTANDING FROM THE, UH, FORENSIC FROM QUATTRONE, A REPORT FROM REPORT REALLY ONLY APPLIES TO, OR IS FOCUSED ON THE DNA LAB.
YET WE SEE UTILITY IN THE ENTIRE FORENSIC SCIENCE UNIT BECOMING SEPARATE.
AND IN FACT, IT'S OUR PLAN, UH, AS WE GO INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FY 23 BUDGET TO, AGAIN, CONSISTENT WITH MAINTAINING COMPLIANCE WITH HB 1900 SEPARATING OUT, UH, THE FORENSIC SCIENCE INTO ITS OWN SEPARATE UNIT FOR FYI 23, THAT WILL BE A PROPOSAL THAT WE'LL BE LOOKING AT IN THAT REGARD FROM A MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE, SINCE WE'RE PRETTY CLOSE TO BEING THERE BASED ON THE WORK THAT DR.
DANA , UH, HAS DONE FOR US, UH, RIGHT NOW WE'VE ARRANGED IT.
SO THAT FOR OPERATIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES, DR.
ACADEMY REPORTS TO THE ACM OVER PUBLIC SAFETY, UH, FOR THOSE PURPOSES
[00:55:01]
AND TO THE POLICE CHIEF, UH, FOR PURPOSES OF CGS COMPLIANCE, EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS IS A DIFFERENT MATTER IN TERMS OF THE COMPLEXITY REQUIRED IN ORDER TO SEPARATE IT OUT, PARTICULARLY FROM A CJIS, UM, UH, REQUIREMENT, AS WELL AS THE MULTIPLE INTER-LOCAL AGREEMENTS THAT EXIST, UH, WITH REGARD TO THE SERVICES IT PROVIDES TO OUR REGION CURRENTLY FOR THE FYE 21 BUDGET HERE, WE HAVE SOME FUNDING AND I'M NOT REMEMBERING EXACTLY HOW MUCH IT IS IN ORDER TO INVESTIGATE WHAT WOULD BE REQUIRED TECHNICALLY TO ACTUALLY SEPARATE OUT AND MAINTAIN CJIS REQUIREMENTS FOR THE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS UNIT.SO FOR THE CURRENT YEAR, UH, THE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS REPORTS ENTIRELY FOR BOTH THE ADMINISTRATIVE OPERATIONS AND SEE JUST REQUIREMENTS, UH, TO THE POLICE CHIEF, WE HAVE ONCOMING, UM, ONGOING CONVERSATIONS.
I DO SPECIFICALLY, UH, WITH LIEUTENANT MURPHY AND HIS CHAIN OF COMMAND IN TERMS OF THE, THE IMPROVEMENTS INITIATIVES, UM, THE PERSONNEL RELATED MATTERS THAT I CAN BE HELPFUL FOR, UH, IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT THE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION, UH, CONTINUES TO PROVIDE EXCELLENT SERVICE AND IS RESPONSIVE TO SOME OF THE INITIATIVES THAT ARE OF INTEREST, UH, FROM THE COMMUNITY.
SO WITH THOSE AS CONTEXT AGAIN, DR.
DAN ACADEMY AND LIEUTENANT KEN MURPHY ARE HERE TO RESPOND TO ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE, AND AS MYSELF AS WELL.
UM, WHO IS GOING TO SPEAK TO THE SLIDE ABOUT FORENSIC SERVICES? THAT'S BEEN UP FOR A BIT, AND I WASN'T SURE IF YOU GUYS WANTED TO ACTUALLY SPEAK TO THAT, OR IF THAT WAS JUST BACKGROUND, THERE'S NO NEED, IT'S JUST BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR YOU.
UM, COMMISSIONER, I WILL OPEN IT UP TO QUESTIONS RIGHT OFF THE BAT FOR THE, UM, THE CITY, AND THEN WE CAN GET OUR, UH, TWO OTHER, UH, CONTRIBUTORS TO SPEAK AS WELL.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR, UH, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, ARIANA, OR THE FORENSICS DEPARTMENT? COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT, PLEASE.
UM, I'M JUST CURIOUS, UM, IN TERMS OF, UH, ASSISTANT, UH, I'M NOT SURE YOUR FULL TITLE, UM, MR. ARIANO, UM, UH, EXACTLY, UH, SORT OF HOW POSSIBLE IT IS UNDER MAYBE NEXT YEAR'S CITY BUDGET, UM, TO MOVE THE CRIME LAB, UM, BACK TO BE INDEPENDENT, EXCUSE ME.
UM, WE ARE ANTICIPATING THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
HOWEVER, AGAIN, WE NEED TO PUT IT IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET AND MAKE SURE THAT IT FITS IN TERMS OF THE HB 1900, BUT IT'S MY ANTICIPATION THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR THE CITY REPRESENTATION HERE, IF NOT, I'M HAPPY TO ALLOW OUR OTHER PANELISTS TO SPEAK COMMISSIONER RAMIREZ, PLEASE.
CAN I SAY IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO HEAR FROM OUR OTHER SPEAKERS FIRST AND IT MIGHT OPEN UP THE FLOOR FOR MORE QUESTIONS AND KIND OF GET EVERYBODY GOING A LITTLE BIT MORE.
UM, LET US GO AHEAD AND START, UH, WITH, UH, KATHY MITCHELL.
HI, CAN YOU ALL HEAR ME? YES, MA'AM.
I'M AFRAID I DON'T HAVE ANY SLIDESHOW.
UH, SO I'LL JUST TRY AND KEEP IT BRIEF.
I WANT TO FOCUS ON THE FORENSICS LAB BECAUSE AS YOU'VE HEARD THAT THE, THE LIKELY STEP THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY TAKE IN THE UPCOMING BUDGET YEAR, AND I'M VERY EXCITED ABOUT US DOING THAT.
UM, WHY, BECAUSE MUCH OF FORENSIC SCIENCE IS THE SUBJECTIVE EVALUATION OF SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BY A PERSON WHOSE OPINION IS DISPROPORTIONATELY PERSUASIVE TO ALL OTHER PLAYERS IN OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, UH, HAS BEEN SAID MUCH, AND I DON'T NEED TO GO OVER IT.
UH, I THINK THAT IT'S SAID EVEN MORE BLUNTLY IN BRITAIN WHERE ONE JUDGE SAID FORENSIC SCIENTISTS EMPLOYED BY THE GOVERNMENT MAY COME TO SEE THEIR FUNCTION AS HELPING THE POLICE.
AND THIS SHOULD BE NO SURPRISE.
UH, INDEPENDENCE IS THE CORNERSTONE ON WHICH WE BUILD A STRONGER FOUNDATION.
IT HELPS US AVOID BIAS CREATED BY A TOO CLOSE OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN OFFICERS AND LAB STAFF OR POLICE MANAGEMENT AND LAB MANAGEMENT.
AND IT HELPS TO, YOU KNOW, SET, IT HELPS LAB MANAGEMENT SET GUARDRAILS IN PLACE AGAINST CONFIRMATION AND CONTEXT BIASES.
UH, IT ALSO CAN HELP WITH INDEPENDENCE IN INVESTIGATION OF POLICE MISCONDUCT.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S NOT TALKED ABOUT AS MUCH,
[01:00:01]
BUT IT IS A PART OF THIS LARGER IDEA THAT YOU SEND IN CIVILIAN INDEPENDENT CRIME SCENE TECHS TO HANDLE THE COLLECTION AND EXAMINATION OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE.UM, CADILLAC IS STILL CONTROLLED BY THE POLICE CHIEF PUT THOSE GUARDRAILS IN PLACE.
UM, ESPECIALLY WITH RESPECT TO THE THINGS THAT I JUST, HOWEVER, A FORENSIC DEPARTMENT THAT IS ACTUALLY INDEPENDENT CAN DO MORE LAB MANAGEMENT CAN ADVOCATE FOR ITS BUDGET NEEDS MORE EFFECTIVELY.
