[00:00:07]
I'M GONNA CALL TO ORDER THE CITY COUNCIL OF AUSTIN, TEXAS FOR A WORK SESSION.
IT IS TUESDAY, APRIL 18TH, 2023.
IT IS NINE O'CLOCK, ACTUALLY 9 0 1 IN THE MORNING.
UM, MEMBERS, THE WAY WE'LL MOVE FORWARD ON THIS IS, UH, YOU'LL RECALL THAT WE WERE GONNA TAKE A, A QUICK RECESS AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS WORK SESSION TO TAKE CARE OF SOME OTHER COUNCIL BUSINESS OVER IN THE CHAMBERS AND THEN COME BACK TO THE WORK SESSION, BUT SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT ALL COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE, ARE PRESENT WHEN WE, UH, GO DO THAT OTHER BUSINESS.
WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO INSTEAD IS START OFF WITH A DISCUSSION ON ITEM NUMBER 10, WHICH COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES HAS ASKED THAT WE PULL IT SO THAT WE CAN, UH, HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT.
WE WILL THEN HOPEFULLY, UH, AND LIKELY RECESS AT THAT POINT FOR ABOUT 20 TO 30 MINUTES, AND WE'LL COME BACK IN, UH, WE'LL RECONVENE, AND THAT'S WHEN WE WILL TAKE UP THE TWO BRIEFINGS AND WE WILL GO INTO THE EXECUTIVE SESSION AT THE END OF THOSE BRIEFINGS.
SO, UH, WITH THAT, UNLESS THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT, WHAT WE'LL
[C. Council Items of Interest]
DO IS WE'LL GO TO, UH, COUNCIL ITEM C COUNCIL ITEMS OF INTEREST, AND I'LL CALL UP ITEM NUMBER 10, WHICH IS RELATED TO THE AUTHORIZATION AND NEGOTIATION AND EXECUTION OF A CONTRACT FOR LICENSE PLATE READER, CAMERA SYSTEMS AND SERVICES.AND I'LL RECOGNIZE COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES.
THANK YOU MAYOR AND COLLEAGUES.
I, I PULLED THIS ITEM FOR WORK SESSION IN SPIRIT OF, I'M SURE WE ALL, I HOPE EVERYONE HAS SEEN THE MAYOR'S MESSAGE ABOUT, UM, MEETING PROCESSES.
AND I THINK, AND THE SPIRIT OF TRYING TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE.
BEFORE THURSDAY'S COUNCIL MEETING, I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT ITEM 10, WHICH IS AROUND THE LICENSE PLATE READER TECHNOLOGY.
THERE IS AN ITEM ON THIS WEEK'S COUNCIL COUNCIL AGENDA TO APPROVE THAT CONTRACT WITH THE VENDOR THAT PROVIDES THE LICENSE PLATE READER TECHNOLOGY.
ALSO, AS PART OF THAT, UM, RESOLUTION THAT COUNCIL FOR KELLY BROUGHT FORWARD, UH, THAT OUTLINED A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER PROCESS, UM, TO, FOR, FOR US TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH OUR COMMUNITY AROUND, UH, THE, THE GUIDANCE AND PARAMETERS OF THIS TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY YOU HAVING YET WITHIN OUR, OUR CITY, WHAT THAT WOULD MEAN.
UM, WE RECEIVED A MEMO FROM THE CITY MANAGER, UM, AND ACM BRUCE MILLS, UH, YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, THAT HAS THAT DRAFT POLICY THAT WOULD GO ALONG WITH THAT LICENSE PLATE READER TECHNOLOGY.
UM, I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS IF THERE'S STAFF AVAILABLE TO, TO SPEAK TO IT.
UM, MY FIRST QUESTION WOULD BE IT, YOU KNOW, HAS THE COMMUNITY SEEN THIS DRAFT L P R POLICY AND BEEN ABLE TO WEIGH IN ON, UM, ON THE DRAFT POLICY? TRY IT AGAIN.
UM, THE COMMUNITY WAS ABLE TO SEE A PREVIOUS VERSION OF THE DRAFT.
THIS DRAFT INCLUDES THE INPUT THAT THEY GAVE US WHEN THEY SAW THE PREVIOUS VERSION.
SO THIS LAST VERSION THAT CAME OUT YESTERDAY HAS NOT BEEN SEEN BY THE COMMUNITY.
CAN YOU, IF I MIGHT INTERRUPT AND I APOLOGIZE.
COUNCIL MEMBER, DO YOU IDENTIFY YOURSELF FOR THE RECORD? YES, SIR.
JEFF GREENWALT, ASSISTANT CHIEF FOR THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT, AND I HAVE WITH ME LIEUTENANT ASKEW, WHO IS WITH OUR POLICE TECHNOLOGY UNIT.
YOU KNOW, AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, WITH CENSUS THIS TECHNOLOGY WAS ONE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE DISCUSSED FOR SEVERAL WEEKS ON COUNCIL.
AND KNOWING THAT WE NOW HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, STATE TROOPERS OPERATING WITHIN OUR CITY, I DO THINK COLLEAGUES, IT IS SUPPORT US, UM, PERHAPS CONSIDERING THIS POLICY AND THIS CONTRACT AT A LATER TIME.
YOU KNOW, WE ALSO HAD A CONVERSATION ABOUT UTILIZING OUR COMMITTEES, UM, IN A MORE ROBUST MANNER.
SO THIS MIGHT BE, UH, A GOOD ITEM TO HAVE, UH, FOR OUR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE, WHICH I THINK IS MEETING NEXT WEEK.
UM, SO WANTED TO PUT THAT OUT THERE FOR, FOR US TO CONSIDER ANDREW, WHAT WE CAN DO AND, AND MEMBERS, WHAT WE CAN DO IS WE CAN POST, UH, THIS ITEM WE HAVE TIME, IS WHAT I'M SAYING, TO POST THIS ITEM OR THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE, WHICH IT IS, IN FACT, AS COUNCIL MEMBER POINTENT TO SUGGEST MEETING NEXT WEEK.
COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY, THANK YOU.
AND THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTEZ, FOR PULLING THIS ITEM SO THAT WE COULD TALK MORE ABOUT IT.
UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU BELIEVE THAT COMMUNITY NEEDS MORE TIME, BUT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO HEAR FROM THE CITY MANAGER AND ALSO MAYBE FROM APD TO FIND OUT IF A DELAY WILL IMPACT THE CONTRACT ITSELF OR IF THERE ARE ANY OTHER, UM, THINGS THAT WE NEED TO CONSIDER BEFORE DELAYING THE ITEM.
LET ME ASK, UH, ARE THERE ANY, UH, CONTRACTUAL ISSUES THAT WE HAVE A CONCERN THAT WE JUST DELAYED A WEEK? NO CONTRACTUAL ISSUES? YEAH, I, I JUST THINK THE ONLY THING WE WOULD WANNA KNOW IS IF, UH, WE'VE GIVEN A MEMORANDUM, TRY TO AN ANTICIPATE THE QUESTIONS IF THERE ARE ADDITIONAL PIECES OF INFORMATION THAT ARE NEEDED SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A COMPLETE DISCRETION NEXT WEEK IF YOU'LL GET THOSE TO OUR OFFICE AND WE GET THEM TO THE CHIEF
[00:05:01]
TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ADDRESS ANY ISSUES THAT THE COUNCIL MAY STILL HAVE AS PENDING, UH, RELATIVE TO THIS ITEM SO THAT WE CAN GET THOSE ADDRESSED.SO MY NEXT QUESTION THEN IS ONCE IT COMES TO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE, THEN WHAT WOULD YOU ANTICIPATE VANESSA OR COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES.
WELL, I MEAN, I THINK THE COMMITTEE WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO CONVENE COMMUNITY FEEDBACK AND THE COMMUNITY HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO WEIGH IN AND LET US KNOW WHAT THEY THINK OF THE POLICY.
AND THEN I DON'T KNOW IF THE COUNCIL OF THE COMMITTEE NEEDS TO TAKE ACTION TO RECOMMEND IT TO COUNCIL OR IF IT WOULD JUST BE PLACED ON THE NEXT AGENDA.
SO, SO JUST SO THAT I UNDERSTAND, YOU ANTICIPATE THIS GOING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE JUST TO HAVE AN ADDITIONAL DAY FOR FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY AND THEN IT COMING BACK TO COUNCIL FOLLOWING THAT? YES.
UM, YEAH, I JUST WANT TO SECOND WHAT COUNCILWOMAN FUENTES SAID.
UH, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE BROUGHT UP THE RESOLUTION AROUND RAINEY STREET AND PUBLIC SAFETY, WE DID HAVE A, UH, PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, YOU KNOW, FORUM.
UH, AND WE HAD FOLKS FROM THE COMMUNITY, FOLKS WHO HAD LOST LOVED ONES COME.
AND I THINK THAT HELPED US DRAFT THE, UH, RESOLUTION THAT WE DID.
AND I THINK THAT CAN ONLY BE BENEFICIAL FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, THE, UH, THE ITEM THAT THE, THE COUNCIL MEMBER PULLED.
UH, SO I'M, I'M VERY MUCH IN FAVOR OF THAT.
COUNCIL MEMBER BAYLA? I, I AGREE WITH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES, AND, UH, I HAVE, I, I WANNA SAY IT WAS A BACKUP POSTED VERY RECENTLY WHERE THE POLICY WAS POSTED, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, I THINK JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO.
UH, WE HAVE NOT HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT IT, UH, JUST YET, AND I WOULD LIKE SOME TIME, I THINK THURSDAY'S A BIT QUICK TO, UH, REVIEW, UH, AND, UH, A SHORT, UH, CONTINUANCE WOULD BE VERY APPRECIATED.
NOW WE, WE'LL BE PREPARED, WE'LL BE PREPARED TO HAVE THE DISCUSSION ON THE SECOND, AND THEN ACTION CAN BE TAKEN ON THE FOURTH.
I WANNA MAKE SURE I, I GOT THE NI RIGHT, BUT WHEN YOU SAY SECOND, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE WORK SESSION? WELL, YOU HAVE THE WORK SESSION NEXT WEEK, BUT THEN THE FOR ACTION? NO, NO.
WE HAVE A PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE NEXT WEEK.
THAT'S, AND THEN, THEN IT WOULD BE THE NEXT WEEK, WHICH IS THE FOURTH THAT YOU WOULD HAVE THAT RIGHT.
YOU'D HAVE ACTION ON BEFORE? YEAH, I, I, I MISSPOKE.
SO, BUT I WANNA MAKE SURE WE GET IT DONE NEXT WEEK.
SO, AND I AGREE WITH COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES, THAT WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A WAY THAT WE USE THE COMMITTEES MORE, AND THIS MIGHT BE A VERY GOOD, UH, WAY TO, TO DO THAT.
UM, SO WHAT, WHAT I'LL DO IS MAKE SURE AS CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE, UH, THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE, I'LL MAKE SURE THAT IT'S POSTED SO THAT WE CAN HAVE THE DISCUSSION, AND THEN IT WOULD BE PROPOSED TO BE AN ACTION ITEM ON MAY 4TH.
IS THAT SATISFIED? COUNCIL MEMBER ALISON AL ALTER.
UM, I APPRECIATE MOVING THAT TO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE.
UM, I JUST WANNA POINT OUT THAT WE HAVE A REALLY IMPORTANT CONVERSATION THAT WE NEED TO HAVE ABOUT THE POLICE ACADEMY.
UM, AND SO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT AS WE ARE, ARE THINKING ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT WE HAVE FOR THAT MEETING, THAT WE LEAVE ENOUGH TIME FOR THAT CONVERSATION.
UM, ALSO CONCERNED, IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF WE COULD GET SOME INFORMATION ABOUT WHEN WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THE PRIOR PAROLE REPORT.
SO IT ENDED UP BEING LISTED ON THE AGENDA THAT IT WAS ONLY THE CURRICULUM REVIEW, BUT THERE ARE A WHOLE HOST OF RECOMMENDATIONS THAT CAME OUT ABOUT THE MOST, THE IMMEDIATELY PRIOR CROW REPORT THAT WHEN WE, WHEN I REQUESTED THAT BRIEFING OR THAT DISCUSSION I HAD ASKED ABOUT.
UM, SO I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHEN THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN, IF IT'S NOT UNDER THE CURRENT HEADING, OR IF THAT'S POSSIBLE TO ADJUST IF WE'RE ADJUSTING THE HEADING.
I KNOW THERE WAS SOME DISCUSSION THAT THAT MIGHT BE, THAT THERE WERE SOME CHANGES THAT THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER WAS IMPLEMENTING, AND THAT MIGHT BE BETTER IN MAY, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE SOME CLARITY ON, AND WE, WE, WE TRIED TO REPORT TO YOUR OFFICE ABOUT WHY, UH, STAFF HAD INDICATED THAT IT, THAT MIGHT NOT BE READY ON TUESDAY.
AND WHAT I'LL DO IS I'LL GET AN ANSWER ON ALL THAT, AND I'LL POST IT ON THE MESSAGE BOARD SO THAT EVERYBODY WILL KNOW WHAT THE OVERALL SITUATION IS ON, WHEN THAT WILL BE DONE.
AND WE WILL, UH, CERTAINLY MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S PLENTY OF TIME FOR, UH, ALL OF THESE ISSUES.
SO, SO THAT IT DOESN'T WORRY ANYBODY AS COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY.
SINCE WE HAVE A APD HERE, WOULD IT BE APPROPRIATE FOR THEM TO GIVE US A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF THE POLICY NOW? OR WOULD YOU PREFER THAT, THAT WAY POLICY ON, ON WHAT? LICENSE PLATE READERS ITEM 10.
UM, THAT'S KIND OF FLIES IN THE FACE OF WHAT WE WERE GETTING READY TO DO.
BUT, UM, THAT'S WHY WE HAVE WORK SESSIONS.
IF WE'RE PULLING AN ITEM SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A A, AN ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION, I WOULD PREFER THAT WE HAVE THE DISCUSSION AND THEN WE COME BACK ON THAT.
ANYTHING ELSE ON THIS TOPIC? THOUGHTS? UM,
[00:10:01]
I'M, I'M WAITING.I'M, I'M, I'M WAITING ON ONE THING, AND I DON'T WANT TO DELAY US, UH, ANY MORE THAN WE, WE, UH, NEED TO.
HOW LONG IS THE BRIEFING ON THE LAST WORK? WHAT'S THAT? LONG AS THE BRIEFING NOT VERY LONG.
I THINK WE'RE READY TO ROLL IF YOU WANT.
MEMBERS, I'M GOING TO CALL UP THE
[B2. Briefing on lifeguard recruitment and hiring from the Parks and Recreation Department.]
BRIEFING.AND THE FIRST BRIEFING WE'LL HAVE WILL BE THE BRIEFING ON LIFEGUARD RECRUITMENT AND HIRING FROM THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT.
KIMBERLY GENTLEMEN, THANK Y'ALL FOR BEING HERE.
KIMBERLY MCNEELY, SERVING AS THE PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR.
SO, UH, THIS, THE TITLE STANDS FOR ITSELF.
WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT LIFEGUARDING HIRING AND THE PRESENTATION.
SO, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, I WANTED YOU YOU TO JUST UNDERSTAND A BIT ABOUT WHAT OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES ARE AS WHEN WE ARE, UH, MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT OUR SWIMMING POOL OPERATIONS.
WE UTILIZE THE LONG RANGE PLAN.
WE UTILIZE THE VISION PLAN FOR AQUATICS THAT WAS ADOPTED IN FEBRUARY OF 2018.
WE DO CONSIDER ANNUAL FEEDBACK.
WE DO TAKE A LOOK AT OUR ANNUAL MAINTENANCE, UH, ASSESSMENTS OF OUR SWIMMING POOLS AND THE NEEDS OF THOSE POOLS, REPAIRS, AND OTHER SUCH, UH, REFURBISHMENTS THAT ARE REQUIRED.
UM, WE TRY TO RESPOND TO UNFORESEEN CHALLENGES.
AND THEN WE ALSO CONSIDER EQUITY WHEN WE ARE MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT SWIMMING POOL OPERATIONS.
SO I TELL YOU THIS ONLY BECAUSE LIFEGUARDS IS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT, BUT IT'S NOT THE ONLY COMPONENT THAT MAKES US READY FOR A SWIM SEASON.
SO I'M GONNA FOCUS ON OUR VISION PLAN AND WHAT THE VISION PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS HAVE TOLD US ABOUT, UH, OUR OPERATIONS.
AND THE FIRST THING THAT WE TALK ABOUT IS THE FACT THAT WE HAD A VISION PLAN THAT TOLD US THAT WE HAD SEVEN CRITICAL POOLS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED, AND THOSE CRITICAL POOLS REQUIRED RENOVATION, OR THEY COULD POSSIBLY FAIL WITHIN, UH, FIVE TO SEVEN YEARS.
AND SO WE HAVE WORKED TO ADDRESS ALL OF THOSE, BUT ONE POOL, AND THAT POOL IS LEAVING ONLY THE GARRISON POOL THAT WE'RE IN GOING TO BE ADDRESSING IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
SO, ALL OF THE CRITICAL POOLS HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME, OR ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING ADDRESSED.
THERE ARE ANOTHER NINE POOLS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED, UH, THAT ARE GONNA LIKELY NEED SOME MAJOR RENOVATIONS.
AND SO IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS, THOSE WILL ALSO BE THINGS THAT WE'LL BE TAKING A LOOK AT AND WE'LL NEED TO BE CONSIDERING, UH, AS OUR POOLS START TO AGE.
AND YOU'RE GOING TO SEE THIS RIGHT HERE.
THIS IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO SEE, UM, BUT IF YOU CAN PULL IT UP, THESE ARE THE AVERAGE AGE OF OUR SWIMMING POOLS AND OR THESE ARE NOT, THE AVERAGE AGE JUST IS THE AGE OF OUR SWIMMING POOLS.
AND SO THE AVERAGE AGE OF A COMMERCIAL POOL THAT HAS ITS LIFESPAN IS USUALLY 25 TO 30 YEARS.
SO YOU CAN SEE THAT MANY OF OUR SWIMMING POOLS ARE IN THEIR EIGHTIES, EIGHTY EIGHT, A HUNDRED AND TWO EIGHTY NINE.
I, I WON'T READ THEM ALL TO YOU CUZ I KNOW YOU CAN READ THEM.
AND WHAT THAT LITTLE YELLOW LINE SHOWS YOU IS, THOSE ARE THE RENOVATIONS THAT HAD BEEN DONE.
AND THOSE RENOVATIONS ACTUALLY TAKE AN 88 YEAR OLD POOL THAT HAS BEEN IN A PARTICULAR LOCATION.
AND NOW, UH, BECAUSE OF THE RENOVATIONS, IT MAKES IT CLOSER TO A 47 YEAR OLD POOL.
SO THAT'S A, A BIG STACY, BY WAY OF EXAMPLE, OR BARUM YOU POOL THAT WAS COMPLETELY REBUILT.
INSTEAD OF IT BEING A SEVEN A 62 YEAR OLD POOL, IT'S NOW CLOSER TO APPROXIMATELY A 10 YEAR OLD POOL.
SO ALL OF THIS IS JUST TO SAY THAT WE HAVE A, UM, A INVENTORY OF, WE HAVE A SET OF ASSETS THAT ARE AGING, AND, AND THEY ARE ALL, MANY OF THEM ARE PAST THEIR LIFE EXPECTANCY.
WITH THAT SAID, I DO WANNA POINT OUT THAT DEEP EDDIE, THIS IS A P A PICTURE THAT I PUT IN HERE IN DEEP EDDIE.
IT, IT, IT'S A LITTLE BIT, UM, IT, IT, IT'S, UM, DISINGENUOUS IN THAT IT, IT'S MAKING IT APPEAR AS THOUGH DEEP EDDIE, UH, IS A SWIMMING POOL THAT IS ONLY APPROXIMATELY SIX YEARS OLD.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S, NO, THAT'S REALLY NOT TRUE.
WE DID SOME MAJOR RENOVATIONS TO MAKE IT A ZERO DEPTH ON THREE, BUT THERE ARE SOME, UM, STILL SOME MAJOR WORK.
THE THE WELLS, UM, NEED TO BE, THEY'RE BEING REFURBISHED RIGHT NOW AS WE SPEAK, CUZ DEEP EDDIE IS CLOSED.
THERE'S ALSO SOME SWIMMING POOL SHELL, UH, UH, RENOVATIONS THAT NEED TO HAPPEN.
AND SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT YOU KNOW THAT OF THIS, THE ONE THAT'S PERHAPS A LITTLE DISINGENUOUS AS DEEP EDDIE, BUT I COULDN'T FIND, UM, IN TIME FOR THIS.
I COULDN'T FIND THE RIGHT, THE RIGHT, UH, IMAGE TO PUT UP HERE.
SO THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT HAS WORKED, UH, FOR A NUMBER OF RECENT RENOVATIONS AND NEW CONSTRUCTIONS TO BE ABLE TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR SWIMMING, OUR, OUR, UH, INVENTORY IS READY.
SO WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF BUILDING A NEW POOL AT COLONY PARK, BRAND NEW POOL.
WE ARE DOING MEN MAJOR RENOVATIONS TO GIBBONS POOL AS WE SPEAK.
WE'RE IN THE PERMITTING PROCESS FOR BOTH COLONY AND GIBBONS CHE POOL, GO VALLEY POOL,
[00:15:01]
MONOPOLI ACHE POOL, AND GO VALLEY POOL ARE COMPLETELY RENOVATED.AND, AND THEY'RE, UM, THEY'RE PART, THEY WERE ONE OF THE SEVEN CRITICAL POOLS.
MONTOPOLIS AND NORTHWEST ARE GOING THROUGH SOME MAJOR RENOVATIONS, UH, IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
AND OF COURSE, WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF REBUILDING THE BARTON SPRINGS BATHHOUSE AND THE PARK KOSA BATHHOUSE.
SO THOSE ARE THE PROJECTS THAT ARE UPCOMING SO THAT WE CAN KEEP OUR, OUR SYSTEM OPERATING.
UM, HERE'S HOW WE TRIED TO MAINTAIN OR HOW TO, UM, GET ON TOP OF OUR MAINTENANCE ISSUES.
AND SO WE DID A STRATEGIC REALIGNMENT OF OUR, OF OUR AQUATICS DIVISION USING RESOURCES THAT WERE WITHIN OUR OWN SYSTEM.
SO WE DIDN'T ASK FOR, WE DID GET SOME NEW RESOURCES, BUT THE STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT IS RECLASSIFYING POSITIONS SO THAT WE CAN BETTER RESPOND TO MAINTENANCE ISSUES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
AND IN THE, UM, IN THE SEASON WHEN WE'RE GETTING READY FOR THE SWIMMING POOLS TO BECOME UP AND RUNNING, UM, WE'VE INCREASED THE NUMBER OF, OF INCREASED NUMBER OF COMPLETE UNITS.
AND SO, UH, WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT WE HAVE COMPLETE, UH, SETS OF INDIVIDUALS, CREWS THAT GO OUT.
AND SO RATHER THAN, UH, WE MADE SURE WE FILLED VACANCIES TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE INDIVIDUALS ARE GOING OUT IN COMPLETE CREWS, UM, WE UTILIZE CONTRACTORS TO ASSIST.
WE'VE REVIEWED THE FACILITY DOWNTIME BECAUSE WE HAVE A USED TECHNOLOGY.
SO INSTEAD OF HAVING TO HAVE A, A, A MAINTENANCE PERSON RESPOND TO A PARTICULAR CHLORINE OR ACID ISSUE, WE NOW HAVE, WE CAN DO THAT ELECTRONICALLY, UM, SITTING IN OUR, IN OUR SEATS, IN OUR CARS, UH, IN OUR DESKS TO BE ABLE TO, UH, INCREASE THAT.
SO THAT HAS DECREASED THE AMOUNT OF DOWNTIME.
WE'VE TRIED TO EXTEND OUR SPLASH PAD HOURS, AND I ONLY PUT THAT ON THERE BECAUSE THAT SPLASH PADS IN AND OF THEMSELVES HAVE THEIR OWN MAINTENANCE ISSUES.
AND SO, UH, WHILE WE'RE EXTENDING THAT TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE MORE ACCESS TO WATER, IT DOES, UM, PROVIDE US A FEW MORE GLITCHES SOMETIMES IN OUR SYSTEM.
BUT THAT AUTOMATION IS HELPING US, UM, TREMENDOUSLY.
AND WE'VE, UM, PARTICIPATED, WE'VE HAD OUR STAFF PARTICIPATE IN CROSS-TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES SO THAT THEY CAN RESPOND TO JUST ABOUT ANY, UH, ANY RES ANY SORT OF MAINTENANCE ISSUE.
SO HERE'S THE THING THAT I THINK MOST PEOPLE ARE REALLY, UM, INTERESTED IN, AND THIS IS ALL ABOUT OUR LIFEGUARDS.
AND SO IN OUR, UH, IN OUR, IN OUR OPERATIONS, WE NEED APPROXIMATELY 850 LIFEGUARDS EACH SUMMER.
AND YOU CAN SEE HERE FROM 2014 ALL THE WAY TO 2022, HOW WE HAD NOT, OR PERHAPS DID NOT MEET THE GOAL IN, IN EACH YEAR EXCEPT FOR, YOU CAN SEE, UH, 2017, 2018, IN 2019, WHERE IN THE UPPER LEVEL, 2019, YOU MIGHT REMEMBER, WAS A LIVING WAGE INCREASE.
UH, AND THAT WAS VERY HELPFUL IN HELPING US, UM, RECEIVE THOSE LIFEGUARDS OR GET THE RIGHT NUMBER OF LIFEGUARDS.
AND IN 2000 AND, UH, 20, OBVIOUSLY, THAT, THAT WAS THE YEAR OF COVID.
SO THERE WERE, WE DIDN'T NEED THE LIFEGUARDS AT THAT PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME.
SO I, I LET YOU KNOW THIS BECAUSE, UM, I WANTED YOU TO REALIZE THAT IN 2019, WE WERE COMPLETELY ON TRACK FOR LIFEGUARDING, AND WE ARE SIMILAR THIS YEAR.
I'M GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT.
WE'VE PUT IN SOME INTERVENTIONS THIS YEAR TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ON TRACK FOR 2023, BUT WE'RE COMPARING IT TO 2019, WHICH WAS ON ONE OF OUR MOST SUCCESSFUL YEARS.
ONE OF THE, UM, CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE IS, UH, TO BE ABLE TO HAVE LIFEGUARDS IS THAT YOU CAN SEE WHERE ALL THE SWIMMING POOLS ACTUALLY ARE, AND THEN YOU CAN SEE WHERE THE POPULATION ACTUALLY LIVES.
AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IS A CHALLENGE FOR US IS WHEN YOU'RE 16 OR 17 OR 15, AND YOU NEED TO GET TO A SWIMMING POOL AND YOU LIVE ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE CITY OR, AND THE, THE SUBURBAN AREAS OF THE CITIES, AND THE, AND THE POOLS ARE ACTUALLY MORE TOWARDS THE MIDDLE.
YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO GET THERE.
AND SO THAT'S A LITTLE BIT OF A CHALLENGE, BUT I'LL TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW WE HAVE, UM, HOW WE HAVE TRIED TO, UH, MANAGE THAT.
SO THE VISION PLAN TOLD US, WE KNOW THAT YOU'RE GONNA HAVE STAFFING ISSUES, AND HERE'S THE THINGS THAT YOU NEED TO DO.
YOU NEED TO TRAIN AND MENTOR STAFF.
YOU NEED TO UPDATE YOUR HIRING PRACTICES.
YOU NEED TO HIRE YEAR ROUND LIFEGUARDS.
PLEASE IMPLEMENT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TO ENHANCE, UM, THEIR RECRUITING EFFORTS.
PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE, UM, PROCURING FULL-TIME, I'M SORRY, FRONTLINE STAFF, TO DO THINGS THAT ARE NON-LIFE GUARDING THINGS.
SO YOU'RE NOT ASKING THE LIFEGUARDS TO DO, UH, AN ADDITIONAL JOB.
SO BRING IN YOUR CASHIERS, BRING IN YOUR MAINTENANCE FOLKS, AND PLEASE DON'T ASK YOUR LIFEGUARDS TO DO THAT.
AT LEAST THAT WAS THE RECOMMENDATION.
AND THEN ALSO TO ENHANCE THE LIFEGUARD EXPERIENCE BY PROVIDING THEM SOME AMENITIES THAT, THAT, UM, ARE, ARE DESIRABLE.
SO HERE'S WHAT THE DEPARTMENT HAS ALREADY DONE AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO.
UM, WE HAVE WORKED WITH OUR HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT IN COLLABORATION WITH, UH, THE HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT TO AUTOMATE SOME OF OUR PROCESSES, INCLUDING OUR I NINE PROCESS AND OUR COM, UH, CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK, BOTH OF WHICH ARE NEEDED TO BECOME HIRED.
WE CREATED SOMETHING CALLED TOPS, WHICH YOU MAY HAVE HEARD SOME NEGATIVE, UM, FEEDBACK ON.
[00:20:01]
I WANNA TELL YOU THAT IT'S NOT NEGATIVE, IT'S ACTUALLY POSITIVE.WHEN YOU ARE A LIFEGUARD, YOU HAVE TO DO ALL THOSE EMPLOYMENT THINGS.
THE I NINE, YOU HAVE TO DO THE CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK, BUT YOU ALSO HAVE TO HAVE YOUR LIFEGUARD TRAINING.
YOU ALSO HAVE TO PASS YOUR A E D AND FIRST AID TRAINING.
YOU ALSO HAVE TO BE ABLE TO DO IN-SERVICE TRAINING.
YOU ALSO HAVE TO BE ABLE TO DO YOUR SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINING.
YOU KNOW, YOU GUYS CAN SEE WHERE I'M GOING WITH THAT.
SO WHAT TOPS DOES IS IT'S ABLE TO ALLOW US TO KEEP TRACK OF ALL THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT YOU HAVE TO DO BEFORE YOU CAN ACTUALLY SIT A STAND.
AND SO THAT SYSTEM, WHILE, UH, IT HAD A FEW GLITCHES LAST YEAR, WE HAVE SINCE, UM, UH, TOOLED RETOOLED IT, WE'VE TWEAKED IT, AND WE'VE ALSO SHARED IT WITH OUR H R D DEPARTMENT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE, UM, FEEDBACK FROM THEM TO MAKE IT THE BEST SYSTEM THAT CAN BE.
AND THIS YEAR IT'S WORKING, I'M GONNA SAY SEAMLESSLY, RIGHT? BUT THERE'S GONNA BE A GLITCH AT SOME POINTS IN TIME.
BUT UP TO THIS POINT, IT HAS BEEN WORKING SEAMLESSLY.
WE HIRED THOSE 13 FULL-TIME LIFEGUARDS.
UH, THEY ARE ALREADY, UH, WORKING AND IN IN OUR SYSTEM.
AND THAT WAS, THANKS TO COUNCIL'S ALLOCATION LAST YEAR.
WE HAVE A NEW PAY RATE OF $20 PER HOUR, THE LIVING WAGE THAT HAS BEEN QUITE EFFECTIVE.
AND THEN JUST RECENTLY YOU SAW LAST WEEK WE ANNOUNCED THE, UM, OPPORTUNITY FOR LIFEGUARDS TO EARN UP TO $750 BONUS.
UH, WE'VE REDUCED THE BARRIERS TO ENTRY.
THERE'S, YOU ARE, YOU, UH, CAN TRAIN TO BE A LIFEGUARD FREE OF CHARGE.
IF BY CHANCE YOU DON'T PASS THE TRAINING, THEN WE'RE GONNA OFFER YOU A CASHIER JOB OR SOME OTHER JOB WITHIN THE PARK SYSTEM TO BE ABLE TO WORK THIS SUMMER.
UM, ONCE YOU COMPLETE YOUR TRAINING, WE'RE GONNA, WE'RE ALL GONNA PROVIDE YOU A $400 STIPEND TO PAY FOR THAT TRAINING SO THAT WE'RE GONNA PAY YOU FOR YOUR TIME, UH, WHETHER YOU'VE, WHETHER YOU'VE PASSED SUCCESSFULLY OR NOT.
BUT WE'RE GONNA HOPE THAT YOU'RE GONNA PAY, YOU'RE GONNA, UM, YOU'RE GONNA WORK SOMEWHERE FOR US.
UH, WE HAVE FREE UNIFORMS, WE'RE ISSUING FREE UNIFORMS. NO LONGER DO YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THOSE.
UM, WE'RE TRYING TO CREATE A CULTURE OF INTENTION, UH, RETENTION, I'M SORRY, BY CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR JOB GROWTH, LETTING INDIVIDUALS KNOW WHAT COULD BE.
YOU CAN START HERE AS A LIFEGUARD, AND THEN YOU CAN BECOME, BY WAY OF EXAMPLE, THE DIRECTOR OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UH,
UM, UM, ALSO THROUGH THE OFF-SEASON, WE'RE TRYING TO PROVIDE OFF, UH, CROSS-TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES TO KEEP, UH, LIFEGUARDS ENGAGED.
AND THEN THOSE AMENITIES, WE'RE TRYING TO PUT, UH, AMENITIES AT OUR, AS WE REVE, UH, RE RENOVATE OUR SPACES.
WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S AIR CONDITIONING, THERE'S FAN, THERE'S GOOD AIR CIRCULATION.
THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES FOR, FOR, UM, OUR YOUTH, OR SORRY, OUR, OUR YOUNG FOLKS TO PUT THEIR LUNCHES SO THAT THEY'RE IN REFRIGERATORS INSTEAD OF, UM, PERHAPS THE FACILITIES THAT WE HAD IN THE PAST.
HERE'S OUR, OUR MARKETING EFFORTS.
UM, YOU MAY HAVE SEEN, UH, ON CBS, THERE WAS A A ACTUALLY ON THE NEWS, THEY WERE ANNOUNCING THE FACT THAT YOU COULD COME AND BE A LIFEGUARD, UH, FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, YOU CAN SEE LITTLE REAL ESTATE SIGNS, YOU CAN SEE BANNERS, YOU CAN SEE IT IN THE CHRONICLE.
YOU CAN SEE IT IN THE AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMEN.
YOU CAN SEE OUR ADVERTISEMENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
WE'VE BEEN TO THE HIRING FAIRS.
WE GO DIRECTLY TO THE SCHOOLS.
WE HAVE OUR SWIM ATX PROGRAM STILL.
SO WE ARE, UM, WE'VE, UH, DEDICATED A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS TO MARKETING AND ADVERTISING, UM, SPECIFICALLY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE RECRUITING OUR LIFEGUARDS.
UM, ALSO IN OUR VISION PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS.
THIS GOES, UH, TO TELLING US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT WE NEED TO DO WITH OUR PROGRAMMING.
AND A LOT OF WHAT THIS, UH, WHAT OUR VISION PLAN TOLD US IS THAT IF YOU CAN, UH, ENGAGE YOUTH AT A YOUNG AGE AND GET THEM SWIMMING LESSONS AND HELP THEM FEEL AS THOUGH THEY'RE COMFORTABLE AND PART OF A COMMUNITY AT YOUR SWIMMING POOL, GUESS WHAT? THEY'RE GONNA WANNA COME BACK AND WORK THERE.
SO REALLY, OUR VISION PLAN ABOUT PROGRAMMING TELLS US THAT WE NEED TO DO, UM, A, A BETTER JOB OF, OF GETTING THOSE YOUNG FOLKS SWIMMING LESSONS, ENGAGING THEM.
AND SO WE'VE BEEN WORKING, UH, TO INCREASE OUR YEAR ROUND SWIMMING LESSONS.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICT TO TRY AND SEE IF WE CAN START SOMETHING VERY SIMILAR TO, UH, WHAT WE CALL IT, A SWIMSAFE PROGRAM.
IT, IT SORT OF, UM, DEC DECREASED IN, IN AMOUNT IN THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS THAT WE HAD DURING THE COVID, BUT WE'RE TRYING TO REVIVE THAT PROGRAM.
UM, YOU COULD IMAGINE THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE THE KNIFE GUARDS TO BE ABLE TO EXPAND THE PROGRAMMING, BUT IT'S ON OUR MIND.
AND WE UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A REAL OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO BE ABLE TO ENGAGE OUR YOUTH AND GET THEM INTERESTED IN SWIMMING.
UM, WE ALSO KNOW THAT SWIM LESSONS ARE, AND SUPER IMPORTANT IN ORDER FOR PEOPLE TO BE ABLE JUST TO HAVE THAT LIFE SKILL, UH, SO THAT WE CAN PREVENT, UM, ANY SORTS OF NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES WHEN PEOPLE GO TO THE WATER.
BEFORE I END THIS, AND YOU ASK QUESTIONS, PLEASE KNOW THAT AS OF FOUR 14, SO THAT WOULD'VE BEEN, UM, FRIDAY, RIGHT? UH, WE HAVE 299 LIFEGUARDS READY TO WORK RIGHT NOW, WHICH MEANS THEY, ALL OF THEIR PAPERWORK'S DONE.
EVERYTHING IS, THE BOXES ARE ALL CHECKED.
[00:25:01]
HAD MORE LIFEGUARDS THAN WE NEEDED, WE WERE, UH, AT 302 AT THIS SAME POINT IN TIME.SO IT'S A SIGNIFICANTLY, THERE'S NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE.
WE'VE HAD 700 APPLICATIONS TO DATE, UH, FOR THE MONTH OF BAY.
WE HAVE 167 LIFEGUARDS SIGNED UP FOR, OR INDIVIDUALS SIGNED UP FOR LIFEGUARDING CLASSES.
AND WE HAVE 46 INDIVIDUALS WHO SAID, HEY, I WORKED THERE LAST YEAR.
I JUST NEED TO TAKE THAT ONE CLASS.
UM, SO WE HAVE 337 LIFEGUARDS CERTIFIED, AND ONLY 299 THAT ARE, UM, HAVE ALL THEIR PAPERWORK DONE.
SO YOU CAN BET THAT WE'RE WORKING REAL HARD TO CONTACT THOSE INDIVIDUALS SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY MAKE THE 299 NUMBER, THE 337 NUMBER.
UM, I'M READY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
UH, DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? YES, COUNCIL MEMBER VELO, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REPORT.
AND IT WOULD JUST BE SPECTACULAR IF WE WERE TO ABLE TO OPEN ALL OR VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE POOLS AT THE START OF THE SEASON.
UH, I THINK THAT, THAT, THAT WOULD BE VERY WELL RECEIVED BY, UH, BY OUR CONSTITUENTS.
UH, JUST A A A QUESTION ON THE BUDGET.
ARE YOU BUDGETED FOR THE $750 BONUS? BECAUSE I KNOW Y'ALL HAD SOME, UH, SOME SERIOUS EXPENSES RELATED TO THE, UH, THE WINTER STORM IN TERMS OF LIKE LIMB MANAGEMENT ON, ON THE PARKS AND ALL THAT.
SO ARE YOU FULLY BUDGETED TO PAY OUT THE, THE $750 SIGNING BONUS OR, YES, SIR.
SO THIS YEAR WE ARE ABLE TO, UH, WE'RE ABLE TO USE OUR VACANCY SAVINGS.
SO THE REASON WHY IT TOOK US A LITTLE TIME TO ANNOUNCE THAT IS WE DID OUR SECOND QUARTER, UM, ESTIMATES, AND WE WILL HAVE SUFFICIENT VACANCY SAVINGS THIS YEAR TO BE ABLE TO PAY BONUSES.
I CAN'T SAY THAT WE WOULD HAVE THAT FOR FUTURE YEARS, BUT WE ALSO MIGHT BE SO SUCCESSFUL IN ALL OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT WE'VE IMPLEMENTED THAT FOLKS WILL JUST WANNA COME BACK AND WORK FOR US, AND WE MIGHT NOT NEED A BONUS NEXT YEAR.
SO I'M BEING AS OPTIMISTIC AS I POSSIBLY CAN, BUT I'M ALSO A REALIST.
AND TO THAT, UH, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT GOING TO, I I, AND I MAY NOT CHARACTERIZE THIS QUITE CORRECTLY, BUT STEP PAY FOR LIFEGUARDS OR LIKE A RETURNING WHERE SOMEONE WOULD, YOU KNOW, THEIR SECOND YEAR MAKE MORE, THEIR THIRD YEAR MC MORE, UH, UH, UH, COULD YOU DISCUSS THAT OR WHAT ARE Y'ALL THINKING ABOUT? YEAH, SO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO LOOK AT IS, IS THAT OUR CURRENT, OUR PER OUR, THE CURRENT, WE HAVE THE ABILITY, THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT HAS THE ABILITY TO CREATE, I THINK THAT'S A GOOD WORD, A A A STEP PAY THAT SAYS THAT IF YOU'VE BEEN WITH US FOR A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME OR YOU HAVE A CERTAIN A SKILL, WE CAN PAY A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MONEY AND THEN BE ABLE TO INCREASE THE HOURLY RATES BASED UPON THE SKILLSET THAT YOU HAVE.
THAT'S ONE OF THE, UM, INCENTIVES THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO, UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT OUR BUDGET VERY CAREFULLY.
HOW CAN WE WORK THAT INTO OUR BUDGET TO BE ABLE TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S THE INCENTIVE TO COME BACK, NOT NECESSARILY GETTING A BONUS, BUT BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT YOU'VE HAD A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF EXPERIENCE AND A CERTAIN SKILLSET, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO EARN SOME MORE MONEY.
WE THINK THAT THAT MIGHT BE A MOTIVATOR FOR INDIVIDUALS.
AND, UM, AND I KNOW THERE'S ALWAYS A, A, A CAREFUL BALANCE TO STRIKE BETWEEN, YOU KNOW, THE SPLASH PADS AND, AND, AND LIFEGUARDS AND OTHER EXPENSES.
I MEAN, THE, THE HUGE BENEFIT OF THE SPLASH PADS IS THAT YOU DON'T HAVE A LIFEGUARD THERE.
UH, AND SO THUS THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE CHEAPER.
UH, OF COURSE, IT'S NOT THE FULL SWIMMING OPPORTUNITY, YOU KNOW, WHERE KIDS REALLY GET TO.
BUT JUST THINKING ABOUT PORTIONS OF MY DISTRICT IN PARTICULAR, I THINK ABOUT, UH, THE NORTHERN, UH, PORTIONS LIKE NORTH OF ROMBERG.
THERE'S, THERE'S NOT A LOT OF SWIMMING OPPORTUNITIES.
I KNOW THAT THERE'S A, A DEVELOPMENT OF A, OF A PARK, UM, IN THAT AREA.
BUT I JUST, I, I THINK THE SPLASH PATHS ARE A BIG HIT, ESPECIALLY IN AREAS OF NORTH AUSTIN THAT, UH, DON'T HAVE A LOT OF, UH, ACCESS TO, UH, POOLS, UH, AND HAVE A LOT OF, UH, APARTMENT COMPLEXES WITH KIDS THAT NEED THAT, YOU KNOW, SUMMER RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.
UH, THEY'RE A, A REAL BIG HIT.
AND I WOULD DEFINITELY ENCOURAGE PARKS TO CONTINUE TO INVEST IN THE SPLASH PADS, ALTHOUGH I KNOW HOW DIFFICULT THEY CAN BE.
AND I, I SEE THE MAINTENANCE AT BARTHOLOME WHERE IT GETS CLOGGED, AND I SEE FOLKS OUT THERE KIND OF CLEARING IT OUT AND, AND FIXING IT UP.
BUT THEY ARE REALLY GREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR, FOR FAM FOR FAMILIES AND KIDS.
UM, AND LAST, I WOULD JUST NOTE THAT I'VE NOTICED ON MY, MY CAP METRO BUS RIDES THAT THERE ARE STILL SIGNS THAT STAY LIFEGUARD'S BEING HIRED AT $15 AN HOUR.
I DIDN'T WANNA, I DIDN'T WANNA UPSET THE BUS DRIVER, BUT I, I HAD HALF OF MIND TO JUST PULL THAT SIDE DOWN MYSELF.
SO I, I MADE THAT MISTAKE THE OTHER DAY.
THE, WE HAVE TO JUST DOUBLE CHECK AND MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T SAY Y M C A BECAUSE THE Y M C A IS, I'M NOT ADVERTISING FOR THEM.
BUT ANYWAYS,
THANK YOU FOR THAT INFORMATION.
I JUST WANNA SECOND THE NOTION OR THE COMMENTS ABOUT THE SPLASH PAD.
AS SOMEONE WHO WAS UTILIZING ONE JUST THIS WEEKEND WITH MY ALMOST TWO YEAR OLD SON, THEY, MY KIDS
[00:30:01]
LOVE IT.AND, UH, IT IS SUCH A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR KIDS WHO CAN'T SWIM, UH, TO BE ABLE TO GET THAT WATER EXPOSURE AND EXPERIENCE.
SO THEY'RE DEFINITELY A BIG HIT IN OUR HOUSEHOLD.
AND, UH, DEFINITELY ENCOURAGE AS MUCH AS WE CAN.
I, I KNOW THE HEADACHES, WE'VE, WE'VE ALSO EXPERIENCED THEM, BUT YEAH.
UM, THEY, THEY DEFINITELY HAVE THEIR PLACE IN THE SYSTEM, RIGHT? THERE'S A, AN APPROPRIATE BALANCE OF POOLS AND SPLASH PADS.
AND I DO, I DO AGREE WITH YOU KIDS.
WE, ONE OF THE THINGS IN OUR LONG RANGE PLAN SAYS THAT WE WANT TO, UH, INCREASE ACCESS TO WATER.
SO WE, WE HAVE THAT ON OUR RADAR.
UH, I ALSO WANT, SECOND, I'D LIKE THE CONCEPT OF THE STEP PAY.
I KNOW IN PROBABLY EVERY OTHER DEPARTMENT THAT THE CITY RUNS, YOU KNOW, THE LONGER YOU'RE HERE, YOU'RE ABLE TO KIND OF GET INTO HIGHER PAY SCALES, WHICH ENCOURAGES PEOPLE TO COME BACK.
UM, AND IT'S, THIS IS ALL GREAT NEWS, SO I'M REALLY GLAD YOU DID THE PRESENTATION.
I KNOW OFTENTIMES WE'RE GETTING PRESENTATIONS BECAUSE THERE'S THINGS WE'RE TRYING TO WORK TOGETHER TO SOLVE, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE SOME OF THESE CONVERSATIONS AND INITIATIVES OVER THE PAST COUPLE YEARS HAVE REALLY BEEN HELPING.
UM, AND I WANNA FLAG FOR THE CITY MANAGER AS WELL.
WE HAD A CONVERSATION PROBABLY ABOUT A YEAR AGO AROUND TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES AND THINGS LIKE DENTAL INSURANCE AND MAKING SURE, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES QUALIFY FOR THE CITY BENEFITS.
BUT SOME OF OUR, OUR TEMPORARY AND SEASONAL EMPLOYEES MAY NOT QUALIFY FOR THAT.
UM, WE DIDN'T INCLUDE IT IN THE LAST BUDGET CYCLE.
AND I'M NOT SURE HOW MUCH THAT IMPACTS THE FOLKS THAT ARE LIFEGUARDS AND WORK FOR PAR DURING THE SUMMER, BECAUSE I'M IMAGINING THERE'S A LOT THAT ARE ALREADY ON THEIR FAMILY INSURANCE PLANS.
UM, BUT I AM VERY CURIOUS JUST ABOUT MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE EN ENTICING PEOPLE TO COME WORK FOR THE CITY AND DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE CAN GO SEE, UM, DOCTORS AND DENTISTS AS MUCH AS, AS THEY POSSIBLY NEED TO, ESPECIALLY AT A YOUNG AGE.
YOU WANNA GET PEOPLE SET UP EARLY.
UM, AND I KNOW THAT WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THE PAID TRAINING.
AND SO IS THAT WHERE THE $400 COMPLETION, UH, BONUS CAME FROM, IS KIND OF INCENTIVIZING PEOPLE TO GET ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE PROGRAM, WHETHER OR NOT THEY PASS THE TEST, AS YOU SAID? YES.
SO, SO THE ONE THING IS THE WAY THAT OUR SYSTEM IS CURRENTLY SET UP, AND WE'RE WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH H R D, SO THIS IS NOT A CRITICISM, IT'S, IT'S A WAY TO MAKE, UH, KEEP THE PROMISE THAT WE MADE WHILE WE CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THE SYSTEM IS THAT IT'S HARD TO HIRE SOMEBODY, UH, TO HIRE SOMEBODY TO DO A JOB THAT HAS A MINIMUM QUALIFICATION OF BEING ABLE TO HAVE THE CERTIFICATION, BUT YET THEY DON'T HAVE IT.
SO THIS IS THE WAY THAT WE HAVE, UM, THAT'S, THIS IS THE WAY THAT WE CAN PAY PEOPLE FOR TRAINING, IS BY PROVIDING THEM THE STIPEND.
WITH THAT SAID, WE GOT A GREAT, UH, SUGGESTION FROM THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE ABOUT THINKING AND WORKING, PERHAPS, UH, UH, WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEY RUN A POLICE ACADEMY.
NOT THAT THIS IS ANYTHING LIKE A POLICE ACADEMY, BUT THE CONCEPT OF PAYING SOME STIPEND FOR FOLKS TO GO THROUGH.
HOW DO WE, HOW CAN WE PERHAPS WORK WITH H R D TO PUT IN A SYSTEM LIKE THAT? BUT IT'S, IT WAS A WAY TO GET US TO MAKE, KEEP OUR PROMISE FOR THIS YEAR, AND THEN WE CAN STILL WORK ON A, A SYSTEM THAT MIGHT BE MORE SUSTAINABLE FOR THE FUTURE.
I'M GLAD TO HEAR, UH, THAT CONVERSATION'S HAPPENING.
AND THEN I'LL, I'LL JUST END ON SAYING I'M GLAD THAT THE, THE PIPELINE IS GETTING BUILT AGAIN, THAT JOBS PIPELINE.
CAUSE I KNOW WITH COVID IT WAS REALLY HARD TO GET PEOPLE WHO HAD DECIDED TO TAKE OTHER CAREERS DURING THAT TIME, UM, TO GET THEM BACK INTO LIFEGUARDING.
SO I'M GLAD THAT THAT, UM, RETURN RATE OF PEOPLE COMING AND WORKING IN THE DEPARTMENT IS, IS GETTING BETTER.
UM, I'LL MAKE THIS REALLY QUICK.
I, WE GOT A NOTIFICATION, AT LEAST I GOT A NOTIFICATION DURING THIS MEETING.
UH, SO I JUST WANT TO GIVE, UM, ALL THE FLOWERS TO YOUR COMMS TEAM, UH, FOR THEIR SUMMER JOB.
JUST GOT HOTTER, UM, UH, POST ABOUT, UH,
UM, YOU KNOW, I JUST WANT TO, YOU KNOW, RE-UP WHAT EVERYONE HAS SAID ABOUT THE STEP PAY AND THE BENEFITS, UH, THAT THE MAYOR PROTE HAD MENTIONED.
UH, I JUST HAD A QUESTION ABOUT THE RENOVATIONS.
UM, UH, THE SLIDE THAT HAD, UM, YOU KNOW, AGE OF THE POOL AND THEN TIME OF, OF RENOVATION.
I, I, IS THERE A, I GUESS A BENCHMARK OF POOL HITS TO, TO NEED A RE RENOVATION? UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE AVERAGE AGE OF, OF RENOVATIONS AND, AND WHERE DO YOU SEE, UH, UM, I, I GUESS THE NEED ARISE THE MOST? RIGHT.
SO, UM, THE LIFESPAN OF A COMMERCIAL POOL IS 25 TO 30 YEARS.
SO USUALLY AT 30 YEARS, RIGHT? THAT ASSET COULD NOT USUALLY, OFTENTIMES AT 30 YEARS, THAT ASSET COULD BE REBUILT.
UM, OUR, OUR TEAM HAS A ASSET MANAGEMENT PROCESS.
IT GOES INTO AN ENTIRE SYSTEM WHERE WE ARE, UM, THOSE POOLS THAT ARE PAST THEIR TIME OR NEED THEIR RENOVATION ALONG WITH OTHER MAINTENANCE ASSESSMENTS, UH, THEY GET PRIORITIZED IN THAT ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SO THAT WE UNDERSTAND WHAT DO WE NEED TO KEEP THEM GOING, AND THEN AT WHAT POINT IN TIME DO THEY RISE TO A COMPLETE REBUILD? AND WHEN THEY RISE TO THE COMPLETE REBUILD, THEN WE LOOK AT OUR, OUR BOND PROGRAM OR OUR OTHER, OTHER OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO BE ABLE TO, UM, TO
[00:35:01]
RENOVATE COMPLETELY RENOVATE THAT PARTICULAR ASSET.SO, UM, PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT LONGER CONVERSATION THAN WE HAVE RIGHT HERE, AS I COULD EXPLAIN OUR ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON AL ALTER.
EXCUSE ME, DIRECTOR MAGNE, THIS IS ALL GREAT NEWS.
I'M REALLY EXCITED WITH THE DIRECTION, AS MY COLLEAGUES HAVE MENTIONED.
UM, I WANTED TO DIG A LITTLE BIT ON A COUPLE OF THE ITEMS. WE HAD MENTIONED AT ONE POINT THAT THERE WAS A NEED FOR TRANSPORTATION SUPPORT.
UM, CAN YOU SPEAK TO HOW, HOW YOU'VE ADDRESSED THAT? SO, I APOLOGIZE.
I SAID I WAS GONNA TALK ABOUT IT IN THE PRESENTATION AND I FORGOT.
SO WE MAKE SURE THAT OUR LIFEGUARDS HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE FREE BUS PASSES, JUST LIKE ANY OTHER EMPLOYEE.
UH, THAT WASN'T SOMETHING THAT WAS READILY ADVERTISED OR MADE AVAILABLE, BUT WE MAKE SURE THAT THAT IS PART OF THE PROCESS THAT SHOULD SOMEBODY WANT THAT, THAT THEY ABSOLUTELY CAN HAVE THAT.
WE ALSO HAVE KICKED AROUND THE IDEA, ALTHOUGH THIS HAS NOT COME TO FRUITION, OF BEING ABLE TO HAVE SOME SORT OF SHUTTLE THAT COULD PICK OUR LIFEGUARDS UP, BUT AT THIS PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME, THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE COULD WORK INTO OUR BUDGET, STILL RUN SUMMER CAMP, YOU KNOW, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE BALANCING ALL THE NEEDS OF THE DEPARTMENT.
BUT WE DEFINITELY HAVE THE, THE BUS PASSES.
AND THEN FIRST, SOME OF THE POOLS THAT USED TO HAVE SWIM TEAMS BEFORE THE LAST FEW SEASONS, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S A CHALLENGE.
HOW ARE YOU WORKING WITH THOSE TEAMS TO HELP, YOU KNOW, GET THEM BACK UP AND RUNNING? UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, I'M GONNA HAVE TO GET YOU SOME MORE INFORMATION ON THAT.
I JUST HAD A GREAT CONVERSATION THIS WEEKEND, UM, AT A, A HIRING FAIR THAT ONE OF OUR STAFF WAS AT, AND SHE WAS TALKING TO ME ABOUT ALL THE THINGS SHE WAS TRYING TO DO TO, UH, INCREASE PROGRAMMING.
