[00:00:06]
[CALL TO ORDER ]
UM, OUR APRIL MEETING, UM, WE HAVE A BUNCH OF NEW MEMBERS.UH, SO I WILL START WITH THE ROLE.
UH, COMMISSIONER HALL MARTIN HERE.
UH, COMMISSIONER KOFF DOESN'T LOOK LIKE HE'S HERE.
UH, COMMISSIONER RUTAN, UM, IS IN AFRICA.
UH, COMMISSIONER SIERRA AVALO HERE.
UH, COMMISSIONER HOLMES HERE, BUT I CAN'T.
UM, AND COMMISSIONER WYNN? UM, HERE.
UM, SO, UH, WE WILL START OFF WITH PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, BUT I THINK THAT WE DON'T HAVE ANYONE.
UM, AND THEN THE APPROVAL OF THE
[1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
MINUTES FROM OUR MARCH MEETING.UH, SO HAS EVERYBODY GOT A COPY OF THOSE, PARTICULARLY THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE ACTUALLY AT THE MARCH MEETING? YES.
UM, IF THERE AREN'T ANY CORRECTIONS OR ADDITIONS, I THINK WE CAN DEEM THEM APPROVED.
YOU'RE, YOU, YOU'RE GONNA DO MUCH BETTER AS CHAIR
UM, WELL ALL THOSE IN, DO WE HAVE TO HAVE A MOTION? ALL RIGHT.
I NEED A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM MARCH.
UM, I VOTE IN FAVOR, UM, CHAIR OR VICE CHAIR RAMIREZ? YES.
MARTIN? I WAS NOT THERE, SO I'M NOT SURE IF I CAN, YOU CAN LIKE ABSTAIN.
SEE, UM, COMMISSIONER HOUSEN LOOK.
UM, COMMISSIONER CIERA ARLO? YES.
UH, COMMISSIONER PENA ABSTAIN.
UM, AND WHEN IS ALSO NEW? SO, UH, THAT'S IT.
THAT'S EVERYBODY WHO CAN VOTE.
I'M GONNA, I'M TRYING TO WRITE ON MY SCREEN.
CAN I
UH, WELL, LET'S MOVE ON TO, UH, THE AUSTIN POLICE
[2. Public Safety Quarterly Report – Austin Police Department (Hausenfluck, Bernhardt)]
DEPARTMENT'S, UH, PUBLIC SAFETY QUARTERLY REPORT.GOOD AFTERNOON COMMISSIONERS, UH, HERE TO PRESENT ON OUR QUARTERLY REPORT AS DR.
SO, UM, WE'RE GOING OFF THE SAME BASIC REPORT.
WE'RE GOING OVER THE SAME BASIC REPORT.
WE ARE STILL WORKING THROUGH THE PROCESS OF REVISING THE NATURE OF THE REPORT.
MATTON IS IN A NUMBER OF MEETINGS ABOUT THAT AND WHATNOT, AND WE'RE WORKING ON SOME DRAFTING ON THAT.
SO I HOPE TO HAVE, BY THE QUARTER FOUR REPORT SOME SUBSTANTIAL REVISION IN IT, AND WE CAN TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT, BUT WE'RE STILL IN THE SAME FORMAT TILL WE GET THOSE THINGS IN PLACE.
SO, SO WE CAN HOP TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
AND SO, FIRST THING WE ALWAYS REPORT ON IS, UH, CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS.
UM, THIS IS, UH, TYPICALLY YOUR VIOLENT CRIME CATEGORY.
UM, AND SO MOST OF THE NUMBERS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE, WE'RE NOT SEEING SIGNIFICANT LEVELS OF CHANGES.
UM, WHEN YOU SEE SOME OF THE LARGER PERCENT CHANGES, YOU'LL NOTICE THOSE TEND TO BE RELATED TO A LOW BASE RATE.
WHEN THERE'S VERY FEW EVENTS, ONE PLUS ONE IS A HUNDRED PERCENT INCREASE.
AND SO, SO THAT'S WHERE WE SEE, OBVIOUSLY, WE'RE ALWAYS CONCERNED ABOUT THE, THE NUMBER FOR MURDER.
UM, BUT AGAIN, THE PERCENT CHANGE RELATIVE TO THE THREE AND FIVE IS, IS, UH, YOU KNOW, SHOWING A LARGE PERCENT FOR TWO ADDITIONAL EVENTS.
SO WE'RE GONNA HOP TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
AND SO, CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTIES, RIGHT? WE SEE SOME MINOR REDUCTIONS.
UM, STATISTICALLY SPEAKING, THESE THINGS ARE JUST FLAT.
THEY'RE NOT GOING DOWN, RIGHT? AND SO THE, UH, NEXT SLIDE AND CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY, THESE ARE THE, UH, NEIGHBOR'S DEFINITIONS FOR VARIOUS CRIMES, INCLUDING DRUG VIOLATIONS, RIGHT? UM, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
UH, THE ONES THAT WE'RE TRACKING MOST CLOSELY, WHICH WE SEE AS RELATIVELY FLAT AS WELL, STATISTICALLY, IS THE WEAPON LAW VIOLATIONS, RIGHT? THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT ARE THE GREATEST INTEREST
[00:05:01]
TO US, UH, GIVEN WHAT WE SAW.UH, THE CATEGORY OF INTEREST IN CRIME PREDOMINANTLY STILL REMAINS AGGRAVATED ASSAULT WITH A FIREARM, UH, NON-DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, RIGHT? THAT'S THE ONE THAT WE'RE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT.
UM, KEEPING IN MIND, CRIMIN LOGICALLY, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN AGGRAVATED ASSAULT WITH A FIREARM AND AN ATTEMPTED MURDER IS LARGELY A MATTER OF LUCK.
AND SO THAT'S THE CATEGORY WE MONITOR THOSE CLOSELY.
AND SO THIS IS ONE OF THE AREAS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON.
WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS A GREAT DEAL.
UM, WE'RE MOVING IN THE DIRECTION OF LOOKING AT TRYING TO REPORT A MEANINGFUL METRIC FOR CLEARANCE RATES, RIGHT, AS A MATTER OF PRODUCTIVITY.
AND SO WE'VE LOOKED AT VARIOUS POSSIBILITIES IN TERMS OF DEFINING RULES FOR THAT, LARGELY GIVEN THE FACT THAT CASES COME INTO THE DEPARTMENT.
UM, THEY COME INTO THE DEPARTMENT WITH AN INITIAL ASSUMPTION OF WHAT HAS OCCURRED THAT MAY NOT ACTUALLY BE WHAT OCCURRED.
AND SO, SO WE HAVE CASES THAT SORT OF MOVE FROM UNIT TO UNIT.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE, UH, A VARIETY OF, YOU KNOW, CO-OCCURRING CRIMES, UM, WHICH MAY BE INVESTIGATED BY ONE UNIT, EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE MULTIPLE CRIMES ON IT.
SO THERE ARE, ARE SOME SUBSTANTIAL QUESTIONS ABOUT, UH, EVEN MANAGERIALLY IN TERMS OF BUILDING A METRIC TO SUPPORT WORKLOAD CONSIDERATIONS.
UM, SO WE'RE STILL CONTINUING TO WORK THROUGH THAT, BUT THE GOAL IS TO MOVE THIS IN THAT DIRECTION, HOPEFULLY HAVING SOME KIND OF DRAFT BY THE QUARTER FOUR REPORT.
ALL RIGHT, SO CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY, AGAIN, YOU KNOW, THE, AS, AS FAR AS THE ESTIMATED RATES THAT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT, THE CLEARANCE RATES ARE ROUGHLY EQUIVALENT TO LAST QUARTER, NEXT SLIDE.
AGAIN, UH, THE CLEARANCE RATES ARE ROUGHLY EQUIVALENT, SO WE'RE NOT SEEING ANY SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE IN, IN THE, UH, ACTUAL CLEARANCE RATES.
NEXT SLIDE, UH, RESPONSE TIMES.
UH, OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING WE'RE TRYING TO TRACK, UH, VERY CLOSELY.
UH, THE AVERAGE RESPONSE TIME FOR A P ZERO OR P ONE, SO THESE ARE EMERGENCY, UH, AND URGENT CALLS FOR SERVICE.
THESE WOULD GENERALLY BE DEFINED BY AN EVENT THAT IS ONGOING OR HAS JUST ENDED, UH, THAT FROM, UH, FROM, YOU KNOW, OUR ANALYSIS SUGGESTS AN IMMEDIATE THREAT TO PUBLIC SAFETY.
SO THESE ARE THE ONES THAT IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION IS MOST LIKELY TO HAVE SOME POSITIVE IMPACT ON.
UM, AND YOU SEE THAT OUR, YOU KNOW, OUR 2023 MARCH IS ABOUT 1141.
UM, THAT'S HIGHER THAN WHAT OUR TARGET IS 10 44.
AND THAT 10 44 AS A TARGET IS BASED UPON IT'S, I WOULD CALL IT A FEASIBILITY WEIGHTED TARGET.
UM, AND SO WE ALL KNOW THERE, IT'S BEEN A GREAT YIELD DISCUSSION ABOUT, UM, NEEDING THOSE RESPONSE TIMES ACTUALLY BE, UH, SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER OVER TIME IF WE'RE ACTUALLY GONNA GET BETTER INTERVENTION.
SO, UH, WE'RE 1141, SO YOU SEE NOT DISSIMILAR TO JANUARY.
AND SO AGAIN, I WOULDN'T READ THIS AS, UM, AN INCREASE PER SE.
IT'S JUST A LITTLE BIT OF VARIATION OVERALL.
SO NEXT SLIDE, RIGHT? SO FOR ANYONE'S INTEREST IN BREAKING BROKEN DOWN IN HERE, YOU KNOW, MOST IMPORTANTLY, AS YOU LOOK AT THE CALL FOR SERVICE TIMES, AND YOU'RE LOOKING AT IT BY COUNCIL DISTRICT, YOU KNOW, THE PRIORITY ZERO ON PRIORITY ONE S, THOSE ARE THE CALLS THAT WE ARE REALLY PRIORITIZING, RIGHT? VIA DISPATCH.
UM, THOSE ARE THE ONES WE CAN REALISTICALLY INTERVENE, UH, UPON ARRIVAL.
AND SO, UH, THE PRIORITY TWO IS IN PRIORITY THREE S.
YOU'LL NOTE FOR MANY OF THESE SUBSTANTIALLY LONGER TIMES.
UM, AND SO VERY OFTEN THOSE ARE FOLLOW UPS, UM, TO THINGS THAT MAY HAVE HAPPENED A MEANINGFUL AMOUNT OF TIME PRIOR.
AND SO OVERALL CALL VOLUME, RIGHT? WE SEE A, A MARGINAL REDUCTION IN, IN CALL VOLUME OVERALL.
UM, I WOULD EXPECT TO SEE THAT SEASONAL.
WE'D EXPECT TO SEE THAT PICK BACK UP STARTING IN NEXT MONTH.
IT'LL LIKELY RISE IN PEAK SOMETIME IN JULY OR AUGUST.
UM, AND THAT'S JUST OUR NATURAL SEASONAL TREND OF ACTIVITY.
SO NEXT SLIDE, UH, OVERTIME, UH, YOU CAN SEE WHAT WE'VE ACTUALLY USING IN OVERTIME.
AND SO THE NEXT SLIDE GIVES YOU A LITTLE ACTUALLY MORE MEANINGFUL INFORMATION IF YOU, UH, TURN TO THE SLIDES.
THIS IS BUDGETED VERSUS SPENT.
UM, IT'S USEFUL TO THINK ABOUT IT IN TERMS OF TOTAL PERSONNEL EXPENDITURES BECAUSE WE ALSO AUTHORIZE OVERTIME VIA VACANCY SAVINGS.
AND GIVEN THAT THE DEPARTMENT IS DOWN SEVERAL HUNDRED INDIVIDUALS, THIS GIVES YOU A BETTER SENSE OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN BUDGETED FOR PERSONNEL VERSUS WHAT WE'RE SPENDING NEXT SLIDE.
SO THIS JUST GIVES YOU KIND OF A, A BREAKDOWN ON, ON WHAT THAT ACTUAL OVERTIME EXPENDITURES HAVE LOOKED LIKE ON A YEAR TO YEAR BASIS.
SO FOR FISCAL 23, THERE ARE 1,812 AUTHORIZED SWORN POSITIONS.
AS OF THE DAY WE PREPARED THIS, IT WAS 1,524 ACTUALLY FILLED.
SO THAT'S ABOUT 298 VACANCIES.
[00:10:02]
AND SO THE, UM, IT GIVES YOU A SENSE OF WHERE STAFFING IS RELATIVE TO SWORN STAFFING.SO WE'LL HOP TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
CIVILIAN STAFFING IS ALSO CHALLENGED.
WE SEE A ALMOST 200 VACANCIES OUT OF ABOUT 760 POSITIONS.
UM, AND SO IMPORTANTLY IN THAT NUMBER 7 58 IS, UH, THE CIVILIAN STAFFING, REMEMBERING THAT CADETS, WHEN THEY'RE BROUGHT INTO THE ACADEMY ARE NOT SWORN STAFF UNTIL SUCH A TIME AS THEIR LICENSE.
AND SO THAT INCLUDES THE ACTUAL CADETS THAT WE HAVE AS WELL.
AND SO, UM, THE BREAKDOWN ON THAT IS WE CARRY A LOT OF THOSE VACANCIES AND COMMS, RIGHT? AND THAT'S A PROBLEM THAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, UM, FOR QUITE A WHILE.
AND SO, BUT THAT GIVES YOU A SENSE, CIVILIAN WISE, WHERE WE'RE DOWN ABOUT 200 PEOPLE.
THE COMMUNICATION STAFFING GIVES YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE BREAKDOWN ON IT.
YOU CAN SEE THE NINE ONE ONE CALL TAKER WITH 48 VACANCIES OUT OF 104 AUTHORIZED PHYSICIANS.
UM, THAT'S WHERE WE CARRY THE LARGEST LOAD.
UM, DISPATCHER ALSO IS REASONABLY HIGH.
SO, UM, AND WE CAN FOLLOW UP A LITTLE BIT MORE ON THAT NEXT SLIDE, RIGHT? SO THIS IS THE PROJECTION FOR, UM, LET'S LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S HAPPENED WITH CADET CLASSES GOING BACK TO THE HUNDRED 45TH, RIGHT? WHERE WE GRADUATED 55 CADETS, AND THAT WAS AT THE END OF 2022.
UH, THE HUNDRED 46TH IS A TRANSITIONAL PROGRAM.
THOSE NUMBERS FOR THOSE CLASSES TEND TO BE QUITE LOW.
THAT'S WHERE WE'RE HIRING PEOPLE WHO ALREADY HOLD A PEACE OFFICER'S LICENSE.
UH, WE'RE TRAINING THEM IN A APD POLICY AND PROCEDURE.
UM, AND THEN THEY'RE JOINING OUR, OUR SWORN STAFF.
SO THAT'S EIGHT PEOPLE THAT WERE GRADUATED AGAIN, END OF 2022, THE HUNDRED AND 47TH CLASS, WHICH IS, UM, STARTED IN 2022.
IT'S CURRENTLY, UH, ONGOING, HAS 37 CADETS IN IT, RIGHT? STARTED WITH 55.
UM, YOU'LL NOTICE IN THE HUNDRED 47TH, HUNDRED 48TH AND HUNDRED 49TH THAT THE NUMBER OF CADETS GOING INTO THE CLASSES IS MUCH SMALLER.
AS WE'VE TRIED TO, UM, ADJU SHIFT TO A MODEL WHERE WE'RE RUNNING MORE CLASSES MORE FREQUENTLY.
UM, A LOT OF THE RESEARCH ON IT SHOWS THE LARGEST PREDICTOR OF WHETHER A PERSON WILL JOIN YOUR AGENCY OR NOT IS THE NUMBER OF DAYS FROM THE OFFER UNTIL THE ACADEMY CLASS STARTS.
AND SO, EFFECTIVELY, YOU MIGHT THINK ABOUT THIS AS MOST PEOPLE WHO ARE APPLYING TO APD WOULD LIKELY ALSO BE APPLYING TO SAPD AND DALLAS PD.
AND VERY OFTEN, WHICHEVER AC ACADEMY STARTS FIRST GETS THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN QUEUE.
SO, SHIFTING TO A MODEL WHERE WE'RE RUNNING SMALLER ACADEMIES, MORE FREQUENCY SHOULD OVER TIME INCREASE OUR KIND OF PULL THROUGH RATE WITH APPLICANTS.
SO WE HAVE, UH, RECENTLY STARTED THE, UH, HUNDRED 48TH CLASS, RIGHT? 34 CADETS DOWN TO 30.
AND SO THAT SHOWS YOU THAT CURRENTLY WE'RE TRAINING WITH A MAXIMUM RETURN OF 67 CADETS.
UH, WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW, UH, THE HUNDRED AND 49TH CLASS WILL START VERY SOON.
AND LOOKING AT, UM, THE RECRUITING DATA, THE APPLICATION DATA, AND OUR BACKGROUND PROCESSING DATA, WE PREDICT IT'S GONNA BE ABOUT 45 CADETS IN THAT CLASS.
SO, ALL TOLD THE NEXT FEW ACADEMY CLASSES WOULD KIND OF MAXIMUM RENDER ABOUT A HUNDRED NEW OFFICERS, AND YOU CAN COMPARE THAT TO THE SORT OF 300 VACANCIES, YOU KNOW, THAT WE HOLD.
SO WE SEE WHERE THE CHALLENGE IS.
ALL RIGHT, SO, UH, THIS IS, UH, JUST INDICATING WE DID, YOU KNOW, ADD A FEW POSITIONS IN FISCAL 23, RIGHT? SO IT DID TAKE IT UP TO 1812.
A LOT OF THE STAFFING INFORMATION THAT FLOATS AROUND THAT GETS, UH, USED FOR COMPARATIVE SAKE.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 1809 AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE 1959 FROM FROM 2020.