UM, I THINK THAT IT'S HARD TO OVERSTATE THE DEGREE TO WHICH, UH, IN AUSTIN, OUR DEBATES AROUND THE POLICE BUDGET ARE ALL ABOUT SWORN STAFF.
AND I WAS LAUGHING, LISTENING TO DR.
CRINGING BECAUSE I THINK IN TWO DIFFERENT RESPECTS IN ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION, HIS ANSWER WAS THAT CIVILIAN PERSONNEL ISSUES AT THE DEPARTMENT HAVE BEEN VEXED.
UM, AND HE SPECIFIED DATA PERSONNEL AND, YOU KNOW, RESEARCH PEOPLE, THAT'S THE SAME KIND OF VEXED PROBLEM WE FACED WITH OUR CRIME LAB.
SO HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND THIS? WELL, IT'S DIFFICULT BECAUSE UP UNTIL THE 2020 BUDGET, THE CRIME LAB BUDGET WAS BUNDLED WITH SEVERAL OTHER CIVILIAN BUDGETS IN THE DEPARTMENT, INCLUDING FACILITIES AND BUILDING MAINTENANCE AND CARS, CAR MAINTENANCE, AND BUILDING MAINTENANCE AND FORENSICS AND CRIME SCENE TECHS.
AND, YOU KNOW, IT WAS KIND OF A VERY LARGE PIECE OF THE APD BUDGET THAT WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO DIG INTO.
AND TRUTHFULLY, OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS WERE NOT TYPICALLY GIVEN THE TRADE-OFFS WHEN THE DEPARTMENT CAME FORWARD AND SAID, WE NEED 50 NEW POLICE OFFICERS.
THEY DIDN'T SAY, AND WE'RE ASKING FOR THIS, EVEN THOUGH WE ALSO NEED 10 NEW PEOPLE AT THE, AT THE CRIME LAB, THEY MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE MADE IT THOSE 10 NEW PEOPLE WE WILL NEVER KNOW.
UM, SO HAVING AN INDEPENDENT CRIME LAB GIVES THE LEADER OF THAT CRIME LAB, A VOICE IN THE BUDGET PROCESS THAT THEY DON'T HAVE NOW.
UM, FURTHER THE LEADER OF A CRIME LAB, WHO'S ABLE TO ASK FOR THE RESOURCES THAT THEY ACTUALLY NEED.
AND I HAVE EVERY CONFIDENCE THAT OUR CURRENT LEADER WILL BE DOING THIS.
WE'LL BE ASKING FOR THE RESOURCES TO MAKE SURE THAT THE QUALITY CONTROL METHODS ARE THE BEST AND THAT WE ARE NOT, WE DON'T, WE CAN'T PROMISE TO ALWAYS BE THE BEST, BUT WE CAN PROMISE TO ALWAYS CATCH OUR MISTAKES AND IMPROVE ON THEM.
AND YOU KNOW, THIS IS WHERE I DO WANT TO POINT TO THE HARRIS COUNTY FORENSIC SCIENCE CENTER.
I KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF ARGUMENT ABOUT THAT MODEL AND I'M NOT PROMOTING THAT SPECIFIC MODEL, BUT THE HARRIS COUNTY FORENSIC SCIENCE CENTER HAS MANAGED TO GET ITSELF THE RESOURCES.
IT NEEDS TO HAVE TO BECOME A NATIONAL LEADER IN THE EARLY SELF IDENTIFICATION AND RESOLUTION OF TESTING PROBLEMS. THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S FIXED EVERY PROBLEM, BUT IT HAS CREATED A PROCESS FOR SURFACING AND FIXING PROBLEMS ON AN ONGOING BASIS.
THAT'S THE KIND OF THING THAT WE GET IF WE INVEST APPROPRIATELY IN AN INDEPENDENT CRIME LAB THAT IS ALLOWED TO LEAD IN ITS OWN, ASKS BOTH IN THE BUDGET PROCESS AND IN THE POLICYMAKING ARENA.
SO I'M VERY EXCITED TO HEAR RAY SAY THAT HE IS EXPECTING TO MOVE THIS FORWARD.
UH, NEXT SPEAKER IS JENNIFER LAUREN.
I CAN FOLKS HEAR ME? YES, WE CAN.
WELL, THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE WITH YOU ALL.
UM, JUST BY WAY OF BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION, I'M THE, UM, RIGHTSY MORIAL PROFESSOR OF LAW AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SCHOOL OF LAW.
I TEACH, UH, CRIMINAL LAW, CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AND RELATED COURSES.
AND I WRITE ON INSTITUTIONAL DYNAMICS IN THE CRIMINAL LEGAL SYSTEM, INCLUDING HAVING OVER THE COURSE OF MY CAREER, DONE SOME RESEARCH ON FORENSIC SCIENCE AND PARTICULARLY SORT OF THE LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL OVERSIGHT OF IT.
SO THAT'S KIND OF THE PERSPECTIVE THAT I BRING TO THIS CONVERSATION.
AND OBVIOUSLY YOU ALL HAVE ENGAGED IN A COMPREHENSIVE YEARS, LONG
[01:05:01]
STUDY OF THIS ISSUE IN THE CONTEXT OF, OF AUSTIN AND APD.UM, SO I, I CAN'T, UH, SURPRISE YOU TOO MUCH WITH ANY REVEALS THERE, BUT I, I CAN OFFER, UM, SORT OF MY VIEW ABOUT HOW I THINK ABOUT THE QUESTION OF THE INSTITUTIONAL CONFIGURATION OF FORENSIC SCIENCE AND WHAT THAT SHOULD LOOK LIKE AND WHAT CONCERNS SHOULD DRIVE EVALUATION OF IT.
UM, UH, AND I WILL SAY UP FRONT MUCH OF WHAT I SAY, UM, WILL, WILL ECHO A FAIR BIT OF KATHY MITCHELL'S POINTS, BUT HOPEFULLY, UM, I CAN ADD SOMETHING TO THE CONVERSATION AS WELL.
SO, SO JUST TO BEGIN WITH A POINT ON WHICH I THINK EVERYONE IN THE ROOM ALREADY AGREES, WHICH IS THAT, YOU KNOW, THE HALLMARK OF HIGH-FUNCTIONING FORENSIC SCIENCE, UH, PROVISION IS INDEPENDENCE.
UM, I THINK THERE'S ALSO PROBABLY FAIR AGREEMENT, BUT IT'S WORTH SAYING THAT INDEPENDENCE IS OF FUNCTIONAL VALUE, RIGHT? INDEPENDENCE IS UNDERSTOOD AS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE CERTAIN ENDS, RIGHT? AS OPPOSED TO LIKE AN IDEA AND AN END IN ITSELF.
AND THOSE ENDS INCLUDE A NUMBER OF THINGS THEY INCLUDE, UM, ACTUALLY ACHIEVING HIGH QUALITY ANALYSIS OF INPUTS AND OUTPUTS TO THE LAB, RIGHT? UM, IT INCLUDES EXTERNAL PERCEPTION OF HIGH QUALITY AND RELIABLE AND FAIR ANALYSIS OF INPUTS AND OUTPUTS IN THE LAB.
IT INCLUDES, UM, UH, DEVELOPMENT OF CONSISTENT SORT OF SCIENTIFICALLY ROOTED EXPERTISE AND CULTURE THROUGHOUT THE ORGANIZATION FROM THE TOP THROUGH, RIGHT, INCLUDING A CULTURE OF TRANSPARENCY AND ERROR, DISCLOSURE, ERROR, DISCOVERY, DISCLOSURE, AND CORRECTION, UM, WHICH ARE PART OF SCIENTIFIC CULTURE.
UM, AND IT INCLUDES ADEQUATE AND STABLE BUDGETS AS KATHY WAS SAYING.
SO IN OTHER WORDS, THE POINT I WANNA MAKE IS THAT INDEPENDENCE, UM, MIGHT HAVE CERTAIN PROCEDURAL OR INSTITUTIONAL INGREDIENTS, BUT ITS OUTPUTS ARE SUBSTANTIVE AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS.