AND WE DIDN'T TALK SPECIFICALLY ABOUT SWIM TEAMS, BUT I WILL GET YOU THAT INFORMATION.
CUZ I KNOW FOR RAMSEY IN PARTICULAR, WE'VE HAD A SWIM TEAM IN THE PAST, BUT IT HASN'T BEEN ACTIVE AT RAMSEY FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
AND, AND I IMAGINE THERE'S SOME ISSUES OF RESTARTING UP THAT, THAT MIGHT NEED ATTENTION, AND I'M SURE IT'S NOT THE ONLY POOL THAT HAD THAT MM-HMM.
I'LL GET THAT INFORMATION FOR YOU.
AND THEN WITH RESPECT TO THE AMENITIES, YOU KNOW, THERE'S QUITE A DIFFERENCE ACROSS OUR POOLS IN TERMS OF HOW, UM, WELL CONSTRUCTED THE BATHROOMS ARE AND THE BREAK ROOMS AND ET CETERA.
UM, SO I THINK IT'S, IT'S REALLY GOOD THAT YOU'RE PAYING ATTENTION TO THOSE AMENITIES.
HOW ARE YOU, HOW ARE YOU APPROACHING THAT FOR THE POOLS THAT HAVE LESS OF THOSE KIND OF BUILT IN BRAND NEW AMENITIES? BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S A REAL ISSUE FOR OUR LIFEGUARDS WHEN THEY'RE OUT THERE IN THE HEAT.
YEAH, SO, UM, WE HAVE, WE DO HAVE SOME LIMITED OPTIONS THERE ON ON, QUITE FRANKLY, RIGHT? WE HAVE TENTS, WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO EXPAND THE SHADED AREA.
WE HAVE FANS, UM, WE HAVE, UH, TRIED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PROVIDING COOLERS, ICE WATER, THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
KIND OF SOME OF THE BASIC, UH, BUT TO THE POINT THAT I WAS MAKING, UM, TO, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER QUADRI, WE DO HAVE THAT ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND WE DO UNDERSTAND WHERE ON OUR, UH, ON THE PRIORITY LIST WHERE RENOVATIONS NEED TO OCCUR.
AND SO, AGAIN, WE'LL BE PUTTING TOGETHER A VERY COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF THINGS THAT NEED TO HAPPEN TO IMPROVE THOSE AMENITIES AT THOSE LOCATIONS.
BUT RIGHT NOW IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT REALLY, IT'S NOT SOMETHING TECHNO TECHNOLOGY OR SOMETHING FAR OUT.
EXTRA SHADE, UH, EXTRA COOLERS, EXTRA FANS, EXTRA OPPORTUNITY FOR ICE WATER, THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
AND THEN OUR SUMMER CAMPS ARE REALLY IMPORTANT, UM, FOR OUR FAMILIES WITH, FOR THE EXPERIENCES OF THE, THE CHILDREN, BUT ALSO FOR THE CHILDCARE DURING THE SUMMER.
HOW ARE WE DOING ON HIRING THE SUMMER CAMP COUNSELORS? WE'RE TRACKING, WE'RE TRACKING POSITIVELY THERE TOO.
UM, I DON'T HAVE THE EXACT NUMBERS.
I DIDN'T BRING THEM TODAY, BUT I KNOW I JUST TALKED TO, UH, TO OUR HI.
I WAS ON THE PHONE WITH OUR HR TEAM AND THEY WERE TELLING THAT WE WERE TRACKING POSITIVELY ALSO USING THAT SAME TOP SYSTEM FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS, CUZ THEY HAVE A EXTRA SET OF TRAINING THAT THEY MUST GO THROUGH TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO CHAIR FOR CARE FOR OUR CHILDREN.
I CAN GET YOU SOME ANSWERS TO THAT ALSO ALONG WITH THE, UM, WITH THE SWIM TEAM ANSWERS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON, ON THIS BRIEFING? THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE AND FOR WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
UM, MEMBERS, WHAT I WANNA RECOMMEND WE DO IS THAT WE RECESS UNTIL, UH, 10 10, UH, JUST SO THAT Y'ALL FROM, FROM STANDPOINT OF TRYING TO MANAGE OUR TIME, YOU'LL KIND OF KNOW HOW AND, AND WHEN WE RECESS, LET'S, AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN MEET IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS, UH, IS THERE ANY OBJECTION TO THE CITY COUNCIL RECESSING THIS, UH, WORK SESSION FOR 30 MINUTES TO GO TAKE PICTURES?
WE'RE ALL GONNA GO HAVE OUR PICTURES MADE, SO THAT'S WHY WE ALL LOOK SO GOOD TODAY.
UM, UH, WEARING OUR SPECIAL CLOTHING AND, UM, IT'S, IT'S SCHOOL PICTURE DAY.
WELL, MADAM CITY, UH, ATTORNEY.
[00:40:01]
SO LET'S GO TAKE OUR PICTURE, UH, NOW THAT THE WORLD KNOWS.I'LL CALL BACK TO ORDER THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL FOR THIS WORK SESSION ON APRIL 18TH, 2023.
[B1. Briefing on the Texas Department of Public Safety collaboration with the Austin Police Department.]
NEXT ITEM ON OUR AGENDA WILL BE UNDER BRIEFINGS, AND IT'LL BE A BRIEFING ON THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY COLLABORATION WITH THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.UH, OKAY, MAYOR, MAYOR PROAM, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, BEFORE I ASK CHIEF CHACON AND DR.
GAN TO, UH, COME UP ON THEIR REPORT, I JUST WANNA PROVIDE YOU, UH, SOME BACKGROUND AND SOME CONTEXT TO HOW THIS PARTNERSHIP CAME TO BE.
I BEGAN, UH, I BE AGAIN AS INTERIM CITY MANAGER NINE WEEKS AGO.
AND AT THE TIME, THE CITY WAS, WAS AND IS EXPERIENCING SOME SERIOUS CHALLENGES, UH, CHIEF AMONG THOSE CHALLENGES, THE HISTORIC, UH, STAFFING CRISIS AT AUSTIN POLICE AT THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
YOU KNOW, THAT I'VE TRIED TO INSTILL A BIAS FOR ACTION IN THIS ORGANIZATION, AND YOU ALL GAVE ME A CHARGE TO MAKE CHANGES AND TO MAKE THEM QUICKLY.
UH, WE KNEW, WE KNEW AND, UH, WE KNEW WE NEEDED TO ADDRESS SIGNIFICANT ISSUES THAT ARE UNACCEPTABLE RECORD, UH, HIGH RESPONSE TIMES FOR CALLS FOR ASSISTANCE AND INCREASE IN GUN CRIMES AND HIGH PROFILE INCIDENTS SUCH AS THE STREET TAKEOVERS THAT OCCURRED SHORTLY AFTER I BECAME, UH, SHORTLY, UH, UH, TOOK PLACE SHORTLY AFTER MY APPOINTMENT.
AND THE, UH, AN EXPIRING POLICE CONTRACT THAT SPURRED CONCERNS ABOUT THE RETIREMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS.
GIVEN ALL THESE FACTORS, WE WERE PRESENTED WITH A, AN OPPORTUNITY TO PARTNER WITH DPS AND IN MY PROFESSIONAL OPINION, NEVADA CHIEF JACON AND INTERIM ASSISTANT CHIEF, UH, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, BRUCE MILLS.
THIS WAS AN ABSOLUTE RIGHT MOVE, PARTICULARLY GIVEN THE PARTNERSHIP WITH DPS HAS HELPED US RESPOND, UH, TO THE TAKEOVERS WE EXPERIENCED IN FEBRUARY AND YIELDED 17, UH, UH, ARRESTS.
I THINK THAT, UH, FROM THE INFORMATION PRESENTED TODAY, WHICH INCLUDES THE MOST RECENT DATA, THAT THIS IS ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP, MAKING AN IMPACT AND MAKING AUSTIN SAFER, I RECOGNIZE THAT ACTING QUICKLY IN RESPONSE TO THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS CRITICAL NEED.
AND OUR COMMUNITY DIDN'T ALLOW TIME TO NORMALIZE THIS WITH THE CITY COUNCIL.
AND I'M HOPING THAT TODAY'S PRESENTATION, UH, WILL, UH, PROVIDE ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS THAT YOU'VE RAISED AND PROVIDES ASSURANCES TO THE PARTNERSHIP THAT IS PRODUCING RESULTS.
WHAT I CAN SAY IS THAT I KNOW THAT, THAT ALL OF YOU HAVE A SENSE OF URGENCY ABOUT THIS SITUATION AS I DO.
AND GIVEN THE FACTORS BEFORE US, WE WANTED TO LAUNCH THIS PARTNERSHIP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
AND WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT THIS OVER TO, TO JACOB CHIEF.
GOOD MORNING, UH, MAYOR AND, UH, COUNSEL, UH, MR. MANAGER JOSEPH CHUCKLE AND CHIEF OF POLICE.
JONATHAN KRANK, WHO IS THE CHIEF DATA OFFICER FOR THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
UH, WE'RE GONNA PRESENT TO YOU JOINTLY ON AN UPDATE ON THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, UH, WHICH ACTUALLY BEGAN ON MARCH THE 30TH OF THIS YEAR.
IF I CAN GET THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO JUST A QUICK, UH, UH, KIND OF OVERVIEW OF WHAT WE'LL GO THROUGH, A LITTLE BIT OF THE BACKGROUND, UH, JUST KIND OF EXPANDING ON THE REMARKS MADE BY THE MANAGER, UM, HOW THE PARTNERSHIP IS, IS WORKING, UM, THE, THE PARTS THAT WE'RE TRYING, UH, TO INSTILL REGARDING COLLABORATION AND IMPORTANTLY TRANSPARENCY.
UM, THE, AND THEN I'LL TURN IT OVER TO DR.
KRING AND WHO GO OVER THE DATA DRIVEN APPROACH TO BOTH TRAFFIC SAFETY AND VIOLENT CRIME.
UM, AND THEN AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT THE INITIAL RESULTS LOOK LIKE RIGHT NOW.
AND THEN WE OBVIOUSLY LEAVE TIME FOR QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AT THE END.
SO IF I CAN GET THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO WITH REGARD TO THE BACKGROUND, UH, BACKGROUND TODAY, A P D CURRENTLY HAS MORE THAN 300 VACANT OFFICER POSITIONS JUST THIS YEAR IN 2023.
UH, WE'RE CURRENTLY AT 102 SEPARATIONS YEAR TO DATE.
UM, AND THAT NUMBER GROWS EVERY SINGLE DAY.
UH, WE HAVE FEWER OFFICERS TODAY THAN WE DID 15 YEARS AGO, AND THE CITY IS NOW OVER A MILLION PEOPLE.
COMMENSURATELY, UH, THESE STAFFING SHORTAGES COMBINED WITH THIS RAPIDLY GROWING CITY HAVE CREATED A CHALLENGE.
UM, THESE VACANCY RATES AND RECRUITING CHALLENGES ARE NOT, UH, EXCLUSIVE TO AUSTIN.
WE'RE SEEING THIS AROUND THE, THE STATE.
WE'RE SEEING IT AROUND THE COUNTRY, AND PARTICULARLY HERE IN CENTRAL TEXAS, WHETHER WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AUSTIN PD, THE TRAVIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, UH, DPS, OR ANY OF THE, UH, ABOUT 46 DIFFERENT, UH, LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES THAT ARE IN CENTRAL TEXAS.
WE ARE ALL COMPETING FOR THE SAME SMALL POOL OF APPLICANTS.
WE WANT GOOD QUALIFIED PEOPLE, WE HAVE TO BE COMPETITIVE, UH, AND THAT IS WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO AS A DEPARTMENT AND AS A CITY.
UM, BUT WHAT IT MEANS REALISTICALLY
[00:45:01]
IS, IS THE, THESE DECREASED STAFFING LEVELS HAVE LED TO LONGER RESPONSE TIMES, OFFICERS GETTING TO THE HIGHEST PRIORITY CALLS.IT TAKES LONGER TO GET THERE, AS WELL AS LONGER WAIT TIMES FOR THE LOWER PRIORITY CALLS THAT HAVE TO WAIT WHILE OFFICERS ARE HANDLING THE HIGHER PRIORITY CALLS.
WE'VE SEEN THOSE TIMES, UH, INCREASE, UM, KIND OF YEAR OVER YEAR.
KRING WILL GO INTO THAT, UH, A LITTLE BIT HERE IN A LITTLE BIT.
SO, HOW THE PARTNERSHIP WORKS, UM, THE PARTNERSHIP IS DESIGNED TO BE A VALUABLE AND INNOVATIVE MEASURE TO INCREASE PUBLIC SAFETY.
UM, I PRETTY MUCH TALK WITH, UM, THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR CENTRAL TEXAS FOR DPS.
UM, IT IS, UH, DIRECTOR VINCENT LUCIANO ON A DAILY BASIS.
HE AND I ARE TALKING ABOUT, UM, THE THINGS THAT WE CAN DO TO MAKE THE PARTNERSHIP STRONGER.
UM, IF THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARISE THAT GIVE EITHER OF US CONCERN, UH, WE ADDRESS THEM HEAD ON AND VERY QUICKLY.
AND, UM, AS BRIEFINGS ARE HELD EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND, UH, MYSELF AND OTHER MEMBERS OF MY STAFF ARE THERE WITH THE DPS TROOPERS, UM, KIND OF TALKING ABOUT AUSTIN.
MANY OF THEM HAVE NEVER WORKED IN AUSTIN BEFORE.
SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THEY UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS OUR, WHAT DOES OUR COMMUNITY FEEL LIKE? WHAT IS THE CULTURE OF AUSTIN? UH, WHAT CAN THEY EXPECT AS THEY, UM, AS THEY CONDUCT, UH, THIS OPERATION WITHIN THE CITY.
AND IMPORTANTLY, WHAT ARE MY EXPECTATIONS AS A CHIEF OF POLICE ON HOW THIS COMMUNITY, UH, EXPECTS TO BE POLICED? SO, UM, IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT EACH ONE OF THE DEPARTMENTS MAINTAINS THEIR OWN OPERATIONAL JURISDICTION.
OF COURSE, UM, THE, UH, TEXAS DPS HAS JURISDICTION STATEWIDE.
UH, IT IS NOT NEW FOR THEM TO BE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
MANY OF THE PEOPLE THAT I GO TO THESE BRIEFINGS WITH, I'VE KNOWN FOR YEARS BECAUSE THEY WORK IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND THEY UNDERSTAND THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, BUT OF COURSE, UH, THEY OPERATE UNDER THEIR OWN SET OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.
UH, WE OPERATE UNDER THE SAME STATE LAW, AND WE'RE ALSO COMMISSIONED BY THE SAME COMMISSIONING BODY THAT TEXAS COMMISSIONED ON LAW ENFORCEMENT, WHICH, UH, REQUIRES THE SAME AMOUNT OF TRAINING FOR BOTH AUSTIN PD OFFICERS AND TEXAS DPS OFFICERS.
I KNOW MANY QUESTIONS HAVE, HAVE RISEN ABOUT WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TRAINING THAT THE TWO DEPARTMENTS RECEIVE, AND, AND THE FACT IS, IS THAT THEY HAVE TO MEET THE SAME STANDARDS.
SO, UM, MY, MY EXPERIENCE WITH TEXAS DPS IS AN INCREDIBLY PROFESSIONAL, UH, AND RESPECTED ORGANIZATION THAT, UH, IS HERE TO HELP US RIGHT NOW AS WE'RE GOING THROUGH, UM, THROUGH THE TOUGH TIMES THAT WE ARE.
THE PARTNERSHIP REALLY HAS A TWOFOLD OBJECTIVE.
UH, THE FIRST IS TO ASSIST US WITH OUR, OUR TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT.
UM, AS PART OF THE TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT HAVING A LOT OF OFFICERS OUT THERE, THEY'RE MAKING BACKUPS OF A P D OFFICERS ON HIGH PRIORITY CALLS, AND WHEN NECESSARY WILL BE THE FIRST UNIT ON SCENE FOR PRIORITY CALL RESPONSE.
UM, THEY ARE TARGETING AGGRESSIVE DRIVING, RECKLESS DRIVING, RACING AS, AS WAS MENTIONED JUST A LITTLE BIT AGO.
AND THEN, UM, OTHER HAZARDOUS TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS.
THE SECOND PART OF THE OBJECTIVE IS REDUCING VIOLENCE AND, AND PARTICULARLY GUN-RELATED VIOLENCE.
UM, THESE CAN INCLUDE SHOOTINGS, ASSAULTS, ROBBERIES, UH, OTHER MAJOR CRIMES THAT HAPPEN UNFORTUNATELY ON A DAILY BASIS HERE IN AUSTIN.
AND, UM, HAVE BEEN, UH, WORKING ON THAT FOR ALMOST THE LAST THREE WEEKS AND HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLY EFFECTIVE.
AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT IN JUST A MOMENT.
AS I TURN IT OVER IN A MOMENT TO DR.
KRING, UM, HE'S GOING TO BE TALKING CERTAINLY ABOUT NUMBERS, ABOUT THE NUMBER OF CRIMES THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE CITY, UM, AND, AND, AND HOW, HOW THOSE ARE CHANGING, UH, BASED ON THIS OPERATION.
BUT I THINK WE CANNOT LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT THAT BEHIND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE NUMBERS IS A PERSON, IS A PERSON WHO HAS BEEN AFFECTED BY SOME TYPE OF CRIME THAT HAS HAPPENED IN THIS CITY.
A PERSON OR A FAMILY THAT IS, UH, GRIEVING, UH, POTENTIALLY OR HURTING BECAUSE SOMEBODY IN THEIR FAMILY WAS HURT.
AND I, AS THE CHIEF OF POLICE, AND I KNOW EVERY ONE OF MY OFFICERS TAKES THAT INCREDIBLY SERIOUSLY.
THAT IS THE REASON THAT WE PUT THE UNIFORM ON EVERY SINGLE DAY.
IT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE MAINTAIN THE SAFETY
[00:50:01]
IN THIS CITY.AND SO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT IT IS DONE IN THE RIGHT WAY, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE CANNOT, WE CANNOT, UM, LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT THAT WE NEED TO BE PEOPLE CENTERED, THAT WE NEED TO KEEP PEOPLE AT THE CENTER OF THIS EFFORT AND MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY.
UM, AND, AND NOT CAUSING HARM, BUT ACTUALLY HELPING.
I MENTIONED THE, UH, COLLABORATION.
UM, WHAT I'VE HEARD OVER AND OVER AND OVER FROM DIRECTOR LUCIANO AS WELL AS OTHER MEMBERS OF LEADERSHIP WITH DPS.
THEY'RE NOT HERE TO TAKE OVER.
THEY'RE NOT HERE, CERTAINLY NOT HERE TO CAUSE HARM OR TO CAUSE ANXIETY.
UH, THAT IS NOT THEIR MISSION.
UM, AND THAT IS CLEARLY COMMUNICATED, UH, AT THE OUTSET OF EVERY, UH, NEW SQUAD THAT COMES IN, UH, TO WORK IN THE CITY, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT IS THE MINDSET THAT WE ARE HERE TO KEEP CITIZENS SAFE, UH, TO ALWAYS HAVE THAT SMILE ON YOUR FACE TO WHEN POSSIBLE, WRITE A WARNING.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO WRITE A TICKET.
UM, AND THAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING.
UM, TEXAS DP DPS I MENTIONED, THIS OPERATES OBVIOUSLY UNDER STATE LAW, BUT ITS OWN SET OF POLICIES JUST LIKE A P D DOES.
UH, THEY ARE NOT, UH, FOLLOWING A P D POLICY, HOWEVER, THEIR POLICIES AND OUR POLICIES, UH, MANY, MANY TIMES ALIGN.
UM, DIRECTOR LUCIANO, UH, TALKS EVERY WEEK WITH, UH, DA JOSE GARZA AND COUNTY ATTORNEY DELIA GARZA, UH, ABOUT HOW THINGS ARE GOING.
AND IT IS THEIR NORMAL PRACTICE, UH, WHEN IT, WHATEVER JURISDICTION THAT THEY GO INTO TO, UH, CONTACT THE LOCAL PROSECUTORS AND SEE HOW THINGS OPERATE IN THAT JURISDICTION SO THAT THEY CAN ALIGN THEIR ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS WITH THOSE PROSECUTORIAL PRACTICES.
AND THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE DOING HERE.
SO YOU WILL SEE THEM, UH, MANY TIMES, UH, DOING A SITE AND RELEASE BASED ON THE SITE AND RELEASE POLICIES OF BOTH OFFICES.
UM, AND, AND THAT IS KIND OF THE SAME THING THAT A P D IS DOING.
SO, UM, SO AGAIN, JUST BECAUSE D P S DOESN'T FOLLOW OUR POLICY DOESN'T MEAN THAT MANY TIMES THOSE POLICIES AREN'T VERY, VERY SIMILAR.
UH, IT IS OUR INTENT TO CONTINUE TO REPORT WEEKLY, UH, AND PUSH THE NUMBERS OUT TO PUSH DATA OUT.
UM, AND WE WILL BE, UM, DOING THAT ON A, ON A REGULAR BASIS, AGAIN, WEEKLY, INCLUDING THE NUMBER OF ARRESTS AND TRAFFIC STOPS THAT ARE MADE, AS WELL AS OTHER INFORMATION.
ON MENTAL HEALTH CALLS, UM, TEXAS DPS ALSO TRAINS THEIR TROOPERS IN MENTAL HEALTH RESPONSE AND CRISIS INTERVENTION, BUT TO THE LARGEST DEGREE THAT WE ARE ABLE, WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO GET A P D OFFICERS ON THE SCENE OF OUR MENTAL HEALTH CALLS.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE'RE TRYING TO GET THEM ON THE SCENE OF EVERY SINGLE DISPATCH CALL.
IF A CALL COMES IN, NINE ONE ONE CALL COMES INTO THE CALL TAKING CENTER, AND IT GENERATES A CALL FOR SERVICE.
UH, I WANT A P D OFFICERS AT THAT SCENE HANDLING THAT SCENE AS OPPOSED TO DPS.
THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT DPS WON'T RESPOND TO IT OR EVEN GET THERE FIRST, BUT WHAT I, WHAT I BRIEF OUT AND, AND, UM, I KNOW THAT, UH, D P S IS DOING THE SAME WITH ITS TROOPERS IS PLEASE GET TO THE SCENE, STABILIZE THE SCENE IF VIOLENCE IS OCCURRING, STOP THE VIOLENCE AND THEN HOLD EVERYTHING IN PLACE UNTIL A P D CAN ARRIVE.
UM, AND THAT IS WHY YOU WILL, YOU'LL SEE THAT THE NUMBER, UH, FOR INSTANCE, MENTAL HEALTH, UH, INTERVENTIONS THAT THEY'VE ACTUALLY DONE ARE RELATIVELY SMALL.
IT'S BECAUSE WE ARE RESPONDING TO THOSE SCENES AND WE ARE HANDLING THOSE WE'RE, I WANT US TO BE HANDLING THE MAJOR INVESTIGATIONS.
I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT HERE IN JUST A MOMENT.
BUT, UM, AGAIN, WHETHER IT'S A MENTAL HEALTH CALL OR ANOTHER MAJOR INVESTIGATION, I WANT A P D, UH, TO BE HANDLING IT.
THE TROOPERS AT THE OUTSET OF, UH, THE WEEK ARE PROVIDED AN AUSTIN RESOURCE GUIDE TO ASSIST THEM ON CALLS.
SO IN THAT GUIDE, IT HAS THINGS RELATED TO, UH, SOBERING CENTER, THE ARCH CARITAS OF AUSTIN, UH, LIFEWORKS FOR, UH, FOR THE YOUTH, UH, VETERAN RESOURCES AND OTHER IMPORTANT COMMUNITY PARTNERS.
UH, WE WANT THEM TO HAVE THAT INFORMATION SO THAT THEY CAN MAKE THE SAME TYPE OF REFERRALS THAT WE MAKE ON A REGULAR BASIS.
AND THEN, AS I SAID, CALLS FOR SERVICE THAT INVOLVE MAJOR INVESTIGATIONS, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, UH, WE'RE HANDLING ALL TRAFFIC FATALITIES, UM, SEXUAL ASSAULTS, HOMICIDES, UH, AGGRAVATED ROBBERIES.
THOSE TYPE OF INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE TO BE HANDLED BY A P D.
THAT DOESN'T MEAN THERE MIGHT NOT BE SOME COLLABORATION WITH DPS.
UH, AND THEY'RE, UM, THEY BRING THEIR CRIMINAL, UH, INVESTIGATIVE
[00:55:01]
DIVISION, C I D INTO, UH, HELP SOMETIMES WITH THOSE INVESTIGATIONS.BUT ULTIMATELY, WE WANT A P D TO BE HANDLING, UH, AND PRESENTING THOSE CASES FOR PROSECUTION.
AND I'LL GO AHEAD AND TURN IT OVER TO DR.
KRING AND AT THIS POINT TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE DATA.
SO BASICALLY, IN BEGINNING THE PARTNERSHIP WITH D P S, WE'RE PROVIDING A GREAT DEAL OF DATA ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN AUSTIN.
WE RECOGNIZE THAT WHILE, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE TROOPERS HAVE A BACKGROUND HERE, SOME OF THEM WILL NOT.
UM, AND FOR THEM TO MANAGE THEIR OPERATIONAL EFFORTS, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTAND, TO THE GREATEST EXTENT POSSIBLE, WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND SO WE'RE FOCUSING PRIMARILY ON TWO AREAS.
ONE IS TRAFFIC SAFETY, AND THE OTHER IS VIOLENT CRIME, IN PARTICULAR, VIOLENT CRIME INVOLVING FIREARMS. SO I'M GONNA START BY TALKING ABOUT TRAFFIC SAFETY.
UH, DPS IS PATROLLING MAJOR ROADWAYS, AND THIS IS, UH, THIS IS BASED ON ANALYSIS THAT'S BEEN DONE BY A P D AS WELL AS IN CONJUNCTION WITH AUSTIN TRAFFIC.
SO WE COORDINATE WITH AUSTIN TRAFFIC ON A WEEKLY BASIS TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE TO DPS ABOUT WHERE TRAFFIC COLLISIONS ARE OCCURRING.
UH, WE'RE MOST INTERESTED IN THOSE THAT RESULT IN AN INJURY, SO THERE ARE HIGHER SPEED COLLISIONS AND WHATNOT.
ADDITIONALLY, UH, AUSTIN TRAFFIC PROVIDES US SOME INFORMATION ON THE SORT OF RATE OF TRAVEL AS MEASURED IN PLACES, THE NUMBER OF CARS THAT ARE EXCEEDING THE SPEED LIMIT EXCESSIVELY AS OPPOSED TO, UH, JUST AS OPPOSED TO BEING AT OR MINORLY ABOVE THE, THE, UH, SPEED LIMIT.
SO THE FUNDAMENTAL AREAS WE'RE LOOKING AT, IT'S HIGHWAY 180 3, IT'S MOPAC, AND IT'S I 35, RIGHT? THESE ARE THE AREAS THAT WE HAVE ASKED D P S TO FOCUS TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT ON WITH THE SPECIFIC GOAL OF REDUCING COLLISIONS, IN PARTICULAR INJURY COLLISIONS, AND THOSE THAT MIGHT RESULT IN A FATALITY.
THIS IS AN AREA THAT I THINK WE'RE ALL AWARE HAS BEEN UNDERSTAFFED IN APD AS WE'VE MADE OPERATIONAL CHANGES ABOUT WHAT WE CAN DO ON PATROL, OUR ABILITY TO PROACTIVELY, UH, PATROL TRAFFIC HAS GONE DOWN.
WE'VE HAD VARIOUS ADJUSTMENTS TO THE UNITS THAT ARE INVOLVED.
