[00:00:01]
[CALL TO ORDER]
HAVE QUORUM AND WE HAVE A PRETTY PACKED AGENDA.SO I'M GONNA GET US STARTED QUICKLY.
UM, IF WE COULD GET COMMISSIONER KOFF TO GET HIS CAMERA ON, UM, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
AND IS THERE ANYONE ELSE ONLINE? OH.
MR. KI, COMMISSIONER KOFF, CAN YOU HEAR US? YES, I CAN.
AND I'M TRYING TO GET THE CAMERA TO TURN ON.
UM, OKAY, EVERYBODY, WELCOME TO THE JUNE 5TH, REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION.
UM, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND CALL ROE, UM, COMMISSIONER ORR.
COMMISSIONER HALL MARTIN HERE.
COMMISSIONER RUAN IS NOT PRESENT.
UM, COMMISSIONER RAMIREZ IS HERE.
AND COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT WILL NOT BE JOINING US TODAY.
SO WITH THAT, UM, I JUST WANNA TAKE A SECOND TO WELCOME OUR NEWEST COMMISSIONER.
YASMIN SMITH IS ONLINE WITH US.
I HEAR YOU JUST GOT
UM, WITH THAT, UM, DO WE HAVE, WE HAVE SOME PEOPLE SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, BUT THEY'LL BE JOINING US FOR AGENDA ITEMS LATER.
UM, DO WE HAVE ANYONE ELSE? I'LL CHECK THE POLICE.
UM, WITH THAT WE'LL JUST GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO THE
[1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
APPROVAL OF MINUTES.UM, WE ARE REVIEWING MINUTES FOR THE MAY 1ST MEETING, ONLY NOT MAY 15TH.
WE'LL HAVE THOSE READY FOR THE JULY MEETING.
DID EVERYBODY HAVE A CHANCE REVIEW? OKAY.
WITH THAT, I THINK WE'LL JUST DO A ROLL CALL TO APPROVE.
DO WE HAVE ANY CHANGES TO THE MINUTES? NOPE.
QUICK ROLL CALL TO GET THOSE APPROVED.
UM, COMMISSIONER HALL MARTIN? YES.
UH, COMMISSIONER RAMIREZ? YES.
I'LL RECUSE SINCE I WASN'T HERE LAST TIME.
[2. STAFF BRIEFINGS]
WANTED TO TAKE A MINUTE TO NOTE, UM, A NEW ITEM ON OUR AGENDA.UM, ALL OF THE RESPONSES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO DATE ARE IN OUR BACKUP, UM, FOR EVERYBODY TO REVIEW.
THIS IS GONNA BE A NEW SORT OF STANDING ITEM FOR US GOING ON TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GET ANSWERS TO QUESTION AND FOLLOW AND RESPONSES TO FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS THAT GO UNANSWERED IN PREVIOUS MEETINGS.
UM, WE ARE GONNA LEAVE IT IN BRIEFINGS.
WE DO HAVE JUST A BRIEF TIME RIGHT HERE IN CASE ANYBODY WANTS TO SAY SOMETHING TO THE AGENDA ITEM, BUT IN GENERAL, I THINK WE'LL JUST MOVE FORWARD WITH WRITTEN RESPONSES FOR THE SAKE OF TIME,
UM, SO THE, THOSE MATERIALS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE BACKUP FOR ANYBODY THAT'S, UM, LOOKING ONLINE.
I APPRECIATE EVERYONE'S, UM, HELP WITH GETTING ALL OF THOSE.
WE HAD THREE MEETINGS WORTH OF BACKUP AND FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS, SO I REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYONE'S HELP WITH THAT.
AND, UM, FOR ANYTHING THAT STAYS UNANSWERED OR THAT WE STILL DON'T HAVE A RESPONSE FOR, WE'LL JUST FOLLOW UP IN THE NEXT QUARTERLY REPORTS TO CHECK IN ON STATUS FOR THOSE QUESTIONS.
AND WITH THAT, WE ARE JUST TRUCKING
[3. Public Safety Quarterly Report – Austin Travis County EMS (Ramirez, Bernhardt) 4:20pm-4:40pm -Wes Hopkins, Assistant Chief, Austin Travis County EMS ]
ALONG.UM, WE'RE GONNA MOVE INTO THE TRAVIS COUNTY EMS PUBLIC QUARTERLY REPORT.
MY NAME IS WES HOPKINS AND I WILL BE GIVING THE QUARTERLY REPORT FOR THE SECOND QUARTER.
I'LL BE FILLING IN FOR CHIEF GARDNER.
I'M AN ASSISTANT CHIEF FOR AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY EMS. UH, THE FIRST SLIDE SHOWS OUR, UH, INCIDENT PATIENT CONTACTS AND
[00:05:01]
TRANSPORT.SO THE TOP LINE, THE BLUE LINE BEING INCIDENTS, THE NUMBER OF TIMES THAT WE ACTUALLY GET A, A REQUEST FOR SERVICE PATIENT CONTACT BEING THE TIME, WHETHER THERE BE AN AMBULANCE OR A SINGLE UNIT RESPONDER THAT MAKES CONTACT WITH A PATIENT.
AND THEN THE GRAY LINE AT THE BOTTOM IS THE NUMBER OF OF TRANSPORTS THAT WE DID FROM THOSE INCIDENTS.
THIS SLIDE FOCUSES ON THE PARTY ONE, COMPLIANCE BY COUNCIL DISTRICT.