AND THAT'S WHAT, YOU KNOW, AT THE END OF THE DAY, ALWAYS, YOU KNOW, ONE WOULD HOPE THAT EXTERNAL AND FRANKLY, INTERNAL EVALUATION OF WHAT'S GOING ON IN FORENSIC SCIENCE IS, IS WATCHING OUT FOR RIGHT.
UM, AND ALSO IN JUDGING WHETHER ONE HAS ACHIEVED INDEPENDENCE IN PROVISION OF, IN STRUCTURING FOR FORENSIC SCIENCE, THOSE ARE THE OUTPUTS AGAINST WHICH THAT QUESTION SHOULD BE EVALUATED, RIGHT? NOT JUST THE QUESTION OF STRUCTURE.
ONE OTHER THING I WANT TO SAY AT THE OUTSET BEFORE ADDRESSING THE BOTTOM LINE QUESTION OF INSTITUTIONAL LOCATION IS SORT OF, UH, UH, AN ASTERISK TO THE INDEPENDENCE POINT, WHICH IS THAT I FULLY RECOGNIZE.
UM, AND I'VE WRITTEN ABOUT THIS, THAT, THAT PROVIDERS OF FORENSIC SCIENCE, UM, SERVICES MUST BE ASSESSED ON THEIR INDEPENDENCE, BUT ALSO, UM, SOMEWHAT PARADOXICALLY, I THINK ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THEIR COLLABORATION AS WELL, RIGHT? PUT SIMPLY DYSFUNCTIONAL EXTERNAL RELATIONS WITH INVESTIGATORS OR WITH PROSECUTORS OR WITH THE DEFENSE BAR OR WITH COURTS, UM, CAN BE, AND CERTAINLY HAVE BEEN IN AUSTIN AND ELSEWHERE DRIVERS AT TIMES OF QUALITY FAILURES OF RELIABILITY PROBLEMS OF, UM, UH, OF, UH, TRUST AND LEGITIMACY CONCERNS.
UM, AND SO INDEPENDENCE, IF JUST UNDERSTOOD TO BE HOW, HOW SELF SORT OF FUNCTIONING IS THE FORENSIC SCIENCE ENTITY.
THAT CAN'T BE THE SOLE VERTO THAT A FORENSIC DIVISION IS, IS STRIVING FOR.
THAT SAID, UM, I'LL, I'LL CUT TO THE CHASE, ALTHOUGH THERE ARE TRADE-OFFS I THINK AT ANY CHOICE, I, MYSELF CONTINUE TO AGREE WITH, UM, THE VIEW RIGHT.
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES, UH, AND, AND, UM, UH, OTHERS IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY THAT, THAT LOCATING A FORENSIC LAB OUTSIDE THE INSTITUTIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF A POLICE DEPARTMENT.
UM, I THINK THIS IS IMPORTANT, UM, UH, UH, BEST CASE SCENARIO, NOT LODGED UNDER THE CONTROL OF SOME OTHER DEPARTMENT, RIGHT, WHERE IT'S ONE OF MANY SORT OF SUBDIVISIONS WITHIN IT THAT SORT OF
[01:10:01]
FREE STANDING EXTERNAL, UH, CREATION OF A FORENSIC, UH, SERVICES DIVISION IS ON BALANCE THE MOST RELIABLE AND STABLE STRUCTURE FOR ENSURING SUBSTANTIVE INDEPENDENCE.IT, AS KATHY WAS SAYING, IT PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY FOR THE LAB'S OWN SORT OF SCIENTIFICALLY I SAY LAB, I'LL SAY DIVISION BECAUSE THAT'S MORE ACCURATE.
I THINK FOR THE DIVISIONS OWN SCIENTIFICALLY DRIVEN PRIORITIES TO HAVE, UH, AN EQUAL AND EASILY SORT OF SEEN RIGHT VOICE ALONG OTHER PLAYERS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, INCLUDING, BUT NOT ONLY WHEN COMPETING FOR BUDGETARY FUNDING, I'D ALSO WANT ISSUES OF, OF POLICY, FOR EXAMPLE.
UM, UH, IT ALSO ALLOWS FOR BETTER OR BETTER ALLOWS FOR LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT OF THAT SCIENTIFICALLY INFORMED CULTURE UP AND DOWN AN ORGANIZATIONAL CHART, RIGHT.
BETTER ENSURES THAT THAT CAN FLOURISH OUTSIDE OF, UH, OF THE, UM, SORT OF CULTURE WITHIN A POLICE DEPARTMENT.
IT BETTER SERVES TRANSPARENCY ISSUES OR TRANSPARENCY, INTERESTS BY SORT OF SURFACING ILLUMINATING THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND PRIORITIES OF FORENSIC ANALYSIS RATHER THAN SUBMERGING THEM WITHIN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
IT BETTER GUARDS AGAINST THE RISK OF MOTIVATIONAL OR OTHER COGNITIVE BIASES THAT CAN CROP UP IN THE WORK OF ANALYSTS, UM, UH, UH, THROUGH WHAT, IN ALL OF THE, UM, UH, UH, METHODOLOGIES, RIGHT, THAT WOULD COME UNDER THE DIVISIONS, UH, WORK AS WELL AS, AND I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT THIS RE UH, IS PART OF THE CONVERSATION AS WELL AS IN CRIME SCENE, UM, UH, COLLECTION, RIGHT? IT'S I THINK IMPORTANT FOR THAT AS WELL, UM, TO BE INDEPENDENT.
UM, AND FINALLY IT CERTAINLY ENHANCES THE PUBLIC PERCEPTION THAT FORENSIC SCIENCE IS DRIVEN BY SCIENCE AND ANALYTICAL PRINCIPLES RATHER THAN BY THE PRIORITIES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT.
NOW, YOU KNOW, AS KATHY SAID, STRUCTURAL INDEPENDENCE IS NOT A CURE ALL IN AND OF ITSELF, NEITHER ARE, YOU KNOW, FEATURES OF SUBSTANTIVE, INDEPENDENCE, IMPOSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE IN AN EMBEDDED INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE.
UM, BUT TO ME, IT'S CLEAR THAT ON BALANCE X STRUCTURAL INDEPENDENCE IS, IS THE FIRST BEST SOLUTION, IF IT CAN BE ACHIEVED.
PROFESSIONAL LAUREN, APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS.
UM, I WILL OPEN IT BACK UP TO QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSION.
UH, COMMISSIONER RAMIREZ, GO AHEAD.
I KNOW THAT WE HAVE BEEN FOCUSING ON THE FORENSIC LAB, BUT I DO KNOW THAT WE WERE TALKING WHEN WE INITIALLY BROUGHT UP THE, THE AGENDA ITEM TO TALK ABOUT THE NINE ONE ONE CALL CENTER AS WELL.
AND I WAS WONDERING THE CITY STAFF COULD SPEAK TO WHERE THE NINE 11 CALL CENTER GETTING PULLED OUT OF APD BUDGET IS IN THE LONGTERM PLANS.
SHORT-TERM PLANS WITH REGARDS TO, UM, THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR OR BEYOND COMMISSIONER AGAIN, RAY ARIANO, UM, IN THAT REGARD, IT'S LIKELY THAT THE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS WILL REMAIN WITHIN APD.
AGAIN, THE, THE FOCUS, UH, FOR THIS YEAR IN ORDER TO INFORM THAT DECISION IS AROUND, WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO ACTUALLY SEPARATE IT OUT, CERTAINLY FROM A TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE AND WHAT BUDGET WOULD BE REQUIRED, UH, TO THAT IN A, UH, UPCOMING BUDGET YEAR.
AND SO UNTIL WE GET THE RESULTS OF THAT STUDY, UH, IT'S LIKELY THAT WE'LL CONTINUE TO HAVE, UH, EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS WITHIN APD, WHICH IS NOT TO SAY THAT CONTINUED IMPROVEMENTS AND DIFFERENT INITIATIVES THAT ARE REALLY OF INTEREST TO THE COMMUNITY.
WON'T STILL BE ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD.