UM, AND SO THIS IS AN AREA THAT'S BEEN UNDERSTAFFED, UM, AND, UH, DPS TAKING UP THAT, THAT FOR US HAS HAD SOME INITIAL RESULTS THAT ARE PROMISING.
UM, BASICALLY AS FAR AS THEIR ACTIVITIES GO, IN THE FIRST TWO WEEKS, THEY CONDUCTED 4,016 TRAFFIC STOPS.
UM, MOST OF THE TRAFFIC STOPS ARE FOCUSED ON INTERVENTION, RIGHT? SO IN MOST OF THE STOPS, THEY'RE ISSUING A VERBAL WARNING, RIGHT? SO APPROXIMATELY 75% OF THE TIME, IT'S A STOP.
THERE IS SOME LEGAL REASON FOR THE STOP.
THERE IS SOMEONE WHO'S SPEEDING, SOMEONE WHO'S RUNNING A STOP LIGHT, THESE TYPES OF THINGS.
THE STOP IS MADE, A VERBAL WARNING IS GIVEN, AND THE PERSON MOVES ON THE WAY, RIGHT? TICKETS ARE ISSUED IN ABOUT 25%, SO THAT ONE OUT OF FOUR, UH, OF THOSE CASES.
AND SO BASICALLY RELATED TO THE TRAFFIC STOPS, THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.
APD AND DPS ARE HELD TO THE SAME STANDARDS RELATED TO THE COLLECTION AND REPORTING OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA ON TRAFFIC STOPS.
SO THE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA ABOUT THE TRAFFIC STOPS, UH, CONDUCTED BY A APD, UH, BY D PS IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, WILL BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE, RIGHT? AND WILL PROVIDE IT AS SOON AS IT'S MADE AVAILABLE.
SO, VIOLENT CRIME IS THE AREA WE'VE TALKED ABOUT A LITTLE BIT MORE.
UM, BASICALLY THE, THE BRIEF THAT WE'VE GIVEN OUT TO DPS AND REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE HAS HELPED THEM UNDERSTAND WHERE THE HIGHEST AREA OF NUMBER OF CALLS FOR ASSISTANCE OCCUR.
THESE ARE CALLS FROM THE COMMUNITY TO THE NINE ONE ONE CALL CENTER FOR VIOLENT EVENTS, AND IN PARTICULAR, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON THOSE THAT INVOLVE A FIREARM.
D P S OFFICERS ARE PATROLLING THOSE AREAS TO DO A NUMBER OF THINGS.
ONE IS TO PROVIDE SOME DETERRENT EFFECT.
UH, TWO IS TO BE ABLE TO RESPOND MORE QUICKLY AS, UH, CHIEF CHICO POINTED OUT TO BE ABLE TO STABILIZE A VIOLENT SITUATION WHILE WE WAIT FOR A APD TO ARRIVE TO ULTIMATELY HANDLE THE SITUATION, RIGHT? AND SO THEY'RE ALSO RESPONDING TO ELEMENTS THAT THEY MIGHT SEE IF IT OCCURRED IN FRONT OF THEM.
AT THE SAME TIME, THOSE TYPE OF THINGS WOULD LIKELY, IN MOST CASES, BE REFERRED TO APD WHEN WE ARRIVE ON SCENE.
SO, BA TP, UH, DPS IS PARTNERING WITH THE VIOLENT CRIMES INVESTIGATIVE UNIT, RIGHT? WE'RE REALLY PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN HOMICIDE AND AGGRAVATED ASSAULT AS WELL.
WE PAY A LOT OF ATTENTION TO WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH ROBBERY BECAUSE THERE'S A GREAT DEAL OF CROSSOVER BETWEEN ROBBERY AND AGGRAVATED ASSAULT.
I CAN COME BACK TO THAT IN JUST A MOMENT.
UH, AS WE'VE STATED, UH, IN ALL THESE CASES, WHAT WE'RE REALLY LOOKING AT IS THE GUN VIOLENCE, RIGHT? WHAT WE'RE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT IS HOW DO WE REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE? HOW DO WE RESOLVE ACTIVE CASES, UM, AND HOW DO WE PROACTIVELY TARGET CRIME IN AREAS THAT ARE EXPERIENCING HIGH LEVELS OF VIOLENT CRIME? NEXT SLIDE.
ALL RIGHT, SO THE INITIAL RESULTS ARE PROMISING, AND I WANT TO PRESENT THIS WITH A LITTLE BIT OF AN EXPLANATION BECAUSE I BELIEVE THERE'S BEEN SOME CONFUSION ABOUT, UH, ABOUT WHAT WAS DISCUSSED IN THE LAST PRE CONFERENCE.
AND IN THE MEMO, UH, THERE ARE FUNDAMENTALLY TWO SEPARATE QUESTIONS.
ONE IS, DID IT GO DOWN RIGHT? THE SECOND QUESTION IS, DID THAT REDUCTION HAPPEN AS A MATTER OF CHANCE, OR IS IT LIKELY RELATED TO THE DPS DEPLOYMENT? THERE'S BEEN CONFUSION
[01:00:01]
BECAUSE THE TECHNIQUES FOR ANSWERING EITHER QUESTION ARE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.UM, A LOT OF QUESTIONS HAVE FOCUSED ON WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK IN THE SAME LAST YEAR, IN THE SAME WEEK.
AND I CAN STATE IN THE FIRST WEEK OF THE D P S DEPLOYMENT THIS YEAR, THERE WERE 67 VIOLENT CRIMES IN AUSTIN IN THE SAME WEEK, THE PREVIOUS YEAR, THERE WERE EXACTLY 89 VIOLENT CRIMES.
THAT IS THE 25% REDUCTION THAT HAS BEEN DISCUSSED.
THE SEPARATE DISCUSSION ABOUT COMPARING TO AVERAGES IS A STATISTICAL TECHNIQUE THAT ALLOWS US TO SAY, AT A LEVEL OF SCIENTIFIC CERTAINTY, WE WOULD NOT EXPECT TO SEE A 25% REDUCTION HAPPEN RANDOMLY ON ITS OWN OR BY CHANCE.
THE INITIAL EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT THAT REDUCTION IS IN EFFECT OF THE DPS DEPLOYMENT.
MOVING INTO THE SECOND WEEK, WE SEE SOME OTHER NUMBERS THAT ARE LIKEWISE INFORMATIVE.
THERE'S A 31% DECREASE GOING FROM THE SECOND WEEK OF APRIL IN 2022 TO THE SECOND WEEK OF APRIL IN 2023 LAST YEAR, IN THE SECOND WEEK OF DPS S'S DEPLOYMENT, WE HAD 124 VIOLENT EVENTS.
AGAIN, THE STATISTICAL TESTING THAT FOLLOWS, THAT SUGGESTS THOSE REDUCTIONS ARE NOT RANDOM.
THEY'RE NOT AN ARTIFACT OF ANYTHING ELSE.
THEY OCCUR EXACTLY AT THE POINT THAT DPS BEGINS THEIR PATROL EFFORTS.
SO, STATISTICALLY, THE INITIAL EVIDENCE SUGGESTS D P'S PATROL IS REDUCING VIOLENT CRIME IN THE CITY.
NOW, THE AREAS THAT THEY'RE SPECIFICALLY WORKING, YOU SEE THESE EFFECTS BEING REMARKABLY STRONGER IN THE ACTUAL AREAS THAT DPS IS WORKING.
WHERE WE HAVE THE HIGHEST VOLUME OF CALLS FOR SERVICE FOR VIOLENT CRIME, THERE'S BEEN A 58% DECREASE IN THE FIRST WEEK, A 49% DECREASE COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS YEAR AND THE SECOND WEEK.
THOSE ARE REMARKABLE SIZED EFFECTS.
THE FOLLOW UP ON THAT IS THAT THIS IS REDUCING THE NUMBER OF CALLS FOR SERVICE COMING INTO THE DEPARTMENT.
THOSE REDUCTIONS OF 58% AND 49% ARE OCCURRING IN SPECIFIC AREAS WHERE WE HAVE A HIGH CALL VOLUME LOAD THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
THE AVAILABILITY OF A P D OFFICERS, AS A RESULT OF THOSE DECREASES, HAS RESULTED IN SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVED SERVICE, WHICH LIKEWISE RELATES TO A DECREASE IN OVERALL CALLS FOR SERVICE.
SO WE SEE A 15% DECREASE IN VIOLENT CRIME CALLS FOR SERVICE IN THE FIRST WEEK, AND A 12% DECREASE IN THE SECOND WEEK, SUGGESTING THAT THAT EFFECT IS AT THIS POINT HOLDING.
NOW, MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHAT WE WANNA LOOK AT IS HOW ARE WE SERVICING THE COMMUNITY WHEN WE ACTUALLY GET THAT CALL FOR SERVICE? SO IF WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, THIS IS WHERE WE ACTUALLY SEE THE RESULTS IN TERMS OF APD, OPERATIONAL ABILITY TO SUPPORT, UH, PLAYING OUT EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE CALLS IN THE DEPLOYMENT AREAS.
SO THESE ARE THE MOST DANGEROUS, MOST RISKY, VIOLENT CALLS FOR SERVICE INVOLVING FIREARMS. THEY DECREASED BY NEARLY TWO MINUTES IN THE FIRST WEEK OF THE DEPLOYMENT THAT HELD RELATIVELY STRONGLY AT A MINUTE AND 33 SECOND REDUCTION IN THE SECOND WEEK AS COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS PERIOD.
THOSE DIFFERENCES ARE REMARKABLY LARGE, GIVEN THE ACTUAL PROCESS REQUIRED TO RECEIVE A PHONE CALL, FIND AN AVAILABLE RESOURCE IN AN OFFICER, AND GET THEM TO THE SCENE OF THE CRIME.
BUT URGENT CALLS FOR ASSISTANCE, AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THE, THE DIFFERENCE.
THESE ARE ALL VIOLENT CALLS FOR SERVICE.
THE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE, ESSENTIALLY, BETWEEN AN EMERGENCY CALL AND AN URGENT CALL IS AN EMERGENCY CALL IS HAPPENING AT THE TIME THE CALL IS MADE.
AN URGENT CALL HAS JUST ENDED THE ACTIVITY.
SO IF A STANDBY, UH, PERSON STANDING BY CALLS IN A ROBBERY, IN A CONVENIENCE STORE, THAT IS AN EMERGENCY CALL BECAUSE IT IS CURRENTLY HAPPENING.
IF THE SHOP KEEPER MAKES THE PHONE CALL THE MOMENT THE PERSON LEAVES, THAT'S AN URGENT CALL FOR SERVICE.
URGENT CALLS FOR SERVICE ARE STILL EXCEEDINGLY RISKY BECAUSE THE SUSPECTS TEND TO BE IN THE AREA IF THEY'RE ARMED WITH FIREARMS. WE TRACK MANY OCCURRENCES WHERE OTHER EVENTS HAPPEN VERY CLOSE IN TIME, VERY CLOSE IN SPACE WITH THE SAME INDIVIDUALS.
THOSE CALLS FOR SERVICE, THE URGENT CALLS FOR SERVICE, WE REDUCED RESPONSE TIME BY OVER SEVEN MINUTES IN THE FIRST WEEK, FIVE MINUTES AND 26 SECONDS IN THE SECOND WEEK.
SO WE'RE SEEING REMARKABLE REDUCTIONS IN THOSE CALLS FOR SERVICE TIMES.
AND SO WE, AS WE EXPLAINED IN THE MEMO, THOSE CALLS FOR SERVICE TIMES WERE ON THE ORDER, AND THERE'S BEEN CONFUSION ABOUT THIS.
THEY WERE AVERAGING 19 AND A HALF MINUTES.
THEY'RE NOW DOWN TO 12 AND A HALF MINUTES.
THERE'S BEEN CONCERN THAT PERHAPS THAT WAS A SINGLE CALL FOR SERVICE, UH, THAT'S THE ACTUAL AVERAGE IN THOSE AREAS PRIOR TO THE DPS DEPLOYMENT.
SO WE'RE GETTING THEM DOWN REMARKABLY, UH, SOMETHING ON
[01:05:01]
THE ORDER OF ABOUT A THIRD IN REDUCTION.RIGHT? AND THIS IS ACTUALLY PLAYING OUT THROUGH THE WHOLE CITY.
A LOT OF THE ANALYSIS THAT WE'VE DONE SUGGESTS THERE'S A HIGH LEVEL OF INTERDEPENDENCE.
WHEN WE HAVE DIFFICULT RESPONSE PERIODS IN ONE AREA OF THE CITY, IT DRAWS RESOURCES FROM THE ENTIRE CITY, AND SERVICE EVERYWHERE SUFFERS.
SO WE DO SEE THAT URGENT CALLS FOR SERVICE WERE DECREASED BY ALMOST A MINUTE AND WEEK RUN IN THE ENTIRE CITY, RIGHT? AND ALMOST A MINUTE, AGAIN IN THE SECOND WEEK IN THE ENTIRE CITY.
THE EMERGENCY CALLS DECREASED BY 23 SECONDS IN THE FIRST WEEK AND ABOUT 15 SECONDS IN THE SECOND WEEK.
SO WE SEE THE EFFECT OF FASTER RESPONSE TO THESE VIOLENT EVENTS IN THESE HIGH CALL AREAS PLAYING OUT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE OPERATION THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
UM, AND THESE RESULTS ARE VERY PROMISING.
SO, IN SUMMARY, WE'VE SEEN A REDUCTION IN VIOLENT CRIME.
WE HAVE SEEN A REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF CALLS FOR SERVICE FOR ASSISTANCE RELATED TO VIOLENT CRIME, AND WE SEE THAT WE'RE ARRIVING MORE QUICKLY TO RESPOND WHEN A VIOLENT CRIME OCCURS.
AND, UM, THAT, THAT, UH, CONCLUDES OUR, OUR PRESENTATION AND KIND OF OUR PREPARED REMARKS.
BUT, UH, GLAD TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER VELASQUE, THANK Y'ALL FOR BEING HERE.
UM, I, SO I, I'M NOT SURE HOW, HOW EVERYBODY ELSE IS RECEIVING CALLS.
THE, THE SECOND THIS, UM, THIS PARTNERSHIP CAME ONLINE, I WAS INUNDATED WITH PHONE CALLS FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS TEXTS, UM, THAT WANTED TO UNDERSTAND THE PARTNERSHIP BETTER.
UH, I ALSO LOVE DRIVING ACROSS THIS CITY AND CAN TELL YOU THAT THERE IS A DISPARITY BETWEEN WHAT IS HAPPENING WEST OF 35 AND EAST OF 35 AS FAR AS PRESENCE IS CONCERNED.
SO I HAD A FEW QUESTIONS TO THAT.
HOW MANY TROOPERS ARE NOW DISPATCHED AS PART OF THIS PARTNERSHIP? SO THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF TROOPERS WILL VARY WEEK TO WEEK.
UM, AND THAT IS A, THAT IS A DPS DECISION.
WE DON'T, UM, TELL THEM HOW MANY, HOW MANY TO SEND EVERY SINGLE WEEK.
UH, I CAN SAY THAT IT'S GENERALLY A, A SIZABLE PRESENCE OF TROOPERS.
UM, AND, AND THEN THEY SPLIT THEM BETWEEN THOSE TWO OBJECTIVES THAT I TALKED ABOUT.
SOME OF THEM ARE DOING TRAFFIC AND SOME ARE DOING THE VIOLENT CRIME, BUT THERE IS NO SET NUMBER PER WEEK.
SO IF WE, IF WE SAID LAST WEEK, DO WE KNOW HOW MANY WERE HERE LAST WEEK? I, I DON'T KNOW THE NUMBER.
WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO GET THAT FOR US CHIEF? UH, I CAN FIND OUT AND ASK THEM WHETHER THEY'RE, UH, YOU KNOW, IF THEY CAN SHARE THAT INFORMATION.
UM, HOW ARE WE ENSURING THAT THERE'S EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF TROOPERS ACROSS THE CITY AND NOT JUST A HEAVY PRESENCE ALONG THE EASTERN CRESCENT? LIKE, AND YOU AND I HAVE DISCUSSED THIS, AND I DISCUSSED THIS WITH, UH, WITH OUR, UH, CITY MANAGER IS, I MEAN, I'VE, I'VE DRIVEN FROM BOTH PARTS OF THE CITY, AND THERE'S A, THERE YOU CAN TELL THAT THERE IS A VERY HEAVY POLICE PRESENCE IN DISTRICT THREE, ESPECIALLY RIVERSIDE AREA, MONOPOLI AND OLTORF AREAS.
SO I'M GONNA LET DRR IN FIRST TALK ABOUT WHAT, HOW THE DEPLOYMENT IS, AND THEN I'LL KIND OF CLOSE THOSE REMARKS OUT.
YEAH, SO DEFINITELY UNDERSTAND THE CONCERN.
UM, I WANNA MAKE SURE EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THAT THE INFORMATION WE PROVIDE D P S TO MAKE THEIR DEPLOYMENT DECISIONS, UH, FOCUSES FUNDAMENTALLY AROUND THOSE CALLS FOR SERVICE.
IT'S NOT A DECISION BY THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT TO SAY, HERE IS WHERE WE WANT YOU TO PATROL IT IS BASICALLY REPORTING ON WHAT THE COMMUNITY IS ASKING VIA 9 1 1 RELATED TO VIOLENT CRIME.
NOW, I CAN SAY, AS FAR AS THE DISTRIBUTION GOES, FROM MY ANALYSIS OF IT, I DO KNOW THAT DPS HAS WORKED AT LEAST SEVEN OF THE NINE SECTORS IN THE CITY.
AND SO, ONE OF THE REASONS THAT THIS MIGHT BE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT DPS IS MOVING IT'S PATROLS AS THE EFFECTS ARE HAVE PLAYED OUT.
SO I POINTED OUT IN THE, I POINTED OUT IN ONE OF THE PREVIOUS SLIDES, THE SUBSTANTIAL REDUCTION IN VIOLENT CRIME CALLS FOR SERVICE IN THE AREAS THEY WORKED IN THE FIRST WEEK, WHICH MEANS THE AREAS THEY WORK IN THE SECOND WEEK ARE DIFFERENT.
THE AREAS THEY WORK IN THE THIRD WEEK WILL BE DIFFERENT.
AND WE CAN ALREADY SAY, BASED UPON WHAT WE HAVE SEEN, CER UH, THE INITIAL AREAS WHERE THE HIGHEST VOLUME OF CALLS FOR SERVICE ARE NO LONGER THE HIGHEST VOLUME OF CALLS FOR SERVICE.
SO AS WE PROVIDE UPDATED INFORMATION TO DPS, THEY SHIFT THEIR PATROLS, RIGHT? AND WE HAVE ALREADY SEEN REDUCTIONS IN CERTAIN AREAS THAT WILL LIKELY MOVE THEM TO DIFFERENT AREAS.
UH, I EXPECT WITHIN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, D P S WILL HAVE WORKED EVERY SECTOR IN THE CITY.
UM, DEPENDING UPON, UH, AS WE MOVE RESOURCES OR AS THEY MOVE RESOURCES, DEPENDING UPON WHETHER WE SEE, UH, CRIME LEVEL OR CALLS FOR SERVICE COME BACK UP IN THAT AREA, THEY MAY RETURN.
UH, BUT ULTIMATELY OUR GOAL IS TO HA ASSIST THEM IN MOVING AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE THROUGH THE CITY TO REDUCE VIOLENT CALLS FOR SERVICE EVERYWHERE IN THE CITY.
[01:10:01]
IS, UH, I'M SORRY.I JUST KIND OF WANTED TO REITERATE THAT THIS IS CALL DRIVEN.
UM, THE, THE DECISION ON EXACTLY WHERE TO DEPLOY IS NOT BASED UPON, UH, WE'RE TELLING 'EM TO, TO DEPLOY TO THIS SECTOR OR THIS SECTOR.
WHAT WE'RE TELLING HIM IS THIS IS WHERE THE CALLS FOR SERVICE ARE COMING IN.
KRING AND WAS JUST SAYING, WE HAVE SEEN THE, THE MAPPING OF THIS IS BEGINNING TO CHANGE.
AND SO I CAN TELL YOU THIS WEEK IS DIFFERENT THAN LAST WEEK.
NEXT WEEK WILL BE DIFFERENT THAN THIS WEEK.
AND YOU WILL SEE OVER TIME, UM, WHERE YOU FEEL THAT PRESENCE RIGHT NOW, UH, PROBABLY WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS, WILL, WILL CERTAINLY DISSIPATE.
AND THOSE TROOPERS ARE MOVING, AS HE SAID, WE'VE ALREADY WORKED SEVEN OF THE NINE SECTORS AND ANTICIPATE THAT BEFORE THIS IS DONE, WE WILL HAVE WORKED PRETTY MUCH THE WHOLE CITY.
UM, IS INFORMATION RELATED TO IMMIGRATION STATUS BEING COLLECTED AT THESE TRAFFIC STOPS? SO I SPECIFICALLY ASKED D P S THAT QUESTION, AND THE ANSWER WAS, WAS NO.
THE ONLY TIME THAT IMMIGRATION STATUS IS ASKED IS IF A CUSTODIAL ARREST IS MADE FOR A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.
AND THEN THAT, THAT QUESTION GETS ASKED AT THE JAIL AND WHETHER IT'S A APD OR DPS, THAT, THAT QUESTION IS ASKED, CAN WE, CAN WE GET FURTHER INFORMATION ON HOW MANY UNDOCUMENTED IN INDIVIDUALS HAVE BEEN STOPPED OR CITED? WE DON'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION BECAUSE WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT COLLECTING THE INFORMATION ON HOW MANY ARE DOCUMENTED OR UNDOCUMENTED.
AND YOU'RE SAYING JUST AT THE JAIL? JUST AT THE JAIL? THAT'S CORRECT.
UM, HOW MANY OF OUR D P S STOPS FOR LOW LEVEL VIOLATIONS HAVE LED TO ARRESTS THAT HAVE PLACED PEOPLE IN IMMIGRATION, UH, DETENTION CENTERS OR UNDER AN IMMIGRATION DETENTION? I DON'T KNOW THAT INFORMATION.
UM, THE, THE ACTUAL BREAKDOWN OF ARRESTS, UH, THAT'S DATA.
WHAT THEY'RE PROVIDING US IS HIGHER LEVEL DATA RIGHT NOW THAT WE'RE PUSHING OUT, FOR INSTANCE, WHETHER IT'S A FELONY OFFENSE THAT THEY ARRESTED FOR, WHETHER IT'S A MISDEMEANOR OFFENSE THAT THEY'VE ARRESTED FOR, BUT I DON'T KNOW THE EXACT CATEGORIES, UH, OR, YOU KNOW, THE, THE OFFENSES THAT THEY'RE ARRESTING FOR.
AND THEN ONCE THEY GET TO THE JAIL AND WHETHER THEY ARE, WHATEVER HAPPENS THERE WITH REGARD TO IF THEY GO TO A DETENTION CENTER OR NOT, IS OUTSIDE, I THINK THE CONTROL OF BOTH A P D AND D P S AND HAS MORE TO DO WITH, UM, WITH JAIL PROCEDURES.
AND JUST TO FOLLOW UP ON, ON ONE OF THE LAST QUESTIONS, YOU SAID THAT PEOPLE ARE BEING DISPATCHED BECAUSE OF TE OF CALLS ABOUT RECKLESS DRIVING AND WHATNOT.
SO PEOPLE, WE, AT THE BEGINNING, AT THE OUTSET, WE WERE HAVING HEAVIER CALLS FROM, LET'S SAY, CHARLIE SECTOR OR DISTRICT THREE, AND THAT'S WHERE PEOPLE WERE BEING DISPATCHED.
IT'S ALL CONTINGENT ON WHERE THE PHONE CALLS ARE, OR THE CALLS ARE BEING, ARE COMING FROM CALLS, CALLS FOR SERVICE.
I WOULD SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, AS WE'RE LOOKING AT IT, IT IS NOT CONTAINED TO ONE SINGLE SECTOR.
YOU WILL HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, AS WE'RE LOOKING AT IT, MAYBE PROBABLY I SHOULD LET DR.
KRING AND EXPLAIN THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE, BUT YOU'LL SEE CROSSOVER BETWEEN SECTORS, UH, AND THAT WE HAVE HEAVY CALL LOADS.
BUT IF YOU WANNA, IF YOU WANT, ADDRESS THAT A LITTLE BIT.
REALLY QUICKLY, AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE FOR CLARIFICATION, CAUSE TO ELIMINATING CONFUSION, UM, WHEN WE SAY DISPATCH, WHAT WE SPECIFICALLY MEAN IS WHEN A DISPATCHER FROM 9 1 1 ORDERS AN A P D VEHICLE TO HEAD TO A LOCATION.
I JUST WANNA CLARIFY WHEN YOU'RE SAYING DISPATCH, YOU MEAN WHERE GENERALLY ARE A P, UH, OR D P DPSS CHOOSING TO WORK? RIGHT.
AND SO, AND SO, YOU KNOW, AS WE SAID, WE PROVIDED THEM INITIAL INFORMATION, WHICH LOOKED AT WHAT SORT OF HAPPENED IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR, UM, RELATED TO CALLS FOR SERVICE.
WE SPECIFICALLY DID NOT FOCUS ON ARRESTS OR CRIME ZONE TO POLICE.
WE FOCUS ON WHAT WE THINK OF AS SORT OF CUSTOMER DEMAND, RIGHT? UM, FOR THOSE ISSUES THAT WE THINK ARE, ARE MOST IMPORTANT, UM, THAT WE WANT TO HAVE THE MOST IMMEDIATE SAFETY GAIN ON.
BUT THOSE THINGS ARE, THOSE THINGS ARE CHANGING.
AND I CAN SAY, UM, AND HOPEFULLY WE'LL HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION SOON TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE SOME, SOME INDICATORS ON IT.
UM, THESE LOCATIONS HAVE CHANGED DRASTICALLY IN THE FIRST TWO WEEKS.
AND, AND IF WE, IF WE THINK ABOUT IT AND WE SAY THIS AREA HAS THE HIGHEST DEMAND, AND WE'VE JUST SAID WE HAVE A 58% REDUCTION THERE, UM, I CAN SAY IN THE LATEST ANALYSIS, THERE ARE AREAS OF AUSTIN THAT, UH, TRADITIONALLY WE WOULD NOT HAVE PREDICTED AS HAVING THE HIGHEST AREA OF NUMBER OF CALLS FOR SERVICE FOR VIOLENT CRIME, AND DPS WILL NOT BE WORKING THOSE AREAS.
UM, SO, SO IN THE END, THE INITIAL DEPLOYMENT WAS FUNDAMENTALLY DPSS DECISION BASED UPON OUR INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED OVER THE LAST YEAR.
RIGHT? UM, AS THEY'RE AFFECTING IT, WE'RE PROVIDING 'EM UPDATED INFORMATION AND THEY'RE MOVING, UH, AS LONG AS THEY CONTINUE TO BE EFFECTIVE, THEY'RE GOING TO MOVE THROUGH EVERY AREA OF THE CITY.
AND SO, SO, AND JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT I UNDERSTAND IT, THE,
[01:15:03]
THE INITIAL RESPONSE WAS DATA FROM LAST YEAR, WHERE THEY'RE MOVING NOW IS GONNA BE DATA FROM THIS YEAR, OR CALLS THAT ARE COMING IN? YEAH, THAT'S CORRECT.SO WHAT WE LOOKED AT TO GIVE THEM INITIAL DATA WAS FUNDAMENTALLY WHAT HAPPENED FOR 365 DAYS PRIOR TO THE DAY THEY DEPLOYED.
SO IT, IT, IT'S RECENT IN THAT IT REALLY IS WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY, RIGHT? AS OF THE DAY OF THE INITIAL DEPLOYMENT.
BUT TO TRACK A HISTORIC PATTERN, IT GOES BACK OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR.