UM, SO AS WE TALK ABOUT STAFFING PERCENTAGES, UH, REMEMBER THAT THE, ANY OF THE PREVIOUS YEAR COMPARISONS, BECAUSE THE BASE NUMBER IS SO DIFFERENT, UM, YOU HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF, OF VACANT POSITIONS THAT EXISTED PRIOR.
SO WE ACTUALLY CAN HAVE A LOWER PERCENTAGE VACANCY AT THIS POINT WITH A SUBSTANTIALLY LARGER NUMBER OF VACANT POSITIONS.
SO, JUST AS A CAUTION ABOUT LOOKING AT HISTORIC INFORMATION NEXT LINE.
ALL RIGHT, SO LOOKING AT SEPARATIONS, UM, SEPARATIONS ARE OUR SWORN STAFF.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT RETIREMENTS, RIGHT? WE HAVE A LOT OF STAFF THAT ARE RETIREMENT ELIGIBLE.
UM, AND SO THERE ARE THE RETIREMENTS THAT ARE HAPPENING.
WE ALSO HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, RESIGNATIONS PEOPLE WHO ARE MID-CAREER OR WHATNOT, AND THEY'RE LEAVING FOR OTHER AGENCIES.
AND SO AS OF THIS, WE WERE 89 YEAR TO DATE, UH, FOR FISCAL 23.
NEXT SLIDE, RIGHT? AND YOU CAN SEE A BREAKDOWN HERE.
MOST OF WHAT WE'RE SEEING IN THAT IS ACTUALLY, UH, RETIREMENTS, RIGHT? AND SO WE HAVE, UM, WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, 15 RESIGNATIONS AND ONE TERMINATION IN THAT SET THAT'S BEEN REPORTED FOR THE YEAR.
AND SO WE CAN OPEN IT UP FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
WE HAVE SOME OTHER PEOPLE HERE, IF THERE'S ANYTHING SPECIFIC WE WANT TO DISCUSS IN DETAIL.
I, I KNOW THAT YOU GUYS ARE, UM, THERE ARE, IN ORDER TO HELP WITH THE NINE ONE ONE CALL CENTER, THERE ARE A LOT OF OFFICERS GETTING ASSIGNED TO TAKE CALLS THERE,
[00:15:01]
IS THAT CORRECT? DO WE HAVE A SENSE OF HOW MANY, UM, ARE, ARE GETTING REPER? LIKE HOW MANY OFFICERS ARE BEING REASSIGNED THAT WAY RIGHT NOW? MM-HMM.AND IT'S NOT ON A REASSIGNMENT BASIS, IT'S ON A VOLUNTARY OKAY.
SO LAST COUNT THAT I KNEW OF WAS ABOUT NINE SERGEANTS THAT WE HAVE ABOUT NINE MM-HMM.
WE ARE IN INIS THE NIGHT SHIFT FOR OUR DISPATCHERS.
SO WE ARE PAYING UP OVERTIME FOR OUR NIGHT SHIFT DISPATCHER, HELPING WITH THOSE NUMBERS.
SO WE'VE BEEN, UM, JUST ABOUT FULLY STAFFED ON, ON OUR NIGHT SHIFT PROGRAMS, BEEN BEEN IMPLEMENTED.
BUT RIGHT NOW FOR SERGEANT'S CALL TAKING, IT'S, UM, THERE'S ABOUT NINE, AND THAT'S ON OVERTIME AT TIME AND A HALF.
AND SO THE OVERTIME THAT WE'RE SEEING IS REFLECTING THE, THAT INCENTIVIZING THAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING, SO IT'S CAPTURED IN THAT.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONERS? SHOOT.
UM, WELL THAT WAS PRETTY DARN EFFICIENT.
UM, DO WE WANNA MOVE ON TO THE WILDFIRE READINESS UPDATE? YEP.
[3. Bi-annual Wildfire Readiness Update (Resolution #20160512-016]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, DR.JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THE MICROPHONE WAS ON.
UH, I'M ASSISTANT CHIEF, ANDRE DEL LARESA.
I'M IN CHARGE OF THE WILDFIRE DE, UH, DIVISION OF THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT.
I'M JOINED BY JUSTICE JONES, UH, WHO IS OUR WILDFIRE MITIGATION OFFICE, AS SOME OF Y'ALL ARE NEW.
I'LL GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF THE BACKGROUND ON THIS.
IN 2016, THERE WAS A RESOLUTION TO, UH, START, WE'D STARTED WILDFIRE MITIGATION EFFORTS FROM THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT BEFORE THAT, BUT THEY WANTED IT TO BE MORE FORMALIZED SO THAT WE COULD HAVE METRICS THAT WE REPORT ON, ON A BIANNUAL, UH, MISSION.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS IS THE LANGUAGE FROM THAT, PROVIDE A PROGRESS REPORT EVERY SIX MONTHS TO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION FOR THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF A COMPREHENSIVE WE RISK REDUCTION PLAN.
THIS IS ECHOED, UH, VERY CLOSELY WITH, WITH OUR COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN, WHICH I IS A VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENT, NOT THE MOST EXCITING OF REEDS UNLESS YOU'RE INTO WILDFIRE RISK MEDIATION.
AND THEN IT IS A GOOD ONE, AND WE CAN PROVIDE THAT FOR Y'ALL.
WE ARE, AS A MATTER OF FACT, THAT'S 10 YEARS OLD, AND WE ARE GONNA BE UPDATING IT, STARTING THE PROCESS TO UPDATE IT THIS YEAR.
JUST AS A BONUS, BIT OF INFORMATION.
THE ORIGINAL RESOLUTION HAD US REPORTING OUT ON SIX DIFFERENT METRICS, SO THAT'S WHAT OUR PRESENTATION IS BASED OFF OF.
WE'VE GOT A COUPLE BONUS INFORMATION THAT WE'LL TALK ABOUT AT THE END, AND I WILL BE GOING OVER SOME OF THE PLANS WE HAVE REGARDING THESE SIX METRICS, AS THESE ARE NOW AS CLOSE AS SEVEN YEARS OLD, AND DON'T NECESSARILY REFLECT THE CURRENT STATE OF EVENTS THAT WE HAVE HERE IN AUSTIN.
I AM GONNA LET, UH, JUSTICE JONES TALK ABOUT THE FIRST FOUR, UH, BULLET ITEMS THERE.
HE IS THE SUBJECT, MADAM ARRESTER, NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED, AND JUST GOT BACK FROM, UH, I WAS TALKING AT A WILDFIRE URBAN INTERFACE CONFERENCE IN RENO, WHERE HE IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AND RECEIVED, AND IT WAS A JOY AND PLEASURE TO MEET WITH HIM OUT THERE.
JUSTICE, IF YOU CAN GO ON ONTO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO THE FIRST THING WE WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU IS THE NUMBER OF LOCAL COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLANS, UM, THAT ARE IN PLACE.
AS CHIEF TAYLOR REZA MENTIONED, WE HAVE AN OVERARCHING CITY AND COUNTY COMMUNITY.
WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN, UH, WAS THE FIRST PLAN OF ITS TYPE TO BE DEVELOPED AND ALIGNED WITH THE NATIONAL COHESIVE WILD LAND FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY, WHICH IS THE NATION'S STRATEGY FOR REDUCING WILDFIRE RISK.
UM, AND WE WORK TO PUSH THAT PLAN DOWN TO THE LOCAL LEVEL WHERE WE HAVE GRASSROOTS IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS PLAN AND COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP.
AND WE HAVE 23 LOCAL LEVEL COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLANS.
AND THAT OUTLINES A COMMUNITY STRATEGY FOR HARDENING THEIR HOMES OR REDUCING THE NOTABILITY OF THOSE HOMES, HOW THEY'RE GONNA MANAGE VEGETATION WITHIN THEIR COMMUNITY, AND WORK WITH PARTNERS TO MANAGE VEGETATION AROUND THEIR COMMUNITY, UM, AND HOW THEY'RE GONNA RESPOND DURING A WILDFIRE, BECAUSE EVACUATION IS THE MOST, UM, UH, RISKY PHASE OF ANY WILDFIRE EVENT, AND THAT'S WHERE THE MAJORITY OF FATALITIES HAPPEN.
AND SO WE WANT COMMUNITIES TO ALSO UNDERSTAND OPERATIONALLY HOW THEY FIT INTO THE FIGHT AGAINST WILDFIRE.
THESE PLANS HELP OUTLINE THOSE STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNITIES.
IN ADDITION, WE HAVE 24 ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLANS.
AT THAT LOCAL LEVEL, WE'RE WORKING TO FINALIZE WITH COMMUNITIES AT RISK, AND THIS WILL COVER A BIG PROPORTION OF THE HIGH RISK AREAS IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF, UH, TO DO AND ACROSS THE CITY AS A WHOLE.
UM, THE PERCENTAGE OF HIGH RISK AREAS THAT ARE COVERED BY A COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN ARE 51%.
[00:20:01]
AND SO WE STILL HAVE 49% OF THE AREAS THAT, UM, ARE AT HIGH RISK THAT AREN'T COVERED BY A PLAN.AND, UH, THE 24 PLANS THAT I MENTIONED ARE PENDING WILL ENCOMPASS A LOT OF THAT GEOGRAPHIC AREA.
UM, THAT MEANS THE FOLKS IN THOSE AREAS ARE WORKING TO EDUCATE THEMSELVES, THEIR NEIGHBORS, AND ARE EMPOWERED TO UNDERSTAND THEIR ROLE IN WILDFIRE RISK REDUCTION.
UM, AS A SIDE, IN ADDITION TO THIS, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH OUR PREVENTION DIVISION CUZ AFD AS A WHOLE IS, UM, ENGAGED IN WILDFIRE ADAPTATION, NOT JUST THE WILDFIRE DIVISION.
SINCE THE ADOPTION OF OUR WOOEY CODE IN, UH, 2019, WE'VE HAD 7,500 STRUCTURES THAT WERE BUILT SPECIFICALLY TO DESIGN AND DESIGN TO WITHSTAND WILDFIRE.
UH, SO WE CONTINUE TO LEAD THE PACK AS THE LARGEST MUNICIPALITY IN THE COUNTRY TO HAVE ADOPTED THAT WILDFIRE, UH, RELATED CODE AND CONTINUE TO IMPLEMENT THAT AND ARE WORKING TO EXPAND THE CODE AS APPROPRIATE.
UH, WE ALSO LEAD THE STATE IN THE NUMBER OF NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FIREWISE COMMUNITIES.
AS I MENTIONED, EACH OF THOSE COMMUNITIES HAVE A COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN IN PLACE, AND WE WORK TO SUPPORT THEM IN THEIR IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT PLAN AND BRING THE RIGHT PARTNERS FROM THE CITY AND COUNTY TOGETHER TO HELP IMPLEMENT THAT PLAN.
AS YOU MAY BE AWARE, SOME OF THE BOUNDARIES THAT PUT OUR COMMUNITY AT RISK ARE NOT OWNED BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
SO THAT NECESSITATES CROSS BOUNDARY COLLABORATION WITH OTHER PARTNERS IN MULTIPLE COUNTIES WHERE OUR FOOTPRINT EXISTS.
AND THEN IN ADDITION, UH, WE'VE BEEN A, UM, EXPANDING OUR OUTREACH EFFORT EFFORT.
WE JUST HIRED OUR, UH, VACANT POSITION FOR OUR FIRE BAPTIST COMMUNITIES COORDINATOR.
WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THAT LEADERSHIP ROLE.
UH, WE'VE SHIFTED TO A PARTNERSHIP WITH HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT TO CONDUCT TOWN HALL MEETINGS, UH, TO HELP OUR RESIDENTS PREPARE FOR ALL HAZARDS.
MORE AND MORE THE IMPACTS WE'RE, UH, UH, EXPERIENCING ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED CLIMATE CHANGE OR INTERRELATED AS, UH, YOU'VE ALL FIGURED OUT FROM OUR RECENT ICE STORMS, THOSE CONTRIBUTE TO WILDFIRE RISK.
SO IT REALLY MAKES A LOT OF SENSE FOR US TO HAVE ONE STOP SHOPPING FOR RESIDENTS ON, UH, RISK, INCLUDING WILDFIRE RISK.
SO WE'VE PARTNERED WITH HESO TO HOST TOWN HALL MEETINGS IN LIBRARIES ACROSS AUSTIN, UM, IN, UH, THE PERIMETER OF TRAVIS COUNTY TO HELP GET THAT WORD OUT AND EDUCATE RESIDENTS ON WHAT THEY CAN DO TO ADDRESS WILDFIRE RISK.
IN ADDITION TO CONTINUING TO OFFER HOME ASSESSMENTS, UH, WHAT YOU DON'T SEE IS, UH, THE WORK THAT WE DO TO LEVERAGE COMMUNITY RESIDENTS.
UH, WE'VE GOT, UH, MULTIPLE HOME ASSESSMENTS LISTED, BUT WOULD THOSE REALLY REPRESENT IS WE'VE TRAINED RESIDENTS WITHIN THESE COMMUNITIES TO DO NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR ASSESSMENTS, AND THERE'S NEARLY NOT A GOOD WAY FOR US TO CAPTURE THAT YET.
BUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IS, UM, THEY'RE BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS ACROSS FENCES.
THEY'RE RECOGNIZING THE RISK THAT THEIR HOME MIGHT PLACE TO THEIR NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE AND WORKING TOGETHER.
AND SO THAT NUMBER'S EXPONENTIAL AS FAR AS THE NUMBER OF ASSESSMENTS THAT ARE ACTUALLY COMPLETED IN COMMUNITIES BY COMMUNITY RESIDENTS THAT HAVE BEEN TRAINED.
SO WE'RE GONNA TRANSITION OVER HERE TO FUEL MITIGATION.
I'LL TAKE A PAUSE TO JUST EXPLAIN THESE SIX METRICS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED.
ECHO THE TENETS OF THE NATIONAL COHESIVE STRATEGY, WHICH IS THE BEST PRACTICES WORLDWIDE, OR AT LEAST THE US-WIDE, ON HOW TO ADDRESS WILDFIRE RISK PREDOMINANTLY, AND WHY FOUR OF 'EM WERE DEDICATED TOWARDS HOW WE HELP OUR COMMUNITY BECOME MORE FIRE ADAPTED IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE BIGGEST, THE MOST SKIN IN THE GAME AND CAN BE PROACTIVE AND HELP PROTECT THEMSELVES.
HARDENING OF HOMES IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT ANY PERSON CAN DO TO HELP SET THEMSELVES UP FOR SUCCESS IN CASE THERE IS A WILDFIRE EVENT IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD.
THE COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLANS TEACHES OUR COMMUNITY AND OUR MEMBERS ON HOW TO DO THAT, HOW, HOW TO HARDEN, HOW TO BE READY, SET, GO AWARE, HOW TO BE PREPARED FOR THE EVENTUALITY OF THOSE ISSUES.
THE LAST TWO THAT WE'LL TALK ABOUT HERE ARE THE OTHER TWO TENANTS OF THE NATIONAL COHESIVE STRATEGY, WHICH IS FUEL, UH, UH, A FIRE RESILIENT LANDSCAPE THAT WE ADDRESS THROUGH FUELS MITIGATION EFFORTS.
AND THEN ALSO AN EFFECTIVE RE EMERGENCY RESPONSE, WHICH WE'LL TALK ABOUT IN, IN, UH, SLIDES.
SO FIFTH IS THE FUELS MITIGATION THAT F THAT, UH, UH, FIRE RESILIENT LANDSCAPE HERE.
YOU'LL SEE THAT WE HAVE A CHUNK OF IT.
UH, THE LARGEST MAJORITY OF THAT ACREAGE THAT WAS TREATED WAS DONE THROUGH PRESCRIBED FIRES.
UM, WE HAD 268 ACRES HANDLED THERE, AND THEN WE DID SHADED FUEL BREAKS FOR 60 ACRES.
OUR PRESCRIBED FIRES ARE THE MOST BIGGEST BANG FOR OUR BUCK.
WE'RE RESTORING THE, THE NATURE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS, AS WELL AS MAKING IT MORE FIRE RESILIENT.
YOU'LL SEE THERE'S BEEN A BIG PUSH ON THIS BECAUSE WE'RE COMING UP INTO NESTING SEASON FOR OUR, UH, NATIONALLY ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT.
WE CANNOT DO WORK IN THERE IN THOSE TRACKS OF LAND THERE.
SO THERE'S BEEN A GOOD EFFORT ON THAT.
WE ALSO DON'T WANNA BE DOING PRESCRIBED FIRE WHEN WE GO BEYOND OUR PRESCRIPTION LIMITS.
[00:25:01]
AS WE KNOW, TEXAS SUMMERS TEND TO GO OVER PRESCRIPTION LIMITS VERY OFTEN.UH, ADDITIONALLY ON THIS, THERE IS MITIGATION WORK THAT'S BEING DONE BY OUR PARTNER AGENCIES AND, AND ISN'T BEING REPORTED TO THE HUB, WHICH IS WHAT WE'RE SEEING THIS, THEY'RE DO BUSY DOING MOWING WORK, THEY'RE DOING THEIR OWN FUELS MITIGATION, THEY'RE ACTUALLY DOING THE WORK.
SO SOMETIMES GETTING THE METRICS TURNED IN BY THEM IS A DIFFICULT THING.
WE ALWAYS ASK 'EM TO TURN IT IN SO WE CAN BE A CENTRAL REPOSITORY OF THAT TRACK.
BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS WE'RE WORKING ACROSS COLLABORATIVELY TOWARDS GETTING FUELS PRO UH, WORK DONE.
UH, THE PARTNERS THAT WE'VE MENTIONED IN THERE, AUSTIN WATER UTILITY, UH, THE PARKS AND RECREATION DIVISION, THE LARGE LANDOWNERS IN AUSTIN, IT USED TO BE THAT AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT HAD THE ONLY FUELS CREW IN THE GAME.