SO PARTY ONE BEING THE MOST SEVERE PARTY, FIVE BEING THE LEAST SEVERE ON PRIORITY ONE CARS CALLS.
OUR GOAL IS 9 59, AND THIS IS THE PERCENT OF TIME BY COUNCIL DISTRICT THAT WE MAKE THAT TIME.
THIS IS OUR, UH, PRIORITY ONE RESPONSE INTERVAL, AGAIN BY COUNCIL DISTRICT FOR THE SECOND QUARTER.
SO IT'S WHAT TIMEFRAME WE'RE MAKING 90TH PERCENTILE BY COUNCIL DISTRICT.
UH, IF YOU'LL NOTICE THE ORANGE SECTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GRAPH, UH, THAT'S THE PERCENTAGE OF PRIORITY ONE CALLS BROKEN OUT BY COUNCIL DISTRICT.
WHAT THIS SLIDE NOTATES AGAIN WITH THAT PRIORITY ONE THROUGH PRIORITY FIVE, STARTING AT THE BOTTOM, PRIORITY ONE BEING THE MOST SEVERE PRIORITY, FIVE BEING THE LEAST, IT BREAKS DOWN WHAT PERCENTAGE OF CALL PRIORITIES WE ARE SEEING WITHIN THOSE COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
UH, NEXT WE'LL MOVE INTO, UH, CURRENT EMS DEPARTMENT STAFFING WITH OUR AUTHORIZED STRENGTH OF 665, UH, FIELD SWORN BEING A 520 WITH 145, UH, SWORN VACANCIES.
CURRENTLY, UH, THIS IS OUR STAFFING THROUGH THE END OF MARCH.
UH, WE CURRENTLY HAVE AN ACADEMY, UH, IN PROGRESS, AND OUR CURRENT VACANCY RATE IS 21%.
THIS SLIDE NOTATES OUR SWORN SEPARATIONS.
SO IN THIS QUARTER WE'VE HAD THREE RESIGNATIONS AND ONE RETIREMENT.
AND IF YOU MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE THAT THE MAJORITY OF RESIGNATIONS THAT WE ARE SEEING ARE WITHIN THAT FIVE TO 10 YEAR RANGE.
LOOKING AT THIS SLIDE TALKS ABOUT OUR VACANCY RATE SWORN IN CIVILIAN.
OUR CIVILIANS, UH, VACANCY RATE IS ABOUT 20%, AND OUR SWORN VACANCY RATE IS HOVERING ABOUT THAT 21% THAT WE ANTICIPATE THAT THAT WILL DROP SLIGHTLY WHEN THIS CURRENT ACADEMY CLASS GRADUATES AT THE END OF JUNE.
NOW TALKING ABOUT E M S TURNOVER, OUR SWORN TURNOVER RATE HAS DROPPED TO LESS THAN 1%, UH, PER MONTH WITH NONE IN THE MONTH OF JANUARY.
AND THEN WE GET INTO, AS REQUESTED BY THIS COMMISSION, THE OPIOID OVERDOSE DATA.
AND SO, UH, THE BLUE LINE NOTATES, THE OVERDOSE CALLS TO 9 1 1.
UH, WE DID THE GRAY LINE, WHICH TALKS ABOUT THE NUMBER OF PILLS THAT WE'RE SEEING, AND WE TALKED LAST QUARTER THAT WE TYPICALLY SEE THAT, UH, SPIKE IN THE SPRING.
AND SO THAT, UH, SPRING AND SUMMER SPIKE HAS BEGUN, AS YOU CAN NOTATE FROM THE, FROM THE GRAPH.
AND LASTLY, YOU CAN SEE THE OPIOID RESCUE KITS AND NARCAN KITS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO DISTRIBUTE IN THE FIELD.
UH, THE GRAY LINE BEING THE NUMBER OF KITS DISTRIBUTED AND THE BLUE LINE NOTATING THE NUMBER OF KITS USED.
THESE ARE NARCAN RESCUE KITS, UH, USED ON PATIENTS PRIOR TO ANY FIRST RESPONDER ARRIVING ON SCENE.
AND I THINK THAT, UH, GETS US TO THE CONCLUSION OF EM S'S QUARTERLY REPORT.
I'M, I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
QUESTIONS? ANYONE? COMMISSIONER HOLMES? YES.
I'VE GOT A QUESTION ON WHEN WE SEE A LITTLE BIT OF VARIANCE BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS IN RESPONSE TIME AND HOW FREQUENTLY THE RESPONSE TIME IS MET.
UM, HOW MUCH EFFORT GOES INTO FIGURING OUT WHY IN THAT PARTICULAR DISTRICT IS IT A LITTLE SLOWER, UM, THAN SOME OF THE OTHERS? AND I WOULD IMAGINE EACH DISTRICT'S GOT ITS OWN CHALLENGES AND, AND CONCENTRATION OF, OF PERSONNEL.
SO, UM, I WAS JUST CURIOUS HOW THAT IS LOOKED INTO.
WE, WE DO LOOK AT THAT BY COUNCIL DISTRICT.
WE LOOK AT THE TIME THAT WE'RE NOT IN COMPLIANCE ON THAT.
YOU'RE, YOU'VE HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD THAT THERE ARE CHALLENGES IN THOSE DIFFERENT, UH, COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
UM, A LOT OF THAT WE SEE ARE TIED TO, TO STAFFING.