AND, UH, WITH THAT, YOU SAID YOU WERE SURPRISED THAT THERE WERE CERTAIN AREAS.
ARE YOU ABLE TO SHARE WHAT AREAS THOSE WERE THAT YOU WERE SURPRISED ABOUT? UH, I NEED SOME MORE DATA TO BE ABLE TO SAY IT WITH THE SORT OF LEVEL OF SCIENTIFIC CONFIDENCE, BUT I WILL SAY THE SORT OF INITIAL EXPLORATORY ON IT IS THAT THE EFFECTS IN THE HIGH CALL VOLUME AREAS HAVE BEEN, UH, SUBSTANTIAL BEYOND, UH, WHAT I WOULD'VE PREDICTED.
UH, AS A RESULT OF THAT, THE VIOLENT CRIME HAPPENING IN OTHER AREAS CAN NOW BECOME MORE OF A PRIORITY.
AND I JUST AT THE OUTSET, UH, BOTH TO THE MANAGER AND THE CHIEF, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE, YOU KNOW, ONE OF OUR JOBS HERE IS OVERSEE AND, AND REPRESENT OUR CONSTITUENTS.
AND, AND TOUGH QUESTIONS DOESN'T MEAN, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE CRITICIZING YOU OR, OR THINK YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG.
SO I WANNA LAY THAT OUT BEFORE I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS FOR YOU.
AND, AND REALLY IT'S ON SLIDE 10, YOU TALK ABOUT THAT DECREASE WEEK ONE COMPARED TO FIRST WEEK OF APRIL, THE YEAR BEFORE WEEK TWO COMPARED TO SECOND WEEK OR THE SECOND WEEK OF APRIL, THE YEAR BEFORE.
AND WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET A GOOD SENSE OF IS WHAT ABOUT WEEK ZERO OR THE LAST WEEK OF MARCH, RIGHT? HOW DOES THAT COMPARE THIS YEAR TO LAST YEAR? DID WE ALREADY SEE SOME KIND OF REDUCTION? UM, OR WAS IT JUST A YEAH, IF I UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION, AND, AND THIS IS A, THIS IS A REALLY VALID QUESTION, AND IT'S WHY WE DO WHAT WE'D CALL A SIGNIFICANCE TEST BASED UPON A TON OF DATA RATHER THAN JUST WHAT HAPPENED ONE WEEK LAST YEAR, RIGHT? WE CAN ALL UNDERSTAND THAT.
I, I'VE SAID IT A FEW TIMES, IT'S CAUSED CONFUSION THIS WEEK, THIS YEAR COMPARED TO THIS WEEK.
LAST YEAR IS INFORMATIVE, BUT IT IS NOT DEFINITIONAL, RIGHT? YOU CAN THINK OF ANY EXAMPLE IN AUSTIN WHERE WE HAD AN AWKWARD WEEK.
ANY, ANY ISSUES THAT WE HAD IN THE CITY THAT MIGHT HAVE AFFECTED PEOPLE'S BEHAVIOR.
AND IF WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT WEEK COMPARED TO THIS YEAR, IT'S GOING TO BE DIFFERENT.
IN FACT, WHAT WE DO IS WE LOOK AT THE RATE OF CHANGE FROM WEEK TO WEEK.
WE LOOK AT THE RATE OF CHANGE FROM THE FOUR WEEK AVERAGE PRIOR TO THE, PER TO THE NEXT WEEK.
WE LOOK AT THE 168 DAY AVERAGE, WHICH IS THE SIX MONTH AVERAGE THE NEXT WEEK.
AND WE LOOK AT THE YEAR-LONG AVERAGE RELATED TO IT.
WE ALSO DO THE DIRECT COMPARISONS TO THE INDIVIDUAL DAY, THE INDIVIDUAL WEEKS, WHICH IS TWO LAST WEEK TO FOUR WEEKS AGO, RIGHT? TO SIX TO SIX MONTHS AGO, AND ONE YEAR AGO.
NOW, THE MODELING IS, IS REASONABLY SOPHISTICATED, RIGHT? WHEN I SAY WE LOOK AT AVERAGES, WHAT WE'RE REALLY LOOKING AT IS A LONG-TERM AVERAGE AS WELL AS A MOVING AVERAGE THAT HAPPENS SEASONALLY AS WELL AS AN ORDER OF INTEGRATION AS CRIME FUNDAMENTALLY GOING UP OR DOWN AT ALL AS WELL AS SOMETHING WE'D CALL AUTO REGRESSION, WHICH IS HOW WELL CAN WE PREDICT TODAY, GIVEN YESTERDAY, AND HOW WELL CAN WE PREDICT TODAY GIVEN THE SAME DAY A YEAR AGO, RIGHT? UM, AND SO IT, IN ALL OF THE CASES OF THE DESCRIPTIVE COMPARATIVES, IT'S GONE DOWN, RIGHT? SO THE ONES THAT ARE MOST MEANINGFUL TO REPORT, IT'S BEEN MADE CLEAR THAT THE PREFERENCE OF, UH, OF THE PUBLIC IN GENERAL IS TO LOOK AT SORT OF THIS WEEK VERSUS LAST WEEK AS THE MOST BASIC SUMMARY NUMBER, RIGHT? THE ONE THAT IS MOST RELEVANT TO ME AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHETHER THIS IS ACHIEVING ANYTHING, IS ACTUALLY THE STATISTICAL TEST, RIGHT? RIGHT.
AND SO IF YOU DID THAT SAME STATISTICAL TEST TEST FOR THE LAST WEEK IN MARCH BEFORE THIS OCCURRED, WOULD YOU HAVE HAD A STA STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DECREASE FROM THE YEAR PRIOR? NOT TO SAY THAT WE MIGHT HAVE A GREATER DECREASE NOW, BUT DID WE ALREADY SEE THAT DECREASE HAPPENING? RIGHT.
SO THERE ARE, THERE ARE TWO THINGS TO BE AWARE OF.
ONE IS THERE'S A CONFOUND INVOLVED, UM, WHICH IS TO SAY WE BEGAN OUR ANALYSIS WITH THE FIRST FULL WEEK OF DPS DEPLOYMENT.
WE DID HAVE DPS TROOPERS ARRIVE IN THE CITY OF THE WEEK PRIOR, UH, SMALLER GROUP IS MY UNDERSTANDING, AND ONLY FOR A LIMITED NUMBER OF DAYS.
THERE IS A REDUCTION FROM THE WEEK PRIOR TO THAT, TO THAT TRANSITIONAL WEEK.
UM, IT IS WITHIN THE RANGE OF WHAT WE WOULD PREDICT GIVEN THE BASIC SEASONAL PATTERNS OF MARCH, MOVING INTO APRIL.
SO IS, I HOPE THAT THAT ANSWERS THE QUESTION KIND OF.
I, I'M, I'M, IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE THE ANSWER IS YOU HAVEN'T DONE THE ANALYSIS, BUT IF YOU, IF YOU HAD TAKEN A WEEK WHEN THERE WERE NO DPS OFFICERS, WHATEVER WEEK THAT IS, FIRST WEEK OF MARCH, SECOND WEEK OF MARCH, THIRD WEEK OF MARCH, AND YOU PERFORMED THIS EXACT SAME STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, WHAT WOULD THE RESULT BE? WOULD THE RESULT BE THAT EVEN IN A WEEK IN MARCH, BEFORE WE HAD DPS, THAT WE HAD STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT LE SIGNIFICANT LESS CRIME? OR WOULD IT BE
[01:20:01]
THAT OUR CRIME PATTERN HAS BEEN PRETTY STATIC AND NOW WE'VE SEEN A STATISTICAL CHANGE? SO WE HAVE DONE THE TEST FOR THE WEEK PRIOR TO ANY DPS INVOLVEMENT TO BOTH THE WEEK OF PARTIAL DEPLOYMENT AND THE WEEK OF FULL DEPLOYMENT.AND IN BOTH CASES, YOU SEE A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THE AMOUNT OF CRIME LOOKING AT THE COMPARISONS.
AND THEN ON SLIDE 11, WHERE YOU TALK ABOUT THE REDUCTION IN RESPONSE TIMES, IS THAT THE COMPARISON YEAR OVER YEAR? LIKE, LIKE WE HAD ON SLIDE 10 COMPARED TO THAT SAME WEEK, THE YEAR PRIOR? YEAH, SO WE LOOK AT YEAR OVER YEAR COMPARISON, BUT IN OUR STATISTICAL TEST, WHICH IS MORE MEANINGFUL, WE'RE ACTUALLY LOOKING AT WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING WITH CALL FOR SERVICE TIMES.
SO IN THIS CASE, THE STATISTICAL TEST, IT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT RECENT CALL FOR SERVICE TIMES HAVE BEEN.
SO WHILE WE LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED A YEAR AGO, THE INTERNAL METRICS THAT WE USED TO THINK ABOUT IT HAVE A LOT MORE TO DO WITH WHAT'S HAPPENED OVER THE LAST FOUR WEEKS.
SO THAT'S WHY IN ALL OF THESE CASES WE DO THE PREVIOUS WEEK, THE PREVIOUS TWO WEEKS, THE PREVIOUS FOUR WEEKS, THE 168 DAY MARK, AND 365 DAY MARK.
SO THAT SEVEN MINUTE REDUCTION THAT'S OVER TO YOUR FOUR WEEKS OR TO YOUR PREVIOUS YEAR.
SO THE SEVEN MINUTE REDUCTION IN ONE SECOND, LEMME MAKE SURE I PULL THE SLIDE.
SO THE SEVEN MINUTE REDUCTION WAS RELATED TO A 19 MINUTE AND 32ND AVERAGE RESPONSE TIME FOR THAT AREA.
THAT AVERAGE RESPONSE TIME AS THAT AVERAGE RESPONSE TIME WAS, IF I RECALL CORRECTLY, CUZ I DON'T HAVE MY ANALYTICS SLIDE UP, UM, OH WAIT, I HAVE IT ON MY PHONE.
SO WE REPORTED A SEVEN MINUTE REDUCTION IN URGENT CALLS FOR SERVICE, UH, ONLY IN THE AREAS, UH, THAT WERE WORKEDED.
SO THE SEVEN MINUTE REDUCTION IS CONSISTENT WITH A REDUCTION FROM 52 WEEKS PRIOR.
SO THE, THE YEAR LONG, IT IS ABOUT A THREE AND A HALF MINUTE REDUCTION FROM THE WEEK BEFORE DPS DEPLOYMENT.
AND WOULD THOSE, ARE THOSE LIKE YOUR PRIORITY ONES? TWOS? YEAH, THOSE ARE PRIORITY ONES.
SO THOSE ARE EMERGENCY MEANING IT WAS VIOLENT, UM, BUT THE INCIDENT HAS JUST ENDED.
AND BUILDING OFF OF COUNCIL MEMBER VELASQUEZ'S QUESTIONS WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE CALLS, UH, I THE PRIVILEGE TO GO ON A WRITE OUT A COUPLE WEEKS AGO AND, YOU KNOW, SIT THERE, YOU LOOK AT THE SCREEN AND THERE'S YOUR ONES OR TWO ARE THEY, ARE, IS DPS LOGGED IN THE EXACT SAME SYSTEM.
SO THEY'RE SEEING THE EXACT, EXACT SAME THING OUR OFFICERS ARE SEEING.
THEY ARE NOT, THEY'RE NOT LOGGED INTO THE SAME SYSTEM.
WE'RE WORKING ON THE TECHNOLOGY TO AT LEAST BE ABLE TO LET BOTH SIDES SEE WHERE THE OTHER UNITS ARE.
UM, AND I'M WORKING WITH DIRECTOR LUCIANO ON THAT RIGHT NOW.
THEY'RE NOT IN OUR SYSTEM, BUT THEY ARE ON OUR RADIO SO THEY CAN HEAR THE CALLS AS THEY'RE BEING DISPATCHED AND THAT'S HOW THEY'RE FIGURING OUT WHERE TO GO AND THEY'LL JUST RESPOND THAT I'M RESPONDING TO THIS.
UH, THAT'S ALL I HAVE FOR NOW.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT A REDUCTION IN VIOLENT CRIME IS A, IS A WIN FOR OUR CITY.
UH, YOU KNOW, WHETHER YOU LIVE IN, IN DOWNTOWN LIKE MYSELF OR YOU LIVE IN HYDE PARK OR YOU LIVE IN ANOTHER, UH, YOU KNOW, ANOTHER DISTRICT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE CAN COUNT THOSE AS SUCCESSES.
UH, BUT I THINK IT'S ALSO WORTH POINTING OUT THAT AUSTIN IS A VERY SAFE CITY, UH, RIGHT HERE FROM, FROM THE DPS.
AND WHEN YOU COMPARE VIOLENT CRIME IN AUSTIN, IT IS LESS THAN VIOLENT CRIME IN ARLINGTON, FORT WORTH, CORPUS CHRISTI, LUBBOCK, SAN ANTONIO, DALLAS, HOUSTON, COLEEN, AMARILLO, WE, WE ARE AN INCREDIBLY SAFE CITY.
I THINK THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE LEADERSHIP, UH, THAT YOU, YOU AND YOUR DEPARTMENT HAVE SHOWN CH UH, CHIEF CHACON.
UH, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S ALWAYS VERY IMPORTANT TO GET CONTEXT AND TO ASK THESE, THESE HOPEFULLY NOT TWO TOUGH QUESTIONS.
AND I'M, I'M THANKFUL THAT Y'ALL ARE HERE TODAY.
UH, BUT MY, MY FIRST QUESTION, UM, COULD YOU PROVIDE INFORMATION OUT OF THE DATA PROVIDED ON PAGE THREE OF THE STAFF MEMO OF HOW MANY ARRESTS WERE MADE DUE TO VIOLENT CRIME? UH, IT SAYS ON PAGE THREE OF THREE TO DATE, THE JOINT OPERATION HAS RESULTED IN 96 FELONY ARRESTS AND, UH, 63 MISDEMEANOR ARRESTS.
SO MY FIRST QUESTION OF THAT IS HOW MANY WERE WERE VIOLENT CRIME? AND THEN ALSO HOW MANY OF THOSE ARRESTS WERE, WERE DRUG RELATED? UM, AGAIN, THAT'S THE HIGH LEVEL INFORMATION THAT DPS HAS PROVIDED TO US.
UM, AND THEN MY NEXT QUESTION IS, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN STATED THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF VIOLENT CRIMES IN A WEEK FOR 2022 WAS 89 PER WEEK.
[01:25:01]
OVERALL TREND FOR VIOLENT CRIME FOR 2022? AND IF Y'ALL COULD PROVIDE INFORMATION AS WELL AS BROKEN DOWN BY MURDER AND NON NEGLIGENT MANSLAUGHTER, RAPE, ROBBERY, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, YEAH, WE CAN ABSOLUTELY PROVIDE THAT.AND GIVEN THAT IT'S A SUBS REASONABLE AMOUNT OF DATA, WE CAN, WE CAN PUT IT TOGETHER FOR YOU.
WE HAVE A REPORTED NUMBER OF PLACES.
I DO WANT TO CLARIFY ONE ELEMENT THAT HAS CREATED A GREAT DEAL OF CONFUSION, AND I, I WILL, UH, ADD TO THAT CAUTIONARY NOTE.
UM, EVERYONE SHOULD BE VERY CAUTIOUS IN READING WHETHER IT COMES OR OTHERWISE ANY OF THE REPORTS ABOUT THE COMPARATIVE LEVEL OF VIOLENCE IN CITIES.
IN FACT, F B I, THAT IS THE NATIONAL, UH, DEPOSITORY FOR ALL THIS INFORMATION SPECIFICALLY INDICATES THAT THOSE COMPARISONS SHOULD NOT BE MADE.
UM, THERE ARE VARIOUS REASONS FOR IT.
ONE REASON I CAN TELL YOU VERY QUICKLY OFF THE LIST THAT YOU SHARED IS THAT WE, THE AGENCIES ON THAT LIST ACTUALLY REPORT UNDER DIFFERENT FEDERAL STANDARDS, WHICH IS VERY DIFFERENT.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, I'M, I'M NOT, UH, ASSERTING THAT THE NET CONCLUSION IS WRONG.
I WOULD JUST SAY USE THOSE NUMBERS WITH CAUTION.
THE OTHER ELEMENT OF THAT REPORTING THAT HAS THAT REPORTING CHANGE THAT FBI PUT INTO PLACE, BEGINNING WITH AGENCIES IN ABOUT 2016, IS THAT THE WAY IN WHICH CRIME IS COUNTED, BECAUSE AUSTIN HAS ADOPTED THE NEW STANDARD, IS ACTUALLY DIFFERENT THAN MOST JURISDICTIONS IN THE US.
IT CAUSES A GREAT DEAL OF CONFUSION BECAUSE WE PRODUCE A DOCUMENT CALLED THE CHIEF'S MONTHLY REPORT, WHICH INCLUDES AN FBI NABERS CATEGORY OF CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS.
THAT CATEGORY OF CRIMES HAS SHOWN A MARGINAL REDUCTION OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS.
THE NEXT CATEGORY, CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY INCLUDES ROBBERY.
FBI HAS DECIDED TO CLASSIFY ROBBERY AS A CRIME AGAINST PROPERTY BECAUSE THE GOAL OF THE CRIME IS TO OBTAIN PROPERTY, BUT THE NATURE OF THE CRIME IS INHERENTLY VIOLENT.
IT IS THE COERCION OF PROPERTY BY FORCE.
SO WE HAVE A LOT OF CONFUSION ABOUT THE COUNTS ON VIOLENT CRIME BECAUSE WE INCLUDE FOR OPERATIONAL PURPOSES, ROBBERY AS A VIOLENT CRIME.
SO THE DOCUMENTATION VARIES SUBSTANTIALLY.
WE'LL INCLUDE THE ROBBERY GENERALLY, THE CATEGORIES THAT WE'RE MOST INTERESTED IN WOULD INCLUDE ROBBERY, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND MURDER.
THOSE ARE THE CATEGORIES THAT MAKE UP OUR COMPOSITE OF VIOLENT CRIME BECAUSE THAT COMPOSITE IS DIFFERENT THAN EITHER THE NEIGHBOR'S STANDARD OR THE UCR STANDARD THAT MOST AGENCIES ARE STILL ON.
IT DOES MAKE THE COMPARISON PROBLEM PROBLEMATIC.
UM, JUST WONDERING HOW MANY VIOLENT CRIMES, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE ANSWERED THIS ALREADY OCCURRED THE WEEK BEFORE THE PARTNERSHIP.
UM, I, I BELIEVE THE, THE, BECAUSE THE DATA THAT'S BEEN COLLECTED ARE, IS TWO WEEKS WORTH.
UM, BECAUSE WHAT WE HAD ALREADY SEEN, UM, AT LEAST THE FIRST TWO MONTHS OF THIS YEAR WAS, YOU KNOW, COMPARATIVELY JANUARY OF 2023.
IF YOU COMPARE IT TO JAN OF 2022, AND LIKEWISE, FEBRUARY OF 2023 VERSUS FEBRUARY OF 20, UH, 22, UH, VIOLENT CRIME HAD GONE DOWN BY 8%, UM, IN JANUARY, UH, PREVIOUS YEAR IN 5% IN FEBRUARY.
SO IT SEEMS LIKE THERE WAS ALREADY A TREND OF, OF, UH, OF A DECREASE IN, IN VIOLENT CRIME.
BUT I'M JUST CURIOUS WHAT, UH, HOW MANY VIOLENT CRIMES OCCURRED THE WEEK BEFORE, THE TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE PARTNERSHIP? YEAH, I'LL GET YOU THE COUNTS ON THAT SO THAT YOU CAN LOOK AT IT.
I WILL SAY, UM, THOSE NUMBERS ARE THE NEIGHBORS REDUCTIONS IN CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS.
THOSE DO NOT INCLUDE ROBBERIES, WHICH ARE ACTUALLY UP.
SO THERE IS A MARGINAL NET REDUCTION OF ABOUT 1%, IF I RECALL CORRECTLY, ON OUR INDEX OF VIOLENT CRIME.
IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT GETS LOST IN THE MINOR DISCUSSION, IS THAT IN 2020, THE NUMBER OF VIOLENT CRIMES AND VIOLENT CRIME CALLS FOR SERVICE IN AUSTIN WENT UP PRECIPITOUSLY.
SO WE MAKE A, WE, WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME DISCUSSING THE 5% REDUCTION OR THE 2% INCREASE WHEN WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE 35% INCREASE THAT OCCURRED IN THAT YEAR THAT HAS HELD.
UM, SO IT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THE LONGER TREND, AND THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHERE IT'S IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT THE DIFFERENT PERIODS OF COMPARISON, THE OTHER PART THAT IS NOT REPORTED IN THERE THAT WE'RE HAPPY TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON IS MORE CONCERNING TO ME THAN THE INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF CRIMES IS THE PROPORTION OF THOSE CRIMES THAT INVOLVE A FIREARM.
THAT PROPORTION WENT UP PRECIPITOUSLY IN 2020 AND HAS NOT COME DOWN EITHER.
SO THIS AGAIN, BECOMES ANOTHER WAY IN WHICH COMPARING VIOLENT CRIME STATISTICS IS CHALLENGING IN THAT A CALL FOR SERVICE FOR AGGRAVATED ASSAULT CAN MEAN A GREAT NUMBER OF DIFFERENT THINGS.
YOU MAY HAVE A JURISDICTION THAT HAS MORE AGGRAVATED ASSAULTS, YET FEWER AGGRAVATED ASSAULTS
[01:30:01]
WITH FIREARMS. AND SO THOSE ARE THE NUMBERS THAT WE REALLY NEED TO DISCUSS, AS I SAID.UM, AND, AND I MEAN, A LOT OF MY OTHER QUESTIONS MIGHT HAVE THE SAME ANSWER, BUT, UH, DO YOU HAVE ANY TIMELINE OF WHEN WE WOULD BE ABLE TO GET ANY, UM, AN END OF THAT DATA? YEAH, WE CAN START PULLING IT TOGETHER FOR YOU.
SO, UH, IT SHOULD BE REASONABLY QUICK.
UM, SO A FEW MORE QUESTIONS THEN, THEN I'LL BE DONE.
UM, YOU KNOW, ONE, ONE OF THE BIG THINGS THAT Y'ALL TALKED ABOUT IN, IN, IN YOUR SLIDE DECK WAS, UH, UH, TRAFFIC RELATED DEATHS.
UM, IS THERE ANY DATA ON THE REDUCTION OF TRAFFIC RELATED DEBTS SINCE, UM, SINCE THIS PARTNERSHIP HAS COME TO BE? SO A FATALITY AND A TRAFFIC COLLISION? MM-HMM.
UM, SO IT WOULD BE, UH, A REASONABLY LONG PERIOD OF TIME BEFORE WE COULD MAKE A STATEMENT ABOUT THAT WOULD BE SCIENTIFICALLY SUPPORTED ABOUT WHETHER IT'S AFFECTED TRAFFIC FATALITIES.
WE SHOULD HAVE ENOUGH DATA IN THE NEXT PROBABLY TWO TO THREE WEEKS TO BE ABLE TO DISCUSS WHETHER IT HAS REDUCED THE NUMBER OF INJURY COLLISIONS OR PERHAPS THE NUMBER OF ACTUAL COLLISIONS.
AND, AND JUST TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT, UH, WE WORK WITH AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION, UH, AND THE VISION ZERO PROJECT, UM, TO KIND OF TRACK THOSE NUMBERS AS WELL.
SO THAT'S A INTERDEPARTMENTAL KIND OF EFFORT.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, EVEN THE DEPLOYMENT STRATEGY THAT WE HAD ON THE TRAFFIC SIDE HAS BEEN DRIVEN IN PART BY AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION.
SO WE'RE WORKING, WE'RE WORKING WITH THEM AS WELL ON THIS PIECE.
UH, AND THEN MY LAST TWO QUESTIONS, UH, ARE KIND OF OFF OF QUESTIONS THAT COUNCIL MEMBER VELASQUEZ HAD HAD ASKED.
UH, BUT WOULD YOU GUYS BE ABLE TO ALSO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON ARREST BY DISTRICTS THAT INCLUDE DEMOGRAPHICS? SO THE, THE 10 COUNCIL DISTRICTS, AND THEN BREAK IT DOWN INTO, YOU KNOW, DEMOGRAPHICS OF, UH, AGE, RACE, GENDER, ET CETERA? SO WE'VE REQUESTED, I'VE REQUESTED, UM, THE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA AND DON'T HAVE A SOLID ANSWER ON HOW QUICKLY THEY'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT.
WHEN, YOU KNOW, WHEN WHAT THEY'RE PROVIDING ME RIGHT NOW IS, IS PRETTY HIGH LEVEL MM-HMM.
UM, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE CERTAINLY WILLING TO, TO, UH, PROVIDE THAT DATA ONCE IT'S PROVIDED TO US, UM, WHERE EXACTLY THE STOPS ARE HAPPENING.
CERTAINLY THEY DON'T KNOW OUR COUNCIL DISTRICTS, WE, THEY WOULD HAVE TO, UM, PROVIDE THAT DATA TO US SOMEHOW.
I'LL HAVE TO ASK WHETHER THAT CAN BE DONE, UM, AND HOW, YOU KNOW, HOW HEAVY A LIFT IT WOULD BE AND WHETHER THEY'RE WILLING TO DO IT.
I MEAN, JUST ANECDOTALLY AND I THINK, UH, COUNCILOR VELASQUEZ HAD HAD MENTIONED, BUT I CERTAINLY GOT A LOT OF, UH, CALLS, BUT, YOU KNOW, THINGS THAT HAPPEN ON THE EAST SIDE OFTEN DIFFER FROM A LOT OF OTHER, UH, NEIGHBORHOODS AND DISTRICTS.
THE, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW, HOW ONE IS TREATED OR HOW ONE'S NEIGHBORHOOD IS, UH, PATROLLED OR LACK THEREOF.
I I WOULD JUST BE CURIOUS TO SEE IF, IF POSSIBLE, IF WE COULD GET, UH, LIKE DISTRICT BY DISTRICT DISTRICT, UH, INFORMATION.
UH, AND THEN, AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION, UH, BEFORE I, I, UH, STOP TALKING, UM, IS, WOULD YOU GUYS ALSO BE ABLE TO GET A BREAKDOWN ON, ON THE, ON THE STATED PROBABLE CAUSE THAT IS, THAT IS USED FOR DPS, UH, TRAFFIC STOPS OR TRAFFIC STOPS IN GENERAL? YOU KNOW, AT SOME POINT, UM, WHEN IT MAKES SENSE TO DO IT? BECAUSE RIGHT NOW I THINK THAT, UH, A LOT OF THE QUESTIONS THAT ARE COMING AT US ARE REALLY DIRECTED TOWARDS A P D, UH, HAVING DPS COME TO THE BRIEFING.
UM, AND, AND DIRECTOR LUCIANO HAS, HAS OFFERED RECENTLY TO, TO COME TO THE BRIEFING AND, AND PERHAPS ANSWER SOME OF THE QUESTIONS BECAUSE SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE, I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO BECAUSE IT'S NOT OUR AGENCY.
SO I THINK THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE, IT'S GONNA MAKE SENSE FOR THEM TO COME AND, UM, AND ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS.
COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON, COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON HAS THEIR HANDS UP.
COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE, WERE YOU DONE? YES, SIR.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR.
I THINK YOU'RE ON MUTE THOUGH.
I WOULD JUST LIKE TO WEIGH IN AND SAY VERY MUCH SO.
I APPRECIATE OUR NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS ASKING SUCH VIBRANT QUESTIONS AND LOOK FORWARD TO THE ANSWERS.
SO I THINK MAYBE OUR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE IS A GOOD SPOT FOR THIS INFORMATION TO BE PRESENTED THOROUGHLY.
I'LL STEP IN HERE FOR THE MAYOR.
