* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. ALL RIGHT, I'LL [00:00:01] GO AHEAD AND CALL [CALL TO ORDER] THIS INTO ORDER. IT IS 6:01 PM ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2022. UM, WE'LL TAKE, UH, COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ PRESENT, UH, COMMISSIONER BARN PRESENT. COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ PRESENT. UM, AND WE ARE MISSING COMMISSIONERS FLORES AND GI. UM, [1.a. Briefing on Office of Police Oversight: 2021 Annual Report] FOR TODAY'S MEETING, WE ARE GONNA HAVE A PRESENTATION ABOUT THE 2021 ANNUAL REPORT FROM MIA, WHO HAS JOINED US TODAY. SO, MIA, I'LL LET YOU TAKE IT AWAY. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. YES, OF COURSE. HI EVERYBODY. TO BE ABLE TO JOIN YOU ALL AND, UH, TALK ABOUT OUR 2020 ANNUAL REPORT. UM, I HAVE THE RIGHTS. I WILL GO AND MY SCREEN, FRANKIE. OKAY, SO I THINK EVERYONE CAN SEE MY SCREEN NOW. PERFECT. OKAY. SO WE'LL GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED. AND I, I KNOW JESSICA AND RICHARD BOTH, BUT YESENIA, JUST TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT ME, I'M THE CHIEF OF STAFF FOR THE OPO. I'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S OVERSIGHT OFFICE SINCE 2015, WHICH INCLUDES THE PREVIOUS ITERATION OF OUR OFFICE, OFFICE OF POLICE MONITOR. UM, SO I DO HAVE A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE, AND I'M JUST REALLY EXCITED ABOUT WHAT WE WERE ABLE TO DO IN 2021. IT FELT LIKE IT MIGHT BE A ROUGH YEAR CONSIDERING THE PANDEMIC, UM, AND SOME STAFFING ISSUES THAT MOST CITY DEPARTMENTS FACE, BUT I THINK YOU ALL WILL SEE THAT, UM, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A CHALLENGING YEAR, THE OPIO DID PRETTY WELL. SO THAT'S JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME. UH, OBVIOUSLY WANNA GO AHEAD AND START WITH WHAT OUR MISSION STATEMENT IS FOR ANYONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW. UM, OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE IMPARTIAL OVERSIGHT OF APDS CONDUCT PRACTICES AND POLICIES. UM, THIS IS TO ENHANCE ACCOUNTABILITY, INFORM THE PUBLIC TO INCREASE TRANSPARENCY AND CREATE SUSTAINABLE PARTNERSHIPS THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY. UM, ON THE RIGHT HAND SCREEN THERE, YOU'LL SEE IMPROVING PUBLIC TRUST, ENSURING ACCESSIBLE COMPLAINT PROCESSES. THESE ARE THE FIVE COMMON GOALS OF CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT. OPO DID NOT CREATE THESE, BUT THESE ARE FROM NACO, WHICH IS THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT. SO THESE ARE THE FIVE COMMON GOALS THAT WE EMBRACE THROUGHOUT ALL THE WORK THAT WE DO. UM, OPO SPECIFIC THROUGH MAIN GOALS ARE TO TRANSFORM ACCOUNTABILITY, ENHANCE TRANSPARENCY, AND BUILD PARTNERSHIPS. THE WAY WE DO THAT IS THROUGHOUT THE THREE DIVISIONS OF O CAMP, ALL OF THESE DIVISIONS WORK TOGETHER AND INFORM EACH OTHER ON OUR WORK. UH, OBVIOUSLY WE HAVE OUR COMPLAINTS DIVISION, THE BREAD AND BUTTER OF ANY OVERSIGHT AGENCY, OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION, AND POLICY AND RESEARCH. UH, WE RE WE RECOGNIZE THAT CIVILIAN WISH I SHOULD NOT BE LIMITED TO JUST COMPLAINTS OF POLICE MISCONDUCT. THAT'S WHY WITH THIS ITERATION OF THE OVERSIGHT OFFICE FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, WE INSTITUTED THESE OTHER TWO DIVISIONS TO ACCOUNT FOR THE IDEA THAT IMPROVEMENTS OVERSIGHT HAVE TO BE MADE WITH DATA RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY INPUT. SO WE'LL START WITH OUR COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DIVISION. THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS DIVISION INCLUDE, UM, THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO HOST FIVE COMMUNITY EVENTS. THE COMMUNITY EVENTS WERE INTENDED TO GATHER FEEDBACK FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND DOCUMENT THEIR LIVED EXPERIENCES. THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE WE CANNOT TALK ABOUT DISPROPORTION OF POLICING OR IMPACTED