WE WERE START, WE WERE CREATED AS A STOP GAP.
THOSE ENTITIES AND THOSE PARTNERS HAVE ACTUALLY INCREASED THEIR FUNDING, INCREASED THEIR CONTRACTS, AND NOW HAVE CREATED AND SPUN UP THEIR OWN FUELS MITIGATION CREWS IN THAT WE NO LONGER NEED TO BE THE STOP GAP THERE.
AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT DOESN'T OWN ANY LAND, SO US GOING AND WORKING ON OTHER, UH, PEOPLE'S LAND WAS ALWAYS A LITTLE BIT, UH, TRICKY.
AND WE WORKED WELL WITH THOSE LANDOWNERS, SO WE WERE ABLE TO DO THAT.
BUT 70% OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN THAT IS AT RISK TO WILDFIRE IS ACTUALLY PRIVATELY OWNED.
SO WE DON'T HAVE THE AUTHORITY OR THE ABILITY TO WORK ON THERE AS A FUELS PROJECT.
SO WE'RE ACTUALLY REORGANIZING AND RESTRUCTURING NOW THAT WE HAVE FUELS MITIGATION CREWS AVAILABLE FOR THOSE THE GOVERNMENT LANDOWNERS WE'RE REORGANIZING.
SO WE CAN BE DIRECT ADVISORS AND WORK WITH THAT 70% THAT WASN'T ADDRESSED EARLIER.
SO WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS, WITH RESIDENTS, WITH LARGE, UH, UH, BUSINESSES THAT HAVE LARGER LANDS SO THAT THEY CAN BE FIRE AWARE AND HAVE WELL-TREATED LANDS.
IF WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
THIS, THIS EFFECT, THIS SLIDE TALKS ABOUT OUR TRAINING HOURS AND GOES TO THAT THIRD TENANT, WHICH IS AN EFFECTIVE EMERGENCY RESPONSE AREA.
YOU CAN SEE WE'VE BEEN DOING A LOT OF EFFORT ON HERE, 825 TRAINING HOURS RECEIVED, AND 8,769 TRAINING HOURS CONDUCTED IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS.
WHAT WE ARE DOING IS WE'RE ONE OF THE LARGEST MUNICIPALITIES IN TEXAS THAT IS TR TEACHING AND TRAINING OUR ENTIRE WORKFORCE TO THE NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED RESPONDING TO THE INTERFACE TRAINING.
IT'S WAS IN THE NEWS, UH, LAST YEAR WHEN THEY WERE OVER HERE.
IT'S GONNA TAKE US A WHILE TO GET EVERYONE IN THE DEPARTMENT THROUGH THAT, BUT WE'RE PUTTING A, A CONCERTED EFFORT TOWARDS THAT, AND IT'S PAYING EVIDENCE.
I WAS JUST AT THAT CONFERENCE AND THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS TRAINING WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS, UH, STATE, UH, INTERNATIONALLY AS WELL BECAUSE, UH, CANADA AND MEXICO ARE ALSO LOOKING AT THAT.
AND WE WERE ABLE TO BE SOME OF THE POSTER CHILDREN FOR THAT.
AND WE'LL GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
THIS IS A BONUS SLIDE IN THERE.
IT'S NOT ONE OF THE SIX IN THERE, BUT I DID FEEL LIKE IT'S IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT.
THIS WAS THE MITIGATION AND RECOVERY EFFORTS AFTER WINTER STORM.
MARA, AS YOU KNOW, WE HAD A BUNCH OF TREES GO DOWN.
WE HAD A LOT OF DEBRIS, SOME OF THEM IMMEDIATELY DANGEROUS TO LIFE AND HEALTH TO PEOPLE WHO WERE WALKING UNDERNEATH THEM WAS CONTRIBUTING TO THE, THE ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS THAT WE HAD.
THERE WAS MULTIPLE PEOP UH, OR AGENCIES WORKING TOWARDS MITIGATION OF THAT.
AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT CAME IN TO HELP COALESCE THIS TOGETHER AND TO DRIVE A PLANNED AND WELL THOUGHT, UH, MITIGATION EFFORTS ON THIS.
THE REASON WE WERE ABLE TO DO AND WHY WE WERE IMPORTANT INTERESTED IN THIS IS NOT ONLY FOR THAT IMMEDIATELY DANGEROUS LIFE SITUATIONS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE WE KNEW THAT IF THOSE, UH, THOSE POCKETS AND THOSE DANGEROUS PLACES WHERE TREES CAME DOWN WEREN'T IDENTIFIED AND THEN ADDRESSED, THEY WOULD EVENTUALLY BECOME WILDFIRE RISK.
THEY'D BECOME, UH, BRUSH PILES THAT WOULD BE DANGEROUS AND CONTRIBUTE TO POTENTIAL WILDFIRE RISK.
SO WE WENT OUT THERE, WE ACTUALLY, AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT OPENED UP THE DOORS, SENT OUT ALL OUR CREWS TO PATROL THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS TO IDENTIFY, LOCATE, AND PUT TOGETHER THOSE, EACH OF THOSE MAPS IN THERE.
THIS WAS JUST A SCREENSHOT FOR WHEN IT WAS DOING, IT'S NOT A LIVE SCREENSHOT, BUT WE IDENTIFIED, UM, I'D HAVE TO HAVE MY READING GRAPHS, GLASSES OUT, BUT, UH, MULTIPLE THOUSAND, I THINK CLOSE TO 2000 POINTS THAT NEEDED TO BE MITIGATED.
AND THEN WE, WE SHARED THAT WITH STATE SAW TEAMS THAT WERE HERE WITH AUSTIN, UH, PUBLIC WORKS AND WITH AUSTIN ENERGY.
AND WE ALL WORKED TOGETHER SO THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE ONE CREW GOING TO HIT SOMETHING THAT SOMEONE ELSE HAD ALREADY HIT.
SO IT WAS A COLLABORATIVE PLANNED APPROACH THAT MADE EVERY, THAT INCREASED EFFICIENCY AND
[00:30:01]
INCREASED OUR TOWN, OUR COMMUNITY, IN RESOLVING ITSELF OUT OF THERE AND HELPED BELAY ANY POTENTIAL FUTURE WILDFIRE AS UH, CONCERNS.I WANTED TO DO ONE TALK BACK TO, UH, SLIDE THREE.
WE DON'T HAVE TO GO BACK TO IT.
UM, JUSTICE JONES TALKED ABOUT HOW WE WERE WORKING WITH THE WUI CODES WITH FIREWISE COMMUNITIES AND LOCALIZING THOSE CW PPPS.
UH, NOT ONLY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO MAKE OUR OUR COMMUNITY MORE WILDFIRE RESILIENT, IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT BECAUSE WHAT WE'RE SEEING IN THE WESTERN STATES, INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE VERY AWARE OF THE EFFORTS OF THE COMMUNITY AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE INCENTIVIZING THEM BY GIVING INSURANCE DISCOUNTS, AND THEY'RE ALSO TRYING TO USE THE CARROT IN A STICK WHEN THERE'S NOT.
SO THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE'RE PUSHING SO HARDLY ON THAT W WE CODE FOR ANYTHING THAT'S CLOSE TO THE WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE, AS WELL AS TO DEVELOP THOSE FIREWISE COMMUNITIES AND CWBS.
UM, SO ONE LAST THING THAT I'LL FINISH BEFORE I OPEN UP ON QUESTIONS IS THAT MUCH LIKE APD WORKING WITH, UH, UH, THROUGH THE PROCESS TO UPDATE THE METRICS AS WELL, WE REALIZE THAT THIS, THESE METRICS ON THIS ARE SEVEN YEARS OLD, AND WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING TO TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE REFLECTING BEST PRACTICES TO GET YOU ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR DECISIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS UP.
UH, WE'RE OPEN IN HERE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
I HAVE A QUE AND Y'ALL MAY HAVE KIND OF ANSWERED IT, BUT I, I WANT TO TALK A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE MITIGATION FOR THE NEW FUELS AFTER THE ICE STORMS. MM-HMM.
SO WHEN I, YOU TALK ABOUT THE COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLANS AND HOW RESILIENT ARE THOSE PLANS AND CAN THE PLANS, AS THEY WERE WRITTEN, ANTICIPATE AND, UH, TAKE CARE OF ALL OF THAT NEW FUEL THAT'S OUT THERE IN THE FURTHEST REACHES OF THE GREEN BELTS OR IN THE PRIVATE LANDS? UM, OR IS THERE SOMETHING WE ALL NEED TO BE DOING TO MAKE SURE THAT ON THE PRIVATE LANDS THINGS ARE BEING TAKEN CARE OF OR DEEP IN THE GREEN BELTS THINGS ARE BEING REPORTED? YES, SIR.
UH, I'LL ADDRESS WHAT WE DID IMMEDIATELY AFTER, AND THEN I'LL PASS THE, UH, THE MICROPHONE OVER VIRTUALLY TO JUSTICE TO TALK ABOUT THE C W P IN THEIR ROBUSTNESS.
SO IMMEDIATELY AFTER, WE WERE NOT ONLY IDENTIFYING WORKING WITH PUBLIC WORKS AND AUSTIN ENERGY AND THE SAW TEAMS TO MITIGATE THOSE EFFECTS, WE ALSO WORKED WITH AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE WAS G BEING BRUSH COLLECTION ON THERE AND WORKING WITH THOSE FIREWISE COMMUNITIES ON HOW TO GET IT IN.
THEY ALSO PARTICIPATED IN A STATE ASSESSMENT.
UH, STATE RESOURCES CAME IN TO ASSESS FLY USING DRONES AND LIDAR TECHNOLOGY TO SEE WHERE THE EFFECT OF THIS WINTER STORM WAS.
AND WHAT WE FOUND WAS THIS WAS AN EDGE EFFECT STORM.
SO WHEN YOU GO INTO THOSE BIG GREEN SPACES THAT AUSTIN HAS AND LOVES, WE DIDN'T FIND AS MANY TREES THAT CAME DOWN.
IT WAS REALLY UNDER EDGE EFFECT THAT WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE THE WIND AND THE LOCAL MICRO CLIMATES THAT CREATED TO THAT HEAVY ICE LOADING THAT BROKE A LOT OF THOSE.
WE WEREN'T FINDING THOSE BIG SLASH PILES OR DOWN TREES IN THERE.
YES, THERE WERE SOME, BUT THE VAST MAJORITY OF IT THAT WOULD BECOME A SLASH PILE OF PRODE, UH, POTENTIAL WILDFIRE RISK WERE ON THOSE EDGE EFFECTS EASILY SEEN AND EASILY ADDRESSED.
SO THAT'S WHERE WE, THAT WORK WITH PUBLIC WORKS, AUSTIN ENERGY AND THE STATE AND LOCAL SAW TEAMS TO GET 'EM BUCKED UP, CUT UP, PUT ON THE CURB, AND THEN AUSTIN RESOURCE REC RECOVER CAME WITH THE MOST, UH, POPULAR TOOL IN ANY OF THE CITIES
NOW, JUSTICE, HOW DOES THE CWPP ADDRESS FUTURE EVENTS LIKE THAT? MM-HMM.
AND SO OUR COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN, OUR GREATER PLAN IDENTIFIES WHERE FUELS MITIGATION SHOULD OCCUR TO HAVE THE GREATEST IMPACT FOR REDUCING HOME IGNITABILITY.
AND THAT'S ALWAYS GONNA BE WITHIN THE A HUNDRED AND FIRST 150 FEET FROM STRUCTURES OUT INTO THOSE OPEN SPACES.
SO THE STRATEGY THAT WE'VE C UH, COME TO AGREE ON AS A COMMUNITY IS THAT EVERYWHERE WE NEED SHADED FUEL RATES THAT NEEDS TO BE THE FIRST PRIORITY.
EVEN IF THERE ARE SOME, UH, POTENTIAL IMPACTS FROM THE ICE STORM IN THE GREATER AREAS OF THOSE GREEN BELTS, THOSE SHADED FUEL BREAKS, UM, ACT AS A BUFFER BETWEEN ANY SIGNIFICANT, UM, CATASTROPHIC FIRE BEHAVIOR IN THE COMMUNITIES THAT ARE AT RISK.
AND SO WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN RIGHT NOW AND WHAT WE'VE ALL AGREED ON WITH OUR LAND MANAGERS IS WE'VE GOTTA GO BACK AND MAINTAIN THOSE AREAS THAT WE'VE COMPLETED, CLEAN THEM UP FROM THE, THE IMPACT OF THE STORM.
AND GUESS WHAT? WE ALWAYS HAVE TO GO BACK TO THOSE AREAS CUZ VEGETATION'S ALWAYS GONNA GROW.
IT MAY HAVE ACCELERATED OUR RETURN INTERVAL FOR SOME OF THESE SITES AND THEN CONTINUE TO PUSH TO IMPLEMENT THOSE SHADED FUEL BREAKS WHERE WE HAVEN'T YET.
AT THAT POINT, THEN THEY CAN LOOK AT MAYBE SOME LANDSCAPE SCALE TREATMENT, BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE FOCUSES AND
[00:35:01]
THAT INTERFACE BOUNDARY WHERE HOMES MEET THOSE WILDLANDS.AND THEN I THINK WHAT'S REALLY CRITICAL FOR FOLKS TO KNOW IS IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS IN WILDFIRE THAT MATTER.
AND SO GUTTERS FULL OF LEAF LITTER OR FUSES AROUND THERI THE RIDGE OF YOUR ROOF RIGHT NOW.
SO IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT HOMEOWNERS UNDERSTAND THAT WILDFIRES ARE DRIVEN BY FINE FUELS, AND BY THAT WE MEAN GRASS AND LEAF LITTER.
THAT'S WHEN WE START CAMPFIRES WITH, RIGHT? THAT'S WHAT WILDFIRES ARE DRIVEN BY AS WELL.
AND SO, UM, THOSE LITTLE THINGS, THE, THE FACT THAT, UM, LIVE OAKS ARE GONNA DROP THEIR LEAFS ONCE A YEAR, IT ACCELERATED THAT PROCESS AND THEY ALL FELL AT ONE TIME.
AND SO WE HAVE A HUGE COMMUN ACCUMULATION OF THOSE FINE FUELS IN PEOPLE'S YARDS ON THEIR ROOFS AND THE HOUSES.
AND SO WE DESPERATELY NEED HOMEOWNERS TO ADDRESS THAT HOME IGNITION ZONE.
THE AREA DIRECTLY AROUND THOSE HOMES, THE LOCAL COMMUNITY, WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLANS, LIKE TO YOUR QUESTION, ARE GONNA SAY IMPLEMENT THAT SHADED FUEL BREAK CITY OF AUSTIN, WE'RE DOING OUR, OUR SIDE, SO WE'RE NOT DEVIATING FROM OUR STRATEGY.
IN ADDITION, WHAT WE ARE DOING FROM AN OPERATIONAL STANDPOINT IS MONITORING THE FUEL MOISTURE IN THE VEGETATION BECAUSE WE KNOW WHEN IT HITS CERTAIN CRITICAL THRESHOLDS, THEN IT'S GAME ON.
AND WE NEED TO BE, UM, ACUTELY CONCERNED ABOUT FIRE BEHAVIOR AND FIRE DANGER RESULTING FROM THAT.
RIGHT NOW WE'RE IN A LITTLE BIT OF A LULL.
WHAT WHERE WE NEED PEOPLE TO DO IS TAKE ACTION NOW AND SO THAT THEIR HOMES ARE PREPARED WIND, THOSE FUELS DO DRY OUT.
UM, TO YOUR QUESTION ON THE PRIVATE LANDS, WE'RE WORKING THROUGH SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT, UM, OUR PRIVATE LANDOWNERS ARE FACING.
FOR EXAMPLE, MANY OF OUR SITE DEVELOPMENT PLANS SAY THAT WILDLAND AREAS OR CONSERVATION EASEMENTS NEED TO STAY IN A NATURAL STATE.
IT'S NOT CLEARLY DEFINED THROUGH DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, WHAT A NATURAL STATE IS.
UH, FOR ME THAT MEANS AN AREA THAT'S NOT GONNA BURN CATASTROPHICALLY FROM WILDFIRE, BUT WE DON'T GO IN AND PUT A BACHI BALL COURT.
THERE'S A, THERE'S A BALANCE THERE.
AND SO WE CONTINUE TO, UM, BUILD THAT MODEL OF PRIVATE ASSISTANCE.
AND I'LL GIVE YOU A GOOD EXAMPLE OF WHERE THAT'S HAPPENED AND IT'S BEEN, UM, EMBRACED REALLY WELL.
PICK ON ONE NEIGHBORHOOD TRAVIS COUNTRY.
THEY MANAGE ABOUT 200 ACRES OF PRIVATE WILD WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE.
IT'S THEIR RESPONSIBILITY AND, AND THEY COULD HAVE A BIG WILDFIRE AS A RESULT OF THAT RESPONSIBILITY ON EITHER SIDE OF THAT PROPERTY AS PAR PARKS AND RECREATION LAND.
SO WE WORKED WITH PARK AND RECREATION TO IMPLEMENT A SHADED FUEL BREAK ON CITY PROPERTY.
AND WE WORKED WITH TRAVIS COUNTRY TO DESIGN A PROJECT THAT A CONTRACTOR COULD IMPLEMENT ON THEIR PROPERTY THAT CREATED A SEAMLESS SHADED FUEL BREAK.
AND SO IT'S THAT TYPE OF SEAMLESS BOUNDARY TREATMENT THAT WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS WITH OUR REALIGNMENT OF FUELS MITIGATION.
NOW THAT WE'VE BUILT THAT CAPACITY IN OUR, OUR LAND MANAGEMENT PARTNERS TO OWN THEIR RESPONSIBILITY AND CONTINUE TO ASSIST THEM, WE WANT TO START CONNECTING THOSE DOTS CUZ JUST MITIGATING CITY PROPERTY WON'T SOLVE OUR ISSUE.