AND SO WE CERTAINLY EVALUATE THAT AT A FAIRLY REGULAR BASIS.
COMMISSIONER NGU, SOMEWHAT OF A FOLLOW UP TO THAT, UM, STAFFING, UH, CHALLENGE, I UNDERSTAND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO TACKLE HERE FOR A LITTLE BIT NOW.
UM, I'M NOTICING THAT THE VACANCIES FOR CLINICAL SPECIALISTS VERSUS MEDIC, WHICH, UH, IF WE'RE GONNA INTERPRET THAT RIGHT, IS THE EMS MEDIC IS EMT BASICS, WHEREAS TO BECOME A CLINICAL SPECIALIST YOU HAVE TO BE AT LEAST A PARAMEDIC, CORRECT? YES, SIR.
UM, AND FROM THOSE, FROM, FROM THOSE NUMBERS, WE'RE SEEING, I, I'M SEEING A HIGHER RATE ALMOST DOUBLE, UM, UH, FOR THE NEED FOR CLINICAL SPECIALISTS VERSUS
[00:10:01]
FOR, FOR EMT BASICS.UM, HAS THERE BEEN ANY EXPLORATION OF MAYBE TRYING TO UTILIZE MORE BASICS RATHER THAN HAVING, CUZ MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WE HAVE A PARAMEDIC AND A BASIC ON TRUCKS, RIGHT? WE DON'T HAVE JUST STRAIGHT, UH, BASIC LIFE SUPPORT TRUCKS OR STRAIGHT ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT TRUCKS.
IS THERE ANY EXPLORATION OF MAYBE EXPANDING THAT SO THAT WE CAN ALLEVIATE SOME OF THAT, UM, UH, THOSE CHALLENGES, UM, AND, AND KIND OF MAKE THOSE SLOTS A LITTLE SMALLER? OR, OR THE NUMBERS SMALLER? YES, SIR.
WE, WE ARE ABSOLUTELY EXPLORING HAVING BASIC LIFE SUPPORT AMBULANCES.
WE DID A PILOT PROGRAM ON THAT, BUT ALSO WE ARE, UH, WE DID ONE ACADEMY THAT DID DIRECT HIRE TO CLINICAL SPECIALIST.
AND IN JULY WE WILL HAVE ANOTHER ACADEMY CLASS THAT DOES, AGAIN, THAT DIRECT HIRE TO CLINICAL SPECIALIST TO TRY TO FILL SOME OF THOSE VACANCIES.
DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ONLINE? OKAY.
UM, I NOTICED THAT THE, THE, THE SEPARATIONS, UM, IS, I'M, I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER THE PREVIOUS QUARTERLY REPORT ARE THE, ARE, IS THAT DOWN THE, THE SEPARATIONS AND IT, AND DO YOU GUYS, CAN YOU ATTRIBUTE THAT TO SOMETHING? DID SOMETHING CHANGE THOSE SEPARATIONS ARE DOWN IN THIS QUARTER? I, I DON'T HAVE A GREAT EXPLANATION, BUT WE CAN FOLLOW UP AND AND GET BACK WITH YOU AS TO WHY.
BUT WE DID SEE A DECREASE IN THIS QUARTER.
UM, I'M JUST GONNA GIVE ONE MYSELF ONE MORE QUICK CHECK.
UM, AS FAR AS THE OP OPIOID OVERDOSES, UM, I KNOW THAT YOU GUYS ARE, HAVE SEVERAL PROGRAMS THAT YOU'RE SORT OF WORKING ACTIVELY WITHIN, LIKE, LIKE A, HOW MUCH WOULD THOSE PROGRAM, LIKE I'M THINKING ABOUT HOW MUCH THEY NEED TO, HOW MUCH THOSE PROGRAMS WOULD NEED TO SCALE TO, TO IMPACT LIKE THESE OPPO OVERDOSES? LIKE IS IT SOME, IS IT AN ISSUE OF SCALE? IS IT AN ISSUE OF PERSONNEL? LIKE WHAT, WHAT, WHAT WOULD WE NEED TO DO IN THE, IN THE PROGRAMS THAT EMS HAS CURRENTLY TO SORT OF IMPACT THIS HUGE RISE THAT'S HAPPENING? CERTAINLY.
SO IT RELATES TO THE OVERDOSES.
UH, THE, THE, THE FIRST, UH, THE FIRST INDICATION THAT WE HAVE THAT SOMEONE'S IN TROUBLE IS THAT 9 1 1 CALL.
AND SO WE REALLY FOCUSED OUR EFFORTS ON OBTAINING THE PROPER INFORMATION SO WE CAN DO THOSE FOLLOW-UPS.
AND WE'VE HAD SOME GREAT IMPROVEMENT WITH A CAPTURING ALL OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SO THAT OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDIC TEAM CAN FOLLOW UP WITH THEM, NOT ONLY TO GIVE THEM A NARCAN RESCUE KIT, AN OPIOID RESCUE KIT, BUT ALSO TO GET 'EM IN A, A TREATMENT PROGRAM.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE TALKED A COUPLE MONTHS AGO ABOUT THE BUPRENORPHINE BRIDGE PROGRAM, RIGHT.
WHERE WE'RE BRIDGING THEM INTO THOSE, UH, MEDICATION ASSISTED TREATMENT PROGRAMS MM-HMM.