COMMUNITIES. IF WE DON'T GO THERE AND GET INFORMATION, WE HAVE TO GO TO THE SOURCE. THAT'S WHY COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMUNICATION IS SO CRITICAL TO OPIOID SUCCESS. UM, A LOT OF WHAT THEY DID FOCUSED AROUND THE USE OF FORCE COLLABORATING ON AN EVENT RELATED TO EIGHT CAN'T WAIT. AND THAT WAS WITH CPR C AT THE TIME. UH, AND ALSO COMMUNICATIONS HOSTED THEIR FIRST TOWN HALL FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. UH, THIS WAS DONE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE AND THE COMMITTEE, THE COMMITTEE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. THIS WAS A REQUEST. THEY ATTENDED OUR COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION, ATTENDED A MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. THEY EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN LEARNING HOW TO BETTER THE RELATIONSHIP WITH POLICE. THAT'S WHAT SPURRED THE ENTIRE THING. WE CREATED A SERIES AROUND IT AND THEY HAD THEIR FIRST EVENT. BEYOND THAT, THEY ATTENDED 41 COMMUNITY EVENTS. THESE WERE BOTH ONLINE AND IN PERSON, AND PROVIDING EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATIONS AT 20 COMMUNITY MEETINGS. AGAIN, BOTH ONLINE AND PERSON. AND OUR WEBSITE RECEIVED MORE THAN 68,000 VIEWS. UH, THIS INCLUDES VIEWS OF OUR OPIOID REPORTS, DISCIPLINARY DOCUMENTS, AND [00:05:01] COMPLAINT DOCUMENTS. THIS IS A PRETTY HIGH NUMBER. UM, WE HAVE OUR OWN UNIQUE URL, SO WE KNOW THAT THESE ARE NOT PEOPLE WHO ARE JUST HAPPENING UPON US FROM OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS OR FROM THE CITY'S MEETING PAGE. THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO WORK EXPLICITLY LOOKING FOR OPO INFORMATION, UM, MEDIA LOOKING FOR INFORMATION RELATED TO OPOS. THIS IS ACTUALLY, THIS IS AN ACHIEVEMENT FOR HAVING SUCH A NEW WEBSITE. IT'S LESS THAN THREE YEARS OLD. AND SO THIS MANY WEBSITES SOMETHING THAT THAT DIVISION IS VERY PROUD OF AND SHOULD BE. ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT WE'VE GONE OVER SO FAR FOR COMMUNICATIONS? SO WE'LL MOVE NEXT TO RESEARCH AND POLICY. THIS IS A HEAVIER DIVISION, AND THE WORK THAT THEY DO IS MUCH MORE INTENSE THAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS. UM, SO IN 2021, THIS DIVISION EXPANDED ITS WORK BY PUBLISHING 124 RECOMMENDATIONS AND OBJECTIONS RELATED TO APDS POLICIES AND PRACTICES. WHAT THAT MEANS IS 93 OF THOSE 124 RECOMMENDATIONS WERE ALL ABOUT POLICY CHANGES. 73 WERE RELATED TO THEN CURRENT POLICIES OR PRACTICES BY APD AND 20 WERE RECOMMENDATIONS TO CREATE NEW POLICIES OR PRACTICES FOR APD. 31 OBJECTIONS WERE MADE BY OPO TO 13 GENERAL ORDER POLICIES THAT APD CREATED. SO APD GENERAL ORDER POLICIES, THIS IS THE DOCUMENT THEY CREATE, THEY MAINTAIN, AND THAT THEY HOLD THEIR OFFICERS TO. IT'S ALSO THE DOCUMENT OUR POLICY AND RESEARCH COMPLAINTS TEAM USED IN ORDER TO DETERMINE IF OVERSIGHT IS BEING EFFECTIVE IN RULING WHETHER OR NOT APDS APPLYING THEIR GENERAL ORDER OF POLICIES EQUITABLY. SO WE HAD 31 OBJECTIONS, AND WE'LL DIG A LITTLE DEEPER INTO THOSE NUMBERS. SO OF THE 93 RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WERE CREATED, THEY WERE ALL CREATED IN ACCORDANCE WITH A CITY COUNCIL AND CITY MANAGER RESOLUTION THAT WE CALL 95. UH, THE 93 RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDED THESE 10 SUBJECTS HERE. THESE, A LOT OF THESE ARE PART OF THE A CAN'T WAIT, SOME ARE NOT. UM, AND THIS IS JUST A SAMPLE. THIS, IT WAS THE 93 RECOMMENDATIONS WERE NOT LIMITED TO THESE 10 SUBJECTS, BUT THESE ARE THE, THESE ARE THE 10 THAT ARE MOST RECOGNIZABLE. UM, AND PEOPLE GENERALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT WARNING BEFORE SHOOTING, FOR EXAMPLE, MEANS OR WHAT TEAR GAS POLICY IS ABOUT. UH, THE FIRST SIX WERE ALSO CREATED WITH OPOS THREE PHASE PREREQ PROCESS. THIS, AGAIN, IS UNIQUE TO OPO. WE CREATED THIS THREE PHASE REWRITE PROCESS TO ACCOUNT FOR THE FIRST PHASE BEING PRELIMINARY RESEARCH, THE SECOND PHASE BEING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. AND