AND AGAIN, I THINK I WOULD POINT TO THE AUSTIN CARES, UH, PROJECT THAT AGAIN IS, UH, THE FIRST RESPONSE TO MENTAL HEALTH INCIDENTS THAT WE CAN GET IN FRONT OF THOSE THAT ARE EXPERIENCING MENTAL HEALTH CRISES THAT WON'T REQUIRE THAT HOPEFULLY WON'T REQUIRE A LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, THOSE GOOD THINGS ARE CONTINUING TO MOVE FORWARD, UH, AS WE LOOK AT WHETHER OR NOT, UH, OR WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO ACTUALLY SEPARATE OUT THE, UH, THE DIVISION.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSION? ALL RIGHT.
UM, SINCE WE HAVE NO FURTHER QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONER BERNHARD OR RAMIREZ, IS THIS SOMETHING THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED IN, UH, PUTTING IN FRONT OF COUNCIL BY WAY OF RECOMMENDATION OR ANYTHING FROM
[01:15:01]
WHAT WE'VE HEARD TODAY? UM, THIS IS COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT.I PROBABLY AM GOING TO WANT TO WRITE A RESOLUTION ABOUT, UM, THE, UM, CRIME LAB.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF, UH, KATHY MITCHELL HAD A LITTLE BIT TO SAY ABOUT THE NINE ONE ONE CALL CENTER, IF WE HAVE THE TIME.
UM, WE DO WE HAVE FIVE MINUTES.
UM, WELL, YES, WE SUPPORT MOVING OUT THE CALL CENTER.
UH, I DO BELIEVE THAT IT IS RATHER MORE EXPENSIVE TO DO THAT, AND THAT'S JUST BEING REALISTIC BASED ON THE ASSESSMENT FROM PREVIOUS YEARS AND THAT UNDER HOSPITAL 1900, UH, WE HAVE ONLY SO MUCH FLEXIBILITY AND THE GROWTH IN OTHER PARTS OF THE APD BUDGET THAT ALLOW US TO MOVE SOMETHING THAT EXPENSIVE OUT IN THIS FIRST YEAR.
SO I KNOW THAT THAT'S ESSENTIALLY THE ASSESSMENT THAT YOU GOT FROM, UM, FROM THE CITY MANAGER AND, AND RAY WILL BE HAPPY TO KNOW.
I DO BELIEVE THAT THE INDEPENDENT CALL CENTER HAS A LOT TO OFFER.
UH, WE ARE NOT, WE WOULD NOT BE THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY DOING IT.
AND FOR SOME SIMILAR REASONS HAVING TO DO WITH, UM, THE NEED TO SERVE EMERGENCIES, UH, AND, UH, SORT OF NEUTRAL EVALUATIVE WAY AND NOT ASSUME THAT POLICE ARE THE BEST FIRST RESPONSE TO, YOU KNOW, MOST THINGS.
UH, THERE HAVE BEEN ALL KINDS OF RE EVALUATIONS OF BETTER WAYS OF ARRANGING THE PARTS FOR NINE 11.
AND I'D BE HAPPY TO PRESENT ON THAT IN MORE DETAIL AS WE GET CLOSER TO ACTUALLY BEING ABLE TO REALIZE THAT AS A GOAL.
THANK YOU, MS. MITCHELL, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSION, COMMISSIONER RAMIREZ, PLEASE.
UM, COMMISSIONER BARNHART, I'D BE HAPPY TO CO-SPONSOR YOUR, UM, RECOMMENDATION FOR NEXT MEETING, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THAT WE'LL PROBABLY BE WORKING ON BUDGET STUFF.
AND ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS ON THAT BEFORE WE MOVE TO OUR NEXT ITEM, THANK YOU.
REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE NINE 11 CALL CENTER IN THE FORENSICS DIVISION.
WE APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE AND THANK YOU TO OUR CALL AND WE APPRECIATE YOU AS WELL.
THE NEXT ONE IS THE DISCUSSION
[3.c. Discussion on Processing Emergency & Non-Emergency Calls received by Austin 311 (sponsors: Commissioners Kiracofe and Ramirez) 5:20pm -5:50pm]
ON PROCESSING EMERGENCY AND NON-EMERGENCY CALLS RECEIVED BY AUSTIN 3, 1 1.THIS WAS SPONSORED BY COMMISSIONER CURE, COUGH AND COMMISSIONER RAMIREZ, COMMISSIONER KIRKOFF.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SET IT UP TO, UM, YEAH, BRIEFLY? UM, AND AGAIN, THANK YOU.
I ASK THAT THIS BE ON THE AGENDA BACK IN NOVEMBER, AND IT WAS JUST A FEW.
WE MET A FEW DAYS AFTER THE ARMED ROBBERY AT THE LIBERTY PHARMACY AND, UH, WITH A LOT OF REPORTS FROM BOTH NEWS MEDIA AND SOCIAL MEDIA, IT WAS REPORTED.
IT TOOK AN HOUR, UH, FOR APD TO RESPOND TO THAT CALL.
AND SO I, IT'S MORE OF JUST AN EDUCATIONAL THING FOR ME SINCE I'M RELATIVELY NEW ON THE COMMISSION ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW THE 9 1 1 SYSTEM WORKS AND, YOU KNOW, THE 3, 1, 1, BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE, UH, REPORTED AGAIN, THIS WAS ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, WHEN THEY DID CALL, UH, ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR INCIDENT, THE, UH, WHEN THEY, UH, ASK IF THE, THE ARM, THE ROBBERS WERE STILL ON THE SCENE, THEY SAID, NO, THEN THEY KICKED IT OVER TO 3, 1, 1, AND THEN THERE WAS A DELAY.
SO, UM, HOW FACTUAL THAT IS? I DON'T KNOW, BUT SO JUST TO EDUCATE, I, I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE 9 1, 1 3 1 1 SET UP AND HOW THAT ALL WORKS.
SO THAT WAS WHY MY REQUEST TO HAVE THIS ON THE AGENDA.
SO, UM, I BELIEVE WE HAVE A COUPLE OF SPEAKERS ON THE AGENDA.
I'VE GOT MULTIPLE THINGS HERE.
UM, LIEUTENANT KENNETH MURPHY, YOU ARE HERE, UM, AS WELL AS THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A REPRESENTATIVE FROM 3 1, 1.
IS THAT SOMEONE THAT'S CALLING IN MAYBE PATTY MARTINEZ? YES.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME UP TO THE PODIUM PLEASE? GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS, KEN MURPHY.
[01:20:01]
THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT AND DIRECTOR OF OUR NINE 11 EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION CENTER, WHICH ENCOMPASSES NINE AND POLICE DISPATCH.SO FOR BACKGROUND ABOUT THE CENTER COMMISSIONER, WE ARE ALL IN ONE LARGE CENTER.
AND WHEN I SAY WE I'M TALKING ABOUT AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT, UH, AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT, TRAVIS COUNTY EMS, TRAVIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, WE'RE IN ONE LARGE CALL CENTER.
WE ALL USE THE SAME NINE 11 SYSTEMS. WE ALL USE THE SAME COMPUTER AIDED DISPATCH SYSTEMS. NOW, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT NINE 11, THERE ARE TWO PRIMARY PIECE APPS, WHICH ARE ANSWERING POINTS FOR NINE 11 CALLS FOR IN OUR CENTER.
APD IS THE PRIMARY ANSWERING POINT FOR ALL NINE 11 CALLS WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS.
AND TRAVIS COUNTY IS THE PRIMARY ANSWERING POINT FOR ALL NINE 11 CALLS OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS.
HOWEVER, INSIDE TRAVIS COUNTY NOW EMS AND FIRE THEY'RE SECONDARY PIECE APPS, MEANING THEY DO NOT TAKE DIRECT NINE 11 CALLS.
SO APD WILL ANSWER NINE 11 CALLS FOR THE ENTIRE CITY.