SO, SO THOSE ARE THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING TO KIND OF HELP CLOSE THAT GAP BETWEEN THE OVERDOSE CALLS AND THEN MAKING CONTACT WITH THEM SO THAT WE MAKE, MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE CAN GET 'EM THE HELP THAT THEY, THAT THEY NEED SO THEY SO CHOOSE.
COMMISSIONER NUEN, UM, TO FOLLOW UP ON THOSE OVERDOSES, ARE WE TRACKING THOSE NUMBERS OF, UH, OVER OUR OPIOID USERS OR THOSE THAT OVERDOSE AND HOW MANY ARE FOLLOWING UP WITH THOSE REFERRALS? RIGHT.
SO WHEN WE'RE ABLE TO CAPTURE THE INFORMATION, WE'RE ABLE TO FOLLOW UP WITH THEM.
ONE OF THE GAPS WE IDENTIFIED IS THAT NOT OFTENTIMES WE'RE ABLE TO GET ALL THAT INFORMATION ON THE FRONT END.
AND SO KIND OF CLEANING UP THAT PROCESS, A LOT OF TIMES, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT FOUND IN THEIR HOME OR THEY'RE FOUND ON THE STREET, AND SO WE CAN GET A GOOD NAME AND A DATE OF BIRTH AND WHERE THEY HANG OUT, THEN OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDIC, UH, INDIVIDUALS CAN ACTUALLY GO AND MAKE CONTACT WITH THEM, WHETHER IT BE IN, IN AN ENCAMPMENT OR, OR SOMEWHERE LIKE THAT.
WELL WITH THAT, THANK YOU FOR THAT.
AND, UM, I ACTUALLY HAVE A SUGGESTION JUST BECAUSE WE'RE RUNNING A LITTLE, I MEAN A LOT AHEAD OF SCHEDULE ACTUALLY.
UM, AND SO THAT WE CAN CLOSE WITH THESE TWO ITEMS AND MAKE SURE THAT THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT ARE JOINING US TO SPEAK CAN MAKE IT.
IS IT OKAY IF WE TAKE ITEM SIX? UM, IT'LL BE A, A QUICK ITEM FOR US TO GO AHEAD AND DISCUSS ITEM SIX, THE WOMEN'S COMMISSION APPOINTMENT OUT OF ORDER.
[6. Women’s Commission Working Group Appointment 5:45-5:50pm]
TO MOVE ITEM SIX UP IN THE SCHEDULE.CAN I GET A SECOND FROM SOMEONE? I'LL SECOND THAT.
UM, AND DO WE NEED TO TAKE A VOTE ON THAT AS WELL, MS. JACKSON, OR CAN WE JUST MOVE IT OKAY.
IF WE CAN JUST DO A SHOW OF HANDS IN SUPPORT OF MOVING THAT ITEM UP.
[00:15:01]
I SAW THEM.AND SO WITH THAT, THIS IS JUST ANOTHER QUICK ITEM.
UM, THE WOMEN'S COMMISSION, THERE WAS A RECOMMENDATION DISTRIBUTED TO ALL THE COMMISSIONERS.
UM, THEY ARE FORMING A WORKING GROUP AND HAVE REQUESTED A MEMBER FROM THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION TO JOIN THEIR WORKING GROUP, UM, TO PUT TOGETHER SOME RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, AROUND, UM, THE, THE PERF REPORTS THAT WERE ISSUED IN NOVEMBER OF 2022.
AND SO I JUST WAS WONDERING IF ANYONE WAS INTERESTED, IF ANYBODY HAS TIME.
BAR BARRING IN NO ONE ELSE, I WILL PROBABLY TAKE THE WORKING GROUP APPOINTMENT MYSELF, SO I'M NOMINATING MYSELF.
I KNOW THAT THERE WAS SOME INTEREST.
UM, I, I WAS JUST GONNA ASK WHAT THE COMMITMENT WAS FOR THAT.
UM, AS OF NOW, THE COMMITMENT IS, IS UNKNOWN.
UM, I'M ASSUMING THEY'RE GONNA HAVE, YOU KNOW, SOME, SOME MEETINGS COMING UP, A HANDFUL OF MEETINGS.
AND FROM THERE, THE WORKING GROUP WILL SORT OF SET IN MOTION WHAT, HOW MUCH THEY WANNA MEET AND HOW OFTEN.
SO IT'S A LITTLE UNKNOWN RIGHT NOW.
UM, I DO KNOW WHAT WE CAN DO IS I CAN GO AHEAD AND SIT WITH THE WORKING GROUP, AND SO I'LL NOMINATE MYSELF SO THAT WE CAN APPOINT ME AND, UM, ONCE I GET A SENSE OF A BETTER SCHEDULE AND WHAT WE'LL BE WORKING ON, I CAN BRING IT BACK TO SEE IF ANYBODY'S INTERESTED IN JOINING.
UM, DOES THAT SOUND GOOD? I, I, I'D BE HAPPY TO JOIN IF OKAY.
SO WITH THAT, WE'LL JUST TAKE A VOTE ON, WE CAN BOTH DO IT THAT WAY WE CAN SUPPLEMENT EACH OTHER AS NEEDED WITH SCHEDULING.
UM, SO WITH THAT, A VOTE MOTION? YEP.
A MOTION TO APPOINT BOTH COMMISSIONER ORR AND MYSELF, UM, TO THE WORKING GROUP.