THEN THE THIRD PHASE IS USING COMMUNITY INPUT, PROVIDING ANY ANALYSIS, DOING ANALYSIS, AND THEN MAKING FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS TO AD THAT ARE NOT JUST COMING FROM OPO, BUT HAVE COMMUNITY INPUT INVOLVED. UH, THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO PUT THE WEIGHT OF THE COMMUNITY BEHIND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS. THE 31 OBJECTIONS TO APD CHANGES TO 13 OF THEIR GENERAL ORDERS. AGAIN, WERE NOT LIMITED TO THESE SIX TOPICS, BUT INCLUDE THESE SIX TOPICS. UM, AGAIN, THE POLICY AND RESEARCH TEAM DOES A LOT OF EXCELLENT WRITING, EXCELLENT RESEARCH, AND WE PUBLISH ALL OF OUR OBJECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS SO THAT THEY'RE AVAILABLE FOR ONLINE REVIEW. THESE CAN BE COMPLICATED AND FOR THE SAKE OF RE I DON'T WANNA GO INTO ANY OF THEM, BUT I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT MAY HAVE TO DO WITH ANY OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS OR OBJECTIONS NOW OR LATER BECAUSE THEY ALL ARE ONLINE. BUT SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, THESE TOPICS ARE, ARE A LITTLE DENSE TO GET INTO IN A BRIEFING. BUT THAT SAID, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS? HEY, MAYOR, UM, WERE THESE ACTUALLY INSTITUTED WITHIN THE GENERAL POLICIES OR WERE THEY JUST RECOMMENDATIONS? AND THEY'RE STILL UNDER CONSIDERATION? THEY MAY STILL BE UNDER CONSIDERATION THERE. THERE ISN'T A GREAT COMMUNICATION LOOP BETWEEN OPO AND APD ABOUT WHEN THEY RECEIVE OUR OBJECTIONS OR WHEN THEY RECEIVE OUR RECOMMENDATIONS, WHAT THEY WILL IMPLEMENT, WHAT THEY WON'T IMPLEMENT. WE'RE HOPING THAT CHANGES. AND WE'VE SEEN SOME MOVEMENT UNDER OUR ACTING DIRECTOR THAT THEY'RE A LITTLE MORE COLLABORATIVE WITH US CURRENTLY MM-HMM. . BUT FOR 2021, THE COMMUNICATION LOOP WAS NOT GREAT. AND THEY WERE NOT COMMUNICATING WITH US EXACTLY WHAT THEY WOULD IMPLEMENT OR WHAT THEY WOULDN'T IMPLEMENT. BUT WE FELT AN IMPORTANT TO REPORT OUT TO THE COMMUNITY WHAT WE WERE SAYING, WHAT WE WERE ASKING A TO DO. AND SO WE'RE STILL ENGAGING WITH, UM, AD ON GETTING THESE IMPLEMENTED OR AT LEAST GIVING US A STATUS OR DECISION. RIGHT. IN SOME CASES, WE ARE STILL IN COMMUNICATION ABOUT THAT. IN SOME CASES, THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE TO NO COMMUNICATION. HMM. UM, AND REALLY [00:10:01] ONCE IT'S OUT OF OUR HANDS, IT'S A LITTLE DIFFICULT FOR THE FOLLOW UP BECAUSE THEY RECEIVE OUR RECOMMENDATIONS OR OBJECTIONS, BUT THEY'RE NOT REQUIRED TO RESPOND. IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN MAKES A RECOMMENDATION TO, IS REQUIRED TO RESPOND. OKAY. IS THERE ANY WAY WE COULD TAG THIS WITH, UM, OTHER, I WOULDN'T SAY I USE LEGISLATION FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM, UM, THAT HE'S CONSIDERING AND USE THAT AS PART OF THE FOLLOW UP. IT'S POSSIBLE. AND CERTAINLY I CAN TAKE THAT AS A FOLLOW UP AND, AND CHECK WITH SYLVIA WHEN SHE'S BACK FROM THE CONFERENCE TO SEE IF THERE WAS A WAY TO BUNDLE THAT FOR YOU ALL IN ORDER TO GET THE UP MM-HMM. . UH, BUT IT'S POSSIBLE CAN AS A FOLLOW-UP. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. THANK RICHARD. MM-HMM. , ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS SECTION? OKAY. SO WE'LL GET INTO THE COMPLAINTS DIVISION. UM, COMPLAINTS HAS A LOT TO REPORT, SO WE'LL JUST GENERALLY TALK ABOUT WHAT, WHAT THE COMPLAINTS DIVISION DOES FIRST. UM, THEY TAKE COMPLAINTS OR COMPLIMENTS RELATED TO APD OFFICERS. UM, COMMUNITY MEMBERS CAN SUBMIT COMPLAINTS OR COMPLIMENTS BASED ON THEIR OWN EXPERIENCE OR SOMEONE ELSE'S EXPERIENCE THAT THEY'VE HEARD ABOUT. ANYONE CAN CONTACT OPO. WE HAVE ALL OF THE STANDARD FORMS OF COMMUNICATION. COMMUNITY MEMBERS CAN ALSO FILE COMPLAINTS ANONYMOUSLY. THIS, THIS IS AN, THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY THAT AFFORDS PEOPLE TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK, UM, WHO WOULD OTHERWISE BE UNWILLING OR UNABLE TO SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCE FOR WHATEVER