AND THE FIRST THING SOMEONE HEARS WHEN YOU DIAL NINE, ONE IS AUSTIN NINE 11, DO YOU NEED POLICE, FIRE EMS, OR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, WHICH IS SOMETHING WE ADDED JUST IN FEBRUARY OF 2021.
IF THE CALLER NEEDS EMS OR FIRE, OUR NINE 11 OPERATOR WILL CONFERENCE IN THE EMS OR FIRE OPERATOR WHO WILL THEN, UH, AND OUR OPERATOR WILL STAY ONLINE, BUT EMS OR FIRE WILL TAKE OVER THE CALL.
AND THEN OUR OPERATOR WILL REMAIN ONLINE TO DETERMINE IF POLICE ALSO NEED TO RESPOND.
NOW, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT CRITERIA FOR NINE 11 AND 3, 1, 1, IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND 3, 1, 1 IS MANAGED BY AUSTIN ENERGY AND THEY'RE AT A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SITE.
SO AT THREE, ONE ANALYTICS, MS. MARTINEZ EXPLAINED ABOUT THREE ALONE, BUT 3, 1, 1 NOT ONLY TAKES NON-EMERGENCY CALLS FOR POLICE, BUT FOR ALL THE CITY DEPARTMENTS, UM, MS. MARTINEZ, WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE OVER AND DISCUSS THE 3, 1, 1 SIDE OF IT BEFORE WE GET ANY FURTHER? YES, I CAN DO THAT.
I'M HERE WITH US FOR ON BEHALF OF US, THE 3 1 1.
AND, UM, WHAT 3, 1, 1, WE TAKE CALLS FOR OCD DEPARTMENTS WITHIN THE CITY OF BOSTON.
IT'S INFORMATIONAL CALLS, AS WELL AS I WOULD SAY, GENERAL, UM, GENERAL SERVICE CALLS FOR THE 1918 CD DEPARTMENTS WITHIN THE CITY OF BOSTON.
UM, ANY CALLS AS AN EXAMPLE, I WOULD SAY A LOOSE DOG ON THE STREET, UM, A SIGNAL NOT WORKING CORRECTLY OR A POTFUL, UM, AS WELL AS NON-EMERGENCY CALLS AS LIEUTENANT MURPHY MENTIONED, UM, I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU A FEW NUMBERS, UH, WITH, UH, NON-EMERGENCY CALLS.
WE HAVE BEEN TAKING, UH, NON-EMERGENCY CALLS SINCE 2007 OR PARTNERSHIP WITH APD NON-EMERGENCY BEGAN THEN, UM, THAT WAS, UH, WE GOT AGENTS TRAINED, UM, IN OUR CALL CENTER AND WE BEGAN TAKING CALLS.
UM, THE WAY WE TAKE CALLS IS WE, AGAIN, A CITIZEN CALLS IN, UM, THE ISSUE COULD BE ANYTHING.
I LOST MY WALLET, FOR EXAMPLE, I NEED TO REPORT IT.
I NEED TO, UH, GO AHEAD AND PUT A REPORT IN.
WE WILL IDENTIFY THE TYPE OF CALL WE IDENTIFY, UM, IF IT'S AN UNARMORED AGENCY CALL, AND THEN WE ENTER THE SERVICE REQUEST IN OUR SYSTEM OR SERVICE REQUEST CALLS ELECTRONICALLY, UM, IS SENT TO, UM, APD NON-EMERGENCY STAFF.
AND THEN FROM THERE, APD NON-EMERGENCY WORKS THAT SERVICE REQUEST, EVERY DEPARTMENT, UM, THAT WE PARTNER WITH OUR AUSTIN 3, 1, 1 HAS THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROVIDE A RESOLUTION TO THE SERVICE TYPE.
SO IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO THREE, ONE TO INTAKE THAT CALL WITH COURTESY AND EMPATHY FOR THE CUSTOMER OR THE CITIZEN, THE RESIDENT OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND THEN WE HAND IT OVER ELECTRONICALLY TO THAT DEPARTMENT, BE IT ATD, PUBLIC WORKS, WATERSHED, OR APD NON EMERGENCY IN THIS CASE.
UM, AND THEN THEY PAY PD EMERGENCY LIEUTENANT MURPHY STAFF, UM, HANDLES THE RESOLUTION OF THAT CALL.
I HOPE I WAS ABLE TO EXPLAIN THAT IN A, UM, IN A GOOD MANNER FOR YOU GUYS TO UNDERSTAND.
I'LL TAKE OVER FROM THERE AND TO NOW TALK ABOUT THE APD PROCESS FOR THOSE CUSTOMER SERVICE REQUESTS WE RECEIVE FROM 3 1 1.
SO IF A CITIZEN CALLS 3, 1, 1 THAT'S POLICE CENTRIC, AND THEY NEED TO FILE A
[01:25:01]
REPORT, SAY ABOUT A BURGLARY OF THE VEHICLE THAT OCCURRED OVERNIGHT.NO ONE'S AROUND, THERE WAS NO SUSPECTS.
UM, VERY, VERY LITTLE EVIDENCE IS JUST, THEY JUST NEED TO REPORT THE VEHICLE FOR INSURANCE PURPOSES.
SO, AND I'M GOING TO USE TWO DIFFERENT, TWO DIFFERENT, UH, PATHS HERE BECAUSE I HAVE A PRE COVID PATH.
AND THEN I HAVE A POST COVID PATH AND, UH, PRE COVID, UH, WE HAD 9 1, 1 OPERATORS CROSS TRAINED AS NON-EMERGENCY OPERATORS.
SO, UM, AND WE ALSO HAD EIGHT DEDICATED NON-EMERGENCY OPERATORS WHO WORK MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY EIGHT TO SIX OR EIGHT TO FIVE, SOMEWHERE LIKE THAT.
AND ALL THEY DID WAS PROCESSED THESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REQUESTS.
UH, THEY WERE VERY EFFICIENT BECAUSE IT'S WHAT THEY DID ALL THE TIME.
SO AFTER COVID HIT AND WE STARTED TO SEE, YOU KNOW, SOME PEOPLE REFER TO IT AS A GREAT RESIGNATION, OR I'M GOING TO GO FIND ANOTHER JOB THAT PAYS MORE MONEY.
UM, WE, OUR STAFFING HAS SUFFERED AND WE'RE TO THE POINT NOW WE HAVE CURRENTLY WE HAVE 15, UH, POLICE DISPENSER, VACANCIES AND 31 9 11 OPERATOR VACANCIES, UH, WHICH IS 46 OPERATIONAL VACANCIES.
NOW I'M SORRY, 46, TRUE VACANCIES.
BUT OPERATIONALLY, WE HAVE A FEW MORE FOR VARIOUS REASONS AND THAT'S OUT OF 180 TOTAL OPERATORS.
I STARTED TO EMPLOY LIGHT DUTY OFFICERS WHO COULDN'T WORK OUT IN THE FIELD BECAUSE THEY WERE INJURED IN SOME MANNER TO HELP US WITH THESE NON-EMERGENCY REQUESTS.
AND THEN LAST SEPTEMBER AND AUGUST, WE ALSO EMPLOYED, UH, THE ASSISTANCE OF OUR ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS IN THE DEPARTMENT TO ASSIST US BECAUSE WE JUST, QUITE FRANKLY, DIDN'T HAVE THE STAFF TO WORK.
THESE NON-EMERGENCY CALLS ANYMORE, THEREFORE SAYING ALL OF THAT.
THERE IS A BACKLOG, UM, THIS MORNING, OR THIS AFTERNOON AT TWO O'CLOCK, WE WERE HOLDING APPROXIMATELY 1300, UH, CUSTOMER SERVICE REQUESTS IN THE QUEUE FOR PROCESSING.
SO WE'RE ABOUT FOUR OR FIVE DAYS BEHIND ON RESPONDING TO THESE REQUESTS.
WHEREAS BEFORE, WHEN WE HAD A DEDICATED TEAM, UH, WE WOULD SEE A MAXIMUM OF 50 REQUESTS, YOU KNOW, UH, OVER THE WEEKEND, IT MAY, MAY PEAK A HUNDRED, BUT WE'D BE BACK DOWN BY TUESDAY TO, TO BELOW 50 REQUEST HOLDING.