AND CAN WE JUST DO A SHOW OF HANDS FOR THE SAKE OF, CAN WE DO A SHOW OF HANDS ONLINE AS WELL? OKAY.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE SIGNED UP,
AND WITH THAT, WE WILL GO AHEAD
[4. Public Safety Department Budgets (Ramirez, Bernhardt) 4:40pm-5:20pm -Carlos Ledesma, Assistant Director, Austin Travis County EMS -Dr. Ronelle Paulson, Austin Fire Department -Michelle Schmidt, Austin Police Department ]
AND MOVE INTO PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT BUDGETS, THE BU BUDGET PRESENTATIONS.AND SEE WHAT ORDER AND WHAT ORDER WE WANNA, I'M TRYING TO PULL UP THE, TO SEE IF WE GO AND THE ORDER PRESENTED TO FIRE FIRST.
YOU GUYS GO AHEAD AND IF YOU COULD JUST INTRODUCE YOURSELF SO THAT WE COULD AUDIBLY HAVE EVERYONE.
I'M ANELLE PAULSON AND I'M THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, AND I'LL BE DOING THE PRESENTATION ON THE, THE BUDGET, UH, FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
THE, UM, LET ME GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF AN OVERVIEW SINCE I'M GOING FIRST IN TERMS OF WHERE WE'RE AT IN THE BUDGET DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.
UH, THE PROCESS HAS SEVERAL STEPS TO IT.
I KNOW SOME OF YOU'RE NEW TO THIS, SOME OF THIS WILL BE REPEAT FOR YOU, SO I APOLOGIZE IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS BEFORE.
UH, WE SUBMITTED FORECAST INFORMATION, WHICH IS BASICALLY, UH, WHAT IT TAKES TO KEEP DOING THE SAME LEVEL OF SERVICE INTO NEXT YEAR.
WE SUBMITTED THAT, UH, ABOUT A MONTH AGO, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AND MOST OF OUR PRESENTATIONS WILL BE BASED ON FORECAST INFORMATION.
IN EARLY MAY, WE SUBMITTED THE INFORMATION FOR THE PROPOSED BUDGET, UM, THAT INCLUDES SOME UNMET NEEDS, SOME ADDITIONAL, UM, NEEDS THAT ARE, OR FUNDING NEEDS THAT, UH, WEREN'T INCLUDED IN THE FORECAST.
SO IT'LL BE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.
WE'RE GONNA FOCUS PRIMARILY ON THE, THE NUMBERS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN PRESENTED TO COUNCIL, AND GIVE YOU A PREVIEW OF WHAT'S GOING ON WITH BUDGET DEVELOPMENT AND THE PROPOSED BUDGET.
SO LET ME START OFF BY DESCRIBING OUR CURRENT BUDGET IN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
AT PRESENT, WE HAVE A BUDGET OF A, OF ALMOST A HUN, UH, 230 MILLION, AND WE HAVE 1,266 SWORN POSITIONS.
NOT ALL OF THEM ARE FILLED, BUT WE'RE VERY FORTUNATE THAT WE HAVE VERY FEW VACANCIES AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME.
UM, WE HAVE A HUNDRED FIFTY SEVEN FIFTY FOUR CIVILIANS, AND WE HOLD POSITIONS FOR ABOUT 60 CADETS.
RIGHT NOW, WE'RE ONLY RUNNING, UH, ABOUT 41, I THINK, IN THAT RANGE.
IN TERMS OF CADETS IN OUR ACADEMY.
OVERALL, WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR BUDGET, THE MAJORITY OF IT IS SPENT ON FIRE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE.
THAT'S UPWARDS OF 66%, AND THAT'S PREDOMINANTLY, UM, SALARIES AND, AND BENEFITS FOR THE OPERATIONS PERSONNEL.
[00:20:02]
YOU ADD TO THAT, THINGS LIKE TRANSFERS AND DEBT SERVICE, EMERGENCY PREVENTION IS OUR, OUR FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE.UM, OPERATIONS SUPPORT ARE KIND OF ALL THE OTHER, UH, PIECES THAT CONTRIBUTE AND IT MAKES UP ALL THE PIECES OF THE PIE, UM, FOR OUR TOTAL BUDGET.
BUT THE IMPORTANT THING TO KEEP IN MIND IS THAT A GREAT DEAL OF OUR BUDGET IS SPENT ON SALARY AND BENEFITS.
THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE NOT EASILY, THE COURSE OF THOSE NUMBERS ARE NOT EASILY CHANGED.
UM, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE GETTING PAID FOR THEIR WORK, IT KIND OF KEEPS GOING IN A PARTICULAR DIRECTION.
OUR HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE CURRENT BUDGET, WE RECEIVED, UH, SIX MONTHS WORTH OF STAFF STAFFING TO OPEN A NEW FIRE AND EMS STATION ON LOOP 360.
IT'S AT 360 IN DAVENPORT IN THAT AREA.
UM, WE JUST HAD THE GRAND OPENING FOR THAT LAST FRIDAY.
UH, THEN WE ALSO RECEIVED QUITE A BIT OF SUPPORT FOR THE FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE.
THE FIRE MARSHAL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PERMITTING IN THE PERMITTING AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES AREA.
UM, AND, AND REVIEW FOR EMERGENCY PLANNING AND FIRE PLANNING, UH, FIRE SYSTEM PLANNING IN NEW DEVELOPMENTS.
UM, AS YOU KNOW, WITH A GROWING CITY AND LOTS OF REQUESTS FOR PERMITS, UH, THEIR OFFICE HAD BEEN INUNDATED WITH A LOT OF REQUESTS.