REASON. AND WE TAKE BOTH THE COMPLIMENTS AND THE COMPLAINTS IN ORDER TO HAVE BOTH THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FEEDBACK LOOP. UM, THIS IS ESSENTIAL TO BUILD THE TRUST BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY AND A APD AND A CONTACT. WE'RE GONNA GET INTO CONTACTS NEXT, BUT A CONTACT MAY OR MAY NOT RESULT IN A COMPLAINT. SO WE'LL START THERE. UM, AND WHAT I'VE GOT FOR YOU IS THREE YEARS OF DATA. OPO WAS FOUNDED IN DECEMBER OF 2018. SO WE HAVE 20 19, 20 20 AND 21 DATA. SO I, I THINK IT'S INTERESTING TO SHOW YOU ALL SORT OF THE TRENDS THAT YOU'LL SEE HERE. UM, AS YOU CAN TELL, IN 2019, WE HAD OVER 1300 CONTACTS. I REMEMBER A CONTACT DOES NOT ALWAYS RESULT IN A COMPLAINT. UM, AND IN THAT TIME WE HAD 158 COMPLIMENTS. 2020 WAS AN OUTLIER. THIS WAS DUE TO THE NATIONWIDE AND LOCAL PROTEST AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY. SO WE SAW A SIGNIFICANT JUMP IN THE NUMBER OF CONTACTS WE HAD OVER 20 HUNDREDS IN THAT YEAR. AND WE STILL HAD 177, AGAIN, AN OUTLIER IN 2021. WHAT WE SAW WAS OVER 2200 CONTACTS AND 187 COMPLIMENTS. SO WE SEE THAT THE COMPLIMENTS ALL TREND ABOUT THE SAME. HOWEVER, WE'VE GOT 2019, OUR FIRST YEAR WHERE WE WERE A LITTLE LOWER, 2020 REALLY HIGH. IT'S AN OUTLIER WITH THE PROTEST. AND THEN IN 2021, WE SAW WHAT WE THINK IS GONNA BE ABOUT THE STANDARD OF CONTEXT, WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT, AGAIN, RESULT IN A COMPLAINT. SO LET'S TALK SPECIFICALLY ABOUT 2021. AND THE QUESTION HERE THAT YOU'RE CONSIDERING IS, HOW MANY COMPLAINTS FROM OPIO WERE INVESTIGATED BY AP IN 2021? SO WE'VE GOT A VISUAL, SINCE MOST PEOPLE ARE VISUAL LEARNERS. WE CREATED THIS IN ORDER TO EXPLAIN HEAVY DATA AND LANGUAGE. SO WE SEE AT THE VERY BEGINNING, WE HAD OVER 2,239 TOTAL CONTACTS OF THOSE CONTACTS. WE DID PRELIMINARY REVIEWS. OPO WASN'T ABLE TO DO PRELIMINARY REVIEWS. OPO CONDUCTED THEM IN 2021. AFTER REVIEWS, WE SENT 220 COMPLAINTS TO APD FOR INVESTIGATION. THIS IS A RECOMMENDATION WE RECOMMENDED. THEY INVESTIGATE 220 COMPLAINTS. OF THOSE 220 COMPLAINTS, APD INVESTIGATED 90, THE OTHER 130 COMPLAINTS WERE NOT INVESTIGATED. OF THE 90 COMPLAINTS THAT WERE INVESTIGATED, ONLY 16 RESULTED IN SUSTAINED POLICY VIOLATIONS. IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT, AND AGAIN, WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT SOME YEAR BY YEAR DATA, BUT OF ALL OF THOSE CONTACTS AND OF ALL OF THOSE, WE SAID, PLEASE INVESTIGATE WHAT RESULTED WAS LESS THAN A HUNDRED AND EVEN FURTHER, ONLY 16 RESULTED IN SUSTAINED POLICY VIOLATIONS. SO LET'S LOOK AT INTERNAL NUMBERS. SAME QUESTION. HOW MANY INTERNAL COMPLAINTS WERE INVESTIGATED BY APD OF 2021? INTERNALLY, APD SUBMITTED 130 COMPLAINTS. OF THOSE 114 WERE INVESTIGATED, 16 WERE NOT INVESTIGATED, AND 60 RESULTED IN SUSTAINED POLICY VIOLATIONS. [00:15:01] SO ALREADY THERE'S A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS AND THE NUMBER OR THE PERCENTAGE EVEN OF THOSE THAT ARE GETTING INVESTIGATED AND THEREFORE RESULTING IN SUSTAINED POLICY VIOLATIONS. AND IN THE VERY NEXT SLIDE, WE'LL GET INTO COMPARATIVE DATA OVER. SO WE'VE GOT 20 19, 20 20 AND 2021. I WILL TELL YOU IN 2020 THE NUMBERS THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT HERE, WHILE THE CONTACTS INCLUDE PROTEST DATA, NONE OF THE OTHER NUMBERS DO. SO NONE OF THE TOTAL FORMAL COMPLAINTS WERE INVESTIGATED HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH PROTEST DATA. THAT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONVERSATION. THESE WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, IT'S JUST STANDARD COMPLAINTS. WHAT HAPPENED? SO WE KNOW IN 2021, OPIO SAW 220 RECOMMENDED FOR INVESTIGATION. IN 2020, WE SAW 189 AND RECOMMENDED THOSE FOR INVESTIGATION. IN 20, WE SAW 53 AND RECOMMENDED THOSE FOR INVESTIGATION. SO EVERY YEAR WE'RE SEEING MORE AND MORE BASED ON OUR PRELIMINARY REVIEW THAT WAS ABLE TO DO RECOMMENDING MORE AND MORE IN 20 19, 33 OF THE 53 WERE INVESTIGATED. 