IT'LL SOLVE OUR RESPONSIBILITY, BUT NOT OUR ISSUE AS A CITY.
AND IN CLOSING, JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE AND PEOPLE ONLINE, I'D LOVE TO JUST EMPHASIZE THAT RIGHT NOW BEFORE WE HIT OUR SUMMER WILDFIRE SEASON, IT'S THE TIME WHEN HOMEOWNERS BY CLEANING THEIR GUTTERS, BY GETTING THOSE LEAF LITTER AWAY FROM THE EDGES OF COMBUSTIBLE SOURCES LIKE WOODEN FENCES, THIS IS THE TIME THAT THEY'RE GONNA SET THEMSELVES UP FOR SUCCESS WITH THAT HOME IGNITION ZONE FROM YOUR HOUSE ALL THE WAY TO YOUR FENCE AND YOUR PROPERTY LINE THAT'S COMPLETELY WITHIN YOUR LATITUDE AND YOUR ABILITY TO AFFECT MAJOR CHANGE.
WHILE WE'VE HAD SOME WINTER EVENTS THAT MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO SOME OF THE FUELS OUT THERE, WHAT WE'VE SEEN IN THE WEST COAST, WHAT WE'VE SEEN ELSEWHERE, YOU CAN, NO MATTER WHAT THAT IS, YOU HAVE A MAJOR FIRE FRONT THAT'S COMING UP.
IF YOU'VE CONTROLLED THAT HOME IGNITION, SO SOURCE UP TO A HUNDRED FEET, 150 FEET FROM YOUR HOUSE OR OUT TO YOUR PROPERTY, UH, PERIMETER GREATLY INCREASES THE SURVIVABILITY FOR THOSE HOMES.
I HAVE A QUESTION, I, I KNOW Y'ALL DO THIS, BUT I JUST WANTED KIND OF AN UPDATE ON HOW MUCH, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS A BUDGET ITEM OR UM, HOW IT WORKS, BUT HOW MUCH INTERAGENCY TRAINING Y'ALL ARE ABLE TO DO IN TERMS OF BASICALLY LOANING FOLKS, UM, TO ACTIVE WILDFIRES AND BASICALLY GETTING LIKE TRAINING IN THE FIELD.
UH, SOMETHING CLOSE AND DEAR TO MY HEART.
I'VE GOTTEN TO GO TO CALIFORNIA MYSELF ON THAT RIGHT NOW.
CURRENTLY WE HAVE TWO DIFFERENT UNITS THAT ARE, UH, LOANED OUT TO THE STATE, IF Y'ALL ARE AWARE.
UH, NORTHWEST, UH, NORTHWESTERN TEXAS IS IN CRITICAL, IS EXPECTING CRITICAL HISTORICALLY HIGHEST EVER WILDFIRE DA UH, DANGER.
ON THURSDAY WE HAVE ONE ENGINE THAT'S BEEN DEPLOYED, PART OF THE CENTRAL BRANCH, UH, TEXAS INTERSTATE FIRE MUTUAL AID SYSTEM, TIFFS, UH, THERE, OUT THERE WITH AUSTIN FIREFIGHTERS UP IN THE LUBBOCK AREA.
AND THEN WE HAVE AN ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL THAT'S BEEN JUST DEPLOYED THIS MORNING OUT TO SAN ANGELO TO ASSIST IN THAT EFFORT.
SO WE TRY TO ASSIST OUR FELLOW TO, UH, FELLOW COMMUNITIES WITH, UH, ABILITY FROM THE PEOPLE THAT WE HAVE ALSO TO GAIN THEM EXPERIENCE SO THEY CAN BRING IT BACK TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
THAT'S FOR THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE.
WE ALSO HAVE PLANNED TRAINING ABILITIES
[00:40:01]
BY GOING OUT TO THE TEXAS FOREST SERVICE, HAS MULTIPLE FIRE ACADEMIES, WILDFIRE ACADEMIES, AND WE'VE BEEN LEVERAGING THAT.SOME OF OUR, OUR PERSONNEL AND AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT ARE ACTUALLY STATE RECOGNIZED INSTRUCTORS AND LEADERS IN THIS CAPACITY.
SO NOT ONLY DO WE SEND PEOPLE TO LEARN, WE ALSO SEND PEOPLE TO TEACH OUR FELLOW COMMUNITIES BECAUSE WHAT I WILL PROMISE YOU IS WHEN WE HAVE ANOTHER LARGE SCALE BASTROP COMPLEX, WE'RE GONNA BE GETTING HELP FROM NOT ONLY THE NATION BUT ALSO FROM INTERNATIONALLY.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE MAINTAIN THOSE RELATIONSHIPS, YOU LEVERAGE THOSE OPPORTUNITIES TO TRAIN OUR OWN PEOPLE.
CUZ IT'S NOT EVERY DAY THAT WE HAVE IT, WE HAVEN'T HAD A SIGNIFICANT WILDFIRE EVENT, BUT THIS DOESN'T MEAN WE'RE NOT GOING TO.
SO WE WANT TO LEVERAGE THOSE OPPORTUNITIES AS WELL.
SORRY, JIM, DID THERE, DO Y'ALL HAVE A QUESTION OVER? YES.
THANK YOU FOR THAT COMPREHENSIVE.
UH, YOU'RE NOT ON RED, NOT MY THANK YOU FOR THAT COMPREHENSIVE, UH, EXPLANATION ON THAT.
UM, JUST TO ADD TO THAT, DO Y'ALL FOLLOW, UH, RED CARD CERTIFICATIONS OR DO YOU HAVE YOUR OWN LEVEL OF, UH, CERTIFICATION FOR WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING? SO WITH, UH, STATE OF TEXAS HK SYSTEM IS BECAUSE IT'S TEXAS, WE UTILIZE A BLUE CARD SYSTEM, BUT WE ARE ALSO IN CONVERSATIONS WITH TFS.
WE HAD A RED CARD AGREEMENT WITH THEM.
THERE ARE A, UH, OUR CARDINE AUTHORIZING AGENCY IS THE TEXAS FORESTRY SERVICE, AND WE'RE WORKING OUT THE, THE DETAILS ON HOW TO BE ABLE TO, UH, RED CARD MULTIPLE DIFFERENT POSITIONS WITHIN THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT TO HELP ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL AS WELL.
THAT, THAT WAS MY MY FOLLOW UP QUESTION WAS HOW DOES THAT WORK WITH THE COMPACTS INTERNATIONALLY? SO IF WE HAD, UH, AGENCIES COMING FROM OUTSIDE TO HELP WITH COMPACTS, UM, TO, TO, LET'S SAY WE DID HAVE A WOOY EVENT OR WE HAD SOME SORT OF WILDLAND FIRE, FIRE, UH, WILDLAND FIRE COMPLEX THAT REQUIRED US TO UTILIZE THOSE INTERNATIONAL COMPACTS, WOULD THAT STILL BE RECOGNIZED C SINCE THEY USE A BLUE CARD SYSTEM VERSUS, OR SINCE TEXAS USES A RED, UH, BLUE CARD SYSTEM VERSUS A RED CARD SYSTEM? YEAH.
THEY WILL BE RECOGNIZED AS WE UTILIZE THE BLUE CARD FOR WITHIN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
AND SO THAT IS OUR QUICK, IT SHORTENS THE REFLEX TIME OF GETTING THOSE EXTERNAL RESOURCES HERE QUICKLY.
BUT AT THAT SAME TIME, THIS, UH, TEXAS FORESTRY SERVICE IS PART OF THE NATIONAL OH, WILDFIRE COALITION COALITION AND THEY ARE ABLE TO UTILIZE, UH, RED CARD AND THOSE COMPACTS TO BRING IN, UH, POTENTIALLY NEW ZEALANDERS, CANADIANS AND AS WELL AS MA UH, THE, SOME OF THE MEXICAN FIREFIGHTER RESOURCES AVAILABLE.
UM, AND THEN FOR JUSTICE JONES, UH, I, I KNOW CHIEF YOU SAID THAT, UH, 70% OF, OF, UM, THE AT RISK, UH, WILD LYNN, UH, IT IT OR 70% OF THE PROPERTY IS PRIVATE, CORRECT? YES.
UM, AND THEN FOR JUSTICE JONES, I WAS LOOKING AT SLIDE SIX, AND WE DON'T HAVE TO GO BACK TO THAT, BUT, UH, IT WAS TALKING ABOUT OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.
UM, AND UH, I WAS LOOKING AT SOME OF THE PRESENTATIONS, UM, OF, OF WHERE THEY WERE OCCURRING.
UM, I DON'T SEE WHERE THE AT-RISK ZONES ARE, BUT HOW ARE THEY, HOW, HOW ARE YOU DETERMINING WHERE TO HOLD THESE EVENTS, UM, FOR THE AT-RISK POPULATIONS? UM, BECAUSE, UH, IF WE'RE LOOKING AT THE EVENTS, AND I DON'T KNOW HOW FAR THIS GOES BACK, UM, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE THERE'S SOME IN DISTRICT TWO, SOME, BUT SOME IN DISTRICT NINE, AND THEN SOME IN DISTRICT 10.
UM, AND THEN, UH, THERE WEREN'T ANY EVENTS HELD IN ANY OF THE OTHER DISTRICTS WITHIN AUSTIN.
UM, IS THERE A REASON FOR THAT? IT'S STILL ONGOING IS ONE OF THE REASONS.
UM, SECONDLY, UH, WE HAD TO USE CITY FACILITIES, SO THAT'S TIED TO A LIBRARY WITHIN EACH COUNCIL MEMBER'S DISTRICT.
AND SO THOSE ARE WHERE THEY ARE GEOGRAPHICALLY LOCATED, BUT THE GOAL IS TO HAVE ONE OF THESE WORKSHOPS IN EACH OF THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS TO MAKE 'EM ACCESSIBLE AS POSSIBLE.
AND WE'RE, WE'RE PIGGYBACKING ON HE'S EFFORTS.
SO, UH, WHAT YOU'VE SEEN HERE IS JUST, WE'VE NOW HAD THREE POPUPS, I BELIEVE, AND THEY STARTED OVER IN EAST AUSTIN IN THE KNUCKLES CROSSING AREA AT THAT, AT THAT, UH, LIBRARY.
AND THEY WILL CONTINUE ONE PER MONTH GOING AROUND WORKING WITH HESHAM AND THE COUNCIL, UH, UH, THE RESPONSIBLE COUNCIL DISTRICT'S, UH, ORGANIZATION AND OUTREACH MECHANISM TO GET THAT WORD OUT SO THAT THEY CAN COME UP THERE.
DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? NOPE.
UM, WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT ITEM.
ARE YOU GONNA BE OKAY? YEAH, WE'LL SEE.
[00:45:01]
THOSE LIVE OAKS THAT ARE MAKING BREATHING TOUGH.YEAH, IT'S SUPER
[4. Traffic Enforcement & Management – (Commissioners Ramirez, Hausenfluck)]
IS, UH, TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT AND MANAGEMENT.SO HERE TO PRESENT ON OUR TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT AND MANAGEMENT IS LIEUTENANT WHITE WITH OUR HIGHWAY ENFORCEMENT COMMAND.
UH, AS YOU SAID, I'M, UH, LIEUTENANT WILL WHITE.
I'M WITH THE, UH, HIGHWAY ENFORCEMENT COMMAND WITH THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
SO, UH, THIS IS THE TIME SPENT ON CRASHES AS OF 2021.
UM, THESE NUMBERS WERE PUT TOGETHER BY OUR, UH, RESEARCH AND PLANNING DIVISION.
SO WE RESPONDED TO APPROXIMATELY 24,000 CRASHES, WHICH WAS, UH, 6% OF ALL OUR RESPONSES CITYWIDE, UH, RESPOND TO THE SCENES THAT INCLUDED OVER, UH, 51,000 A P D UNITS, 50 56,000 AP APD STAFF, AND THEN A TOTAL MAN HOURS OF 66,800 HOURS.
THE ESTIMATED STAFFING COSTS IN 2021 FOR CRASH SCENE RESPONSE, IT EXCEEDS 4.414 MILLION USING ESTIMATED COST OF $15 PER HOUR TO OPERATE AND MAINTAIN A PATROL VEHICLE.
SO THIS IS THE PRIMARY AREAS WHERE WE SEE THE CONCENTRATION OF CRASHES, AND THEY'RE USUALLY ON OUR HIGH SPEED ROADWAYS.
UH, SIGNIFICANT PORTIONS ARE WHERE WE SEE THE SERIOUS INJURY CRASHES IN FATALITIES, AS YOU WOULD EXPECT, NORTH I 35, SOUTH I 35, UH, RESEARCH BEN WHITE, UH, A LOT OF THE, UH, UH, CROSS SECTIONS OF LIKE WHERE BEN WHITE MEETS I 35 IN THOSE AREAS TOO.
AND THEN PRIORITIZATION OF THE PROGRAMS, UH, AS FAR AS PROACTIVE ENFORCEMENT FOCUSED ON HIGH TRAFFIC COLLISION CONCENTRATION AREAS.
SO WHAT WE HAVE IS, UH, GRANT FUNDED SUPPORT RIGHT NOW.
THAT'S THROUGH SELECTIVE TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM, WHICH WE REFER TO STEP AS STEP AND THEN MOTOR MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AS MIX APP.
SO THIS IS, UH, AN OVERTIME OPPORTUNITY FOR OFFICERS.
IT IS NOT REGULAR DUTY, UH, OFFICERS HAVE TO, TO SIGN UP.
UH, THE NUMBER OF OFFICERS, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, HAS SIGNIFICANTLY DE DECREASED DUE TO THE STAFFING CHALLENGES WE, WE FACE AT A P D.
UH, THE FOCUS OF THESE PROGRAMS, IT'S, LIKE I SAID, IT'S GRANT FUNDED, SO IT'S, UH, TARGETED ENFORCEMENT IN SPECIFIC AREAS, THOSE BEING AGGRESSIVE, DRIVING, SPEEDING, DWIS, UH, FAILURE TO USE SEAT BELTS IN SHORT, UH, INTERSECTION TRAFFIC CONTROL VIOLATIONS, AND THEN VIOLATIONS OF STATE AND LOCAL ORDINANCES REGARDING USING YOUR CELLULAR DEVICE WHILE DRIVING.
SO H E C, THE HIGHWAY ENFORCEMENT PREVIOUSLY WAS A CENTRALIZED COMPONENT FOR A DUTY ON-DUTY PROACTIVE TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT, UH, WITH WE, US HAVING A MOTORS UNIT AND A DWI UNIT.
AND THEN THE COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENFORCEMENT, HOWEVER, STAFFING SHORTAGES FORCED REALLOCATION OF EVERYONE BACK TO PATROL, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF FIVE MEMBERS OF THE COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENFORCEMENT TEAM.
SO NOW IT'S A DECENTRALIZED APPROACH TO TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT AND MANAGEMENT.
SO INDIVIDUAL PATROL COMMANDS, AND, AND THIS WAS EVEN THE CASE PRIOR TO US LOSING THE STAFFING, EACH INDIVIDUAL PATROL COMMAND ALWAYS HAD THE ABILITY TO ALLOCATE THEIR OWN RESOURCES TO ENFORCE TRAFFIC IN THEIR AREAS DEPENDING ON THEIR NEEDS AND THEIR PARTICULAR AREAS.
AND, UH, THIS IS, SORRY, MY GLASSES SEE THAT FAR? OH, OKAY.
THE, UH, NUMBER OF TRAFFIC STOPS THAT WERE OFFICER INITIATED.
UM, SO 99.7 UM, PERCENT WERE, UH, OFFICER INITIATED TRAFFIC STOPS, SORRY.
SORRY, YOU'RE STILL LOOKING STRAIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.
UM, AND THEN THESE ARE JUST HOW THEY'RE, HOW THEY'RE IDENTIFIED.
A TRAFFIC STOP, IT NORMALLY COMES IN WHEN AN OFFICER CALLS OUT TRAFFIC.
UH, AS FAR AS THE PRIORITY, UM, CUZ AN OFFICER IS SELF-INITIATE, OH, THANK YOU.
AND THEN, UM, 99.6% OF THE, THE, UH, TRAFFIC STOPS DID NOT INVOLVE A RESPONSE TO RESISTANCE.
UM, THE, AS I RECALL FROM THE, THE SLIDES, THE TRAFFIC STOPS, NONE OF THEM HAD A LEVEL ONE OR LEVEL TWO, UH, RESPONSE TO RESISTANCE.
AND IF, UH, YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THAT, WHAT IT MEANS IS, UH, A LEVEL ONE USE OF FORCE WOULD BE A DEADLY FORCE.
[00:50:01]
SO LIKE A SHOOTING OR SOMETHING WHERE SOMEONE, UH, HAD TO USE SOME TYPE OF DEADLY FORCE.UH, SO THERE WERE NONE AND, AND THERE WAS NO LEVEL TWOS EITHER.
THAT WOULD BE A HIGHER LEVEL USE OF FORCE TWO, BUT NOT DEADLY FORCE.
SO STRIKING SOMEONE IN THE FACE USING A, A WEAPON LIKE A BATON TO STRIKE SOMEBODY.
SO THERE WERE NONE OF THOSE, EITHER.
THE ONLY ONES THEY HAD WERE LEVEL THREES AND LEVEL FOURS.
LEVEL THREES WOULD BE YOUR, UH, YOUR, YOUR STRIKES TO THE BODY USING FISTS, YOUR, UH, USING A PEPPER SPRAY, TASERS, UH, LEG SWEEPS, THAT KIND OF THING.
AND THEN OUR MOST COMMON ONE IS A LEVEL FOUR.
AND THOSE, UH, ARE WHERE BASICALLY THE OFFICER HAD TO USE SOME TYPE OF FORCE TO GAIN CONTROL OF THE PERSON.
AND IT'S OFTENTIMES JUST SOMEONE MIGHT PULL AWAY BRIEFLY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
SO THE OFFICER HAS TO GRAB HIS ARM TO GET HIM INTO CUSTODY.