DID YOU WANT TO, WELL, NO, I'M, GO AHEAD.
OH, I WOULD JUST SAY I'M SURE THAT IS, UH, ACCEPTABLE.
I THINK THERE WAS ALREADY SOME CONVERSATION
[01:35:01]
AROUND OTHER TOPICS WE WERE DISCUSSING TODAY COMING TO PUBLIC SAFETY.SO I WILL DEFER TO, THERE'S TWO VICE CHAIRS IN THE ROOM THAT PROBABLY COULD CORROBORATE, UH, TAKING, TAKING THIS UP AND GETTING ANOTHER DEEP DIVE.
I KNOW IT'S A CONVERSATION THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE IN TOWN ARE JUST, UM, EITHER CURIOUS TO KNOW HOW IT'S GOING, HOW THE PARTNERSHIP WORKS.
UM, I'VE GOT SOME QUESTIONS AS WELL.
DO YOU, DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS TODAY, COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON, THAT YOU WANTED TO CONTINUE WITH? I THINK MY COLLEAGUES HAVE ALREADY STATED MY POSITIONS, UM, IN WHICH CASE, YEAH, I JUST LOOK FORWARD TO THIS ANSWERS.
LET'S GO WITH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY FLIGHT TEST.
SORRY, MY MIND JUST WENT BLANK.
I WAS LIKE, I WAS GONNA, COUNCIL, THANK YOU MAYOR PROTE.
AND, UM, THANK YOU CHIEF AND, UM, DR.
GAN FOR BEING TODAY ANSWERING OUR QUESTIONS.
I APPRECIATE THAT YOU ADDRESSED A LOT OF THE QUESTIONS THAT I PUT IN MY MEMO IN THE PRESS CONFERENCE, UM, THE MEMO I SENT TO THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER, SO I APPRECIATE THAT.
ALSO, UM, YOU'VE BEEN TALKING A LOT ABOUT THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS HERE IN AUSTIN AND HOW THE RESPONSE HAS BEEN, HAVE YOU COLLABORATED WITH WILLIAMSON COUNTY AT ALL ON THIS INITIATIVE? AND THE REASON I ASK IS BECAUSE WILLIAMSON COUNTY IS ALSO IN MY DISTRICT, AND I KNOW THE WILLIAMSON COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE HANDED ME A REPORT, WHICH I GAVE TO OUR INTERIM ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER BRUCE MILLS, WHERE IN THE LAST, I THINK IT'S SINCE OCTOBER OF 2022.
YEAH, OCTOBER 1ST, 2022 THROUGH MARCH 21ST, 2023, THEY HAVE RESPONDED TO OVER 8,200 CALLS IN MY DISTRICT.
AND SO I WAS WONDERING IF ANY OF YOUR DATA COLLABORATED WITH THEM ON THAT.
IT, IT HAS NOT COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, I HAVEN'T REACHED OUT TO THE SHERIFF THERE TO DISCUSS THIS.
UM, IT, I GUESS IT IS NOT, YOU KNOW, IT IS, THAT'S A SURPRISINGLY HIGH NUMBER OF CALLS, BUT IT SHOULDN'T BE BECAUSE, UM, AS DR.
KRINGLE WAS TALKING ABOUT, WHEN WE HAVE THESE RESOURCE INTENSIVE CALLS THAT HAPPEN IN THE AREAS THAT, THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, IT DRAWS DOWN ON OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY, WHICH WILL DRAW US FROM, FROM CERTAIN PARTS THAT, UH, ULTIMATELY EITHER TRAVIS COUNTY, WILLIAMSON COUNTY OR HAYES COUNTY MAY HAVE TO RESPOND TO, BECAUSE THERE'S NO AVAILABLE A P D OFFICERS THAT ARE THERE AT THAT MOMENT.
UM, I'VE TRIED TO, TO BE A GOOD PARTNER WITH OUR, OUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT.
I'VE CERTAINLY HAD MANY CONVERSATIONS WITH, UH, SHERIFF HERNANDEZ, UH, BUT HAVE NOT REACHED OUT TO SHERIFF GLEASON.
I DID REACH OUT TO SHERIFF LEASON IN ORDER TO GET THIS INFORMATION, AND I ACTUALLY WANNA CORRECT MY NUMBER.
IT IS 8,528 CALLS, UM, AND THEY ARE EVERYTHING FROM SUICIDAL PEOPLE TO LIVESTOCK TO ABUSE.
I MEAN, I'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO PROVIDE YOU WITH THIS LIST CHIEF, UM, IF YOU'D LIKE IT.
UM, YOU KNOW, DISTRICT SIX IS ONE OF THE FURTHEST DISTRICTS AWAY FROM THE CENTER OF THE CITY.
WE ARE ONE OF THE FURTHEST FROM, I MEAN, THE CLOSEST SUBSTATION IS LAMPLIGHT VILLAGE, AND I KNOW THAT A LOT OF CALLS HAPPEN IN OUR DISTRICT, AND SO THE NEED FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT IS HIGH.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE ARE LOOKING AT THAT DATA, THAT WE ARE ENSURING THAT WE ARE COLLECTING ALL OF THE AVAILABLE DATA THAT WE HAVE SO THAT WE CAN GET A MORE COMPLETE PICTURE, AND THAT WHEN OUR RESOURCES ARE DISTRIBUTED, THEY'RE DISTRIBUTED EQUITABLY.
UM, SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR TAKING THAT INTO CONSIDERATION.
UM, WHAT FEEDBACK FROM OFFICERS AT A P D HAVE YOU HEARD IN REGARDS TO THIS COLLABORATION? UM, THE FEEDBACK HAS BEEN PRETTY TREMENDOUS, UM, ON BOTH SIDES, QUITE HONESTLY.
UM, I'VE TALKED TO DPS TROOPERS, I'VE TALKED TO THE APD OFFICERS.
UM, AND IT, YOU KNOW, IT WAS PUT, THE, THE BEST WAY THAT I CAN PUT IT IS, UM, ONE OF, ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF DPS LEADERSHIP, UM, WHO'S OUT HERE ON A NIGHTLY BASIS, ALONG WITH, WITH WITH OUR FOLKS, UH, SAID THAT IT FEELS ALMOST SEAMLESS, UM, THAT IT IS, UH, ALMOST LIKE IT'S ONE AGENCY THAT'S WORKING, UH, BECAUSE OF THE COLLABORATION IS WORKING SO WELL.
UH, DPS TROOPERS ARE BACKING US UP.
UH, WE'RE HANDLING, UH, WE'RE HANDLING ALL OF THE DISPATCH CALLS AS WELL AS TAKING POSSESSION OF ALL FIREARMS THAT ARE RECOVERED IN THE CITY.
AND THOSE WILL BE HANDLED PER, UH, CITY POLICY AND A P D POLICY ON THE, ON, UM, ON THE DISPOSAL ULTIMATELY OF FIREARMS. UM, AND SO IT HAS BEEN VERY, VERY GOOD, VERY WELL RECEIVED, AND QUITE HONESTLY MUCH NEEDED.
YOU SPOKE EARLIER ABOUT SOMETIMES HOW D P S AND A P D POLICIES ALIGN.
COULD YOU GIVE ME EXAMPLES OR GIVE THE COUNCIL EXAMPLES OF WHEN THAT HAS OCCURRED SINCE THE COLLABORATION BEGAN? UM, YOU KNOW, THE ONE THAT, THAT CERTAINLY JUMPS TO MIND IS ON THE ISSUE OF, UH, MARIJUANA ENFORCEMENT.
UM, A APD GENERALLY IS, IS NOT, UH, TAKING MUCH ACTION ON LOW LEVEL, UH, MARIJUANA.
AND, UH, THERE'S A NUMBER OF REASONS FOR THAT, NOT, NOT THE LEAST OF WHICH IS, IS COUNCIL DIRECTION.
UM, NORMALLY FOR, FOR DPS, THAT IS A, UH, THAT'S A CUSTODY ARREST.
UH, BUT WORKING WITH THE LOCAL PROSECUTORS,
[01:40:01]
THEY ARE SIDING ON THOSE AND RELEASING AND, UM, AND THEN, UH, THOSE CITATIONS GO OVER TO THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT, UH, GENERALLY, OR THEY MAY GO TO THE COUNTY COURTS, DEPENDING.UM, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT'S ONE, THAT'S CERTAINLY AN EXAMPLE THAT I CAN GIVE OF WHERE THOSE, THOSE POLICIES ARE ALIGNING.
I HAVE ONE LAST QUESTION, AND THAT IS, HAVE YOU HEARD DIRECTLY FROM ANY COMMUNITY MEMBERS REGARDING D P'S CONTACT OR CONDUCT WHILE CONDUCTING PATROLS? AND WHAT HAS THAT BEEN LIKE? YOU KNOW, THE, THE FEEDBACK THAT I'M GETTING HAS BEEN VERY POSITIVE.
UM, ONE STORY THAT WAS RECENTLY TOLD TO ME WAS CPS TROOPERS UNIFORM WALKING INTO AN HB RECEIVING, UH, A ROUND OF APPLAUSE, UH, FROM THE PEOPLE THAT ARE JUST THERE, THE, THE CITIZENS.
UM, AND, UH, AND, AND CERTAINLY, UH, GRATITUDE, UH, TO THE GOVERNOR, TO, UH, COLONEL MCCRAW, UH, HEAD OF DPS AND, AND TO ALL THE DPS TROOPERS THAT ARE, THAT ARE HERE TO JUST HELP.
UM, I THINK THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT AND, UH, THEY HOLD THEMSELVES ACCOUNTABLE, UH, THE SAME WAY THAT WE DO.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT IT IS, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST BEEN A GOOD PARTNERSHIP.
I RAN INTO SOME DPS OFFICERS OFF OF MOPAC WHO WERE HAVING DINNER ONE EVENING, AND I ACTUALLY BOUGHT THEIR, THEIR DINNER WITHOUT LETTING THEM KNOW, YOU CAN DO THAT.
YOU CAN JUST TELL THE THE WAIT PERSON.
BUT AS A TOKEN OF GRATITUDE, I THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT TO WALK OVER THERE AND JUST SAY THANK YOU, AND THEN TO DO THAT BEHIND THE SCENES.
WE, WE DEFINITELY APPRECIATE, I DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THE ASSISTANCE THAT WE'RE GETTING FROM D P S AND I AM MORE APPRECIATIVE OF THE TRANSPARENCY THAT WE ARE HAVING TODAY REGARDING THE QUESTIONS THAT THE COMMUNITY AS WELL AS THESE COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE.
KRUK, YOU MENTIONED, UM, A COUPLE OF TIMES HOW YOU UNDERSTAND DATA PRESENTED IN THE MEMO, UH, WAS CONFUSING TO SOME, AND I WANNA UNDERSCORE, THE REASON WHY IT'S CONFUSING IS BECAUSE WE RECEIVED COUNSEL, RECEIVED A MEMO ON THURSDAY, AND THEN THERE WAS A PRESS CONFERENCE THE NEXT DAY TOUTING THESE NUMBERS WITHOUT ANY OTHER ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
THE QUESTIONS THAT WE'RE ASKING HERE FOR DEMOGRAPHICS FOR SPECIFICS ON THE TYPES OF CITATIONS, FOR THE SPECIFICS ON WHERE THE TRAFFIC STOPS ARE HAPPENING, WHICH WE STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED ACCESS TO, THAT IS WHAT HELPS MAKE THIS A CONFUSING SITUATION.
CUZ ULTIMATELY WE AS COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE TO GO BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY AND EXPLAIN WHERE ARE THESE TROOPERS PATROLLING? WHY ARE THEY PATROLLING IN OUR PARTICULAR NEIGHBORHOODS? AND, YOU KNOW, IS THERE, UH, A DISPROPORTIONAL DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT IN OUR COMMUNITY? THOSE ARE THE QUESTIONS WE HAVE TO BE, UM, RESPONSIBLE FOR.
AND WE ARE HELD ACCOUNTABLE, UH, TO, UH, THE SAFETY OF OUR COMMUNITIES BY, BY THE VOTERS.
SO I JUST WANTED TO UNDERSCORE THAT POINT THERE.
UM, ONE OF THE, AND SO JUST TO GET BACK, CAUSE I WANNA MAKE IT REALLY, REALLY CLEAR, HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS THAT WE'VE ASKED, UM, AROUND THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF WHO'S BEING PULLED OVER, WHO'S BEING, UH, YOU KNOW, RECEIVING CITATIONS ARRESTED.
AND WHERE THIS PATROLLING IS HAPPENING IS SPECIFIC BECAUSE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT MAKES AUSTIN A SAFE CITY? AND PART OF US BEING ABLE TO TALK ABOUT THE SAFETY OF OUR COMMUNITY IS BEING ABLE TO TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, NO, THERE'S NOT, YOU KNOW, RACIAL PROFILING HAPPENING AND HERE'S WHY.
BUT UNLESS WE HAVE THAT INFORMATION, THEN I CAN'T MAKE THAT CASE TO MY COMMUNITY.
SO US RECEIVING JUST HALF OF THE PICTURE HERE REALLY PUTS US IN A CHALLENGING POSITION.
AND I'M REALLY PLEASED TO HEAR THAT DPS IS BEING COLLABORATIVE BECAUSE I HOPE IN THAT SPIRIT OF A COLLABORATION, THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO COME BEFORE US AND SHARE THAT INFORMATION CUZ THAT THOSE ARE THE QUESTIONS THAT I'VE BEEN RECEIVING.
AND SO TO BE REALLY CLEAR ON OUR REQUESTS FOR MORE SPECIFICS ON THE DATA, WHEN CAN WE EXPECT THAT INFORMATION TO BECOME AVAILABLE? I HAVE, UM, I'VE PASSED THAT REQUEST ALONG TO DIRECTOR LUCIANO.
UH, WE'VE SPOKEN ABOUT IT A COUPLE OF TIMES ALREADY.
AND, UM, NOT ONLY IS HAS HE, UH, COMMITTED THAT THEY ARE GOING TO PROVIDE THE DATA, ALTHOUGH HE'S WORKING WITH HIS KIND OF BOSSES THERE, A DPS ON HOW QUICKLY THAT CAN BE DONE, AS WELL AS HIS OWN, UM, DATA ANALYSIS UNIT ON HOW QUICKLY IT CAN BE EXTRACTED, BUT HAS ALSO MADE A COMMITMENT TO, TO COME IN FRONT OF, OF, UH, MAYOR AND COUNSEL IF, IF Y'ALL WANT HIM TO, TO DIRECTLY ANSWER QUESTIONS SO IT ISN'T JUST COMING THROUGH ME.
UM, SO THAT THE, THE SHORT ANSWER IS I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG IT'S GONNA TAKE THEM TO BE ABLE TO COLLECT THAT INFORMATION, UM, BUT THAT THEY HAVE MADE A COMMITMENT TO PROVIDE IT.
UH, AND, AND I CERTAINLY WOULD LIKE TO SEE, TO HAVE TO INVITE HIM TO COME BEFORE US AND TO HAVE THAT CON CONVERSATION.
[01:45:01]
PART OF THAT, THE OTHER TOPIC I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT IS ACCOUNTABILITY.IF THERE IS AN INCIDENT TO OCCUR INVOLVING A DPS TROOPER IN ONE OF OUR CONSTITUENTS, WHERE IS THE ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM? WHAT HAPPENS IN THAT SITUATION? SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT THAT'S A REALLY GREAT QUESTION BECAUSE P YOU KNOW, SOMETHING MAYBE THAT NEEDS TO BE EXPLAINED REALLY WELL TO THE PUBLIC, IF THEY HAVE INTERACTION WITH AN AUSTIN POLICE OFFICER AND WANT TO OFFER EITHER A COMPLIMENT OR, OR A COMPLAINT, UM, THEN WE KNOW THAT THE, THE MECHANISM IS THE O THE OFFICE OF POLICE OVERSIGHT WITH DPS WHO HAS DISTINCTIVE UNIFORMS FROM MARS.
THEY'RE A DIFFERENT COLOR, THEY HAVE DIFFERENT PATCHES AND DIFFERENT BADGES AND ALL THOSE THINGS.
UM, IF THEY HAVE A COMPLAINT, THEN THEY'RE GOING TO NEED TO GO THROUGH THEIR PROCESS.
UH, THEY CAN'T GO TO THE OPO TO FILE THOSE COMPLAINTS BECAUSE THE OPIO DOESN'T HAVE ANY JURISDICTION OVER THEM.
SO, UM, SO BEING ABLE TO, AND WE'LL CERTAINLY IF THAT IS, IF THAT IS A CASE, BE ABLE TO HELP PUSH THEM IN, IN WHATEVER DIRECTION WE NEED TO TO MAKE SURE THAT THE COMPLAINT GOES TO THE RIGHT PLACE.
UH, TO MY KNOWLEDGE THERE, I THINK THERE'S BEEN ONE COMPLAINT THAT'S COME INTO THE OPO RELATED TO A D P S TROOPER THAT WE HAVE, WE HAVE REFERRED OVER TO, TO D P S TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT HAPPENS.
THAT'S NOT THE PREFERRED WAY OF DOING IT.
IT'S GONNA CAUSE A, IT'S GONNA CAUSE A DELAY.
AND REALLY IT'S NOT THE OPO O'S UH, RESPONSIBILITY TO DO THAT.
SO I, I DON'T ENCOURAGE THAT, BUT WE WANT TO BE HELPFUL, WE WANT TO BE RESPONSIVE AND, AND, UH, D P S HAS ITS OWN, UH, WAY OF PROCESSING COMPLAINTS AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO, TO PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC.
I, I WILL ASK DIRECTOR LUCIANO TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK TO THAT.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, AND AS PART OF, AND THAT'S, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THE QUESTIONS, UM, THAT HAVE COME UP ARE JUST LIKE, WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THIS PARTNERSHIP FOR? HOW LONG ARE WE GONNA HAVE THIS PARTNERSHIP? WHAT WE'VE BEEN SHARING BACK WITH THE COMMUNITY IS THE STAFFING SHORTAGE, WHICH WE KNOW DPS ALSO HAS A STAFFING SHORTAGE.
I THINK THEY'RE DOWN 500 TROOPERS.
UM, SO CHICHI, CAN YOU SHARE WITH US, UM, WHAT WE'RE DOING TO ADDRESS OUR, UH, STAFFING SHORTAGE AND, AND THE PRACTICES IN PLACE? YEAH, THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER FOR HIGHLIGHTING THAT.
I THINK THIS IS A BIG, BIG PART OF THIS CONVERSATION.
UM, WE, UH, AS A CITY AND I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH, UM, THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER, INTERIM ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER ON HOW WE CAN INCREASE, UM, THE NUMBER OF, OF CADETS.
SO WE HAVE GOING INTO OUR POLICE ACADEMY.
SO IT'S REALLY A TWOFOLD, A TWOFOLD, UM, ANSWER.
THE FIRST IS, I NEED MORE CADETS, I NEED MORE BRAND NEW OFFICERS COMING INTO THE ACADEMY.
I ALSO NEED TO BE ABLE TO RETAIN THE PEOPLE THAT I HAVE.
AND QUITE HONESTLY, THE SECOND ONE IS, IS IS MORE IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW THAN THE FIRST ONE.
UH, THE FIRST ONE, THEY'RE BOTH IMPORTANT, BUT I'VE GOTTA TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME WITH MY WORKFORCE, UM, MAKING SURE THAT THEY FEEL SUPPORTED, UH, MAKING SURE THAT THEY UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO WORK, AND THAT, UH, THEY'VE GOT A BRIGHT FUTURE HERE.
AND, UM, AND HANGING ON TO AS MANY OF THOSE FOLKS AS I CAN.
UM, SO, SO WE'RE WORKING IN, IN BOTH ARENAS, UH, ON THE, ON THE CADET SIDE, WE'RE OFFERING A VERY SUBSTANTIAL SIGNING BONUS RIGHT NOW THAT'S COMPETITIVE WITH OTHER BIG CITIES.
UH, WE'RE STILL, BECAUSE WE HAD OPENED MANY, UM, HIRING CYCLES PRIOR TO THE EXPIRATION OF THE CONTRACT, WE CAN STILL, UH, GO OUT OF TOWN AND TEST, RECRUIT AND DO THOSE THINGS.
AND SO WE'RE DOING THAT AS WELL.
I WANNA BE ABLE TO PUT A HUNDRED CADETS INTO EACH CLASS.
UH, BUT THE FACT IS, IS THAT RIGHT NOW I'M PUTTING ABOUT 35, 35 TO 40.
AND AT THAT RATE, AND WITH THE ATTRITION RATE THAT I HAVE RIGHT NOW, I'M NOT MAKING ANY PROGRESS ON THESE VACANCIES.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE'RE FALLING FURTHER AND FURTHER BEHIND EVERY MONTH.
SO WE'VE INCREASED THE PACE OF CADET CLASSES, WE'VE INCREASED OUR RECRUITING EFFORT.
AND AS A MATTER OF FACT, UM, WE'RE LOOKING RIGHT NOW AT A STRUCTURAL REORGANIZATION OF A P D TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A COMMANDER THAT IS JUST OVER RECRUITING, THAT IS WHOLLY DEDICATED TO RECRUITING, SO THAT WE CAN, UM, PUT EVEN MORE EFFORT INTO, INTO THAT.
UM, ON THE OTHER SIDE, I THINK THAT IT HAS TO DO WITH, UH, IT COMES DOWN TO MAKING SURE THAT LEADERSHIP UNDERSTANDS WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO, TO ACCOMPLISH.
THAT WE ARE HERE FOR THE CITIZENS OF AUSTIN TO HELP, TO ELEVATE THE INTRINSIC VALUE OF THIS PROFESSION.
AND PARTICULARLY THAT AUSTIN IS A REALLY GREAT CITY.
IT'S A GREAT PLACE TO WORK, AND IT'S A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE AND RAISE A FAMILY.
SO, UM, HANGING ON TO THOSE OFFICERS IS PARAMOUNT TO US AS WELL.
COUNCIL MEMBER, IF I COULD JUST, UH, ADD JUST A LITTLE BIT TO WHAT CHIEF JACON SAID, AND IT WAS IN, IN THE INFORMATION, UH, THAT WAS PRESENTED.
UH, UH, OUR OFFICERS ARE HAVE, BY AND LARGE, HAVE BEEN VERY, UH, POSITIVE ABOUT THIS EXPERIENCE.
I THINK THAT HAS MADE THEIR JOBS EASIER.
THAT'S WHY THEY'RE BEING ABLE TO RESPOND TO CALLS MUCH FASTER.
[01:50:01]
THEIR WORKLOAD IS IN INCREDIBLE.WHEN YOU HAVE A 300 PERSON VACANCY, THAT IS AN INCREDIBLE WORKLOAD FOR THE OFFICERS.
THE RANK AND FILE AND THIS, UH, ADDITIONAL, UH, IN, UH, OFFICER, UH, CONTINGENT THAT DPS HAS PROVIDED US IS REALLY A RELIEF FOR THEM.
AND I THINK IN THE END, THAT MAY HELP US WITH THE ATTRITION RATE, AND WE NEED SOME HELP WITH THE ATTRITION RATE BECAUSE WE, WE NEED OUR OFFICERS TO STAY UNTIL WE GET THESE CLASSES FILLED.
AND FINALLY, WHAT'D LIKE TO SAY ABOUT THE BUT THE OVERALL SAFETY? I UNDERSTAND THOSE COMMENTS THAT ARE MADE AND, AND I, I'VE EVEN HEARD IT FROM, FROM MY FAMILY MEMBERS.
THE ISSUE IS THAT WHEN, WHEN YOU'RE IN CERTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS, SOME NEIGHBORHOODS DON'T FEEL SAFE, AND THESE, UH, THESE CALL AREAS ARE FROM OUR CITIZENS.
THESE ARE THE CITIZENS THAT ARE CALLING SAYING, WE NEED HELP.
AND WHEN YOU CAN'T RESPOND IN A TIMELY WAY, THAT MAKES THOSE AREAS OF OUR CITY NOT FEEL SAFE.
UH, AND SO I THINK THAT'S WHY THIS PARTNERSHIP IS IMPORTANT.
I THINK WE'VE MADE SOME PROGRESS.
I THINK WE NEED TO DO THE ACCOUNTABILITY THAT YOU JUST MENTIONED, AND WE INTEND TO KEEP DOING THAT THROUGH THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE.
THANK YOU, MANAGER, COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON AL ALTER, AND THEN COUNCIL MEMBER VELA.
I THINK THAT CONVERSATION, UM, LEADS DIRECTLY TO WHAT I WANNA TALK ABOUT.
AND, AND, AND BEFORE I RAISE SOME POINTS, I WANNA, I WANNA STATE FROM THE GET-GO THAT I BELIEVE THAT WE NEED MORE OFFICERS THAN WE HAVE RIGHT NOW TO KEEP OUR COMMUNITY SAFE.
UM, BUT I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN US THINKING STRATEGICALLY, UM, IF WE HAVE A SHARED GOAL OF IMPROVING OUR RESPONSE TIME, OF PREVENTING CRIME, UM, REDUCING AND ELIMINATING TRAFFIC FATALITIES.
WE HAVE TO THINK, UM, STRATEGICALLY, AND I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS AND THOUGHTS THAT I WANNA ASK ABOUT THIS STRATEGY BECAUSE I'M NOT SURE IT GETS US TO WHERE WE NEED TO IN THE LONG TERM.
I'M NOT SURE IT'S SUSTAINABLE IN A WAY, UM, THAT OUR COMMUNITY WILL EMBRACE OR THAT WE CAN AFFORD, UM, OR THE STATE CAN AFFORD.
UM, SO I THINK WE NEED TO, TO HAVE A MORE STRATEGIC VIEW.
AND I WANNA START BY ASKING THE CITY MANAGER ACTUALLY, IF WE AGREE, WE WANNA IMPROVE RESPONSE TIMES.
IF WE AGREE WE WANT TO PREVENT CRIME, AND WE WANNA REDUCE TRAFFIC FATALITIES, UM, HOW WOULD WE APPROACH THAT FROM YOUR ONE CITY ANGLE? SO YOU HAVE SAID OVER AND OVER AGAIN, WE HAVE TO THINK AS ONE CITY, WE HAVE TO BE TAKING THESE PROBLEMS, UM, AND THINKING ABOUT IT ACROSS DEPARTMENTS AND REALLY, UM, HONING IN ON HOW DO WE ADDRESS THE PROBLEM, YOU KNOW, MORE HOLISTICALLY, WE ASK A LOT OF OUR POLICE OFFICERS.
I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE PROBLEMS OVER TIME.
SO IF WE TOOK THIS ONE CITY KIND OF APPROACH, WE WANNA BE COLLABORATIVE, WE WANNA HAVE IMPACT, WE WANNA HAVE ACCOUNTABILITY, WE WANNA HAVE TRANSPARENCY.
WHAT WOULD BE THE OTHER PIECES HERE THAT ARE MISSING? AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THAT REGARD? WELL, I, I, I THINK WITH RESPECT TO, UH, THERE'S SOME SPECIFICS THAT ARE JUST RELATED TO ENFORCEMENT.
I KNOW IN MY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD, SOUTHWEST AUSTIN, SOUTHWEST PARKWAY IS A SPEEDWAY.
UH, THEY DON'T MOVE AT THE 50 MILE AN HOUR SPEED LIMIT, BUT THEY, THEY CERTAINLY MOVE AT 70 PLUS.
I MEAN, YOU NEED TO HAVE SOME PRESENCES OUT THERE, BECAUSE SOMETIMES WITH THE NUMBER OF THE AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC ON THAT ROADWAY, IT IS A, IT'S, IT'S RIPE FOR SOME TYPE OF, UH, OF ACCIDENTS THAT SOMETIMES COULD, UH, RESULT IN INJURY WITH RESPECT TO THE ISSUE OF CRIME.