20, 20 96 OF THE 89. AND THEN IN 2021, ONLY 90 OF 220. SO THE TREND IS, THE TREND IS OBVIOUS. THE TOTAL FORMAL SUSTAINED, AGAIN IN 2019 OF 33, THERE WERE 28, 20 20 OF 96, THERE WERE ONLY 52. AND THEN LAST YEAR, 2020 OF 90, ONLY 16. QUESTIONS SO FAR ABOUT THE DATA, DO THEY, EXCUSE ME, DO THEY EVER REPORT BACK WHY THEY'RE NOT INVESTIGATING THE ONES OR WHY THE NUMBERS ARE SO LOW? THEY DON'T HAVE TO REPORT BACK TO OPO. BUT SINCE WE HAVE A SHARED DATABASE, WE'RE, WE'RE AWARE MM-HMM. , FOR EXAMPLE, JUST LAST YEAR IN 2021, THESE 90 THAT WE'RE INVESTIGATED AT 16, THAT ONLY SUSTAINED, THEY UNFOUNDED 36 OF THOSE, THEY ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSED 15, THEY EXONERATED 12. AND AT THE TIME THAT DATA WAS PUBLISHED, EIGHT WERE PENDING AND THREE WERE CLOSED WITH NO ACTION TAKEN. SO WE'RE ABLE TO DETERMINE, BECAUSE OF THE SHARED DATABASE, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 90, HOW THE SORT OF ENDED UP, OK, WE CAN SEE THE WAY THAT THEY CLASSIFY, BUT THEY NOT REQUIRED WHO ARE, I KNOW IT'S NOT TO, BUT WHO ARE TO REPORT BACK TO ON THE BASIS OF THE CLASSIFICATION. AND I WONDER WHAT'S THE CRITERIA FOR THE CLASSIFICATION? I DUNNO IF YOU HAVE THAT INFORMATION OR NOT. I DO. THE CRITERIA CLASSIFICATION IS COMPLICATED. UM, ESSENTIALLY THE DECISION IS MADE BY INTERNAL AFFAIRS AND THAT CHAIN OF COMMAND MM-HMM. , THAT INTERNAL AFFAIRS CHAIN OF COMMAND AND OR THE OFFICER'S UNDER INVESTIGATION, THEIR CHAIN OF COMMAND CAN MAKE A DETERMINATION. EITHER DETERMINATION CAN COME AT THE BEGINNING OR AT THE END OF THEM BEING NOTIFIED FROM O O THAT WE ARE REQUESTING AN INVESTIGATION. SO IT COULD HAPPEN AT ANY POINT THERE. MM-HMM. , THE REASONS FOR UNFOUNDING OR ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSING EXONERATING, IT VARIES BECAUSE EVERY CHAIN OF IS DIFFERENT. MM-HMM. MM-HMM. , ULTIMATELY CHAIN OF COMMAND TO CHAIN OF COMMAND, THE TOP OF THEIR CHAIN. AND SO CHIEF MM-HMM. , WHAT, WHAT THAT CONVERSATION IS LIKE, IS NOT PRIVY TO. OKAY. BUT OKAY. I I, I GET IT. BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE THE, YOU KNOW, THE FOX HAS GONE IN HOUSE. RIGHT? WE DO HAVE A, WE DO HAVE A LOT MORE DETAIL IN THE REPORT, RICHARD, WHERE WE BREAK DOWN IF SOMETHING IS UNFOUNDED, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANS. ACCORDING TO APD, THEIR CLASSIFICATION, THEIR DETERMINATIONS, WE PUT THEIR LANGUAGE IN THERE, UM, TO BE AS TRANSPARENT AS POSSIBLE. UH, FOR EXAMPLE, THE EXONERATED FINDINGS, THERE WAS 12 THAT WERE EXONERATED. MM-HMM. , APD DEFINES EXONERATION AS THE ACT OCCURRED, BUT IT DIDN'T RESULT IN A POLICY VIOLATION CAUSE IT WAS JUSTIFIED. RIGHT. SO THAT'S KINDA, THAT CAN, CAN LEAD TO A LOT OF QUESTIONS THAT OPO CAN'T ANSWER AS WE AREN'T THE MM-HMM. . GREAT QUESTIONS. OTHER THOUGHTS ABOUT THE DATA? ANY QUESTIONS? ? OKAY. SO WE'LL MOVE ON TO DISCIPLINE. THIS IS THE OTHER MOST FREQUENTLY TALKED ABOUT TOPIC AND COMPLAINTS. AND AGAIN, I'VE GOT THREE YEARS OF DATA FOR Y'ALL [00:20:01] TO SEE HERE. AND WE'LL START WITH INDEFINITE SUSPENSION. THIS, OF COURSE, IS THE MOST SERIOUS DISCIPLINE THAT CAN BE IMPOSED ON ANY OFFICER IN 2019. THERE WERE 3, 20, 20 AND 2021. THERE WAS ONLY ONE IN EACH YEAR. THAT'S NOT UNUSUAL. AND DEFINITE SUSPENSIONS ARE RARE AND DON'T HAPPEN VERY OFTEN AT ALL. TEMPORARY SUSPENSIONS, THOSE CAN BE ANYWHERE FROM ONE DAY UP TO 90. AND AGAIN, WE SEE IN 2019 THERE WERE 16, 20 20, THERE WAS 21, A SLIGHT JUMP, AND THEN A PRETTY DRAMATIC DROP TO NINE AND 2021. AND YOU'LL SEE THAT THERE, THERE ARE BIG DROPS BETWEEN 2020 AND 2021. WRITTEN REPRIMANDS. THIS IS A VERY COMMON FORM OF OFFICIAL DISCIPLINE. IN 2019, THERE WAS 92, 20 20, ONLY 76. AND THEN IN 2021, WE SAW A SIGNIFICANT DROP TO 20. SAME FOR ORAL REPRIMANDS, FOLLOWED THE SAME TREND. WE HAD 85 IN 20 19, 45 AND 2020 AND ONLY 25 AND 2021. UM, ORAL REPRIMANDS WERE THE MOST FREQUENTLY USED FORM OF DISCIPLINE WITH WRITTEN REPRIMANDS IN 2019. BUT THE DROP BETWEEN 2019 AND 2020 AND 2021 IS SIGNIFICANT. AND IT'S, IT'S JUST VERY EASY TO TELL, UM, EDUCATION BASED DISCIPLINE. THIS WAS NOT VERY COMMONLY USED IN 2019. WE SAW, WE SAW A BIG JUMP IN 2020 TO 16, AND THEN IN 2021 WE SAW A SLIGHT DROP TO 13. AGAIN, DECISIONS ARE MADE SOLELY BY AD. THEY DECIDED IF SOMEONE IS GOING TO FACE DISCIPLINE AND WHAT THAT DISCIPLINE IS. UH, OPO DOES TRACK AND MONITOR THESE. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR IS THAT APD IS FOLLOWING THEIR OWN POLICY. AGAIN, IF THEY'RE FOLLOWING PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE, IF THEY'RE FOLLOWING THEIR OWN DISCIPLINE MATRIX AND APPLYING CORRECT DISCIPLINE AS THEY'VE OUTLINED IN THEIR OWN GENERAL ORDERS. QUESTIONS ABOUT DISCIPLINE. WERE THERE ANY LEADERSHIP CHANGES THAT WE FEEL MAY HAVE IMPACTED THIS DECREASE THROUGH THE YEARS OR ANY OTHER ATTRIBUTES THAT WE CAN KIND OF GUESS IS WHY IT'S DECREASING? WE HAVE OUR THOUGHTS. UM, FOR EXAMPLE, WRITTEN REPRIMANDS AND ORAL REPRIMANDS. IF THOSE WERE COMING FROM AN EXTERNAL COMPLAINT, MEANING A COMPLAINT FILED THROUGH OPO, THOSE WERE MADE PUBLIC IN 2019 FOLLOWING THE 2018 ESTABLISHMENT OF OPO. SO IT'S, IT'S QUITE LIKELY WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT EXTERNAL COMPLAINTS WERE MADE PUBLIC ON OUR WEBSITE, THESE TWO FORMS OF DISCIPLINE SAW A SHARP DECREASE. THAT'S ONE OF THE, THAT'S ONE OF THE THOUGHTS THAT WE HAVE. THERE'S NOT, UH, THERE'S NOT MUCH ABOUT TEMPORARY SUSPENSIONS OR EDUCAT BASED EDUCATION BASED DISCIPLINE THAT WE COULD THEORIZE. THEY'RE NOT FREQUENTLY USED AND THEY NEVER REALLY HAVE BEEN. BUT THIS DECLINE BETWEEN WRITTENS AND ORALS, WE BELIEVE PART OF THAT MAY BE DUE TO THE FACT THAT IF THEY COME THROUGH OUR OFFICE, WE CAN THEN MAKE THEM PUBLIC . THAT'S OUR THOUGHT. THANK YOU. SURE. UH, ONE OTHER INTERESTING THING TO KNOW. WE'VE ALSO SEEN A BIG RISE IN RETIREMENTS FOR RESIGNATIONS UNDER INVESTIGATION. AGAIN, IN 2019, THESE WEREN'T VERY COMMON. THERE WAS TWO, IN 2020 WE SAW 11, AND THEN LAST YEAR WE SAW 15. SO WHEN AN OFFICER DOES RETIRE OR RESIGN, IT ESSENTIALLY ENDS THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY VIOLATION, MEANING THAT THE COMPLAINT CLOSES SINCE THE OFFICER RESIGNS AND RETIRES, THEY'RE NO LONGER APPLICABLE. AND THIS, THIS IS JUST SOMETHING INTERESTING THAT WE'VE NOTICED OVER THE YEARS HAS JUMP SIGNIFICANTLY. UM, THIS IS JUST MORE FOR, FOR YOU ALL TO BE AWARE OF. AS, AS WE ARE QUICK TO POINT OUT, DISCIPLINE GOES DOWN. WE'RE ALSO GONNA BE QUICK TO POINT OUT, THERE'S A DIFFERENT TREND. IT'S AN INTERESTING TREND THAT WE'RE SEEING A RISE IN RETIREMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS UNDER INVESTIGATION. THIS IS NOT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF RETIREMENTS OR RESIGNATIONS, BUT THIS IS THE NUMBER LAW SOMEONE WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY VIOLATIONS. UM, WHICH IS JUST INTERESTING TO US AND AND FEELS IMPORTANT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT IS IT FOR COMPLAINTS. AND I'M GONNA LET THAT JUST MARINATE WITH YOU ALL FOR A LITTLE BIT AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT WE PLAN TO HAVE IN OUR NEXT [00:25:01] ANNUAL REPORT. UM, AGAIN, WE'RE LOOKING TOWARDS APD POLICY OBJECTIONS, APD POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS. UM, OUR RESEARCH AND POLICY DIVISION THIS YEAR HAS BEEN HEAVILY FOCUSED ON THE REWRITE OF BOTH BODY WORN CAMERA AND DASHBOARD CAMERAS. UM, THIS IS A VERY BIG ENDEAVOR AND WE ARE CLOSE TO FINALIZING THE LAST PHASE OF THAT REPORT. HOPEFUL TO GET IT OUT THIS YEAR, BUT WE'LL SEE. UM, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE REPORTING ON ATTENDANCE AT COMMUNITY EVENTS AND HOSTING COMMUNITY EVENTS, COLLECTING COMMUNITY FEEDBACK TO INFORM WHATEVER POLICY AND RESEARCH IS DOING. FOR EXAMPLE, THE BODY WORN CAMERA REPORT. UM, ALSO HOSTING THE SECOND TOWN HALL FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES COMPLAINT, DATA COLLECTION AND DATA ANALYSIS OF COMPLAINTS. THAT'S ALWAYS GONNA BE THE FOREFRONT. UM, THAT'S ALWAYS THE BREAD AND BUTTER OF ANY OVERSIGHT ORGANIZATION. BUT THESE JUST