SO THOSE ARE WHAT WE SEE MOST COMMONLY FROM A, FROM A, AN ARREST.
AND SO THESE, THIS IS THE CURRENT CRITERIA FOR WHAT WE RESPOND TO.
UM, SO IF A DRIVER DOES NOT AGREE TO EXCHANGE INFORMATION AS REQUIRED BY STATE LAW, THEIR INSURANCE AND DRIVER'S INFORMATION, UH, DRIVERS SU SUSPECTED OF BEING INTOXICATED OR UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF, OF SOME TYPE OF SUBSTANCE.
AND THEN IF THERE'S A CITY VEHICLE INVOLVED, AND WE WON'T RESPOND IF A VEHICLE IS DRIVABLE AND THERE ARE NO INJURIES ON A CRASH.
AND THEN IF IT'S AN OLD UNREPORTED CLA CRASH THAT INCLUDES LEAVING THE SCENE, THEY CAN STILL MAKE A A THREE 11 REPORT OVER THE PHONE AND THEN, UH, AN INVESTIGATOR CAN FOLLOW UP IF NEED BE.
SO OUR ROLE IN TRAFFIC CRASHES IS FIRST AND FOREMOST TO CREATE A SAFE AREA FOR BOTH THE PEOPLE ON THE SCENE AND, UH, PERSONNEL ARRIVING.
UH, ENSURE ALL ME PARTIES ARE ATTENDED BY MEDICAL PERSONNEL.
UM, IF, IF THEY REQUEST IT OR IT'S OBVIOUS THAT THEY NEED IT, UH, WE'LL IDENTIFY THE PARTIES INVOLVED AND HAVE THEM EXCHANGE INFORMATION.
AND THAT WILL INCLUDE WITNESSES, REQUEST TOW TRUCKS IF THEY NEED IT, IF VEHICLES ARE NOT DRIVABLE.
AND THEN WE WILL WORK TO DETERMINE IF THERE'S POSSIBLE VIOLATIONS AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION.
THAT COULD INCLUDE ANYTHING, UH, BETWEEN GIVING THEM A CITATION TO CALLING OUT A SPECIALIZED UNIT IF IT'S, YOU KNOW, FAILED TO STOP AND RENDER AID OR JUST TAKING A REPORT FOR, UH, PERHAPS A LEAVING THE SCENE CRASH REPORT AND THEN COMPLETE, UH, WHAT'S CALLED A TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION CRASH REPORT.
THREE, IF IT'S REQUIRED BY STATE LAW.
AND THERE'S, UH, THRESHOLDS, UH, FOR WHEN AN OFFICER HAS TO COMPLETE ONE OF THOSE.
AND IT'S USUALLY IF THERE WAS INJURIES, IF UH, THE VEHICLE HAD A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF DAMAGE AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
AND THEN, UH, OUR HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAM COORDINATION EFFORTS.
SO, UH, WE DO WORK WITH HERO, UH, WHICH IS A HIGHWAY ENFORCEMENT OR HIGHWAY EMERGENCY RESPONSE OPERATOR.
SO HERO IS CONTRACTED THROUGH TEXDOT.
UM, THEY MANAGE TRAFFIC SAFETY AND MANAGEMENT ON THE TEXDOT ROADWAYS, UH, PRIMARILY THE HIGH SPEED ONES.
UH, THEY CAN RECEIVE DIRECT APD AUTHORIZATION TO CALL FOR TOW TRUCKS FOR DISABLED VEHICLES, WHICH IS GOOD.
IT SAVES US FROM HAVING TO SEND AN OFFICER OUT THERE, ACTUALLY, EXCUSE ME, WE WERE ACTUALLY THE FIRST CITY TO IMPLEMENT THAT.
UH, AND IT REDUCE, OR I ALREADY SAID THAT REDUCES THE NEED FOR US TO RESPOND.
AND THEN WE HAVE, UH, THE AUSTIN AREA INCIDENT MANAGEMENT FOR HIGHWAYS, WHICH WE CALL AIM HIGH.
AND IT'S A QUARTERLY MEETING THAT WE USE TO ADDRESS TOPICS FOOC FOCUSED ON, UH, ROADWAY SAFETY IN THE AUSTIN AREA AREA.
AND UH, THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS I GO TO AND ATTEND.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS INCLUDING, UH, TECH DOT AND, AND HERO AND, UH, THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT.
AND WE ALL GET TOGETHER AND COLLABORATE ON, ON VARIOUS THINGS WE'RE SEEING ON THE ROADWAYS AND WHAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO TO ADDRESS ROADWAY SAFETY.
AND AS FAR AS OUR ENFORCEMENT JURISDICTION, WE HAVE JURISDICTION TO ENFORCE, UH, TRAFFIC ON ANY ROADWAY WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
WITHIN CITY LIMITS WE HAVE PRIMARY JURISDICTION ON ALL ROADWAYS.
IF ANOTHER AGENCY ALSO HAS JURISDICTION, JURISDICTION WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS, THEY CAN ALSO ENFORCE TRAFFIC IF THEY CHOOSE TO.
SO THAT APPLIES TO ACTUALLY NUMEROUS AGENCIES THAT ARE WITHIN AUSTIN.
THAT INCLUDES DPSS, TRAVIS COUNTY, WILLIAMS COUNTY, HAYES COUNTY, AIS, S D, AND THEN ALL THE VARIOUS COLLEGE POLICE DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE AROUND THE AREA AS WELL.
AND THAT'S THE END OF THE PRESENTATION.
ANY QUESTIONS? QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONERS? I WAS WONDERING, DO YOU HAVE ANY DATA ON, UM, LIKE THE ELECTRIC SCOOTERS, HOW MANY CRASHES ARE INVOLVED WITH THAT? SO WE ARE, A P D DOES NOT KEEP TRACK OF ELECTRIC SCOOTER CRASHES AT THE MOMENT.
UM, THERE A LOT OF IT, IT, IT NEVER EVEN COMES TO US.
THE PERSON JUST GETS TRANSPORTED.
I KNOW WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IN THE PAST AND I THINK EVEN AT THE HERO MEETING, OR NOT THE HERO, I APOLOGIZE, THE AIM HIGH MEETINGS ABOUT WHAT THEY CAN DO TO TRY TO GET THAT
[00:55:01]
TYPE OF DATA, INCLUDING LIKE WORKING WITH AREA HOSPITALS TO SEE IF THE HOSPITALS RECORD THAT KIND OF DATA.BUT THE, THERE'S JUST NO WAY OF KNOWING UNFORTUNATELY BECAUSE IT'S NOT, UH, A LOT OF TIMES WE DON'T EVEN RESPOND TO WHEN A, A SCOOTER IS INVOLVED.
SO MOST OF IT WE HEAR THROUGH ANECDOTALLY OF, OF A CERTAIN TYPE OF CRASH WHERE WE'VE HAD TO RESPOND.
SO LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, I WORK IN A VEHICULAR HOMICIDE UNIT, SO WE'VE HAD INCIDENTS WHERE SOME OF THE SCOOTER DRIVERS HAVE BEEN KILLED WHILE BEING INVOLVED IN A CRASH, BUT FOR THE MOST PART, WE DON'T HAVE ANY CURRENT WAY THAT IT'S BEING TRACKED.
THERE WAS EARLY ON WHEN THE SCOOTERS CAME OUT IN AUSTIN AND THERE WAS A STUDY DONE, I FEEL LIKE IT WAS DONE BY LIKE THE C D C OR THE NIH MM-HMM.
LIKE, UM, IT'S PROBABLY POSTED ONLINE SOMEWHERE, BUT IT'S A LITTLE BIT DATED BECAUSE IT WAS LIKE RIGHT AFTER THEY CAME OUT ON THE SCENE.
AND I, AND I THINK AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH, I WAS JUST AT ANOTHER MEETING WHERE THEY'RE ALSO WORKING ON SOMETHING TO ALSO SEE IF THEY CAN TRY TO IDENTIFY THE NUMBER OF SCOOTER USERS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN, IN TRAFFIC.
I BELIEVE THIS, THIS COMES UP PRETTY OFTEN AT THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION.
AND, UM, AND THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION, WE USUALLY HAVE THE AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT, UM, BRIEF US ON CUZ THEY GET STATS FROM THE ACTUAL SCOOTER COMPANIES ON INCIDENTS.
AND SO IN AN IDEAL WORLD,
UM, BUT THAT'S, THAT WOULD BE FANTASTIC TO SORT OF HAVE THAT HAPPEN.
CAN CHAT G P T GET ON THAT
UM, SO YOU'RE SAYING THAT, UH, WOULD, UH, SCOOTERS COUNT AS A PEDESTRIAN? OR IS THAT THEORETICALLY IT IS CONSIDERED A VEHICLE BY, BY STATE LAW.
SO IF SOMEONE WERE TO BE PULLED OVER, UH, THEY COULD BE ARRESTED.
IF THEY WERE INTOXICATED AND THEY GOT PULLED OVER, THEY COULD BE ARRESTED FOR DWI IN THAT SENSE.
UM, SO, BUT BECAUSE THEY DON'T, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE OFTEN INVOLVED IN CRASHES, THEY, AND NOBODY RESPONDS EXCEPT E M S, LIKE IF IT'S A ONE PERSON ON A SCOOTER KIND OF THING, IT'S KIND OF LIKE A SINGLE VEHICLE COLLISION AND IF THEY, IS IT AN ACCIDENT THAT THEY JUST FALL OFF THE SCOOTER? SO THERE'S A LOT THAT GOES INTO WHY IT ISN'T NECESSARILY REPORTED AND WE NEVER EVEN FIND OUT ABOUT IT.
SO THAT'S WHY THE DATA ON IT IS, IS NOT REALLY, UH, THERE FOR, FROM THE POLICE DEPARTMENT SIDE OF THINGS.
FROM, FROM A PUBLIC SAFETY STANDPOINT, I, YOU KNOW, NOW THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT VEHICLE AND INTOXICATION, UM, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT Y'ALL WOULD LOOK INTO ENFORCING IN THE FUTURE? UM, TO CHANGE BEHAVIOR ON HOW THESE VEHICLES ARE BEING USED? UM, CUZ I UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S A CHALLENGE AND IT IS ALSO A BIG CONCERN THAT YOU CAN JUST HOP ONTO THIS VEHICLE.
UM, AND IT DOES CREATE, UM, UH, A CHALLENGE FOR OTHER VEHICLES, LARGER VEHICLES, UM, IF SOMEONE IS INTOXICATED ON THESE VEHICLES THAT ARE ZIPPING AROUND THE CITY, NOT FOLLOWING RULES.
AND, AND POTENTIALLY YES, IT COULD BE.
AND WE, WE ACTUALLY HAD THIS DISCUSSION BEFORE WITH, UH, THE FOLKS THAT WORK WITH ME IN OUR IMPAIRED DRIVING INVESTIGATIONS WHERE IT'S, IT'S BEEN ESTABLISHED THAT IT IS A VEHICLE.
BUT ONE THING THEY'VE TALKED TO THE PROSECUTORS, WHICH OFTEN IS, IS WHERE WE DECIDE HOW, HOW WE'RE GONNA PURSUE THESE KIND OF THINGS.
AND YES, WHILE WE COULD THEORETICALLY MAKE THE ARREST, WE'VE ALREADY BEEN TOLD BY THE COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE, THEY WOULDN'T BE A FAN OF CHARGING SOMEONE WITH A, A DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED IF THEY WERE ON A SCOOTER PER SE.
SO THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT.
BUT YES, IT CAN BE ENFORCED AND IF, IF STAFFING WERE THERE, IT CERTAINLY COULD POTENTIALLY BE SOMETHING IF WE HAD, UH, YOU KNOW, AN ACTIVE PROACTIVE DWI ENFORCEMENT UNIT AND THE TRAVIS COUNTY PROSECUTORS WERE ON BOARD WITH US TRYING TO MAKE A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO THAT KIND OF THING.
THAT COULD CERTAINLY BE SOMETHING DOWN THE ROAD IN THE FUTURE THAT THAT COULD BE DONE.
I WAS JUST GONNA A, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE THIS INFORMATION IN FRONT OF YOU, UM, OR IN YOUR HEAD ABOUT HOW 2022 NUMBERS COMPARE WITH PRIOR YEARS.
UM, IF YOU WANNA SPEAK TO, TO THAT AS WELL AS HOW STAFFING CHALLENGES HAVE AFFECTED YOUR UNIT AND, AND YOUR TEAM.
UM, WELL, AS FAR AS LIKE THE, THE NUMBERS I PRE PRESENTED AS FAR AS, UH, WHAT THE RESEARCH AND PLANNING GAVE ME THAT I CAN'T REALLY SPEAK TO AS FAR AS HOW IT LOOKS ON 2022, UH, I GUESS THEY, THEY HAVEN'T FINISHED COMPILING ALL THOSE NUMBERS CUZ IT'S SO EARLY STILL IN, IN THE, IN 2023.
SO THAT'S WHY MOST OF THE, WHAT WE GOT WAS 2021.
[01:00:01]
HAS, YOU KNOW, SINCE I'VE BEEN THERE, IT'S, IT'S DWINDLED DOWN FROM, YOU KNOW, OVER 126 OFFICERS SINCE I WAS THERE.DOWN, I THINK WE'RE DOWN TO ABOUT 2026 THAT WE HAVE JUST WITHIN OUR, OUR COMMAND AND HIGHWAY ENFORCEMENT.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE JUST, WE DON'T HAVE, UH, THE, THE PROACTIVE ENFORCEMENT, LIKE WE, WE DID HAVE, WE HAD OUR MOTORS UNIT AND OUR DWI UNITS.
SO WHAT'S LEFT IS OUR COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENFORCEMENT.
AND EVEN THERE'RE DOWN TO, TO FIVE TOTAL MEMBERS AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE FEDERALLY FUNDED, SO THEIR FOCUS IS STRICTLY ON COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENFORCEMENT AND ENSURING THOSE TRUCKS ARE, UH, YOU KNOW, SAFE TO OPERATE ON, ON ROADWAYS.
SO THEY'LL, THEY'LL GO INSPECT THOSE VEHICLES.
BUT, UM, WE JUST DON'T HAVE WHAT WE USED TO WHEN, IF WE SAW A PROBLEM WITH DWIS OR FATAL CRASHES IN CERTAIN AREAS OF THE CITY, UM, WE WOULD, YOU KNOW, SEND OUT A DWI UNITS TO CONCENTRATE IN THOSE PARTICULAR AREAS OF THE CITY.
IF THERE WAS COMPLAINTS ABOUT, OH, THERE'S PEOPLE SPEEDING ON 22, 22 COMING IN EVERY MORNING, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A SERIOUS PROBLEM OVER HERE.
OUR MOTORS UNITS COULD CONCENTRATE IN CERTAIN AREAS OF THE CITY AND HELP, UH, ENFORCE TRAFFIC IN THOSE AREAS.
AND TRUTH BE TOLD, JUST HAVING THAT ADDITIONAL V UH, VISIBILITY OF THOSE UNITS, UH, WAS ALSO VERY HELPFUL.
YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, SEEING, UH, MOTORCYCLE COPS OUT THERE ALL DAY OR, OR OUR DWI UNITS ENFORCEMENT OUT AT NIGHT WAS A, YOU KNOW, A MAJOR DETERRENT.
AND NOW, YOU KNOW, JUST ANECDOTALLY, AND I'M SURE YOU HEAR THE SAME THING, PEOPLE SAY, WELL, YOU DON'T SEE ANY COPS ON THE ROAD.
SO, UH, WE, UH, A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE, ARE I, WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF THE AGGRESSIVE DRIVING BEHAVIORS AND THE, AND THE, THE LACK OF ABILITY TO ENFORCE THE LAWS OR EVEN MAINTAIN THAT VISIBILITY TO EVEN DETER THE BAD DRIVING BEHAVIORS.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, OUR STAFF, THAT, THAT'S WHERE WE'RE AT NOW.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE NO LONGER A PROACTIVE, UH, COMMAND AS HIGHWAY ENFORCEMENT WAS.
SO NOW WE'RE JUST A REACTIVE COMMAND.
WE'VE, WE'VE GOT OUR VEHICULAR HOMICIDE UNIT LEFT AND WE JUST NOW, WE JUST RESPOND TO THE FATALITIES.
WE HAVE OUR, LEAVING THE SCENE OF A CRASH, UH, UNIT, UH, SELF-EXPLANATORY FOR CRASHES AND, AND FAIL TO STOP AND RENDER EIGHT CASES.
UM, AND THEN WHAT WAS LEFT OF OUR DWI UNIT IS THE IMPAIRED DRIVING, UH, INVESTIGATIONS.
BUT ALL THEY'RE DOING IS FOLLOW UP ON DWI CASES.
SO THEY'LL DO SEARCH WARRANTS ON BLOOD, UM, AND IT'S ONLY A SERGEANT AND A DETECTIVE THAT DO THAT PARTICULAR, UH, UNIT AT THIS POINT.
AND THEN, UH, WE HAVE OUR VEHICLE ABATEMENT UNIT AND THAT'S FOR, UH, JUNK VEHICLES OR NUISANCE VEHICLES AND THAT KIND OF THING.
SO THEY'RE NOT REALLY OUT THERE ENFORCING TRAFFIC.
THEY'RE MORE, UH, GETTING AFTER, UH, STATE LAW AND CITY CODE FOR, FOR THE JUNK VEHICLES.
AND, UH, WE, WE DO HAVE, UH, UH, TWO REMAINING MOTOR SERGEANTS AND THEIR, THEIR PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY IS REQ, UH, SUPERVISING WHAT WE ARE REFERRING TO AS A MOTORS AUXILIARY UNIT.
AND THAT'S THE FORMER MOTORS OFFICERS THAT WE HAD.
UH, THEY HAVE A, AN AUXILIARY UNIT OF ABOUT 30 OFFICERS.