AND SO WE WERE VERY FORTUNATE TO GET 17 NEW, UH, POSITIONS FOR THAT MAR FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE.
AND THAT COST ROUGHLY 2.1 MILLION.
UM, WE HAD BASELINE INCREASES ABOUT 1.2 MILLION JUST TO COVER THE INCREASES THAT YOU SEE LISTED THERE IN TERMS OF SUPPLY.
PPE STANDS FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT, WHICH ARE LIKE THOSE BIG TURNOUT COATS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND THEN WE GOT 10 MILLION, 10,000 TO, UM, TO INCREASE MINIMUM WAGE.
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FISCAL YEAR.
IT WENT TO, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN THE VERY LOW LEVEL.
WE HAD ENOUGH EMPLOYEES THAT THAT WAS THE EQUIVALENT OF ABOUT $10,000 TO INCREASE THEIR SALARIES UP TO MINIMUM WAGE.
SO THAT'S THE CURRENT YEAR, AND THAT COMPARES TO WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR IN FISCAL YEAR 24 NEXT YEAR.
UM, NEXT YEAR, UH, JUST OUR BASELINE REQUEST IS AT 236 MILLION.
AS I SAID, WE'RE STILL IN DEVELOPMENT.
UH, IT INCLUDE INCLUDES AN ADDITIONAL 16 POSITIONS BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA OPEN ANOTHER FIRE STATION NEXT YEAR IN THE GOODNIGHT RANCH AREA AREA.
IT TAKES 16 POSITIONS TO, UH, RUN IT, RUN THE CRUISE FOR THREE DIFFERENT SHIFTS ON A, ON A FIRETRUCK.
UH, WE HAVE THE SAME NUMBER OF CIVILIANS, SAME NUMBER OF CADETS BUDGETED FOR NEXT YEAR.
UH, THE COST DRIVERS INCLUDE 3 MILLION OF AN INCREASE ON TOP OF WHAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE.
UM, THAT INCREASE COVERS A LOT OF PERSONNEL INCREASES, BUT IT DOES NOT YET COVER A CONTRACT INCREASE BECAUSE WE ARE STILL IN LABOR, IN, IN NEGOTIATIONS FOR A NEW LABOR CONTRACT AND ARBITRATION RIGHT NOW.
UM, SO THAT NUMBER WILL DEFINITELY ADJUST AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
INTERFUND TRANSFERS, WE, WE HAVE AN ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLE WHERE, UM, WE ARE ALLOCATED FUNDING FOR THINGS THAT ARE CENTRALIZED SERVICES WITHIN THE CITY SO THAT WE CAN ACCOUNT FOR THE, THE WORK AND THE MONEY THAT GOES BACK AND FORTH.
SOME OF THOSE THINGS MIGHT BE, UM, THE WIRELESS OFFICE OR THE FLEET.
UM, THE PEOPLE WHO MAINTAIN OUR, OUR FLEET, UM, A LOT OF THE OVERHEAD THAT YOU WOULD NORMALLY CONSIDER IN BUSINESS.
THAT'S HOW WE TRACK HOW MUCH WE USE, UM, RELATIVE TO THEIR WORK.
UM, WE HAVE THAT NEXT FIRE STATION ON THERE, 1.3 MILLION.
THAT'S A PARTIAL YEAR FOR GOODNIGHT RANCH AND OPENING OUT THERE.
THEN WE HAVE TWO ITEMS THERE THAT SAY ANNUALIZATION, THEY GAVE US A PARTIAL YEAR THIS YEAR FOR LOOP 360 IN THE FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE.
SO NEXT YEAR WE AUTOMATICALLY WILL NEED THE REST OF THE, OF THE MONEY FOR THE, TO COVER A FULL YEAR.
AND THEN WE'LL BE, THEN THERE WON'T BE ANY MORE INCREASES BEYOND THAT.
UH, AND THEN CONTRACT INCREASES TO BASIC THINGS, SERVICE CONTRACTS AND PURCHASING CONTRACTS.
UH, ONE OF THE INTERESTING PIECES IS OUR, OUR COST OF FIRE HOSE HAS GONE UP A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT, UM, ENOUGH TO WARRANT US NEEDING TO ASK FOR MORE MONEY IN THAT BUDGET LINE ITEM.
IT TOTALS OUT TO BE ABOUT 6.6 MILLION.
LIKE I SAID, THAT'S ABOUT A 3% INCREASE OVER LAST YEAR IN TERMS OF THE BASELINES FOR WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR.
THE LAST SLIDE JUST GIVES YOU A SORT OF PREVIEW OF WHAT WE'RE CURRENTLY IN NEGOTIATION.
UM, AND WE DON'T, ALL DEPARTMENTS HAVE LOTS OF UNFUNDED, UH, UN YOU KNOW, CRITICAL NEEDS, UNMET NEEDS.
UM, IT'S SORT OF THE WISHLIST PHASE AS WE GO THROUGH THE BUDGET.
UM, THESE ARE THE ITEMS THAT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT PUT FORWARD.
WE WANNA STABILIZE OUR OVERTIME USAGE, AND THAT COMES WITH AN INCREASE IN JUST STRAIGHT FUNDING TO THE OVERTIME BUDGET.
BUT IT ALSO COMES WITH A REQUEST FOR SOME POSITIONS BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IF WE HAD FULL-TIME POSITIONS THERE THAT WOULD COVER BACKFILL.