ARE A FEW THINGS THAT WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2020 IN OUR NEXT ANNUAL REPORT. AND THAT IS ALL THAT I HAVE. HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, HAPPY TO JUST HAVE CONVERSATION OR TAKE FOLLOW UP THAT ANYBODY MIGHT HAVE ABOUT ANY OF THE DIVISIONS. CAN YOU GO BACK TO THE LAST LINE PLEASE? THIS ONE? MM-HMM. , THAT ONE. YES. UM, ON FOCUSING ON HOSTING COMMUNITY EVENTS, DO WE HAVE A SET TIMELINE OR TIMETABLE? MEANING CAN WE HOST EVENTS ONCE A MONTH, UH, BIMONTHLY OR IS IT QUARTERLY? WELL, OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DIVISION BASES THAT ON THE NEED OF WHAT COMMUNITY WE'RE TRYING TO REACH. MM-HMM. IN PARTICULAR THIS YEAR THE FOCUS HAS BEEN DISABILITY AND HOMELESSNESS. MM-HMM. . SO EITHER ONE OF THOSE COMMUNITIES, THEY BASE THE PRACTICE AROUND THAT. THERE ARE MONTHLY EVENTS THAT THEY ATTEND FOR THOSE MEETINGS. WE'VE ALSO TRIED A NEW APPROACH OF ATTENDING AND HAVING OPEN HOURS AT LIBRARIES, WHICH WE KNOW ARE HIGHLY ACCESSED BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND OR PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS. SO WE TRY TO TARGET AREAS IN WHICH WE UNDERSTAND WE'RE MORE LIKELY TO ENCOUNTER THE INDIVIDUALS FROM THE COMMUNITIES WE'RE TO AND THEN PLAN AROUND. BUT THEY'RE ALSO OPEN TO RECOMMENDATIONS, RIGHT? OH YES. ALWAYS. OKAY. OKAY. THEY'RE ALSO OPEN TO US PARTICIPATING OR HELPING OUT. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'VE MET WITH SARAH AND HER TEAM A FEW TIMES IS THEY CAN HELP US TO DEVELOP ONE PAGERS OR DIFFERENT DOCUMENTS THAT COULD TELL, UH, THE COMMUNITY MORE ABOUT THE C PRC AS WELL AS WE COULD VOLUNTEER LIKE YOU AND I DID, RICHARD WITH THE DISABILITY TOWN HALL AND GET TO KNOW THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS MORE. SO THERE ARE OPTIONS FOR US TO BECOME MORE INVOLVED AS WELL. OKAY. OH, GO AHEAD RICHARD. NO, NO, GO AHEAD. YOU I'VE BEEN TALKING ALL EVENING. GO AHEAD. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE DATA ANALYSIS OF COMPLAINTS? WHAT THE INTENT IS THERE? YEAH, WE WE'RE STILL TRYING TO FIGURE THAT OUT. AND I'LL BE REALLY HONEST WITH YOU. THE, THE GRIEVANCE THAT WAS HANDED DOWN, WELL THE ARBITRATION DECISION THAT WAS HANDED DOWN IN DECEMBER OF LAST YEAR REGARDING THE GRIEVANCE THAT WAS FILED HAS IMPACTED THE WAY COMPLAINTS DATA IS COLLECTED AND THE WAY THAT COMPLAINTS WORK IS DONE. UM, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WERE DETERMINED WERE THINGS LIKE OPO COULDN'T HAVE CONTACT WITH A COMPLAINANT UNLESS WE WERE DOING A CLOSEOUT MEETING. UM, THE OTHER MAJOR THING THAT WAS REMOVED IS THAT APPEAL'S ABILITY TO CONDUCT A PRELIMINARY REVIEW WAS REMOVED. SO PART OF WHAT WE'RE CONSIDERING FOR DATA ANALYSIS IS IN 20 19, 20 20, 20 21, I CAN GIVE YOU ALL THOSE CHARTS WHERE I SAY, THIS IS THE NUMBER OF CONTACTS HERE AFTER OUR REVIEW, HERE'S WHAT WE RECOMMENDED FOR INVESTIGATION. BUT I CAN'T DO THAT FOR 2022 BECAUSE WITHOUT THE PRELIMINARY REVIEW ABILITY, WE'RE SENDING EVERYTHING TO INTERNAL AFFAIRS. SO WE HAVE TO RETOOL AND APPROACH THE DATA ANALYSIS FROM A COMPLETELY NEW ANGLE. UH, WE'RE HOPEFUL WITH THE ADDITION OF A BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE CONSULTANT IN THE OFFICE THAT WE WILL HAVE SOMEONE WHO HAS ENOUGH DATA SKILL TO HELP US CREATE WHAT THOSE NEW PARAMETERS SHOULD LOOK LIKE AS WE REPORT OUT. BUT BECAUSE OF THE GRIEVANCE AND THE DETERMINATION FROM THE ARBITER, WE'VE BEEN A LITTLE LIMITED AND WE'VE HAD TO RECONSIDER WHAT WE'VE EVER, WHAT WE'VE DONE SINCE 19. IT'S NO LONGER APPLICABLE. I, UM, USED TO DO SOME DATA ANALYSIS FOR A PREVIOUS POSITION. AND ONE THING THAT I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT AS YOU WERE GOING THROUGH THOSE SLIDES, WELL JUST IN PARTICULAR, I'LL EXPLAIN IT. I'LL GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF THE ONE RELATING TO RESIGNATIONS [00:30:01] OR RETIREMENT, KIND OF COMPARING THAT TO THE NUMBER OF TOTAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OR APD OFFICERS