AND THEIR PRIMARY FOCUS THOUGH IS BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL BACK ON PATROL, IS IF THERE'S A NEED FOR AN ESCORT FOR LIKE A A A V I P OR UH, SOME KIND OF SERVICE OR SOMETHING THEN, OR SPECIAL EVENT, THEN THEY CAN BE BROUGHT IN OVER TIME OR, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO, UH, HELP WITH TRAFFIC CONTROL IN THOSE TYPES OF CASES.
SO, YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, THERE'S NOT REALLY ANY MORE PROACTIVE ENFORCEMENT UNLESS YOU GO WITH WHAT THEY DO ON OVERTIME.
THE, THE STEP GRANTS I PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED IN THE MIX APP GRANTS, WHICH IS, IS, IS NOT A WHOLE LOT OF, UH, ENFORCEMENT ON THOSE AREAS.
AND THEN WE'VE GOT, UH, THE CBE PROGRAM.
AND, AND JUST TO ADD TO THAT, SO WHEN THAT REALLOCATION OCCURRED, OUR MOTORS UNIT DID HAVE THE ABILITIES TO TAKE THEIR MOTORCYCLES WITH THEM.
THEY TOOK THEIR ACTUAL UNITS WITH THEM.
AND SO IN THEIR DOWNTIME, ALTHOUGH THEY'VE BEEN REALLOCATED BACK TO PATROL, THEY USED TO BE ABLE TO COMMIT THAT FULL-TIME ATTENTION TO TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT.
NOW THEY HAVE TO WORK IT IN, IN BETWEEN CALL LOAD PERMITTING, BEING ABLE TO DEVOTE THAT TIME TOWARDS TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT.
YEAH, A AND I, I, ALONG WITH THE CHIEF WAS SAYING THE, UH, THE DWI OFFICERS THAT DID GET REALLOCATED, THEY, UH, ARE MORE MOSTLY DRUG RECOGNITION EXPERTS.
AND SO, UH, THEY DO, UH, RESPOND TO A LOT OF THE D DWI CASES TO, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S NOT, UH, ALCOHOL.
SO THEY'RE, THEY'RE KIND OF SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS IN, UM, ALCOHOL AND DRUGS.
AND THEN THEY'LL GO OUT THERE AND, AND, AND ASSESS PEOPLE THAT MIGHT NOT BE INTOXICATED ON ALCOHOL.
AND THEY'RE CURRENTLY, WE'RE WORKING ON A PROGRAM WHERE THEY'RE GONNA RESPOND TO ALL FATALITY CRASHES, UH, ONE OF THESE D DRUG RECOGNITION EXPERTS JUST TO SPEAK WITH THE DRIVER AND VERIFY THAT THEY'RE NOT, UH, INTOXICATED ON SOME SUBSTANCE.
AND SO WE'VE, WE'VE GOT, UH, ABOUT 18 OFFICERS THAT DO THAT.
SO, AND IT'S BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL AT SOMETIMES IDENTIFYING SOME OF THESE DRIVERS THAT AT FIRST GLANCE SOMEONE MIGHT NOT RECOGNIZE THAT THEY'RE ON A PARTICULAR SUBSTANCE AND DUE TO THEIR EXPERTISE, THEY'RE ABLE TO REALIZE THAT THIS PERSON MAY NOT BE INTOXICATED ON ALCOHOL BUT IS ON SOMETHING
[01:05:01]
ELSE.AND THEN FROM THERE THEY CAN, UH, GET PROBABLE CAUSE TO GET A SEARCH WARRANT FOR BLOOD OR, OR A, A BREATH IF NEED BE ON, ON A CASE TO HELP WITH IT.
SO COMMISSIONER WYNN, UH, LIEUTENANT, UH, YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT AUXILIARY, THOSE ARE STILL SWORN PEACE OFFICERS, IS THAT CORRECT? YES, THEY'RE STILL FULL-TIME A P D EMPLOYEES AND THEY'RE JUST ALLOCATED BACK TO PATROL DOING PATROL DUTIES NOW.
UH, BUT THEY'RE, UH, STILL ASSIGNED, LIKE SHE SAID, THEY HAVE A MOTORCYCLE AND THEY'RE, UH, CERTIFIED TO RIDE THE MOTORCYCLES AND THEN THEY DO THOSE EXTRA DUTIES WHEN PERMISSIBLE.
HAVE Y'ALL EVER CONSIDERED A, UH, POLICE AUXILIARY, UM, SIMILAR TO WHAT, UH, N Y P D HAS HAD, UH, WHERE IT'S VOLUNTEER, UH, CIVIC-MINDED CITIZENS? UM, CUZ ONE THING THAT YOU DID BRING UP, UM, WAS DETERRENCE THROUGH PRESENCE, RIGHT? UM, AND HAVING SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THAT.
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE N Y P D'S AUXILIARY? I'M NOT, NO.
UM, I MEAN THAT, THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING INTERESTING TO, TO EXPLORE.
UM, UH, THEIR AUXILIARY I THINK IS, IS 100% VOLUNTEER ON, UH, THEY, UH, RECEIVE SOME TYPE OF TRAINING.
UM, I'M NOT 100%, UM, UH, TUNED INTO IT.
UM, BUT I, I'D LIKE TO SEE IF THAT WAS SOMETHING WE COULD LOOK INTO.
AND IN TEXAS IT'S VERY LIMITING BECAUSE IN TEXAS TO BE ABLE TO STOP A VEHICLE, YOU HAVE TO BE A PEACE OFFICER.
SO IF WE HAD AN AUXILIARY TYPE OF, OF UNIT OR RESERVE, SOME, SOME AGENCIES HAVE, LIKE RESERVE OFFICERS, THEY WOULD HAVE TO BE PEACE OFFICERS IF WE WERE GONNA UTILIZE THEM IN A WAY TO ACTUALLY, UH, STOP TRAFFIC OR, OR, OR ENFORCE ANY TYPE OF LAWS.
UM, I HAD SOME QUESTIONS ON JUST, UM, SOME OF THE DATA THAT WE LOOKED AT.
UM, MY HOPE WITH THE PRESENTATION WAS TO REALLY HELP US, THE COMMISSION AND THE PEOPLE WATCHING, UM, WRAP THEIR HEADS AROUND SORT OF THE WORKLOAD THAT TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT AND MANAGEMENT REPRESENTS FOR A P D.
AND IT WAS REALLY HELPFUL TO SEE WITH REGARDS TO CRASHES, LIKE THE NUMBER OF HOURS SPENT, UM, AND, AND KIND OF LIKE STAFF UNITS AND, AND DOLLARS AND STUFF.
AND I WOULD'VE LOVED TO HAVE SEEN THAT SAME THING WITH REGARDS TO TRAFFIC STOPS.
SO LIKE FOR THE, THE P THREE LEVEL TRAFFIC STOPS THAT THE SLIDE THAT SAID 12,889 MM-HMM.
UM, AND IT'S JUST SO THAT WE CAN WRAP OUR HEADS AROUND WORKLOAD IN THE SAME WAY AS ACCIDENTS.
AND SO THAT'S JUST A, THAT'S JUST LIKE A REQUEST FOR THE FUTURE, I SUPPOSE.
AND THEN YOU ALSO, THERE WAS THIS SLIDE ABOUT GUIDELINES FOR WHEN, UM, A P D IS INVOLVED IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS AND WHEN A P D RESPONDS, AND I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT THESE CRASHES, THESE 24,000 CRASHES, OF THOSE 24,000 CRASHES THAT A P D RESPONDED TO, DOES THAT MEAN THAT THEY WERE ALL IN THAT FIRST CATEGORY WHERE THE, THE DRIVER DOESN'T AGREE TO EXCHANGE INFORMATION, THE DRIVER IS SUSPECTED OF BEING INTOXICATED OR A CITY AUSTIN VEHICLE? LIKE, DOES THAT MEAN THAT THERE WERE 24,000 INCIDENCES IN THOSE, IN THAT CATEGORY WHERE A P D IS REQUIRED TO RESPOND AND CLEAR THE ACCIDENT? IS THAT WHAT THAT MEANS? OR IS THAT THAT ALSO INVOLVE SOME SECONDARY SORT OF SUPPORT CALLS? SO, UH, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE PROTOCOLS CHANGED IN OCTOBER, 2021 IS TO, DUE TO THE STAFFING OF WHAT TYPES OF CALLS WE WOULD RESPOND TO, UH, THAT INVOLVE TRAFFIC CRASHES.
SO THE DATA PRIOR TO THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THEM RESPONDING TO CRASHES WHERE WE WOULDN'T NORMALLY WOULDN'T RESPOND.
FOR EXAMPLE, IF THERE WAS NO INJURIES AND THE DRIVERS HAD ALREADY EXCHANGED INFORMATION PRIOR TO THAT, IF SOMEONE CALLED FOR A APD ON THOSE TYPES OF CASE CRASHES, UH, APD WOULD STILL RESPOND.
SO AFTER THE NEW PROTOCOLS WENT INTO PLACE, UM, WE WOULDN'T HAVE RESPONDED, BUT IT DID IMPLEMENT IN OCTOBER.
SO I WOULD SAY THAT GENERALLY THE, UH, THE NUMBER OF CRASHES THAT, THAT YOU WERE SEEING PROBABLY IS MORE THAN YOU WOULD SEE SAY IN 2022 THAT THE NUMBER OF ONES WE ACTUALLY RESPONDED TO.
BUT I CAN'T, I'M NOT A, YOU KNOW, THIS WAS RESEARCH AND PLANNING.
I'M DEFINITELY NOT A STATISTICIAN, SO I COULDN'T GUARANTEE IT.
IT WAS, IT'S JUST WOULD BE MY LAYMAN'S THOUGHTS ON, ON WHAT YOU COULD PROBABLY EXPECT TO SEE IN 2022 WITH THE ADJUSTED PROTOCOLS.
DID YOU HAVE THOUGHTS CHIEF HENDERSON, OR WAS THAT, DID THAT CAPTURE I I WAS JUST GONNA BASICALLY SAY ALMOST.
[01:10:01]
THERE'S AN INJURY, IF DRIVERS ARE REQUESTING THAT WE COME, IF IT'S BLOCKING ON A HIGH SPEED ROADWAY, THERE'S SOME SORT OF EXIGENCY THAT REQUIRES OUR RESPONSE.BUT THOSE ARE THE ONES WE ARE RESPOND TO.
LIKE YOU DID STATE, WE DID CHANGE OUR PROTOCOLS IN 2021.
SO PRIOR TO THAT IT WAS ESSENTIALLY A CRASH, MINOR CRASH, NO INJURIES.
WE WOULD, WE WOULD STILL RESPOND TO THOSE, BUT WE DID ADJUST OUR PROTOCOL.
OKAY, THERE'S A CRASH THAT'S DEVIL HAPPEN RIGHT NOW,
UM, UM, AND THEN THE ONE ONE I NOTICED THERE WAS JUST SOME, UM, THERE WAS DATA FROM DIFFERENT YEARS IN THE PRESENTATION.
LIKE THERE'S SOME 2021 DATA, THE TRAFFIC STOPS IS FROM 2022.
UM, AND THEN I NOTICED THAT THE LAST, ON THE 12,889, UM, TRAFFIC STOP SLIDE MM-HMM.
AND IT SAYS THAT THAT WAS FOR 2022.
AND THIS IS JUST ME MAKING A REQUEST VERY PUBLICLY TO HAVE THOSE RESPONSE TO RESISTANCE FIGURES POSTED.
UM, I BELIEVE THAT ONLY THROUGH 2020 IS POSTED ON THE A P D SITE.
AND THAT IS ACTUALLY A VERY RECENT ADDITION AS OF LAST WEEK.
UM, SO IT WOULD BE GREAT TO GET 2021 AND 2022 DATA RESPONSE AND RESISTANCE DATA POSTED.
UM, SO BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THAT, UM, JUST OVERALL IT'S NOT JUST FOR TRAFFIC STOPS.
I WAS GONNA SAY, THIS IS ONLY FOR TRAFFIC STOPS THAT I PRESENTED.
I REALIZE THAT IT'S JUST FOR TRAFFIC STOPS, BUT IF YOU GUYS HAVE THE DATA FOR TRAFFIC STOPS, I'M HOPEFUL THAT THAT MEANS THAT THERE'S DATA FOR OTHER THINGS AS WELL,
SO IT WOULD BE GREAT TO HAVE THE 2021 AND 2022 DATA UPDATED TO THE, THE DATA PORTAL.
THE UPDATE ON THERE, AND I DON'T BELIEVE OUR NUMBERS FOR 2022 ARE READY TO, TO POST, BUT I BELIEVE OUR 2021 DATE IS READY TO POST, SO.
I'LL, I'LL, OKAY, I'LL FOLLOW UP WITH YOU ON THAT.
DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE? WELL, I THINK I'M JUST, MY LAST ONE IS JUST, I THINK THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, WHICH IS THAT DPS IS GONNA BE HELPING WITH TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT MM-HMM.
AND, UM, WE ARE GONNA HAVE LOTS OF QUESTIONS, UM, ABOUT DATA, LIKE THE SIMILAR KIND OF DATA WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE.
WE WANNA KNOW HOW THEY'RE SUPPLEMENTING WHAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING, WHAT KIND OF RELIEF THEY'RE GONNA PROVIDE TO YOUR PATROL UNITS.
UM, HOW MANY HOURS OF RELIEF DOES THAT REPRESENT? LIKE I, YOU KNOW, WE ARE GONNA, WE ALREADY HAVE LOTS OF QUESTIONS, BUT THERE ARE ONLY GONNA BE MORE, AND SO FOR OUR NEXT QUARTERLY REPORT, LIKE IT WOULD BE, IT WOULD BE NICE IF WE COULD TALK AHEAD OF THEM TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN PRESENT THIS DATA AND HOW WE CAN WRAP OUR HEADS AROUND WHAT THIS D P S PRESENCE, UM, REPRESENTS, UM, WHAT KIND OF IMPACT IT'S HAVING ON ENFORCEMENT PATROL UNITS OVERALL, AND JUST, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTANDING WHAT'S DIFFERENT.
UM, SO BIG QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.
YEAH, AND I, I DID SPEAK WITH DOC DR.
KREGAN ABOUT THAT, UH, EARLIER WHEN I CAME IN.
AND I THINK THAT'S SOME OF THE STUFF HE'S WORKING ON WITH THE COMMUNICATIONS FOLKS ABOUT TRYING TO TRACK CERTAIN THINGS AND, UH, WHERE LIKE, IT, LIKE WAS MENTIONED, A HIGHWAY ENFORCEMENT WE'RE NOT A CENTRALIZED, UH, UH, FOCAL POINT FOR TRAFFIC ANYMORE.
SO, UH, THINGS, THIS IS A PROJECT DR.
CRINGING, UH, KREGAN WAS WORKING ON.
UH, AND LIKE I SAID, WITH, UH, COMMUNICATIONS, I THINK THEY WERE TRYING TO WORK OUT LIKE NUMBERS AND, AND THOSE TYPES OF THINGS AHEAD OF TIME.
SO, UM, WE CAN CERTAINLY KIND OF PASS ON SOME OF THAT.
AND D P S HAS THEIR TRACKING SYSTEM THAT THEY'VE IMPLEMENTED ALSO, SO THAT SHOULD THAT INFORMATION SHOULD BE AVAILABLE AT FUTURE DATES, UM, WILL WE HAVE TO MAKE A STATE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT REQUEST TO GET THAT DATA? OR WILL IT BE ACCESSIBLE THROUGH Y'ALL? I WOULD HAVE TO CHECK WITH DPS, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT THEY WOULD HAVE A ISSUE WITH SHARING THAT, THAT DATA WITH US.
UM, IT WOULD DEFINITELY HELP US IN OUR EFFORTS IN, IN UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACTS, UH, OF THEIR, THEIR PRESENCE HERE.
AND SO I CAN IMAGINE THAT THEY WOULD HAVE AN ISSUE WITH THAT, BUT I'LL DEFINITELY FOLLOW UP WITH.
I AM, UM, YEAH, I MEAN, IT WOULD BE GREAT TO EVEN KNOW WHAT THE MISSION IS.
UM, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FROM OH YEAH, I'M SORRY.
DO Y'ALL ONLINE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS,
UM, SO, UM, I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT WHAT P THREE MEANS.
UM, IF SOMEONE IS PULLED OVER FOR AGGRESSIVE DRIVING, UM, OR, YOU KNOW, SPEEDING ABOVE 10 PI MILES PER HOUR ABOVE A SPEED LIMIT, UM, IS THAT A P THREE? ANY TRAFFIC STOP THAT AN OFFICER CONDUCTS? JUST WHEN HE CALLS OUT TRAFFIC, CUZ HE IS GONNA STOP A VEHICLE FOR SOME TYPE OF TRAFFIC VIOLATION, AUTOMATICALLY GETS ASSIGNED AS A PRIORITY THREE TRAFFIC STOP.
[01:15:01]
IF, IF IT'S SOMETHING MORE, UH, DANGEROUS WHERE HE THINKS HE'S GONNA NEED A BACKUP, THEN HE CAN CALL OUT THAT IT'S, HE NEEDS A, A BACKUP MORE IMMEDIATELY.OR IF IT'S, UH, UH, SOMETHING WHERE A VEHICLE'S EVADING, IT GETS BUMPED UP TO A HIGHER PRIORITY.
BUT JUST YOUR RUN OF THE MILL TRAFFIC STOP, THAT'S JUST HOW IT'S CATEGORIZED AS A PRIORITY THREE.
IT, IT'LL GO TO THEIR OWN, THE STATE SYSTEM.
IF WE DON'T HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS, UM, WE WILL MOVE ON.
UM, WE ARE STILL, EVEN THOUGH WE DID A LOT OF TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT ABOUT, UM, YOU'RE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, 10 MINUTES AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, WHICH IS KIND OF UNPRECEDENTED FOR US.