YOU HAVE, YES, YOU HAVE TO THINK THE LONG AND THE TERMS OF THE LONG TERM.
SO WHAT IT IS IS ABOUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT, UH, UH, THE ISSUES AROUND, UH, BEHAVIORAL HEALTH? IT'S A WHOLE HOST OF ISSUES THAT YOU NEED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT, BUT IT'S NOT EITHER OR.
AND SO YOU TAKE THE, THE ONE SIDE OF THE EQUATION NEEDS TO GET DONE, THAT'S A LONGER TERM APPROACH.
AND THEN YOU'VE GOTTA DO THE IMMEDIATE ENFORCEMENT APPROACH.
I THINK YOU DO BOTH OF THOSE, UH, HAND IN GLOVE WITH ONE ANOTHER, AND YOU DO IT, UH, THE WAY THAT THE, THAT, UH, AT LEAST THE USING THE CALL VOLUMES IN TERMS OF THE WAY WE'VE RESPONDED TO THE, THE PATROLS, THAT'S AN APPROPRIATE WAY BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE WE HAD THE MOST DEMAND FOR SERVICE THAT WE WEREN'T ABLE TO GET TO IN TIMELY WAY.
SO I THINK WE'RE TRYING TO DO AS BEST WE CAN WITH ALL THE DIFFERENT, UH, TOOLS IN OUR TOOLBOX.
AND I THINK THERE'S ANOTHER SET OF TOOLS THAT I KNOW THAT YOU MENTIONED TO ME THE OTHER DAY THAT I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO, UH, UH, DIVE DEEP INTO.
BUT WE WILL, AND WE'LL FIGURE OUT HOW THOSE PIECES FIT TOGETHER SO THAT WE'RE COOPERATING ACROSS ALL DEPARTMENTS IN TERMS OF WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO GET DONE.
SO CHIEF, HOW IS A P D ENGAGING WITH THE OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND HOW IS THEIR EXPERTISE BEING USED? UM, YOU, YOU, YOU'VE TALKED ABOUT PART OF WHAT WE'RE USING D P FOUR IS TO ADDRESS GUN VIOLENCE, UM, AND OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION IS ONE OF THESE TOOLS THAT WE HAVE THAT IS NOT YET PART OF THIS CONVERSATION, UM, THAT NEEDS TO BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION.
SO CAN YOU SPEAK TO THAT? CERTAINLY.
UM, SO REALLY WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE DPS, THERE'S, IN OTHER WORDS, THERE'S TWO DIFFERENT SIDES TO WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
THERE'S WHAT WE CAN DO PREVENTATIVELY, AND THEN WHAT, WHAT, WHAT WE REACT TO BECAUSE IT'S ALREADY HAPPENED.
AND LARGELY THE DPS, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TRYING TO PREVENT, BUT A
[01:55:01]
LOT OF TIMES THEY'RE REACTING TO SOMETHING THAT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED.I'VE BEEN WORKING, UM, VERY CLOSELY WITH THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE AND DIEGO, UM, DIEGO GARZA, UH, WITH THE OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION ON A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT EFFORTS, UH, THE FIRST BEING A VIOLENCE INTERVENTION, UH, PROGRAM, UM, THAT, UH, WE ARE PROVIDING DATA SO THAT THEY CAN, UM, THEY CAN TRY TO DO THINGS THAT DON'T INVOLVE LAW ENFORCEMENT TO BE ABLE TO INTERDICT AND TO BE ABLE TO INTERCEDE IN THAT.
AND MOST RECENTLY, UM, WE ARE ROLLING OUT A PROGRAM RELATED TO, UH, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE WITH OUR YOUTH, AND HOW CAN WE DIVERT SOME OF THOSE TYPE OF CASES AWAY FROM THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM ALTOGETHER, UM, IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT.
SO WE'RE TALKING AS OFFICERS ARE ARRIVING ON THE SCENE OF, UH, FAMILY VIOLENCE THAT INVOLVES, UH, A YOUNG PERSON WHO IS A JUVENILE AND BEING ABLE TO MAKE A CALL TO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY TO BE ABLE TO DIVERT THAT CASE RIGHT ON SCENE.
SO, UM, IT IS A BIT REACTIVE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THE OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION IS, UM, IS, IS WORKING WITH US ON THIS, ON THIS TO SEE WHAT RESOURCES THEY CAN BRING TO BEAR.
AND, UH, AND, AND SO WE'VE BEEN WORKING IN THAT, IN THAT AREA.
YEAH, I CAN FOLLOW UP ON THAT, UH, WITH JUST A LITTLE BIT OF SPECIFICS.
UM, THE PROJECT WITH THE, UH, OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION, UM, AND IT'S TIED TO THE WHITE HOUSE VIOLENCE REDUCTION INITIATIVE, UM, INVOLVES AN OUTSIDE ORGANIZATION CALLED THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM.
AND WE HAVE JUST CLEARED THEIR PERSONNEL SO THAT THEY CAN ACTUALLY COME TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND WE'RE GONNA SCHEDULE IT, UH, START THE SCHEDULING PROCESS NEXT WEEK.
UM, THEY'LL BE COMING AND WHAT THEY'LL BE DOING IS SORT OF AN INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS ON EVERYTHING RELATED TO GUN CRIME VICTIMIZATION, RIGHT? UH, VICTIMS OFFENDERS, LOCATIONS, TIMES, PLACES, ET CETERA.
THEY'LL, UH, USE THAT INFORMATION FOR O V P TO BEGIN A MORE AGGRESSIVE TARGETED COMMUNITY OUTREACH, UM, TO SUPPORT, UM, ONE OF THE ONLY EMPIRICALLY VALIDATED APPROACHES TO REDUCING GUN CRIME, UH, WHICH REALLY REPRESENTS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN, UH, SOCIAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS, POLICE, AND THE COMMUNITY.
AND SO WE'VE BEEN WORKING PRETTY DILIGENTLY WITH THEM TO GET THAT IN PLACE.
UM, THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM, FINISHING THEIR FIRST ROUND OF ANALYSIS IS THE FIRST STEP TO START ON THAT WE SHOULD ALL LOOK FORWARD TO.
SO I'M VERY MUCH LOOKING FORWARD TO, I WILL JUST POINT OUT IT TOOK WELL OVER A YEAR TO GET THE CLEARANCE AND GET THEM IN THE PIPELINE.
I THINK WE'VE GOT THAT ADDRESSED, BUT WE NEED TO HAVE THE SAME URGENCY ABOUT THE PREVENTION ASPECTS AND THE VIOLENCE PREVENTION WORK AS WE DO ABOUT HAVING THE TROOPERS, UM, GO OUT THERE.
I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT HAVE MENTIONED THE WORK THAT'S GOING ON WITH THE GIBBONS PARK COMMUNITY INITIATIVE.
THIS IS VERY MUCH MORE EMBLEMATIC OF THE ONE CITY APPROACH, WHERE YOU HAVE PARKS AND WATERSHED AND A P D, UM, THE DA AND THE COUNTY ATTORNEY ALL WORKING TOGETHER, UM, TO ADDRESS CHALLENGES OF THAT COMMUNITY WITH THAT COMMUNITY.
THEY'RE USING ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN FOR SAFETY.
UM, AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THESE AREAS WHICH HAVE THE VIOLENT CRIME IN THEM, UM, I THINK IT WOULD BE REALLY GOOD IF WE COULD THINK ABOUT NOT JUST SURGING D PS OFFICERS, BUT SURGING THE RESOURCES INTO THOSE AREAS.
UM, BECAUSE WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WITH DPS IS DETERRENCE AND FOCUS DETERRENTS IS NOT GONNA DO ANYTHING BEYOND THE SHORT RUN.
WE REALLY HAVE TO BE, UM, TALKING ABOUT THAT LONG-TERM PIECE.
UM, SO I WANTED TO MAKE SOME OF THOSE POINTS ABOUT THE STRATEGIC PART OF HOW WE'RE, HOW WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THIS AND HOW WE HAVE TO BROADEN IN.
AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT WHEN WE'RE TALKING TO THE COMMUNITY, UM, THAT WE, WE DON'T LOSE SIGHT OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING AS A COMMUNITY TO MAKE PEOPLE FEEL SAFE, WHICH HAS MANY OTHER DIMENSIONS, AND THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD WORK BEING DONE.
UM, I THINK WE, UM, TO UNDERSTAND WHETHER THIS IS FISCALLY SUSTAINABLE AND WHAT IT WOULD MEAN, UM, AND ALSO GIVEN THE NUMBER OF OFFICERS AND THE CHALLENGES RECRUITING, UM, THIS MAY OR MAY NOT BE A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH.
IT'S HARD WHEN WE DON'T EVEN KNOW THE NUMBER OF TROOPERS THAT ARE INVOLVED TO REALLY BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
OR DO WE HAVE AN EXTRA FOUR CARS? DO WE HAVE AN EXTRA 20 CARS OF TROOPERS? LIKE WE, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT BASIC THING.
IT'S REALLY, REALLY CHALLENGING FOR US TO, TO, TO MAKE ANY STATEMENTS.
SO WE ARE GOING TO NEED THAT KIND OF, UM, DATA.
UM, IS THERE A WRITTEN AGREEMENT? THERE IS NOT AN A WRITTEN AGREEMENT? NO, MA'AM.
SO SHOULD WE, AS A COUNCIL, AS DALLAS DID DECIDE WE WANTED TO NOT BE ENGAGING DPS IN THIS WAY, WHAT IS THE EXIT STRATEGY? WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS FOR DOING THAT IF THERE'S NO WRITTEN AGREEMENT? HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? WELL, I THINK THAT'S PROBABLY A QUESTION MAYBE FOR THE MANAGER, EVEN THE MAYOR, BECAUSE I THINK THEY KIND OF INITIATED, UH, SOME OF THESE CONVERSATIONS TO BEGIN WITH.
[02:00:01]
KNOW, UH, DPS IS BEING A GOOD PARTNER FOR US RIGHT NOW.WE HAVE, WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT, UH, JUST A LITTLE BIT HOW LONG YOU LASTED AND, AND THE SHORT ANSWER IS RIGHT NOW, WE JUST DON'T KNOW.
UM, WE'RE TRYING TO GIVE IT TIME TO WORK.
UH, WE, AS, AS HAS BEEN DESCRIBED, UM, THE INITIAL DEPLOYMENT AREAS DO NOT LOOK LIKE THE DEPLOYMENT AREAS TODAY.
AND, UM, AND WE'RE SEEING A DISPERSAL OF THE VIOLENT CRIME CALLS THAT ARE COMING IN TO 9 1 1 FROM THOSE AREAS AND PRIORITIZING OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY RIGHT NOW.
I THINK THAT WHEN WE FEEL COMFORTABLE THAT, UM, THAT WE'VE STABILIZED, ESSENTIALLY STABILIZE THE SITUATION IS WHEN WE'RE GONNA BE HAVING A DISCUSSION ABOUT WHETHER, UH, DPS STOPS THIS DEPLOYMENT OR NOT.
OKAY, WELL, CITY MANAGER, I THINK WE, WE NEED TO, AS A COUNCIL, WHETHER THAT'S AN EXECUTIVE SESSION OR HERE, I THINK WE NEED TO HAVE A BETTER AND A FULLER UNDERSTANDING OF, OF HOW THIS WORKS.
UM, SHOULD SOMETHING HAPPEN OR SHOULD THERE BE AN ISSUE, WHICH HOPEFULLY THERE WON'T BE, BUT YOU KNOW, I MEAN, I DON'T THINK WE UNDERSTAND THAT AT THIS POINT, ABSENT A WRITTEN AGREEMENT.
AND WE'LL, AND WE'LL CERTAINLY, UH, PROVIDE THAT INFORMA, OR ACTUALLY, WE'LL, WE'LL THINK THROUGH THE PROCESS OF HOW THAT WORKS.
I JUST WANT TO EMPHASIZE AGAIN, AND I, I GUESS YOU, YOU DON'T, I CAN'T EMPHASIZE THAT WE'RE IN A CRISIS SITUATION WITH RESPECT TO STAFFING AT A P D.
THIS ISN'T JUST A, WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE.
IT'S A MUST HAVE, AND WE DON'T HAVE IT, AND WE HAVEN'T HAD IT FOR A WHILE.
AND, AND, AND, AND THIS IS ONE WAY, NOT A COMPLETE WAY, BUT IT'S ONE WAY OF ADDRESSING IT.
AND SO BEFORE WE BEGIN TO TALK ABOUT WHAT ARE THE WAYS WE PULL THE PLUG, LET GIVE OUR OFFICERS TIME TO CATCH THEIR BREATH BECAUSE OF THE TYPE OF WORK THEY'VE HAD TO DO OVER THE, UH, THE LAST YEAR OR SO WITH THESE NUMBER OF VACANCIES, I'D ASK YOU, GIVE US THAT TIME.
AND THEN LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE CRIME RATE.
LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS WITH TRAFFIC FATALITIES.
LET'S SEE WHAT THE SUCCESSES WOULD BE, UH, BEFORE WE START THINKING ABOUT WHAT, WHAT IS, WHAT'S THE EXIT STRATEGY? AND I, AND I MIGHT JUST SAY THAT, UM, IN ALL MY CONVERSATIONS WITH, WITH FOLKS AT THE CAPITOL THAT ARE RELATED, UH, TO WHAT THIS PARTNERSHIP WOULD LOOK LIKE, CUZ THERE'S BEEN OTHER DISCUSSIONS WITH PEOPLE AT THE CAPITOL ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE HAVE THIS PARTNERSHIP.
BUT ONE OF THE GOOD THINGS ABOUT IT IS WE'RE NOT BOUND.
UH, WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO MAKE DECISIONS, UH, WITH REGARD TO LENGTH OF TIME, HOW WE WANNA GO ABOUT DOING THINGS, MUCH THE SAME WAY THAT YOU'RE TALKING HERE.
AND IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND, UH, PART OF THE CONTEXT OF ALL THIS IS THAT, UH, DPS CAN, UH, WORK OUR STREETS REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THERE'S A PARTNERSHIP THAT STARTS WITH THE PRESUMPTION THAT WHAT THEY'RE DOING IS THEY'RE SUPPORTING AND SUPPLEMENTING, AND, AND THAT'S THAT.
SO WHAT PART OF THIS AGREEMENT THAT SOMETIMES GETS LOST IS THAT IT IS THE HELP THAT, THAT IS NEEDED, BUT IT'S DONE IN SUCH A WAY WHERE A P D IS PROVIDING THE DATA AND DOING THE KINDS OF THINGS TO ALLOW FOR, UH, SUPPLEMENT UH, SUPPORT AND COLLABORATION.
UM, I DO HAVE SOME OTHER QUESTIONS.
AND, AND AGAIN, I THINK WE STILL HAVE AN OVERSIGHT ROLE AS MANY OF MY COLLEAGUES SURE HAVE SAID TO ASK QUESTIONS.
AND WE HAVEN'T HAD THE BENEFIT OF BEING IN SOME OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS.
AND THIS HAS REALLY BEEN THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO ENGAGE IN THAT, UM, PUBLICLY AT THIS POINT IN TIME.
SO, SO IT, SO I THINK THEY'RE APPROPRIATE.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS AND WHAT RULES DOES D P S FOLLOW IF THERE ARE MAJOR PROTESTS AS A CITY AND AS A COUNCIL.
AND, AND IN TERMS OF, OF YOU CHIEF A AS THE LEADER OF A P D, WE HAVE CHANGED A LOT OF RULES ABOUT HOW WE RESPOND TO PROTESTS.
UM, IT IS NOT WITHOUT POSSIBILITY THAT WE EXPERIENCE THAT.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT RULES GOVERN DPS, IF THERE ARE PROTESTS.
WE HAVE SAID YOU CAN'T USE THE RUBBER BULLETS AND A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS FOR CROWD CONTROL.
HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHAT DPS WOULD BE DOING IN THAT.
SO, UM, JUST UNDERSTAND, PLEASE, UH, JUST FOR CONTEXT THAT WE'RE IN THE CAPITAL CITY, AND PARTICULARLY DURING SESSION RIGHT NOW, UM, WE HAVE PROTESTS ESSENTIALLY EVERY WEEKEND.
UH, THERE ARE PROTESTS THAT, THAT HAPPEN HERE.
WE HAVE WORKED FOREVER, IT FEELS LIKE, UH, FOR MANY, MANY YEARS, AND QUITE HONESTLY, DECADES WITH DPS JOINTLY ON MANAGING PEACEFUL PROTESTS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WITH REGARD TO, YOU KNOW, THEIR OPERATIONAL STANDARDS THAT THEY HAVE AS COMPARED TO A P D.
UM, THEY HAVE, THEY HAVE THEIRS AND, AND KIND OF, WE HAVE OURS, UH, OURS HAVE LARGELY BEEN SHAPED BY, UH, BY EVENTS OF THE PAST, BY COUNCIL DIRECTION, BY MY DIRECTION AS THE CHIEF ON HOW WE'RE GOING TO HANDLE
[02:05:01]
IT.UM, AND HAVE BEEN SHARED WITH DPS.
AND DPS, AGAIN, WANTS TO BE A GOOD PARTNER, UNDERSTANDS, UM, WHAT OUR DIRECTION IN THIS HERE IN THE CITY IS.
AND, UH, IN EVERY INSTANCE THAT WE WORKED PREVIOUSLY HAS ALLOWED US TO TAKE THE LEAD ON, ON PROTESTS THAT OCCUR O OUTSIDE OF THEIR JURISDICTION.
IN OTHER WORDS, ON CAPITOL GROUNDS.
THEY, THEY HANDLE THOSE AND WE, WE COME IN IF NECESSARY, VICE VERSA.
SO, UM, THAT GENERALLY HAS BEEN HOW WE'VE WORKED IN THE PAST AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK IN THE FUTURE.
I THINK I MAY WANNA HAVE MORE CONVERSATIONS WITH YOU ON THAT.
AND THEN WITH RESPECT TO BODY CAMS AND OTHER KINDS OF OVERSIGHT MECHANISMS, YOU KNOW, IF, IF A DPS OFFICER IS INVOLVED IN AN ISSUE AND THERE'S BODY CAM FOOT FOOTAGE, UM, WHAT ARE THE RULES ABOUT DISCLOSURE THERE? AND, YOU KNOW, IF, IF THEY'RE INTERACTING WITH 9 1 1 OR, OR THERE'S A NEED TO SEE, SEE THOSE INTERACTIONS, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT GOVERNS THAT SITUATION SO THEIR POLICY WOULD, WOULD GOVERN AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE'RE TALKING ABOUT MAINLY CRITICAL INCIDENTS.
SO IF, FOR INSTANCE, THEY'RE INVOLVED IN AN OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING, UM, THEY WOULD HANDLE, UH, ALL OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND CRIMINAL PART OF ANY CRITICAL INCIDENT THAT, THAT THEY'RE INVOLVED IN.
SO TEXAS RANGERS WOULD, WOULD BE THE INVESTIGATIVE BODY, UH, AND THEN THEY HAVE THEIR OWN ADMINISTRATIVE, UH, INVESTIGATION THAT OCCURS AS OPPOSED TO IF ONE OF MY OFFICERS THEN, THEN WE HAVE OUR PROCESS.
UM, AGAIN, I THINK THERE'S STILL SOME CLARIFICATIONS HERE THAT I'M HEARING FROM FOLKS THAT, THAT THEY WANNA UNDERSTAND BETTER ABOUT HOW THAT IS WORKING AND, AND, AND I THINK IT WOULD BE BETTER TO HAVE THAT CLEAR BEFORE ANY SORT OF INCIDENT HAPPENS.
UM, SO THAT, AND HOPEFULLY NO INCIDENT WILL HAPPEN.
UM, I WANNA JUST GO BACK TO KIND OF WHERE I, WHERE I STARTED.
UM, WE'VE BEEN TRYING FOR A REALLY LONG TIME TO TAKE A BROADER STRATEGIC VIEW OF HOW DO WE IMPROVE RESPONSE TIMES, HOW DO WE PREVENT CRIME, ET CETERA.
UM, AND WHILE IN THE SHORT RUN, MAYBE, YOU KNOW, WE DO NEED MORE OFFICERS IN THE WAY THAT YOU'RE DOING, I DON'T KNOW.
UM, JUST HAVING MORE OFFICERS IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO IMPROVE RESPONSE TIMES AND PREVENT CRIME.
AND I, I WANT US, YOU KNOW, AS WE MAKE THESE CHOICES, WHICH, UM, I HEAR FROM THE CITY MANAGER THAT HE HAS PARTICULAR REASONS THAT HE THINK THIS IS IMPORTANT FROM AN OPERATIONAL STANDPOINT, WE CANNOT LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT THAT WE HAVE OTHER TOOLS.
WE HAVE OTHER THINGS THAT OUR COMMUNITY HAS SAID ARE IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO FEEL SAFE.
WE HAVE OTHER THINGS THAT WE RECOGNIZE ARE GOING TO ALLOW OUR OFFICERS TO DO THEIR JOBS MORE EFFECTIVELY, ALLOW THEM TO FOCUS ON VIOLENT CRIME, ALLOW US TO RETAIN THEM IF THEY'RE NOT HAVING TO BE EVERYTHING TO ALL PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES.
AND WE, WE CANNOT LOSE SIGHT OF THAT AS WE MOVE FORWARD AND WE TRY AND ADDRESS THIS, I AM NOT COMFORTABLE JUST SAYING, LET'S WAIT FOR SIX MONTHS AND SEE HOW THIS PLAYS OUT.
WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY WITH NEW LEADERSHIP TO REALLY BE PUSHING ON THOSE OTHER THINGS AND HAVING THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS WORK TOGETHER.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION SHOULD BE WORKING REALLY CLOSELY WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, YOU KNOW, AND IN THESE AREAS AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DESIGN THESE CRIME INTERVENTION PROGRAMS. UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN IT'S A PARK THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, PART CAN BE INVOLVED, WE CAN USE ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN.
UM, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF WE PUT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE SURGED WITH THOSE RESOURCES TOO.
UM, WE HAVE TO BE ASKING THOSE QUESTIONS.
AND I THINK OUR COMMUNITY IS DEMANDING THAT.
AND, AND, AND IT IS, IT IS, I THINK HAS TO BE PART OF THE WAY FORWARD.
IT IS NOT SUSTAINABLE, UM, TO DO THIS.
WE DON'T HAVE A CLEAR SOLUTION TO THE OFFICERS BETWEEN RECRUITING, ET CETERA.
UM, SO WE SHOULD BE MAKING THOSE INVESTMENTS NOW, UM, SO THAT WE CAN REALLY ADDRESS THE ISSUES HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
LEMME START ACTUALLY WITH A, A QUESTION FOR THE, THE CITY ATTORNEY.
WHAT EXACTLY IS, UH, THE JURISDICTION OF, UH, A DPS? OH, ACTUALLY, CHIEF CHIK GOT IT EXACTLY RIGHT IN THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENTATION.
DPS HAS STATEWIDE JURISDICTION BY STATE LAW.
THEY ENFORCE THE PUBLIC SAFETY LAWS AND ARE TASKED WITH, UH, DETECTING AND PREVENTING CRIME.
SO EVEN BEFORE THIS ROBUST OR MORE INTENTIONAL COLLABORATION WITH DPS, THEY CERTAINLY HAD THE AUTHORITY TO BE HERE.
SO REGARDLESS OF, YOU KNOW, COUNTY LINE, YOU KNOW, CITY LIMITS, DPS CAN AND WILL ENFORCE THE LAW WITHIN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
AND SO IMPLIED WITHIN THAT IS THAT DPS HAS THE AUTHORITY TO, YOU KNOW, PULL PEOPLE OVER IN AUSTIN, ARREST PEOPLE IN AUSTIN AGAIN, REGARDLESS
[02:10:01]
OF ANY PARTNERSHIP OR AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY.UM, CHIEF, WHERE IS, UH, D P S FILING THEIR, UH, THE TICKETS THAT THEY'RE ISSUING? I BELIEVE, UM, IF IT IS A MOVING VIOLATION IN, UH, JUST TO THE PEACE COURT, FIVE.
SO, UM, CAN THEY FILE IN AUSTIN MUNICIPAL COURT? I ASKED THAT QUESTION AND, AND IT WASN'T ENTIRELY CLEAR TO ME.
I THINK THEY MADE AN OPERATIONAL DECISION TO FILE 'EM IN, IN JP FIVE FOR JUST TO KEEP IT SIMPLE, KEEP IT SIMPLE, AND KEEP IT SMOOTH.
SO FROM THE CITY'S PERSPECTIVE, THEN WE DON'T KNOW WHERE AND HOW MANY THE TICKETS ARE BEING FILED CAUSE THEY'RE NOT BEING FILED.
AND, AND THEN AS WE CAN GET THAT INFORMATION FROM AUSTIN MUNICIPAL COURT, BUT IF THEY'RE FILING IN JP FIVE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO ASK JP FIVE TO, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, TO TURN OVER THAT INFORMATION, HUH? WELL, IT, ON THEIR OWN, THEY HAVE TO COLLECT THE DATA BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO FILE A RACIAL PROFILING REPORT EVERY YEAR, JUST LIKE WE DO.
SO YOU PRESUMABLY THEY'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, THEY'VE GOT THE DATA ALSO.
UM, MUNICIPAL CORE GENERALLY FOR US, DOES NOT PROVIDE THAT DATA.
UM, WE, WE MAY PULL THE DATA, UH, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT MAY, BUT, UM, BUT THAT, YOU KNOW, I THINK LARGELY YOU'RE CORRECT.
SO A AGAIN, I'M JUST TRYING TO THINK OF THE DATA, AND I KNOW THAT WE'VE REQUESTED IT FROM DPS, BUT JUST, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW, YOU KNOW, WHEN OR HOW LONG IT'LL TAKE TO GET IT.
BUT THE COUNTY ATTORNEY WOULD HAVE MISDEMEANOR DATA IN TERMS OF ARREST, UH, FOR MISDEMEANOR ARREST.
THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY WOULD HAVE FELONY DATA IN TERMS OF HOW MANY, YOU KNOW, DPSS AND NOT JUST HOW MANY, BUT WHAT AND WHO ARE, ARE THE, I THINK THE PERTINENT QUESTIONS AND THEN JP FIVE WOULD ESSENTIALLY BE, OR POTENTIALLY THE OTHER JPS.
I'M NOT SURE IF, IF IT WOULD ONLY BE JP FIVE, BUT THE OTHER JPS WOULD HAVE THE DETAILS.
UH, IN TERMS OF, UH, OF THE, THE TICKETS, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE GET THAT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
AND, AND I, UH, UH, WOULD HOPE THAT WE CAN REACH OUT TO OUR, OUR COUNTY ATTORNEY, ATTORNEY AND JPS TO FIND OUT EXACTLY, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S GOING ON AND WHO'S GETTING TICKETED AND WHO'S GETTING ARRESTED, AND FOR WHAT.
THOSE ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR THE PUBLIC.
UM, I COMPLETELY AGREE THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, YOUR GUN CRIMES, YOUR VIOLENT CRIMES, THOSE KINDS OF THINGS LIKE THAT, WE, WE'VE REALLY GOT TO, UH, UH, TO CRACK DOWN ON THAT.
DRUG CRIMES, YOU KNOW, MARIJUANA, VERY SMALL, YOU KNOW, CLASS, UH, STATE JAIL, FELONY LEVEL, UH, UH, POSSESSION CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE CRIMES, THOSE ARE BEING DECLINED.
PROSECUTION AT THE, AT THE DA LEVEL, I'M, I, I, I, I DON'T THINK THAT THERE'S A, UH, THAT THERE'S A, A GRASSROOTS KIND OF, YOU KNOW, BUBBLING UP TO REALLY HAMMER DOWN ON, YOU KNOW, TINY AMOUNTS OF PILLS OR, OR SOME KIND OF, UH, UH, ILLICIT DRUGS.