SO IT WAS, IT WAS A GOOD PROCESS.
NOW IT'S NOT SO GOOD BECAUSE WE JUST DON'T HAVE THE STAFF FOR IT.
WHEREAS ON THE, WE ALSO HAVE BEEN PUBLIC PUBLICIZING, THE ONLINE SERVICE FOR FILING REPORT ONLINE.
UM, WE'VE SEEN INCREASES IN ONLINE SERVICE TO THE EXTENT THAT NOW THE ONLINE SERVICE IS HAVING ISSUES, KEEPING UP WITH ALL THE REPORTS BECAUSE WHEN ONCE A PERSON GOES IN AND FILES A REPORT ONLINE, SOMEONE FROM THE RECORDS DIVISION HAS TO SCREEN, TRANSCRIBE EVERY SINGLE REPORT AND PUT THAT INTO OUR RMS SYSTEM, OUR REPORT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, UH, WE'VE UH, IN NOVEMBER, THERE WAS A 200% INCREASE IN ONLINE REPORTING.
LAST MONTH, THERE WAS A 200% INCREASE ON THEM, ONLINE REPORTING.
WE'VE SEEN OUR REPORTS VIA 3, 1, 1 GO DOWN SLIGHTLY, UM, BECAUSE EVERYONE'S TURNING TO THE ONLINE REPORTING.
GOOD NEWS IS THE DEPARTMENT'S BEEN WORKING VERY DILIGENTLY, DILIGENTLY FOR THE PAST THREE MONTHS TO IDENTIFY A SOLUTION.
AND WE HAVE IDENTIFIED A SOLUTION WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS IMPLEMENTING THIS SOLUTION, WHICH IS AN ADDITION TO OUR VERSADEX, WHICH WILL STREAMLINE THE PROCESS.
IT WILL ALLOW CITIZENS TO EITHER CALL PHONE IN AND PLACE A REPORT OVER THE PHONE WITH AN AI, UM, YOU KNOW, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, IT'S THEY, UH, THEY CALL THE AI CASEY, WHICH IS A, UH, AN OFFICER, RIGHT? SO, UH, IT WILL ASK ALL THE RIGHT QUESTIONS AND THE PERSON CAN, CAN FOLLOW THE REPORT VIA PHONE, OR THEY, CAN YOU GO ON TO THEIR PHONE AND USE AN APP OR FROM THEIR DESKTOP, THEY CAN FILE REPORTS ONLINE.
IT WILL STREAMLINE THE PROCESS BECAUSE IT WILL NOT REQUIRE TRANSCRIPTION.
IT WILL SIMPLY GO STRAIGHT INTO OUR WITH, WITH A, WITH A SUBSTANCE CHECK.
THERE HAS TO BE A VERIFICATION THAT THE REPORT IS ACCURATE, UM, AND ALL THE BLANKS ARE FILLED OUT.
AND THEN IT'LL GO STRAIGHT INTO OUR RMS SYSTEM.
WE ARE HOPING THAT WE'LL HAVE THIS SYSTEM IN PLACE IN THE NEXT 90 TO 120 DAYS.
UH, THE OTHER GOOD THING ABOUT IT IS IT MEETS ONE OF THE CRITERIA FOR EQUAL LANGUAGE ACCESS, BECAUSE IT ALSO ALLOWS REPORTS IN SPANISH.
AND THEN THERE ARE 16 OTHER LANGUAGES AND THE PRODUCT THE, THE, UH, VENDOR SAYS BY THE END OF THE FOURTH QUARTER, THEY WILL HAVE AUTOMATIC TRANSCRIPTION IN PLACE FOR THOSE OTHER SIX
[01:30:02]
HI, THANKS FOR JOINING US.THIS WEEK MARKS THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF AN ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC AND CHALLENGING TIME FOR OUR COMMUNITY A YEAR AGO, WINTER STORM, URI BARREL THROUGH TEXAS LEAVING.
SO MANY OF US HERE IN AUSTIN SYSTEM, UH, CALLED 9 1 1, THEY SAY, WELL, THIS IS A 3, 1, 1 CALL, AND THEY TRANSFERRED TO 3, 1, 1, BUT ONCE THE 3, 1, 1 OPERATOR GATHERS MORE INFORMATION SO THAT I NEED TO KICK THIS BACK TO APD.
AND MS. MARTINEZ, I BELIEVE ADDRESSED THAT.
IS THERE A DELAY THEN GETTING IT BACK INTO THE APD SYSTEM? NO, SIR.
THERE ARE, THERE ARE DIRECT, UH, A 301 OPERATOR CAN, CAN CALL DIRECTLY TO THE NINE 11.
WELL, NOT DIRECTLY TO 8, 9 1 OPERATOR, BUT THEY COME INTO AN ADMINISTRATIVE QUEUE.
HOWEVER, THE ADMINISTRATIVE QUEUE IS TAKE SECOND PLACE TO 9 1, 1 CALLS BECAUSE IT'S NOT AN EMERGENCY THEY'RE COMING IN ON AN ADMIN QUEUE, THE 9 1, 1 CALLS COMING INTO THE CENTER TAKE PRIORITY.
SO, BUT THEY, THEY MAY HAVE TO HOLD FOR JUST A LITTLE BIT THAT EVENTUALLY THEY WILL GET AN OPERATOR ON.
AND I DID HEAR AN INDIVIDUAL TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ALONG THAT VERY LINE THAT THEY WERE ON HOLD WITH 9 1, 1 A SIR, GOT SOMETHING HAPPENED.
UNFORTUNATELY, THAT DOES HAPPEN.
AND I'M VERY MUCH AWARE OF THAT, BUT NINE ONE, ONE WE'LL CALL THEM BACK.
HE DID SAY YES, I GOT A CALL BACK NINE ONE, ONE.
WE, WE RECOGNIZE THOSE CALLS THAT OUR HANGUPS AND, AND OUR OPERATORS WHEN THEY ARE ABLE TO, THEY WILL CALL BACK.
SO TO GIVE YOU THE COMMISSION AND EXAMPLE IN, UH, 2019 AT THE END OF 2019, OUR ANSWER RATE, WHICH IS AN ANSWER RATE BASED OFF A NATIONAL STANDARD, THE NATIONAL STANDARD THEN WAS ANSWER ALL NINE 11 CALLS WITHIN 10 SECONDS.
UM, AND THE ANSWER RATE WAS NINE 90%.
AND 2019, OUR, OUR DIVISION WAS AT 99% ANSWER RATE, 99.04% ANSWER RATE.
I WOULD HAVE PUT THAT UP AGAINST ANY OTHER NINE 11 OPERATIONS CENTER IN THE COUNTRY BECAUSE I KNEW I KNEW THEN WHAT DALLAS WAS DOING, BUT IT WAS BELOW 90%.
AND I ALSO KNEW WHAT SAN ANTONIO WAS DOING, AND THAT WAS BELOW 90%.
SO WE WERE WAY AHEAD OF THE GAME NOW WITH ALL OF OUR VACANCIES, WE'RE, UH, WE'RE STILL ABOVE 90%, BUT JUST BARELY THE LAST, THIS LAST MONTH.
IN FACT, JANUARY, WE WERE AT 89, JUST, JUST ABOVE 89%.
SO, BUT THAT'S THE FIRST TIME WE'VE DIPPED DOWN BELOW 90% AND THAT'S ALL DUE TO STAFFING.
WELL, I SAY THAT IT'S DUE TO STAFFING, BUT THERE'S ALSO INCREASED CALL VOLUME.
WE'RE SEEING MORE NINE 11 CALLS.
WE'RE SEEING MORE PRIORITY ZERO AND PRIORITY ONE CALLS, WHICH ARE TWO HIGHEST PRIORITY CALLS ON AVERAGE ACROSS THE BOARD.