UM, I THINK WE HAVE, UM, SOME FOLKS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
UM, HOW MUCH TIME ARE I LEFT? UM, WELL, NORMALLY IT WOULD JUST BE A COUPLE MINUTES, BUT WE'RE 10 MINUTES AHEAD SO Y'ALL CAN JUST SPEAK AND THAT WOULD BE FINE.COULD YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELVES? SURE.
I'M THE MOTHER OF RAJAN MENINGA WHO ARE SHOT ON NOVEMBER 15TH BY THE AUSTIN POLICE.
UH, HE WAS DEFENDING HIS HOUSE FROM AN INTRUDER, A SECURITY GUARD WHO RADEN HAD SPOKEN TO EARLIER THAT EVENING CALLED 9 1 1, REPORTED THE HOMEOWNER HAD A GUN AND WAS AFRAID THERE WAS AN INTRUDER IN HIS HOUSE.
POLICE ARRIVED WITHOUT SIRENS, LIGHTS DID NOT IDENTIFY THEMSELVES, TOOK A HIDDEN POSITION FROM 25 YARDS AWAY AND BEGAN FIRING BEFORE FINISHING THE COMMAND TO DROP YOUR GUN.
THEY CONTINUED FIRING EVEN AFTER HE COMPILED WITH, WITH HIS HAND, WITH HIS HANDS UP.
RAJA NEVER THREATENED THE OFFICERS.
HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THEY WERE THERE.
OKAY, I HAVE, UM, SO TODAY THE AUSTIN POLICE ARE STILL HOLDING ONTO RAJA'S PHONES.
THEY CLAIM THAT IT'S NEEDED FOR THE INVESTIGATION.
THE BODY CAMERA VIDEO AND THE COMPLETE SECURITY CAMERA FOOTAGE WOULD GIVE CLARITY TO THE UNFOLDING OF THIS HORRIBLE TRAGEDY TO DIE WORSE THAN WE TOLERATE FOR ANIMALS TODAY.
I KNOW MY SON WAS SHOT EIGHT TIMES, HANDCUFFED AFTERWARDS, GIVEN NO C P R AND THEN VICTIMIZED AS A MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE.
IT'S OKAY TO HAVE A MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE THAT IT WASN'T RAJAN.
SO I I NEVER EXPECTED TO BURY MY SON, YOU KNOW, AND I WEAR THIS PIN AS A REMINDER.
AND HIS FRIENDS WORE THIS AT HIS FUNERAL.
THEY MADE A HUMAN TUNNEL AND HIS COFFIN PASSED TOO.
IT WAS IN A CEMETERY INSTEAD OF A SOCCER FIELD.
SO I CHALLENGE ALL OF YOU TO WATCH THAT VIDEO TO SEPARATE FACT FROM FICTION.
BUT WHAT I WANT HERE TODAY IS I WANT, UM, ACCOUNTABILITY AND I WANT TRANSPARENCY AND PROPER TRAINING.
WE ARE NOT AGAINST THE POLICE.
WE WANT YOU TO HAVE PROPER TRAINING.
I'M A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER AND I HAD TO TRAIN AND BE CERTIFIED FOR EVERYTHING I DID.
AND I WANT YOU TO TRAIN AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE TRAINED IN DEESCALATION.
I I DON'T THINK ANYONE ELSE SHOULD LOSE THEIR LIFE LIKE MY C DID.
AND SO I AM HERE TO FIGHT FOR ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE AND JUSTICE FOR MY SON RAJA.
SO THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO ME.
I'M THE OLDEST BROTHER OF RODIN WHO, AS MY MOM MENTIONED, UH, PASSED AWAY IN NOVEMBER, UM, WAS KILLED IN HIS HOUSE BY AUSTIN POLICE.
[01:20:01]
THINK WE WOULD NEVER, UM, IN A MILLION YEARS THINK WE'D BE IN THIS SITUATION THAT WE'RE IN NOW.UM, BUT IT IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO SHARE WITH OTHERS SOME OF OUR EXPERIENCES, UM, AS WE LOOK BACK ON SOME OF THE SERIES THAT, OF EVENTS THAT UNFOLDED THAT DAY.
UM, THERE ARE WAYS THAT THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED, BUT ALSO THE AFTERMATH OF WHAT WE DEALT WITH.
UM, AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE WANNA SHARE SO THAT OTHER FAMILIES JUST DON'T HAVE TO EXPERIENCE THAT SAME LEVEL OF PAIN THAT WE DID.
UM, I THINK INITIALLY STARTING AS MY MOM MENTIONED, WHEN THE OFFICER ARRIVED, UM, DEESCALATION TECHNIQUES WERE NOT USED.
UM, THAT OFFICER IN THE VIDEO CAN BE SEEN DRIVING WITH HIS RIFLE IN HIS ARMS WHILE HE'S DRIVING THE CAR.
UM, HE DID NOT ANNOUNCE HIMSELF.
THERE WERE NO LIGHTS OR SIRENS.
UM, MY BROTHER WAS A A, A VERY COMPLIANT PERSON.
IF AN OFFICER HAD ASKED HIM TO LOWER THE WEAPON, HAD IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES, WE'RE A HUNDRED PERCENT CONFIDENT THAT RAJAN WOULD'VE DONE SO.
UM, I THINK AS A, A HOMEOWNER MYSELF AS A GUN OWNER, IT'S EVERY TEXAN'S RIGHT TO PROTECT YOUR OWN HOMESTEAD.
AND YOU SHOULD HAVE THAT EXPECTATION THAT IF THE POLICE ARE COMING, IF THERE'S SOMEBODY IN YOUR HOUSE, THAT THEY'RE THERE TO HELP YOU AND NOT ASSUME THAT YOU ARE THAT INTRUDER.
THAT IS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT FOR ALL OF US, AND WE'RE VERY PROUD OF THAT IS TEXANS, THAT WE HAVE THAT ABILITY TO PROTECT OURSELVES AND OUR HOUSE.
UM, I THINK WHAT ALSO IS VERY TROUBLING TO US IS THE FACT THAT THERE WAS NO AID RENDERED TO MY BROTHER.
NOT ONLY WAS HE SHOT IN THE WRIST AND IT WAS SHATTERED HIS WRIST, HE WAS THEN HANDCUFFED AND HE WAS LEFT ON THE FLOOR AND WAS NOT GIVEN ANY AID.
YOU CAN HEAR IN THE VIDEO, AN OFFICER ASKING AND PLEADING WITH THE FELLOW OFFICERS, PLEASE TAKE OFF THE HANDCUFFS SO I CAN GIVE HIM C P R A FEMALE OFFICER.
FIVE, FOUR OR FIVE MINUTES LATER, YOU CAN HEAR AGAIN SAYING HE STOPPED BREATHING, PLEASE TAKE OFF THE HANDCUFFS SO I CAN GIVE HIM C P R.
THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE AS A HUMAN BEING.
IF YOU HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE AID, YOU MUST HELP THAT PERSON.
THAT IS, AS A LAW ENFORCEMENT, AS GE GENERAL HUMAN BEING, THAT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
UM, LASTLY, THE INFORMATION THAT WAS PROVIDED TO US AS A FAMILY AND TO THE PUBLIC.
IMMEDIATELY AFTER MY BROTHER'S DEATH WAS FULL OF INACCURACIES.
UH, THE POLICE CHIEF IN HIS PRESS RELEASE, WHICH WAS SEVERAL HOURS AFTER HIS DEATH, SAID THAT MY BROTHER WAS A WHITE PERSON.
WHEN ASKED IF HE WAS THE HOMEOWNER, HE AT THAT TIME SAID, I AM NOT SURE.
NOW WE KNOW BASED OFF OF THE 9 1 1 CALLS.
BOTH OF THOSE, UM, WERE NOT TRUE.
AND SO FOR US AS A FAMILY, WE WERE LOOKING FOR TWO AND A HALF DAYS FOR MY BROTHER.
WE WERE LOOKING IN HOSPITALS, WE WERE CALLING HIS FRIENDS.
WE HAD HOPED THAT HE WAS SOMEWHERE ALIVE AND WE WERE NOT GIVEN CONFIRMATION FOR TWO AND A HALF DAYS, EVEN THE COLOR OF HIS SKIN.
WE KEPT ASKING, WAS IT A WHITE PERSON? AND AT THE SCENE THEY SAID, I'M SORRY, WE CAN'T TELL YOU THAT.
SO WE WERE BASING ALL OF THIS OFF COMMUNICATION.
I THINK THE BIGGEST THING HERE IS IF YOU DON'T KNOW, IT'S BEST NOT TO SAY SOMETHING.
TO HURT A FAMILY, ESPECIALLY FROM SOMEBODY AT THE LEVEL OF A CHIEF, IT'S BEST TO NOT PROVIDE THOSE LEVEL OF DETAILS BECAUSE IT DOES TEAR APART US AS A FAMILY, ESPECIALLY A VICTIM'S FAMILY.
YOU SHOULD NOT PUT THEM THROUGH THAT PAIN AND THAT HEARTACHE THAT WE DID FOR THOSE FEW DAYS, UM, AFTERWARDS, UM, THANKFULLY WE HAD A RING CAMERA AT THE SCENE AND WE WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY AND SEE THE FULL PICTURE OF WHAT REALLY HAPPENED.
UM, FOR US, INITIAL REPORTS MADE IT SEEM LIKE MY BROTHER WAS IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD AND HE WAS SHOOTING UP THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
WHEN WE FOUND LATER HE, THERE WAS AN INTRUDER, HE WAS ADDRESSING THAT INTRUDER HE SHOT INTO HIS OWN HOUSE.
A LOT OF THOSE PIECES WERE NOT PUBLICLY MADE.
AND FOR SEVERAL WEEKS WE HAD FRIENDS, FAMILY MEMBERS CALLING US.
WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOUR BROTHER? DID HE DO SOMETHING WRONG? WE THOUGHT HE WAS TO BLAME FOR THIS.
AND IT ALL WAS BECAUSE OF A NARRATIVE OF THAT FEW MINUTES AFTERWARDS WHERE THERE WAS AN ABSENCE OF INFORMATION, WRONG INFORMATION WAS PROVIDED, AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT CANNOT HAPPEN TO ANOTHER FAMILY.
UM, I WANNA I WANNA SAY SOMETHING BRIEFLY.
UM, I'VE BEEN ON THIS COMMISSION, UM, SORRY, SINCE 2018, MAYBE A LITTLE LONGER.
AND, UM, I KNOW THAT, UM, UH, THE, I'M, THE POLICE DON'T THINK VERY HIGHLY OF ME.
[01:25:03]
UH, BUT WE LIVE IN AN INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS TIME IN TEXAS RIGHT NOW.UM, OUR DEMOCRACY IS AT RISK AND, UM, THE WAY THAT POLICE INSTITUTIONS BEHAVE AS IF THEY SHOULD NOT BE ACCOUNTABLE, UH, TO THE PEOPLE WHO PAY THEIR PAYCHECKS, UM, THE WAY THAT THEY EXPECT THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE COMMUNITY THAT THEY SERVE TO CONTINUE TO PUT UP WITH FAILURE AFTER FAILURE, UM, TO EFFECTIVELY DO THEIR JOBS.
THE REPEATED SHOOTING OF VULNERABLE PEOPLE, MENTALLY ILL, PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT ARMED, PEOPLE WHO HAVE, HAVE THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS WHO ARE NOT THREATENING LAW ENFORCEMENT.
AND ALMOST ALWAYS THOSE PEOPLE WITH WEAPONS WHO ARE NOT THREATENING ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR ALMOST ALWAYS.
AND, UM, PEOPLE ASK ME A LOT WHY IT MAKES ME SO ANGRY BECAUSE I'M KIND OF A BASKET CASE OF A PERSONALITY.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE NOTICED THAT ABOUT ME.
UM, BUT I WAS JUST BORN WITH THIS KIND OF DISORDER, WHICH IS THAT I'M JUST REALLY EMPATHETIC.
UM, AND I GREW UP IN A REALLY DIVERSE COMMUNITY AND I HAVE THIS REALLY BIZARRE BASIC IDEA, WHICH IS THAT ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY COUNTS.
EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO LIVES IN THIS CITY COUNTS.
AND EVERY TIME THE POLICE SHOOTS SOMEONE ELSE AND THEN SPREAD DISINFORMATION ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED, MISCHARACTERIZE THAT PERSON, MISCHARACTERIZED WHAT HAPPENED, AND THEN GO TO THE STATE GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS RUN BY A BUNCH OF PROTO FASCISTS AND ASK THEM TO PASS A LAW SO THAT WE CAN'T HAVE POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY IN AUSTIN.
BECAUSE AS SENATOR SPRINGER PUT IT TODAY ON THE RECORD, POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY CAUSES RAPES AND MURDERS, WHICH IS BY THE WAY, ABSOLUTE CRAP.
THE AUSTIN POLICE ASSOCIATION AND EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTS THEM SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES, SHOULD GO HOME EVERY DAY AND NOT BE ABLE TO SLEEP BECAUSE THEY OBVIOUSLY DON'T CARE ABOUT PEOPLE.
AND WHEN I SAY PEOPLE, I DON'T JUST MEAN PEOPLE OF COLOR, ALTHOUGH MOSTLY PEOPLE OF COLOR.
I ALSO MEAN ALL VULNERABLE WHITE PEOPLE, POOR WHITE PEOPLE, WHITE PEOPLE WHO HAVE MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE IN THEIR FAMILIES.
A LOT OF PEOPLE, FRANKLY, THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE IN THIS CITY, THE AUSTIN POLICE ASSOCIATION IS A THREAT TO THE PEOPLE OF THIS CITY.
AND IT IS TIME FOR EVERYONE, THE JOURNALISTS IN THIS CITY, THE POLITICIANS IN THIS CITY, TO STOP ACTING LIKE THEY'RE NOT A THREAT.
I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T PLAN THAT.
I'M DONE SITTING HERE AND WATCHING STONE FACE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CITY STARE BACK AT THEM AND THEN, AND MAKE FUN OF UNDERSTAND YOUR JOBS.
YOU KNOW WHAT? I UNDERSTAND YOUR JOB JUST FINE AND YOU'RE NOT DOING IT.
I PLEASE, I'M ASKING CHIEF CHACON AND CHIEF OF STAFF HENDERSON TO PROVIDE THIS FAMILY WITH ALL THE INFORMATION THEY'RE ASKING FOR YOU, ASKING OF YOU ABOUT THIS CASE.
IT'S RIDICULOUS THAT IT'S NOT BEING PROVIDED.
[01:30:01]
I DIDN'T CURSE THIS TIME.I JUST APPRECIATE EVERYTHING THAT YOU SAID AND I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH IT.
[5. Election of 2023-2024 Officers for the Public Safety Commission]
UM, AND I WANTED TO LET EVERYBODY KNOW THAT I'M STEPPING DOWN HIS CHAIR.UM, BUT, UM, I WOULD, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO RUN HIS VICE-CHAIR IF Y'ALL WILL STILL HAVE ME.
UM, AND UM, YEAH, I'M JUST UNDER A LOT OF PRESSURE BECAUSE I'VE GOT A LOT OF FAMILY STUFF GOING ON AND UH, I THINK WE NEED TO PROBABLY OPEN IT UP TO NOMINATIONS GENERALLY.
I THINK WE NEED NOMINATIONS FOR CHAIR.
AND, UH, I, I'D LIKE TO NOMINATE, UH, VICE CHAIR NELLY RAMIREZ AS, UH, THE CHAIR BECAUSE SHE IS LOTS MORE POLITE
AND, AND SHE'S ALWAYS TELLING ME WHAT THE RULES ARE CUZ I CAN'T REMEMBER THEM.
UM, AND JUST GENERALLY, SHE'S BETTER AT MY JOB AND I AM OPEN TO RUNNING AS CHAIR.
SO IF WE, I THINK, DO WE JUST NEED TO HAVE A VOTE? IS THAT WHAT WE NEED TO DO? I WELL, ARE THERE, ARE THERE UNDER OTHER NOMINATIONS? YES.
I'M JUST GONNA SECOND YOUR NOMINATION MM-HMM.
SO, UM, DOES THIS NEED TO BE A ROLL CALL VOTE? YES.
WE'LL DO, WE'LL DO A ROLL CALL VOTE JUST IN CASE WE, WE DON'T WANNA, WE DON'T WANNA VIOLATE ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER OR WHATEVER RULES WE FOLLOW.
UM, SO, UM, THE CHAIR VOTES AYE, UM, FOR, UH, OH WAIT.
UM, IS THERE A MOTION? I THINK SOMEBODY ALREADY SAID THAT.
UM, FOR VICE CHAIR RAMIREZ AS CHAIR, UH, VICE CHAIR RAMIREZ.
UH, COMMISSIONER CI AVELO? YES.
UM, AND NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN FOR VICE CHAIR AND I WOULD LIKE TO NOMINATE, UM, COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT.
UM, HER CONNECTION TO THE COMMUNITY AND COMMUNITY ADVOCATES HAS BEEN INVALUABLE, UM, THIS PAST YEAR.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO KEEP THAT, UM, THAT ARTERY OPEN AS WE MOVE FORWARD THIS YEAR.
SO WITH THAT, I WOULD TAKE LIKE A SECOND FOR HER NOMINATION, UNLESS THERE ARE OTHERS.
UH, COMMISSIONER HALL MARTIN? ABSOLUTELY.
UH, COMMISSIONER SIERRA ALO AVALO.
AND GOSH, WE'RE STILL ON TIME.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
AGENDA ITEMS. UM, AND, UH, WE'VE GOT A NEW, A WHOLE BUNCH OF NEW COMMISSIONERS.SO THIS IS, UM, THE TIME WHEN WE ALL GET TO SAY WHAT WE WISH TO TALK ABOUT IN THE FUTURE.
SO IF YOU HAVE IDEAS FOR AGENDA ITEMS, UM, THIS IS THE TIME TO SAY THEM.