WE HAVE A PROCESS OF MANDATORY STAFFING ON THOSE ENGINES AND LADDERS AND ALL, UM,
[00:25:01]
THAT WE HAD MORE POSITIONS THAT BACKFILL WOULD BE TAKEN CARE OF AT A REGULAR PAY RATE INSTEAD OF HAVING TO RELY ON AN OVERTIME PAY RATE.SO THAT COULD BE, DEPENDING ON WHAT ASPECTS OF IT THAT YOU LOOK AT.
UM, ANYWHERE FROM 1.8 UPWARDS OF, OF 3.6 MILLION.
UM, WE'VE ASKED SEVERAL YEARS NOW FOR, UH, STAFFING FOR A COUPLE OF LADDERS.
IT'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN ENGINE, UH, AND A LADDER IS BASICALLY, UH, THE LADDER PART.
I KNOW THAT SOUNDS VERY LOGICAL, BUT, UM, THERE ARE, THERE'S ONLY ABOUT 13 LADDERS AROUND THE CITY, AND WE HAVE AN INCREASED LADDERS IN A VERY LONG TIME AS THE CITY GROWS UPWARDS AS WELL AS AS, UM, EVEN THINGS LIKE WILDFIRES.
YOU NEED LADDER TRUCKS TO BE ABLE TO SPRAY THE WATER OUT OVER A FURTHER DISTANCE.
AND THEN OBVIOUSLY YOU NEED LADDERS TO GET UP INTO MULTIPLE STORY BUILDINGS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, SO WE WOULD LIKE THE STAFFING FOR TWO LADDERS.
ONE TRUCK WE'VE ALREADY ORDERED AND PAID FOR AND RECEIVED.
SO IT'S, THAT'S EVENTUALLY WE WOULD NEED THE SECOND TRUCK ORDERED ALSO, OR, OR LADDER TRUCK ORDERED.
COMMAND TECHS ARE A CONCEPT THAT WE'VE ASKED FOR, FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
ALSO, THIS HAS TO DO WITH SUPPORTING THE BATTALION CHIEFS.
THEY ALL KIND OF RUN ALL OVER THE CITY AND, AND ARE IN THE SPAN OF CONTROL.
THEY HAVE A BUNCH OF OTHER PEOPLE BELOW THEM.
UM, HAVING AN ASSISTANT, UM, SORT OF WORK WITH THEM ON A DAILY BASIS TO, WHEN THEY COME UP ON VERY COMPLICATED INCIDENTS THAT HAVE LOTS OF JOBS THAT THEY HAVE TO DO SIMULTANEOUSLY, THEY HAVE SOMEONE THERE TO BACK THEM UP ON A LOT OF THOSE PIECES AND KEEP THEM ON TRACK.
UM, LIKE, LIKE SEVERAL OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENTS, WE NEED DISPATCHERS.
SO THERE'S A REQUEST IN FOR EIGHT, UH, POSITIONS IN THAT AREA.
AND THEN, UM, A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE, BUT ALL OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENTS HAVE CIVILIAN SUPPORT, UM, LIKE CARLOS AND MYSELF.
AND, UH, WE NEED, WE, EACH YEAR WE ASK FOR SOME MORE.
THIS YEAR WE'VE PUT IN FOR FIVE PARTICULAR POSITIONS THAT WE'D, WE'D LOVE ON THE CIVILIAN SIDE.
UM, AND THEY COVER THINGS LIKE, UH, INVENTORY SPECIALISTS HELPS US KEEP TRACK OF WHERE ALL THAT EQUIPMENT IS.
OR A, UM, MAINTENANCE WORKERS.
SO WE CAN HAVE TWO CREWS INSTEAD OF ONE AND A HALF CREWS GOING TO OUR 50 SOME, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE'LL BE UP TO 52 53 STATIONS.
WE NEED A SCHEDULING COORDINATOR.
WE'RE GOING TO A NEW WAY OF DOING TIMEKEEPING AND WE NEED SOMEBODY TO HELP WITH SCHEDULING, UH, SOMEBODY IN WORKER'S COMP THO THOSE KINDS OF AREAS.
UM, THE O ONLY OTHER THING WE'VE ASKED FOR, FOR, AND THERE'S TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF MONEY.
THERE'S ONGOING MONEY, AND THAT'S THAT FIRST LIST OF FIVE.
AND THEN THERE'S ONE TIME MONEY, ONE TIME FUNDING.
OUR ONE TIME FUNDING REQUEST IS FOR SOME AUTOMATIC ELECTRONIC DEFIBRILLATORS.
IS THAT WHAT THE E IS? EXTERNAL.
YOU KNOW WHAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE THE SHOCK 'EM THINGS
AND WE'VE GOT ABOUT 130 OF THEM AT, UH, UH, $2,100 EACH, PLUS SOME SUPPLIES THAT GO WITH THAT.
UM, SO WE PUT IN A REQUEST FOR ONE TIME FUNDING FOR THAT.
SO THAT IS THE CONCLUSION OF WHERE WE'RE AT WITH OUR BUDGET DEVELOPMENT.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANNA ASK QUESTIONS INDIVIDUALLY OR WAIT TILL THE END.
DID WE WANNA DO QUESTIONS? DEPARTMENT BY DEPARTMENT? WELL, IS THAT EASIER TO WRAP YOUR HEADS AROUND? OKAY.