UM, FROM, FROM LAST YEAR, YEAR TO DATE, UH, SOMETIMES WE'RE SEEING AN INCREASE IN THE P TWOS AND THE PATRIOT B3 CALLS AS WELL.
SO THERE ARE MORE NINE 11 CALLS COMING IN.
SO THERE, THERE ARE TIMES WHERE NINE 11 CALLS PEOPLE WILL HOLD AND IT SHOULDN'T BE THAT WAY.
YOU KNOW, MY GOAL IS ANYONE WHO CALLS NINE 11 SHOULD HAVE A RESPONSE WITHIN 10 SECONDS, BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE PEOPLE TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
COMMISSIONER RAMIREZ, GO AHEAD.
UM, MY QUESTION, UM, WAS ACTUALLY, UM, FOR 3, 1, 1, AND JUST WITH REGARDS TO, UM, WHEN THE SHIFT TO, UM, MOVE NON-EMERGENCY CALL INTAKE TO THREE, ONE, ONE HAPPENED WHETHER OR NOT THEY'VE SEEN, UM, MS. MARTINEZ, WHETHER YOU GUYS HAVE SEEN, UM, WHAT THE INCREASE IN VOLUME HAS BEEN, IF AT ALL AND HOW IT'S AFFECTING STAFFING.
AND I ASKED JUST BECAUSE I KNOW THAT WE'RE TRYING TO ADDRESS STAFFING ISSUES IN ONE PLACE, AND I'M WONDERING IF WE'RE CREATING A DOMINO EFFECT SOMEWHERE ELSE.
UH, NO, WE HAVE NOT SEEN AN INCREASE IN CALLS.
UM, ON OFTEN 3, 1, 1, UH, EVERYBODY HAS BEEN ABLE TO TAKE THE CALLS AS THEY COME IN AND ENTER THE SERVICE REQUEST.
UM, ACTUALLY I THINK WE HAD A LITTLE BIT LESS CALLS IN OCTOBER OF 2021 THAN WE DID IN OCTOBER OF 2020.
UM, AND THAT WAS IN OCTOBER OF 2020.
WE GOT, UM, 13,217 CALLS IN AN OCTOBER OF 2021.
WHEN THE CHANGE CAME IN, WE GOT 12,051 CALLS FOR APD, NOT EMERGENCY.
AND COMMISSIONER MIRRORS, IF I MAY
[01:35:01]
RESPOND TO YOUR QUESTION AS WELL.PART OF THAT, THE REASON WE'RE SEEING THE DECLINE IN THE COST OF 301 IS BECAUSE WE'VE SEEN A 200% INCREASE IN THE USE OF ONLINE FILING OF REPORTS.
SO WE SEE WE'VE SEEN A GREAT INCREASE THERE, RIGHT? AND I, AND I DID, AND I DID CATCH THAT THE ONLINE REPORTING BEING USED.
I MEAN, I KNOW THAT, UM, JUST IN OUR, IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD IN GENERAL, I KNOW THAT EVERYONE CIRCULATES THE, THE URL FOR ONLINE REPORTING TO JUST SORT OF ALLEVIATE ANY HOLD TIMES.
AND I MEAN, ALSO JUST YOUNGER PEOPLE DON'T PICK UP PHONES IN THE SAME WAY.
DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING ELSE COMMISSIONER? WELL, AGAIN, I JUST WANT TO THANK YOU.
AND I COMMEND YOU, YOU, UH, WHEN OUR CITIZENS WORLD IS STARTING TO UNRAVEL, YOU'RE THE FIRST VOICE THAT THEY HEAR.
SO YOU'RE THE FRONT LINE AND HAVING BEEN A RESPONDER, UH, IN THE FIRE SERVICE FOR 40 YEARS, I'VE HEARD WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG? YOU KNOW, WHEN I ARRIVED, WHEN WE HAVE A THREE MINUTE RESPONSE TIME, UH, WHAT I, WHAT I'VE LEARNED OVER THE YEARS IS WHEN SOMEBODY PUSHES THE NINE, THEY EXPECT THE OVERHEAD DOORS ON THE FIRE STATION TO GO UP AND THEY HIT THE ONE.
THEY EXPECT YOU TO PULL UP IN FRONT OF THEIR HOUSE AND HIT THE NEXT ONE KNOCKING ON THEIR DOORS.
SO, UM, TIME SEEMS TO STAND STILL WHEN SOMEBODY IS, UH, IN A STATE OF AN EMERGENCY.
SO, UH, I COMMEND YOU AND YOUR STAFF FOR THE JOB THAT YOU'RE DOING.
AND IT'S BEEN VERY EDUCATIONAL NEE TO GET FAMILIAR WITH THIS.
THE AUSTIN SYSTEM, MINE WAS WILLIAMSON COUNTY.
SO IT WAS, IT WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
AND TO BE CLEAR, I DO NOT ANSWER THE NINE 11 CALLS.
I HAVE MY STAFF AND THE CREDIT GOES TO ALL OF THEM.
UH, THEY DO, THEY DO AN OUTSTANDING JOB, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE LIKE I TELL NEW HIRES WHEN WE HAVE NEW HIRES COME IN.
UM, WE HAD TWO IN OUR LAST CLASS, SO THAT'S HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO GET DEFINED PEOPLE, TO, TO APPLY FOR THE JOB.
BUT, UM, I TELL THEM THAT NO ONE EVER CALLS NINE 11 TO SAY, HEY, HOW'S YOUR DAY GOING? YOU KNOW, I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY.
IT'S, IT'S THE WORST TIME OF THEIR LIFE.
AND IT'S A VERY DIFFICULT JOB THEY DO.
AND, AND THE DISPARATE POLICE DISPATCH JOB IS EQUALLY AS DIFFICULT.
IT'S JUST A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE DEALING WITH 40 OFFICERS, THEY'RE DEALING WITH CRITICAL INCIDENTS, BUT I'M SPEAKING TO PEOPLE TAKING NINE ONE, ONE CALL AFTER NINE ONE, ONE CALL ON THE WORST DAY OF A PERSON'S LIFE.
IN MANY CASES, UM, THEY'RE UPSET AND THEY'RE NOT VERY FRIENDLY AND IT'S A VERY DIFFICULT JOB.
SO IT'S A VERY TOUGH JOB AND, UM, AND THEY DO A GREAT JOB AT IT.
SHE WANT TO MAKE SURE THERE'S NO OTHER QUESTIONS FOR MANY ONE ON THE COMMISSION.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
WE APPRECIATE IT, MR. MURPHY AND MS. MARTINEZ.
SO WE HAVE FOUND OURSELVES WITH SOME TIME HERE AT THE END, SO WE WILL NOT HAVE TO RUSH THROUGH FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS.
[4. Future Agenda Items 5:50-6:00pm]
LOOK AT US SO EXCITING.UM, I CAN TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, WE, UM, FOR MARCH, WE DEFINITELY HAVE A BUDGET AGENDA ON THE, UM, ITEM THAT WE HAVE TO, UH, ADDRESS.
I'M GETTING MY NOTES TO TELL US EXACTLY WHAT THAT IS.
SO THERE IS A, A BUDGET REVIEW FOR ALL THREE PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENTS WILL NEED TO HAPPEN ON MARCH 7TH.
UH, THERE'S A BUDGET MEMO THAT WE HAVE IN, SO EVERYTHING IS DUE, UH, FOR THE DUE DATES.
SO MARCH 7TH WILL BE OUR FIRST AND ONLY TIME WE'LL BE ABLE TO REVIEW THESE.
SO THAT WILL BE T PROBABLY TAKE A HUGE AMOUNT OF OUR MARCH, UM, MEETING FOR BUDGET AND, UH, TAKING THAT IN MIND.
OF COURSE, WE WILL ALSO TAKE OTHER, UH, ITEMS AND AGENDA ITEMS THAT WE WANT TO SEE.
SO I'M GOING TO START WITH SOMETHING THAT I'VE BEEN WANTING TO GET BACK ON THE, UH, AGENDA FOR AWHILE.