SO, UH, I THINK THOSE ARE VERY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS IN TERMS OF, I THINK PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR THE PROGRAM.
UM, THE, IN TERMS OF LIABILITY, WHICH AGAIN, HAS BECOME MORE AND MORE OF AN ISSUE IN TERMS OF THE, THE, THE PAYOUTS THAT WE'VE MADE.
IF, AGAIN, GOD FORBID, THAT THERE WAS SOME KIND OF SERIOUS INCIDENT INVOLVING DPS WHO GETS SUED, WELL, I'LL ANSWER IT.
UH, AND IN TERMS OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION, UH, IS DPS, I'M, I'M, I'M ASSUMING THAT THEY ARE NOT COVERED BY CHAPTER 1 43.
THEY'RE NOT, SO ANY KIND OF DISCIPLINARY, FOR EXAMPLE, THE ONE COMPLAINT THAT THE O P O FORWARDED OVER TO DPS SHOULD BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE THERE.
THERE IS NO CONFIDENTIALITY RESTRICTION OR, OR ANY KIND OF, YOU KNOW, OPEN RECORDS RESTRICTIONS ON THE REPORTS FILED AGAINST DPS.
IS THERE, YEAH, UM, THAT'S PROBABLY A QUESTION FOR DPS.
I'M NOT, I'M NOT TOO SURE HOW THEY OPERATE, UH, IN THAT SPACE.
MY SENSE OF IT WOULD BE, AS LONG AS IT'S NOT A PENDING CRIME, AS LONG AS IT'S NOT A PENDING CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION, THAT THERE, IT WOULD ESSENTIALLY BE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC.
SO IN SOME INSTANCES, IN MANY INSTANCES, HONESTLY, WE MAY HAVE MORE TRANSPARENCY INTO, UH, DPS, UH, COMPLAINTS FILED AGAINST D PS AND THE RESOLUTIONS, UH, WITH REGARD TO COMPLAINTS FILED AGAINST DPSS AND WE DO AGAINST A P D, UH, IN TERMS OF THE DATA AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC.
THAT'S BEEN ALSO, AND, AND IN DISCUSSING D P S AND, AND YOU KNOW, THE INFORMATION THAT IS OUT THERE, I KNOW THAT THERE IS YOUR MONTHLY REPORT THAT IS PUT OUT, WHICH IS JUST A, A MONTHLY LIST OF THE, UH, ARRESTS, UH, NUMBER OF ARRESTS, TYPE OF ARRESTS.
UH, IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT.
AND THEN I, UH, AND, AND PLEASE AGAIN, I'M, I, MY, MY MEMORY MAY NOT, UH, SERVE ME WHILE HERE, BUT, UH, I BELIEVE THERE'S ALSO A SECTOR BY SECTOR REPORT OR SOMETHING SIMILAR PROVIDED TO THE PUBLIC SAFETY A COMMISSION, UH, EVERY MONTH IS, IS CAN, CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THAT OR ARE YOU AWARE OF THAT? YEAH, SO THAT'S THE QUARTERLY REPORT FROM THE DEPARTMENT.
[02:15:01]
INFORMATION IS PROVIDED AT THE SECTOR LEVEL.MOST OF IT IS ACTUALLY SUMMARY INFORMATION FROM, UH, AT THE CITY LEVEL.
SO, UH, IN PARTICULAR, WE LOOK AT, UH, NUMBERS OF CALLS FOR SERVICE AND RESPONSE TIMES BY SECTOR WITH THEM.
UM, BUT THAT PROCESS IS DRIVEN PRIMARILY BY DISCUSSION WITH THEM.
AND WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGING WHAT INFORMATION'S GONNA BE SHARED.
AND I REMEMBER HAVING A, A CONVERSATION, OR MY OFFICE HAD A CONVERSATION WITH A, A, A ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, UH, RIANO A FEW MONTHS BACK, POSSIBLY A YEAR BACK.
UH, BUT I, MY UNDERSTANDING WAS THAT THERE WAS A DATA PORTAL BEING DEVELOPED, OR THAT WAS IN PROCESS WHERE WE WOULD BE ABLE TO SH SHARE MORE, UH, DATA WITH REGARD TO, FOR EXAMPLE, CALLS FOR SERVICE, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, INDIVIDUAL CRIMES IN, IN TERMS OF NOT JUST LIKE A, A MONTHLY KIND OF SNAPSHOT, BUT A KIND OF LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS SO WE CAN BETTER SEE, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S GOING ON IN TERMS OF A CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.
SO ONE OF THE DEPARTMENT INITIATIVES THAT I PUT IN PLACE UPON GETTING HERE WAS AFTER AN EVALUATION OF THE, UH, DATA SHARING PORTALS THAT THE CITY HAS AVAILABLE, UH, WE DO NOT HAVE ADEQUATE TECHNOLOGY TO PUT FORTH ANYTHING THAT I BELIEVE IS SORT OF COMMENSURATE WITH THE LEVEL OF TRANSPARENCY THAT THE CITY DESIRES.
MOST OF THAT IS A TECHNOLOGY ISSUE.
SO WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON MODIFICATIONS TO UNDERLYING DATA SYSTEMS FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS TO TRY TO BRING US TO A POINT WHERE ULTIMATELY WE CAN PUT FORTH A NEW PORTAL.
UM, NOW, YOU KNOW, THAT WE HAVE THE, UH, THE CURRENT AVAILABLE APPLICATIONS, CRIME VIEWER, FOR EXAMPLE, WHICH WAS DEVELOPED BY CTM AND IT DIDN'T HAVE A LOT OF, AT THE TIME, IT WAS USEFUL, BUT IT DIDN'T HAVE THE FORETHOUGHT TO STILL BE USEFUL NOW.
AND SO IT'S, IT'S, IT GIVES SOME INFORMATION, BUT IT HAS CHALLENGES.
UH, THERE'S THE PORTAL CURRENTLY FOR A P D, UH, INCIDENT REPORTS, THE INCIDENT REPORT DATABASE.
SIMILARLY, THAT GIVES YOU SOME INFORMATION, BUT IT'S NOT EASY TO SUMMARIZE AND KIND OF UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING.
SO WE ARE WORKING TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM.
IT DOES INVOLVE STILL AT THIS POINT, UH, SUBSTANTIAL UPGRADES TO ONE OF OUR FUNDAMENTAL UNDERLYING DATABASES.
AND I THINK THE TIMELINE ON THAT'S ABOUT 18 TO 24 MONTHS MM-HMM.
WHAT WE DON'T WANT TO DO IS PUT FORTH A, UH, A PUBLIC PORTAL SOLUTION THAT WORKS WHEN IT'S A FEW PEOPLE LOOKING FOR INFORMATION, BUT ANYTIME THAT THERE'S ACTUALLY AN EVENT THAT WOULD LIKELY DRAW A LARGE CROWD, WE DON'T WANT IT TO CRASH.
UH, SO AGAIN, THERE'S A NUMBER OF SORT OF FUNDAMENTAL STEPS WE HAVE TO TAKE TO BE PREPARED FOR A NEW SYSTEM, AND THEN WE HAVE TO IMPLEMENT THE NEW SYSTEM.
IT WAS AN OUT, IT WAS AN OUT OF SERVICE ORACLE DATABASE THAT THERE WAS NO SUPPORT FOR IT.
IT WAS A HUGE IT RISK, UM, THAT'S BEEN NOW MIGRATED TO A CURRENT VERSION OF ORACLE, IF ANYONE'S TECHNICALLY INCLINED.
ORACLE IS UNIQUE IS THE WORD I WILL USE FOR IT AMONG DATABASES.
AND SO THE DEPARTMENT, THE, UH, CTM HAS TO MIGRATE THAT TO, UH, SOME VERSION OF AN SQL DATABASE IN ORDER FOR IT TO BE, TO PLAY WELL, IF YOU WILL, WITH PORTAL SYSTEMS. UM, AT THE SAME TIME, WE'RE ALSO WORKING WITH THE VENDOR ON CLOUD MIGRATION.
SO THESE THINGS ARE HAPPENING PARALLEL, ULTIMATELY, WHICH PATH WE TAKE DETERMINES OUR SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE PORTAL SYSTEM.
SO THAT'S WHERE WE'RE AT WITH IT.
AND, AND I APPRECIATE THAT, AND I, AND I BRING IT UP BECAUSE WE CONSISTENTLY HEAR, UM, COMPLAINTS, CONCERNS WITH REGARD TO THE AMOUNT OF DATA THAT IS AVAILABLE.
I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY POLICING AND PUBLIC SAFETY IS A MAJOR, UH, TOPIC OF PUBLIC CONCERN.
UH, AND, YOU KNOW, WORKING CLOSELY ON PROJECT CONNECT, VERY SIMILAR SITUATION WHERE YOU HAVE FOLKS THAT ARE EXTREMELY KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGEABLE AND DEDICATED THAT WANT ACCESS TO DATA SO THAT THEY CAN RUN THEIR OWN ANALYSIS AND PROVIDE FEEDBACK BOTH TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TO US AS INDIVIDUAL COUNCIL MEMBERS.
I WELCOME THEIR HELP AND ASSISTANCE, AND SOMETIMES THEY CAN REALLY KIND OF FERRET OUT LITTLE DETAILS THAT THAT, THAT SOME OF US MAY MISS.
AND, UH, I, I WOULD REALLY, YOU KNOW, URGE THAT ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF, OF, LIKE I SAID, THE QUESTIONS THAT ARE COMING UP.
I KNOW ONE OF THE, THE, THE, THE QUESTIONS HAS BEEN KIND OF THE CALL FOR SERVICE VERSUS NUMBER OF FULL-TIME, UH, UH, POLICE, UH, EMPLOYEES.
YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THAT? IS IT GOING UP? IS IT GOING DOWN, YOU KNOW, THE SECTOR BY SECTOR ANALYSIS? WHAT ARE THE CALLS FOR SERVICE, YOU KNOW, PER SECTOR? UM, I, I, I THINK RELEASING A ROBUST DATA SET, AND AGAIN, I UNDERSTAND THERE'S OPERATIONAL CONCERNS.
I'M NOT SAYING THAT, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO SEE WHAT, WHERE THE POLICE ARE IN REAL TIME OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BUT, YOU KNOW, A THREE MONTH DELAY ON IT OR, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO, UH, SOLVE FOR ANY OPERATIONAL CONCERNS.
I THINK THAT WOULD BE VERY WELL RECEIVED BY THE COMMUNITY AND WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL IN, IN, YOU KNOW, HELPING US SUSS OUT PUBLIC SAFETY, YOU KNOW, POLICY GUIDANCE, THOSE KINDS OF, UH, UH, UH, OF ISSUES.
UM, AND LASTLY, JUST A BRIEF COMMENT, UH, I'M GLAD TO HEAR THERE'S A SHIFTING BALANCE THERE,
[02:20:01]
BECAUSE A LOT OF THE FEEDBACK THAT I WAS GETTING FROM MY CONSTITUENTS, PARTICULARLY I'LL SAY IN THE LAMAR RUNDBERG AREA, WAS THAT THEY WERE FEELING OVERPOLICED.UH, AND, AND I'VE BEEN TRYING TO KIND OF, YOU KNOW, GO OUT AND, AND, AND MAKE SURE TO KIND OF JUST KEEP AN EYE ON THINGS AND, AND, YOU KNOW, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF D P S OFFICERS, I'D SAY AGGRESSIVELY PATROLLING, UH, THAT AREA.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S STILL THE CASE, UH, IN TERMS OF THE WEEK BY WEEK SHIFTING THAT'S GOING ON.
UH, BUT, AND AGAIN, I UNDERSTAND THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT SAFETY AND, AND WE HAVE TO RESPOND TO THOSE CALLS FOR SERVICE THAT COME OUT.
BUT THERE IS THAT BALANCE TO BE STRUCK WHERE THERE IS KIND OF A, A, A RESENTMENT, UH, ESPECIALLY WHERE, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THE STOPS ARE JUST PATROL STOPS FOR, YOU KNOW, RELATIVELY MINOR TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS AND, AND TAGS AND REGISTRATIONS AND THOSE KINDS OF THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, UH, UH, WE NEED BETTER DATA EXACTLY TO SEE WHAT'S GOING ON.
UH, BUT I WOULD JUST URGE, UM, BOTH, YOU KNOW, A P D AND DPSS TO BE EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS AND RESPECTFUL OF COMMUNITIES AND THEIR RESPONSE TO, YOU KNOW, A SWARM OF CRUISERS, YOU KNOW, STOPPING EVERY SINGLE PERSON THAT IS, YOU KNOW, GOING 35 AND A 30 OR, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT.
UM, AND, BUT, BUT, UH, BUT I DO APPRECIATE THE BRIEFING AND, AND, UH, I LOOK FORWARD TO, TO LEARNING MORE ABOUT, UH, ABOUT THE PROGRAM.
I APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I AND MY TEAM WERE FORTUNATE TO GET TO GO TO CTECH ON FRIDAY AND GO, UH, TALK TO SOME OF THE CALL TAKERS AND UNDERSTAND A LITTLE MORE HOW INCOMING 9 1 1 CALLS ARE, ARE TRIAGED AND HOW THAT SYSTEM WORKS.
SO IT WAS REALLY FASCINATING TO GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO THAT.
UM, I WANTED TO ASK A QUESTION ABOUT DISPATCH.
SO, YOU KNOW, THE CALLS COME IN, SOMEONE TAKES THE CALL AND IDENTIFIES ALL THE DETAILS AND MAKES SURE IT'S ACCURATE BEFORE IT GOES TO DISPATCH.
ARE THEY ASSIGNED AT THAT POINT TO AN A AP D OFFICER OR A D PS OFFICER BY NATURE OF THE CALL? OR IS IT JUST WHO IS CLOSEST AND GET THEIR QUICKEST? YEAH, SO NONE OF THE CALLS ARE BEING ASSIGNED TO DPSS OFFICERS.
UM, IF THERE'S NO A P D OFFICERS, THEY'RE AVAILABLE, THEY WILL SOUND THE CAL THE CALL OUT, SAY THERE'S A CALL HOLDING AT THIS LOCATION, AND THEN IT'S ON D P S TO GO AHEAD AND VOLUNTEER FOR THE CALL.
UM, AND AS D P S TROOPERS ARE EVEN, BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW NECESSARILY WHAT THEY'RE DOING AT THAT MOMENT BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT IN OUR CAT SYSTEM, FOR US TO BE ABLE TO EVEN ASSIGN THEM, UM, WE ARE RELYING ON THEM TO EITHER BE AVAILABLE OR MAKE THEMSELVES AVAILABLE TO GO TAKE THAT HOT CALL TO, LIKE I SAID, STABILIZE THE SEAM UNTIL APD CAN ARRIVE.
AND ARE THOSE MOSTLY THE HIGHEST URGENCY CALLS AS OPPOSED TO THE, THE LOWER URGENCY CALLS? THAT'S CORRECT.
OR LOWER PRIORITY, IF THAT'S THE RIGHT TERMINOLOGY? UH, YES, THAT IS, AND THAT'S CORRECT.
AND THEN I WAS CURIOUS, IN THE MEMO THAT CAME OUT ON THE 13TH, UM, THERE WAS MENTION OF 25 HANDGUNS AND TWO OF THE SHOTGUN RIFLE STYLE GUNS.
HOW DOES ONE DETERMINE THAT THEY NEED TO BE CONFISCATED? YOU KNOW, GIVEN THAT TEXAS SEEMS TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO GET AHOLD OF GUNS AT YOUNGER AGES AT TIMES, UM, HOW, HOW IS IT DETERMINED THAT THEY NEED TO BE CONFISCATED? SO THERE'S A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT, UH, REASONS WHY THEY MIGHT BE CONFISCATED.
THE FIRST IS, UM, THAT IF YOU ARE NOT LEGALLY ALLOWED TO OWN A WEAPON, UH, BECAUSE OF YOUR CRIMINAL BACKGROUND, WHICH CAN, UH, THEY CAN DETERMINE AT THAT TIME, UM, THEN THAT WEAPON WILL BE SEIZED.
IF IT IS USED IN THE COMMISSION OF AN OFFENSE, UM, THEN IT WILL BE SEIZED.
OR IF IT'S IN YOUR POSSESSION WHILE YOU'RE COMMITTING SOME OTHER CRIME, UM, THEN THAT CAN BE AN ENHANCER AND THEY WILL BE SEIZED.
SO IT JUST DEPENDS ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES.
UM, AND I DO REMEMBER WHEN SOME OF THESE CONVERSATIONS HAVE HAPPENED AT THE STATEWIDE LEVEL, PUBLIC SAFETY IS OFTENTIMES GONE AND SAID, UH, YOU MIGHT BE MAKING OUR JOBS HARDER, BECAUSE SOMETIMES, UM, FOLKS SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO ACCESS WEAPONS SO EASILY, ESPECIALLY IF THEY HAVE A HISTORY OF VIOLENT CRIME AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
UM, AS FAR AS THE LIST OF ARRESTS AND WARRANTS, ARE THOSE NUMBERS MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE OR ARE THEY DIFFERENT? I BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE, THEY WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT THE SAME, OR ARE, OR IS THERE OVERLAP? YEAH, THOSE ARE NEW CHARGES VERSUS OLD CHARGES THAT ARE IN THE FORM OF A WARRANT.
UM, AND AS FAR AS TRAFFIC STOPS, ARE THOSE COMPLETELY SEPARATE FROM EVERYTHING ELSE THAT MIGHT BE ON THE LIST? AND IS THERE A BREAKDOWN OF WHAT TYPES OF TRAFFIC STOPS HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED? SO THERE, THERE IS NO BREAKDOWN OF THE, OF THE TYPES OF TRAFFIC STOPS.
AND I THINK THAT'S SOME OF THE INFORMATION THAT'S BEING ASKED FOR, UH, ALONG WITH OTHER INFORMATION RELATED TO THE STOPS.
BUT, UM, THAT IS A STANDALONE CATEGORY, UH, AND IT MIGHT BE HAPPENING AS PART OF EITHER PART OF THAT INITIATIVE, PART OF THE VIOLENT CRIME INITIATIVE OR PART OF THE TRAFFIC SAFETY INITIATIVE.
UM, AND I ALSO THINK, MAYOR, WHEN YOU HAD STEPPED AWAY, THERE WAS A
[02:25:01]
REQUEST FROM COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON ABOUT BEING ABLE TO TALK WITH DPS AS WELL IN FUTURE CONVERSATIONS.THERE WAS MENTION OF IT GOING TO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE.
I THINK THAT'S, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S THE APPROPRIATE VENUE OR IF IT NEEDS TO BE A DIFFERENT WORK SESSION, SINCE I'M SURE WE'RE ALL CURIOUS ABOUT THE DETAILS.
BUT WHAT I'LL DO IS, IS, UM, WHAT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT WAS BRINGING IT TO THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE.
AGAIN, BACK TO THE IDEA ABOUT HOW WE, WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW BEST TO UTILIZE COMMITTEES, AND SINCE WE POST THOSE ANYWAY, ANYBODY CAN COME AND I WILL MAKE SURE AS CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE, THAT IF, WHEN, WHEN, NOT IF, WHEN WE'RE HAVING REPORTS LIKE THIS, WHICH WILL PROBABLY BE THE NEXT TIME WE HAVE A REPORT, UM, I'LL MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS AWARE, UH, THROUGH THE MESSAGE BOARD OR, AND SHOUTING IT FROM MOUNTAINTOPS THAT, UM, PEOPLE ARE INVITED AND, AND, AND COME SO THAT WE CAN HAVE THIS KIND OF ROBUST, UH, DISCUSSION.
UM, AND I'VE GOT ONE MORE QUESTION FOR THE CHIEF ON THE, ON THE GUN TOPIC.
UM, IF IT DOESN'T SLIP OUT OF MY MIND, OH, WHEN THEY'RE CONFISCATED, DO THEY BECOME PROPERTY OF D P S OR DOES A P TIP THEM LIMITS? HOW DOES THAT PROCESS WORK? SO I MENTIONED THAT BRIEFLY EARLIER, UM, BUT JUST TO CLARIFY, UM, EVERY WEAPON THAT IS SEIZED BY DPS S THEY DO NOT WANT TO HANG ONTO THAT GUN.
THEY WANT, UM, IT TO GO, IF, IF IT'S RELATED TO A CRIME THAT IS OCCURRING HERE IN TRAVIS COUNTY OR HAYES OR WILLIAMSON, WHATEVER COUNTY IT IS IN THE CITY, UM, THEN IT WILL BE MAINTAINED AND CONTROLLED BY A P D, AND THEN UPON DISPOSAL OF THE CRIMINAL CASE THEY ARE, IT WILL FALL BACK UNDER OUR DISPOSAL POLICY FOR THAT WEAPON.
SO THEY DON'T WANT TO TRANSPORT THOSE WEAPONS BACK TO THEIR, THEIR HOME JURISDICTIONS.
THAT'S, THAT'S HELPFUL TO KNOW.
UM, I THINK WE'RE ALL KIND OF LEARNING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW DOES APDS JURISDICTION VERSUS D P'S JURISDICTION WORK AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS, UM, HOW HOW THIS IS GOING TO FUNCTION.
AND, UH, MY LAST POINT TO THE CITY MANAGER THIS POINT ABOUT SOUTHWEST PARKWAY BEING ESSENTIALLY A HIGHWAY, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAD TRIED TO START A CONVERSATION ABOUT ALLOWING MORE, UM, EITHER CONSTABLES OR SHERIFFS TO BE DOING WORK INSIDE THE CITY LIMITS ON SPECIFICALLY TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT.
UM, THERE WAS A CASE ON SLAUGHTER LANE IN CIRCLE C RECENTLY WHERE A 19 YEAR OLD PERSON WAS GOING 90 MILES AN HOUR AND THE CAR ENDED UP IN A TREE.
UM, SO THE SPEEDING IS A HUGE CONCERN.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T WANT PEOPLE PULLED OVER FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, SMALL THINGS.
WE DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO FEEL LIKE THEY'RE BEING UNFAIRLY TARGETED, BUT I WILL JUST SAY, ESPECIALLY IN SOUTHWEST AUSTIN, PEOPLE ARE COMMONLY GOING 90 OR A HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR ON THE HIGHWAY.
AND SO IF IT IS FOR SPEEDING, UM, AGGRESSIVE DRIVING, THINGS LIKE THAT, I CAN SAY THAT THE SOUTHWEST COMMUNITY BY AND LARGE SUPPORTS, UM, TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE ARE BEING RESPECTFUL OF THE ROAD AND RESPECTFUL OF THEIR NEIGHBORS, GIVEN HOW DANGEROUS THAT TYPE OF BEHAVIOR IS.
SO WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO TACKLE THAT FOR A FEW, UM, AT LEAST A YEAR NOW, TRYING TO COME UP WITH CREATIVE SOLUTIONS.
AND SO THERE, THERE ARE SOME PORTIONS OF THIS THAT I THINK ARE GONNA MAKE SOME PEOPLE SAFER, BUT WE HAVE TO BE VERY MINDFUL OF THE PERCEPTION OF SAFETY.
AND I KNOW, UH, SOME FOLKS HAVE MENTIONED TO ME JUST THE TERMINOLOGY ABOUT HOW, HOW PEOPLE FEEL SAFE AND HOW WE AS POLICY MAKERS, UM, DO THAT.
AND THERE ARE SOME FOLKS THAT FEEL SAFE WHEN THERE'S POLICE AROUND AND THERE'S FOLKS, FOLKS THAT DON'T FEEL SAFE BECAUSE POLICE ARE AROUND AND WE NEED TO BE VERY SENSITIVE TO THAT, UM, BECAUSE OUR COMMUNITY HAS HAS ASKED US TO BE RESPONSIVE.
BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR ANSWERS.
COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON, I THINK I SAW YOU WITH YOUR HAND UP.
DO YOU WISH TO, UH, BE RECOGNIZED? I BELIEVE YOU'RE STILL ON MUTE.
THANK YOU FOR RECOGNIZING MAYOR.
UM, IT TURNS OUT THAT, UH, UH, OUR MAYOR ASKED ALL MY QUESTIONS.
UH, SO, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER POOL, DO YOU WISH TO BE RECOGNIZED? UM, I GUESS I WOULD JUST KIND OF ENCAPSULATE ALL OF THE COMMENTS AND THE QUESTIONS AND THE INFORMATION THAT WE'VE GOTTEN TODAY AS REALLY HELPFUL THROUGHOUT FOR EVERYONE, NOT JUST US SITTING HERE AND FOLKS AT THE, UM, AT THE CITY, BUT ALSO THE RESIDENTS.
I THINK THAT THE INFORMATION SOUGHT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER OF, I THINK YOU, YOU USED THE WORD BALANCED AND WE'RE LOOKING FOR THAT IN THE COMMUNITY.
THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO, UH, ARE LOOKING FOR AND ASKING FOR, UM, A PRESENCE FROM OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT, AND WE ALL WANT THAT TO BE THE APPROPRIATE PRESENCE.
UM, AND SO I THINK WHEN WE BALANCE OUT THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY ON BOTH SIDES OF THE QUESTION, THEN WE WILL GET TO THE RIGHT PLACE.
AND I THINK, MAYOR, THAT THE CONVERSATION THAT WE'RE HAVING HERE ON THESE ISSUES IS REALLY GONNA HELP US GET THERE AND ALSO FOR EVERYONE IN THE PUBLIC TO UNDERSTAND HOW HARD WE'RE WORKING IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THAT BALANCE.
[02:30:01]
GOOD ROBUST CONVERSATION.I JUST HAVE ONE FOLLOW UP QUESTION ON SOME OF THE OTHER, WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT OVERTIME, HOW IS DPS PRESENCE AFFECTING OUR USE OF OVERTIME? ARE YOU SCALING BACK IN ANY WAY? IS IT THE SAME? NO, IT'S THE SAME COUNCIL MEMBER.
WE HAVE NOT SCALED BACK ON OUR BACKFILL ON THE NUMBER OF OVERTIME OFFICERS THAT, THAT WE'RE HAVING A HIGHER, UM, SO IT, THEY'RE JUST A SUPPLEMENT.
AND WHENEVER, IF I ASSUME YOU'RE GONNA GET SOME REQUESTS FROM VARIOUS OFFICES FOR DATA, IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND SHARING THAT WITH ALL THE OFFICERS ARE THROUGH THE I FIGURE.
BUT JUST, UH, MEMBERS, THANKS FOR THE ROBUST DISCUSSION AND ALL THE QUESTIONS.
GENTLEMEN, THANK Y'ALL FOR BEING HERE AND ANSWERING THOSE QUESTIONS.
[E. Executive Session]
UH, MEMBERS AT THIS POINT, UH, THE CITY COUNCIL WILL GO INTO A CLOSED SESSION AND WE WILL BE GOING INTO A CLOSED SESSION TO TAKE UP ONE ITEM.AND THAT IS PURSUANT TO SECTION 5 51 0 7, 1 OF THE GOVERNMENT CODE.
THE CITY COUNCIL WILL DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO PROJECT CONNECT.
UH, BY THE WAY, ITEM E ONE HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN.
IS THERE ANY OBJECTION GOING INTO THE EXECUTIVE SESSION ON THE ITEM ANNOUNCED? HEARING NONE, THE COUNCIL WILL NOW GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION.
COUNCIL MEMBER MADISON, IF YOU'LL PLEASE USE THE WEBEX LINK, UH, MEMBERS WILL MEET IN THE, UH, EXECUTIVE SESSION ROOM.
WE DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO ITEM E TWO PROJECT CONNECT.
UH, THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS TO COME BEFORE THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL AT THIS WORK SESSION AND THERE BEING NO OBJECTION.
AND I DO I WITH YOU WHEN I'M, I.