THEY HAVE TO SORT OF OFFICIALLY NOT EVEN SORT OF, UM, THEY HAVE TO BE SAID OUT LOUD AT A MEETING AND THEN THEY GO ON A LIST AND THEN, UM, EVENTUALLY, UH, CHAIR
THERE'S ACTUALLY A FORM THAT THEY CAN FILL OUT.
AND THERE'S A FORM ON OUR WEBSITE THAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO USE TO TELL US ALL ABOUT WHAT YOUR AGENDA ITEM IS.
BASICALLY, YOU SPONSOR AN ITEM AND YOU HAVE A CO-SPONSOR.
SO THERE'S TWO PEOPLE ON EVERY AGENDA ITEM.
SO ANY IDEAS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? I THINK WE, OH, GO AHEAD.
UM, I, I THINK WE'VE BEEN TALKING, WE'RE TALKING A LOT ABOUT, UH, PREPAREDNESS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE WINTER NUCLEAR STORMS, UM, AND HOW THAT RELATES TO PUBLIC SAFETY.
UM, AND SOMETHING THAT I'M HEARING A LOT OF CORRELATION ON IS HIS, UM, BUT I HAVE, DON'T THINK WE'VE HEARD FROM HISHAM QUITE A BIT, BIT, UM, AND, UH, LOOKING THROUGH, UM, COMMISSIONS
[01:35:01]
AND OVERSIGHT, I'M NOT SEEING A LOT OF CORRELATIONS WITH HISHAM, UH, IN TERMS OF REPORTING OUT.SO I WANT TO SEE IF WE CAN GET THEM TO REPORT OUT ON HOW THEY ARE PARTNERING WITH OUR, UH, RESPONSE ORGANIZATIONS OR FIRST RESPONDING ORGANIZATIONS, VICE CHAIR OR CHAIR RAMIREZ, SOON TO BE SUPER CHAIR RAMIREZ
UM, IN LIGHT OF THE PUBLIC TESTIMONY THAT WE'VE GOTTEN FROM MULTIPLE PAR PARENTS, I THINK THERE ARE A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT CAME TO MIND.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT RENDER AID PROTOCOLS, UM, THAT ARE IN PLACE, UM, AND TRAINING, UM, THAT GO THAT IT SURROUNDS RENDER AID PROTOCOLS, UM, SO THAT WE CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND, UM, WHAT IS EXPECTED, UM, WHAT IS TRAINED, AND SO THAT WHEN INCIDENTS LIKE THIS HAPPEN, WE HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING, UM, RIGHT AWAY WHEN THERE IS A BREAK IN PROTOCOL.
UM, I WOULD ALSO, UM, LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT HOW, UM, INFORMATION IS SHARED, UM, WITH FAMILIES WHEN THERE ARE INCIDENTS, UM, OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTINGS, UM, AND WHAT SORT OF ACCESS THEY HAVE TO INFORMATION, UM, WHETHER OR NOT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT IS STANDARDIZED, WHETHER THERE ARE PROCEDURES AROUND THIS.
UM, AND, UM, JUST AGAIN, CREATE SOME GENERAL EXPECTATIONS FOR FAMILIES AROUND HOW, HOW, HOW THEY'RE DEALING WITH THE LOSS OF A LOVED ONE, UM, AND WHETHER OR NOT ANY SORT OF VICTIM SERVICES ARE MADE AVAILABLE TO THEM AS WELL.
UM, SO I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT THAT.
I HAVE SOMETHING, SO I LIVE REALLY CLOSE BY, UM, AND I USE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.
UM, THE DRUG USE ISSUE, THE OPEN AIR DRUG USE ISSUE IS OUT OF CONTROL.
I WAS SITTING ON A BUS STOP WITH MY DAUGHTER WHILE SOMEONE WAS SMOKING METH.
THIS WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY.
SO WE MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT, I GUESS A LIKE TRAFFIC TO HAVE A CIVILIAN STOP OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
WHAT ABOUT CIVILIANS ATTACKING THIS DRUG PROBLEM? LIKE WHAT CAN WE DO? LIKE WE NEED TO GET TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY.
THE THINGS THAT I SEE IT WOULD SHOCK YOU.
I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE WHAT ALL KINDS OF REPORTS WE GET REGULARLY.
UM, AT BEING A NEW COMMISSION MEMBER, THERE ARE A COUPLE, UM, ALMOST COMPETING REPORTS THAT I WOULD BE REALLY INTERESTED IN THOUGH AS FAR AS PUBLIC SAFETY.
UM, I WOULD REALLY LIKE A, A KIND OF A DEEP DIVE INTO THE ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT, FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S OFFICIAL DESIGNATION, BUT IN THE AREA OF DOWNTOWN, UH, MY PERCEPTION IS THAT DOWNTOWN IS A LITTLE LESS SAFE, UH, TO GO OUT INTO LATE INTO THE NIGHT THAN IT WAS WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BIT YOUNGER.
MY SOCIAL MEDIA IS CONVINCED THERE'S A SERIAL KILLER ON RAINY STREET.
THERE'S JUST A LOT GOING ON DOWNTOWN THAT, UM, I WOULD LIKE, UH, AN ACCURATE LOOK, LOOK AT WHAT HAS HAPPENED OVER TIME DOWNTOWN AND WHAT IS CONTINUING TO HAPPEN DOWNTOWN AS FAR AS PUBLIC SAFETY GOES, ESPECIALLY IN THE, IN AT NIGHT.
UM, BUT THEN I LIVE SO OUT OF DOWNTOWN.
I LIVE IN KIND OF FAR SOUTHWEST AUSTIN IN THE CITY.
AND MY PERCEPTION THERE IS THAT WHILE WE HAVE FEWER, UM, CRIMES REPORTED PER POPULATION, AND IT'S GENERALLY, THEY'RE GENERALLY FEWER CALLS, I ALSO FEEL LIKE WE'RE FAR AWAY FROM THE, I SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE WE'RE FAR AWAY FROM, UH, QUICK SERVICE FROM, UM, ESPECIALLY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
I, WE, WE, MY NEIGHBORHOOD HAPPENS TO HAVE FIRE, UH, REALLY CLOSE.
AND SO I SEE THEM RESPOND PRETTY QUICKLY.
BUT I'D ALSO KIND OF LIKE TO TAKE A LOOK AT, IN THE, IN SOME OF THE GENERAL MAPS WE SEE SHOW THIS A LITTLE BIT, BUT WHAT IS THE REAL SITUATION IN THE, THE FURTHEST, UM, AREAS OF THE DONUT AROUND THE CENTER OF AUSTIN WITHIN THE CITY, UM, FOR RESPONSE TIMES AND, UM, JUST PRESENCE IN GENERAL.
I THINK, AND THAT'S ANOTHER THING I THINK I HEAR FROM NEIGHBOR NEIGHBORS IS THAT THERE'S A PERCEPTION THAT THERE'S LESS PRESENCE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT IN, IN OUR AREA OF TOWN THAN MAYBE THERE USED TO BE OR THAT THAN THERE SHOULD BE OR OTHER PARTS OF TOWN.
SO THOSE ARE JUST GENERAL THINGS.
IT'S HARD, IT, IT'S NOT VERY CONCISE.
I DIDN'T THINK ABOUT IT BEFORE I STARTED SAYING IT, SO, UM, BUT THAT, THOSE ARE GENERAL THINGS I'D LOVE TO SEE.
UM, I'LL, I'LL SECOND YOUR, UM, REQUEST FOR, UH, SORT OF, UM,
[01:40:01]
BRIEFING ON ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS AND HOW THE THREE AGENCIES SORT OF COOPERATE AROUND, UM, KEEPING ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS SAFE.UM, NOT JUST DOWNTOWN, BUT THEIR ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS BEYOND, UM, DOWNTOWN, THERE'S ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS WAY DOWN SOUTH.
THERE'S ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS EAST, THERE'S ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS WEST.
UM, AND SO I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO HEAR FROM ALL THREE AGENCIES JUST IN TERMS OF, UM, SINCE WE HAVE SO MANY NEW COMMISSIONERS, UM, JUST TO CREATE AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW, HOW YOU GUYS WORK TOGETHER TO KEEP THOSE AREAS SAFE AND HOW YOU GUYS OPERATE DIFFERENTLY IN THOSE AREAS.
UM, UH, I THINK IT WOULD BE USEFUL TO PUT AN UPDATE ON, UH, DPS.
UM, AND, AND WHAT IS THE PLAN? ARE THEY, ARE THEY TRYING TO REDUCE CRIME OR ARE THEY DOING TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT? OKAY.
UM, COMMISSIONER CIARA A UH, I WANTED TO RAISE AN ISSUE THAT I'VE, I'VE BROUGHT UP BEFORE WITH SOME OF THE, UH, PERIODIC REPORTS THAT WE GET, UH, FROM A P D.
UH, WE CONTINUE TO GET REPORTS THAT GIVE US RAW COUNTS AND PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN THESE COUNTS.
UM, IT'S, I I UNDERSTAND THAT THEY'RE A QUESTIONS ABOUT WHICH DENOMINATOR TO CHOOSE.
UM, SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS A POPULATION RATE, NOT FOR CLEARANCES.
THAT'S A SEPARATE ISSUE THAT WE'VE HAD A SEPARATE, UH, GROUP BEGIN TO DISCUSS WITH A P D.
BUT IT, IT SEEMS ODD THAT WE STILL DON'T HAVE RATES FOR, FOR THE CRIMES THAT ARE BEING REPORTED.
UM, THAT'S JUST STANDARD PRACTICE TO REPORT RATES AND NOT ROCK COUNTS.
THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S POPULATION IS GROWING.
UM, SO THAT MIGHT ATTENUATE SOME OF THIS CONTINUED EMPHASIS ON THE PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN A SMALL NUMBER.
UM, AND THAT'S SOME, THAT'S A CHANGE THAT CAN BE DONE VERY EASILY WITH POPULATION FIGURES.
I DON'T KNOW WHY IT HASN'T BEEN DONE.
UM, AND I WOULD LIKE TO REEMPHASIZE THE NEED TO CONTINUE WORKING ON PROVIDING A BASIC CLEARANCE RATE METRIC.
UM, PARTICULARLY FOR ISSUES SUCH AS HOMICIDE, AGGRAVATED ASSAULTS.
UM, I WONDER IF WE MIGHT S START TO SOLVE THAT WITH JUST, UM, HARASSING DR.
UM, I WANTED TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE HIRING FOR A P D BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THEY'RE VERY UNDERSTAFFED.
I, I REALLY WOULD RECOMMEND THAT THE QUALIFICATIONS BE DROPPED A LOT LOWER THAN WHAT THEY ARE.
BRING A LOT MORE DIVERSITY INTO THE POLICE FORCE BECAUSE PEOPLE THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THOSE AREAS, THEY'RE GONNA NOT BE ABLE TO QUALIFY BECAUSE THEY'RE LOW INCOME.
SO THEY MIGHT HAVE BAD CREDIT, THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND THOSE ARE THE OFFICERS THAT WOULD PROBABLY REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE INSTEAD OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED.
SO IT'S A THREAT TO THE COMMUNITY.
SO JUST, IT WOULD OFFER A LOT OF DIVERSITY AND I JUST RECOMMEND, UH, CHANGING THE QUALIFICATIONS.
I'D LIKE TO, UH, SECOND, UH, COMMISSIONER PENA'S FIRST REQUEST.
UM, UH, AS A FELLOW, UH, PUBLIC TRANSIT COMMUTER, UM, I'VE ALSO EXPERIENCED SOME QUESTIONABLE TRANSACTIONS JUST IN ONE DAY, UM, AT, UH, PUBLIC TRANSIT STATIONS AND, UH, IN PUBLIC TRANSIT.
SO I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS, UM, A, UM, UH, A DEVELOPMENT FOR CAP METRO TO, UH, DEVELOP A A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.
UM, I'D LIKE TO HEAR MORE ON THAT, UM, BECAUSE THAT HAS BEEN A CHALLENGE, UH, COMMUTING.
UM, AND IT, IT IS, IT CAN BE PRETTY DISTRESSFUL FOR SOME PEOPLE, UH, TAKING PUBLIC TRANSIT AS WE START TO EXPAND OUR, OUR PUBLIC TRANSIT PLAN.
UH, WE PROBABLY ALSO WANNA EXPAND OUR PUBLIC SAFETY PLAN AS WELL.
UM, IS CAP METRO'S NEW POLICE FORCE ALREADY ON OUR LIST? UM, YEAH.
I BELIEVE THAT CAP METRO, AN UPDATE FROM CAP METRO, UM, ON THEIR DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLICE, THEIR POLICE DEPARTMENT, AND HOW THEY WOULD INTERACT WITH OUR EXISTING A P D, UM, IS ALREADY ON THE LIST.
I JUST THINK WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN IT TO, WE HAVE A PRETTY RO LONG RUNNING LIST.
UM, WE HAVE TWO HOURS A MONTH
LIKE, I DON'T, I DON'T REALLY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HOW THIS WHOLE PROCESS WORKS.
UM, I JUST KNEW THAT I'M, I, I'M THE RIGHT PERSON TO GET INVOLVED WITH THIS AND SO LIKE, FORGIVE ME THAT I CAN'T LIKE SPEAK RIGHT.
AND I'M REALLY NERVOUS, BUT LIKE, THIS,
[01:45:01]
THIS IS BAD AND IT, IT'S GONNA GET BETTER.WE CAN DO IT, WE CAN DO IT, BUT PEOPLE NEED TO GET LOUD.
SERIOUSLY, WE GOT THIS, WELL, OUR BYLAWS OR WHATEVER THEY'RE CALLED ARE PRETTY SHORT.
UM, SHE SHOULDN'T EVEN ACTUALLY GET, UM, OH NO, THEY NEVER GIVE US TO GIVE 'EM TO US.
THEY'RE ON OUR WEBSITE THOUGH, SO LIKE THE PUBLIC CAN READ THEM, BUT I DON'T THINK ANYBODY EVER DOES.
UM, AND, UH, YEAH, ONE OF MY PREDECESSORS DRAFTED THEM.
UM, AND YEAH, MAINLY IT'S JUST THE FORM HAVING TWO CO-SPONSORS FOR AN AGENDA ITEM AND WE'RE ONLY ALLOWED TO DISCUSS THINGS ON OUR AGENDA.
SO IT'S REALLY GOOD TO PICK GOOD THINGS FOR THE AGENDA.
I'LL START MAKING A BIG LIST AND I GOT A WHOLE MONTH
UM, AND ON THAT NOTE, JUST SO THAT EVERYONE ON THE COMMISSION KNOWS, WE GENERALLY SPEND, UM, THE FOLLOWING, WE THE WEEK AFTER, UH, COMMISSION MEETING, FINE TUNING AND TRYING TO ESTABLISH WHAT OUR AGENDA FOR THE NEXT MONTH WILL BE.
SO BY NEXT MONDAY WE WILL HAVE AN AGENDA THAT WE ARE WORKING ON REFINING.
UM, AND SO IF YOU HAVE AGENDA ITEMS, THERE IS THAT FORM, IT IS ON OUR WEBSITE, YOU CAN, THE AGENDA ITEM REQUEST FORM IS REALLY HELPFUL SO THAT WE KNOW WHAT KINDS OF QUESTIONS YOU WANT ANSWERED BECAUSE OTHERWISE WE HAVE PEOPLE COME AND SAY, YES,
AND THEN THEY, THEY, UM, WE'VE HAD EXPERIENCE WITH ASKING FOR VERY BROAD THINGS WITHOUT SPECIFICITY AND THAT DOESN'T GET US THE ANSWERS WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
SO THE AGENDA ITEM REQUEST FORMS ARE REALLY HELPFUL SO THAT YOU CAN GET YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED.
AND SO THE CITY TEAMS THAT ARE COMING AND CITY STAFF THAT IS COMING TO BRIEF US KNOW WHAT THEY NEED TO PREPARE, THAT'S REALLY HELPFUL TO THEM AS WELL.
UM, AND SO, UM, IF YOU SUBMIT, UM, IF YOU REQUEST AGENDA ITEMS, IF YOU CAN PLEASE GET THOSE TO US BEFORE THE END OF THE WEEK, THAT WOULD BE GREAT AND HELPFUL SO THAT WE CAN KEEP THINGS MOVING ALONG.
WANTED TO ADD A FEW MORE THINGS ONTO THAT LIST, THAT RUNNING LIST.
UM, ANOTHER THING I ALSO REALIZED, UH, ALSO IS THAT WE'RE PLANNING ON BRINGING BACK, UM, THE CI CIVILIAN POLICE ACADEMY.
IS THAT CORRECT? OH, CI CITIZENS POLICE ACADEMY, MY APOLOGIES.
COMMUNITY POLICE ACADEMY, WE RECENTLY CHANGED THE NAME.
UM, I, I'D LIKE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT HOW THAT PROGRAM IS GONNA BE EXPANDED.
UM, UH, ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS I THINK IS, IS HELPFUL, UH, FOR ALL FIRST RESPONDERS, UH, IS CONTINUING TO SPREAD, UH, COMMUNITY AWARENESS ON WHAT THEY DO AND THEN ALSO EXPANDING THEIR, THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR CITIZENS OR OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, SO I'D LIKE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT HOW THAT EXPANSION IS WORKING, BECAUSE FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND IN THE PAST, UH, THAT CPA WAS ONLY HELD, UM, UH, AT UH, A P D HEADQUARTERS.
UM, AND I REALIZE THAT CAN BE AN EQUITABILITY ISSUE FOR SOME CITIZENS THAT LIVE FURTHER AWAY IN DIFFERENT DISTRICTS.
ALL, UH, WELL WE'VE GOT QUITE A LIST.
UM, AND UH, NOW THIS IS THE PART THAT I'M ALLOWED TO DO WITHOUT A VOTE.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT'S IT FOR TODAY.
THANKS EVERYBODY, AND WE'LL BE BACK IN A MONTH.