UH, WE HAVE NOT DONE A, UH, COMPARISON OF THE DIVERSITY NUMBERS OF OUR STAFFS ON ALL PUBLIC SAFETY IN A VERY LONG TIME.
UH, I WAS JUST TALKING TO A CHIEF GARDNER FROM EMS. THAT THAT IS HOW WE MET MANY YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS SPEARHEADING, NOT THE FIRST TIME AROUND SOMETIME IN THESE SEVEN YEARS SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE.
SO WE'RE GOING TO, UM, I'M GOING TO REQUEST OFFICIALLY OF ALL OF THE, UH, UH, PUBLIC SAFETY, UH, CHAIRS HERE, THE CHIEFS TO GET US THESE DIVERSITY NUMBERS ON THEIR STAFFS BY, UH, GENDER, AS WELL AS, UH, ETHNICITY AND BACKGROUND.
AND WE WILL TAKE A LOOK AND I WILL BRING IN THE DATA THAT I GOT IN THE FIRST PLACE, AND WE'LL SEE WHERE WE ARE.
UH, SO THAT'S WHEN, NOT NECESSARILY FOR MARCH, BUT THAT'S WHEN I WILL LIKE TO GET ON THE AGENDA.
SO, UH, OPEN TO ANYONE ELSE, AGENDA ITEMS, COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT, PLEASE.
[01:40:01]
CITY AND THE COUNTY RECENTLY, UM, SETTLED A LAWSUIT, UH, WITH, UH, SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS REGARDING HOW SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES ARE HANDLED.UM, AND IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO HEAR THE TERMS OF THAT SETTLEMENT AND WHAT THE CITY AND COUNTY HAVE AGREED TO AND WHETHER OR NOT THERE'S GOING TO BE DATA OR INFORMATION COMING OUT OF THAT SETTLEMENT THAT WE MIGHT WANT TO MONITOR.
AND YOU WENT ELSE, COMMISSIONER RAMIREZ, GO AHEAD.
UM, HOW, HOW WE WOULD, I JUST GONNA PUT IT OUT THERE.
I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY HOW WE WOULD WRAP IT UP INTO AN ITEM, BUT I FEEL LIKE NOT JUST TODAY, BUT OVER THE COURSE OF THE PAST FEW MONTHS, I FEEL LIKE WE'VE HEARD QUITE A BIT ABOUT, UM, UM, STAFFING ISSUES ON THE CIVILIAN SIDE OF APD.
UM, AND I MEAN, IT'S OBVIOUS IT'S HAVING AN IMPACT OPERATIONALLY.
WE HEAR A LOT ABOUT SWORN OFFICERS AND, UM, AGAIN, I WOULD NEED TO WRAP MY HEAD AROUND HOW WE WOULD DO AN AGENDA ITEM AROUND IT, BUT JUST A DISCUSSION OF THAT ACROSS APD AND QUITE FRANKLY, ALL, ALL THE DIVISIONS, UM, JUST IN TERM CIVIL AND PERSONNEL, WHERE THEY'RE AT, UM, AND HOW COVID OR THE ECONOMY OR WHATEVER IT IS THAT'S IMPACTING IT, UM, IS SORT OF AFFECTING OPERATIONS.
THANK YOU, MR. KIRKOFF, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING, JUST A QUESTION THAT IS THE AUSTIN WATER DEPARTMENT UNDER OUR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSIONER? UM, I DO NOT BELIEVE IT IS.
UM, I BELIEVE THERE MIGHT BE A UTILITIES COMMISSION MAYBE.
WELL, WE'VE HAD TO BOIL WATER INCIDENTS IN THE LAST YEAR, AND I JUST WONDERED IF WE'D GET AN ACCOUNTING ON THAT.
I AM, I AM WELL AWARE OF THE PAIN WE ARE FACING AROUND THE BOIL NOTICE RIGHT THERE OFF ANYONE ELSE ONLINE.
AND THE OTHER THING I KNOW I HAVE MENTIONED, AND I HAVE NOT FOLLOWED THROUGH ON THIS BEFORE, BUT THE, UH, OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS, I WOULD LIKE TO GET A PRESENTATION FROM THEM ON WHAT THEY'VE UNCOVERED AND WHAT THEIR, UH, WHAT THEIR PLAN IS, UH, TO INTERACT WITH PUBLIC SAFETY AND HOW THAT, HOW THAT'S FITTING INTO THEIR CHARTER.
COMMISSIONER LEWIS, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
I, I MEAN, AND THIS ISN'T NECESSARILY FOR NEXT WEEK, BUT WE DO HAVE THE SEXUAL ASSAULT EVALUATION, UM, COMING, COMING BACK, I'M GUESSING SPRING SUMMER.
I DON'T ACTUALLY, IT'S BEEN A MINUTE.
I WAS MEANING TO LOOK IN MY NOTES ON THAT ONE, BUT YEAH, THAT'S A GOOD POINT.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT KIND OF LOOSEN WITH, UH, UH, REBECCA BERNHARDT'S THOUGHT IF THERE MIGHT BE SOME CONNECTIONS BETWEEN, UH, THE SETTLEMENT AND WHAT MIGHT COME OUT OF THAT REPORT.
UM, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE, YOU KNOW, UM, YEAH, IT SEEMS LIKE THAT MIGHT BE A PART OF A SIMILAR BUCKET.
AND THEN ANOTHER THING IS JUST, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THE RE-IMAGINING PUBLIC SAFETY TASK FORCE IS NOT MEETING, BUT I, I THINK JUST, YOU KNOW, THE, THE RECOMMENDATIONS, IT WAS LIKE 78 PAGES AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.
AND, UM, I THINK THINKING THROUGH HOW THAT CONVERSATION CONTINUES, UM, ABOUT, UM, ALLOCATING MONEY FOR PUBLIC SAFETY OUTSIDE OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, UM, JUST FEELS LIKE SOMETHING WE WANT TO, YOU KNOW, MAYBE CHECK IN WITH QUARTERLY OR SOMETHING.
UM, BECAUSE I, I WANT TO UPLIFT, YOU KNOW, COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT ARE STILL WORKING ON THOSE THINGS AND, UM, CONTINUE THAT CONVERSATION OR ON PUBLIC SAFETY OUTSIDE OF GREAT.
ANYONE ELSE? I THINK WE ALSO WILL HAVE, UH, THE INTRODUCTION OF OUR NEW EMS CHIEF COMING UP.
WE SHOULD FOLLOW UP WITH, UH, ACM ARIANO AROUND, UH, WHEN THAT, UH, THAT INTERVIEW PROCESS IS WRAPPING UP AND WHEN THEY EXPECT TO HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEW EMS CHIEF CHAIR, I THINK THAT, UM, COUNCIL IS VOTING ON THAT NEXT WEEK.
SO THEN WE SHOULD HAVE, WE SHOULD HAVE, UH, SOME SORT OF ANNOUNCEMENT FOR MARCH.
IT WOULD BE NICE TO MEET WHOEVER THAT PERSON WAS, UNLESS IT'S JASPER, WE ALL KNOW HIM WELL, NICE TO MEET HIM AGAIN WITH A DIFFERENT LAPEL.
[01:45:02]
ALL RIGHT.UM, I DON'T BELIEVE WE HAVE ANYTHING ELSE.
UM, CHIEFS, ANYTHING ELSE TO ADD SINCE WE HAVE ALL THIS, UH, PLETHORA OF TIME AVAILABLE TO US? ALL RIGHT.
WELL, UH, IN THAT CASE, I THINK WE ARE DONE.
I WILL NEED SOMEONE, UH, A MOTION AND A SECOND FOR ADJOURNMENT.
SO MOVED A SECOND AND WE GOT A SECOND HERE.
AND, UH, I WILL HAVE TO DO THE AGENDA ALL OVER AGAIN, THE, UM, THE LIST AND HAVE YOU VOCALLY, GIVE ME A YES.
SO THIS IS A VOTE FOR ADJOURNMENT RAMIREZ.
THEREFORE WE ARE SO ADJOURNED.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
AND WE WILL SEE YOU NEXT MONTH.