THAT RETIRED OR RESIGNED THAT YEAR, JUST TO SEE IF IT'S ON PAR WITH THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT HAPPENED TO BE INVESTIGATED AND THEN ALSO RESIGNED OR RETIRED OR IF IT'S KIND OF, YOU KNOW, AT THE SAME RATE OR IF IT'S DIFFERENT. UM, COMPARING THOSE TWO. AND THEN ALSO THE CHART WITH THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS RECEIVED, ALTHOUGH 2020 WAS AN OUTLIER BECAUSE OF, UM, WHAT WAS GOING ON IN AUSTIN AT THE TIME AND NATIONWIDE, REALLY SEEING THE, IF THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS THAT ARE BEING RECEIVED, IF THERE'S A CORRELATION WITH THE NUMBER OF APD CASES OR CALL OUTS. UM, JUST KIND OF COMPARING THE TWO, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S ALREADY BEING DONE, BUT JUST A THOUGHT ON ON THAT BECAUSE I USED TO WORK WITH A VERY SMALL NUMBER THAT WAS HARD TO COMPARE, BUT WHEN YOU TOOK POPULATION TO ACCOUNT AS POPULATION GREW, THEN THAT NUMBER WOULD NATURALLY GROW. THINGS LIKE THAT. SO I KNOW IN 2020, I THINK WE HAD A LOT OF, OR MAYBE IT WAS 2021 ALL THE YEARS GET MUDDY AT THIS POINT. UM, WE HAD A LOT OF PEOPLE OR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS RESIGNING AND THEN FEWER CASES OR THEY WERE WORKING FEWER CASES BECAUSE OF COVID AT ONE POINT. AND JUST KIND OF SEEING THE IMPACT OF THOSE, UM, TO THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS THAT ARE BEING RECEIVED MIGHT BE INTERESTING IN DATA ANALYSIS. THESE ARE JUST THOUGHTS I HAD AS YOU WERE GOING THROUGH THE SLIDES THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL. YEAH, THEY'RE GREAT THOUGHTS. THEY ARE GREAT THOUGHTS. WE, WE HAVE A HARD TIME PROVING CORRELATION AND A PART OF THAT, MAYBE WE DON'T HAVE A DATA ANALYST ON STAFF, BUT A PART OF IT MAY BE THAT WE CAN'T PROVE, WELL, CAUSATION DOESN'T EQUAL CORRELATION, RIGHT? SO WE HAVE, WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL THAT WE DON'T CHERRY PICK DATA THAT PROVES OUR POINT BECAUSE WE HAVE TO REMAIN IMPARTIAL. UM, BUT FOR EXAMPLE, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION ABOUT THE RESIGNING OR RETIREMENTS, WE HAVE SEEN IT INCREASE IN 20 19, 20, 20, 21, THE NUMBERS HAVE GONE UP. THEY'RE NOT STAYING STATIC, THEY ARE MOVING UP. UM, AND IT'S HARD TO PROVE THE RATE IN WHICH THEY'RE INCREASING AS IT CORRELATES TO THE RATE WE SEE INCREASING FOR THOSE WHO ARE UNDER INVESTIGATION. UM, IT'S A, IT'S A DIFFICULT ASPECT TO PROVE. AND AGAIN, WE, WE DON'T WANNA CHERRY PICK DATA TO SLANT THE PERCEPTION OF WHATEVER POINT WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE. BUT IT IS, THOSE ARE ALL GREAT EXAMPLES OF THINGS THAT WE, WE SHOULD KEEP IN MIND. UM, BUT I THINK THE DATA ANALYSIS OF S FOR 2020 IS GONNA BE ESPECIALLY INTERESTING BECAUSE IT'S BE NEW. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, SUGGESTIONS, THOUGHTS? OKAY. ALL RIGHT. WELL THEN I WON'T TAKE ANY MORE OF Y'ALL'S TIME AND THE FULL REPORT IS ON OUR WEBSITE. IT DOES PROVIDE A LOT MORE INFORMATION REGARDING COMPLAINTS, CLASSIFICATIONS, DETERMINATIONS, THAT SORT OF THING. UM, THE NITTY GRITTY DETAILS THAT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THE PUBLIC IS AWARE OF. BUT I DON'T WANNA BEAT YOU OVER STUFF THAT OPIOID CAN'T DETERMINE OR OPIOID DOESN'T DECIDE. DOESN'T FEEL LIKE THE MOST EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION. ALSO IT SOUNDS A LITTLEY TO BE, BUT THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE FOR YOU. HAPPY TO, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS IF THEY COME UP AFTER THIS? BUT OTHERWISE THAT'S WHAT I HAVE FOR YOU ALL. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR COMING IN, CHATTING WITH US AND SHARING THIS INFORMATION. WE APPRECIATE IT. YES, HAPPY TO BE HERE. UM, THAT WAS ALL THAT WE HAD ON THE AGENDA FOR TODAY. SO IF THERE IS NO PUBLIC COMMENT AND IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THERE'S ANY OTHER ATTENDEES, THAT WILL BE THE MEETING. THANK YOU SO MUCH. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.