UM, I HAVE COMMISSIONER NOU TWO QUESTIONS.
UM, THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION.
UM, I JUST WANNA FOLLOW UP ON YOUR ENGINE LADDERS, UM, UH, REQUEST MM-HMM.
SO OUT OF THOSE 11, HOW OLD ARE THEY RANGING? DO YOU, DO YOU HAPPEN TO KNOW THAT CHIEF FIRES CAN HELP ME OUT ON THAT? ALL RIGHT.
CHIEF FIRES, UH, OFFICER, FIRE DEPARTMENT, CHIEF OF STAFF, THE, I DON'T HAVE THE ACTUAL AGE.
I CAN TELL YOU THE REPLACEMENT SCHEDULE.
THIS WILL GIVE YOU A GENERAL IDEA.
SO ENGINES, THE ONES THAT SPRAY THE WATER ARE REPLACED EVERY 10 YEARS, RIGHT? THEY, THEY HAVE 10 YEARS FRONTLINE AND THEY HAVE FIVE YEARS IN RESERVE, AND THEN THEY'RE SOLD OFF TO AUCTION, AND NEW ONES COME IN FOR THE LADDERS.
THERE'S 15 YEARS FRONTLINE AND FIVE YEARS IN RESERVE.
AND THEN THERE'S SOLD OFF AT AUCTION.
AND THE CITY'S BEEN VERY GOOD.
THAT REPLACEMENT SCHEDULE IS FOLLOWED PRETTY, UH, PRETTY CLOSE, UH, FOR US TO KEEP US IN, IN VEHICLES THAT ARE IN GOOD SHAPE AND WORKING CONDITION.
SO THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REPLACEMENTS.
UM, YOU KNOW, A STATION COULD HAVE BEEN THERE FOR OVER A HUNDRED YEARS.
THEY'VE HAD THOSE ENGINES AND THOSE LADDERS AND THINGS REPLACED.
THIS IS ADDING AN ADDITIONAL ONE TO OUR FLEET.
AND THIS IS IN LINE WITH THE RESOLUTION FROM COUNCIL, UH, THAT WE'RE, WE'RE CITY MANAGEMENT RESPONSIVE TO, I THINK IN JULY.
WE'RE WORKING ON THE DETAILS FOR THEM FOR THAT.
THANK YOU FOR AND ONE SECOND, COMMISSIONER.
I JUST WANT, CAN WE BRING UP COMMISSIONER KOFFIN, COMMISSIONER SMITH UP SO THAT I CAN SEE IF THEY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO GIVE A GLANCE OVER AND SEE IF ANYONE ELSE HAS QUESTIONS BEFORE I LET COMMISSIONER NGUYEN CONTINUE.
[00:30:01]
GO AHEAD.THANK YOU FOR THAT CLARIFICATION.
UM, SO THIS ISN'T RELATED TO, LIKE YOU SAID, THE FRONT LINE OR THE RESERVES.
THIS IS ADDITIONAL ON TOP OF THE 11? THAT IS CORRECT.
THAT'LL BE TWO ADDITIONAL STAFFED.
AND THEN ALSO, I, I HAPPEN TO HAVE JUST PURCHASED SOME ANDS, UH, FOR THE ORGANIZATION I WORK FOR.
SO, UM, I WAS LOOKING AT THE, UH, PRICING FOR THOSE AND YOU SAID THEY'RE THE AD ONE 30 S, RIGHT? UM, OH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT NUMBER THEY'RE OKAY.
UM, I, I'M, I'M WONDERING IF, UM, FOR PROCUREMENT PURPOSES, UM, DO WE LOOK AT THE CONTRACTS OF, UM, OF HOW MUCH THESE ARE COSTING? BECAUSE THOSE SEEM LIKE THEY'RE, UH, A LITTLE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN SOME OF THE OTHER ADSS I'VE SEEN.
WE WORK WITH THE OFFICE OF THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR WHO HAS A LOT OF DATA REQUIREMENTS THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THOSE AEDS.
SO THESE ARE, THESE ARE THE TYPE THAT WILL COLLECT INFORMATION ON HOW LONG THEY WERE CHARGED AND HOW FAST THEY, YOU KNOW, THEY HIT THE, THE BUTTONS.
UM, AND, AND SAVE ALL THAT DATA SO THAT THEY CAN ANALYZE IT.
SO I'M SURE THEY'RE MORE THAN THE, THAN THE AVERAGE.
THERE'S ALSO SOME OTHER CRITERIA FOR, UH, HAVING SOMETHING THAT PROVIDES INFORMATION ON THE C CPR PROVIDED, UH, THE, THE DEPTH OF COMPRESSION, HOW MANY COMPRESSIONS PER MINUTE WERE DONE, ET CETERA.
SO THEY'RE A LITTLE BIT MORE ROBUST.
THEY'RE ALSO RUGGEDIZED, UH, THEY'RE ON A FIRETRUCK THAT WITH, WITH REGULAR USAGE, ET CETERA.
SO THERE ARE SOME LOW, LESS EXPENSIVE VERSIONS THAT ACCOMPLISH THE SAME DEAL, BUT MAYBE AREN'T AS DURABLE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT THESE ARE REQUIRED TO WORK IN.
I WAS, UM, THINKING BACK TO OUR CONVERSATIONS ABOUT, UM, UH, BACKUP POWER FOR STATIONS, AND I WAS WONDERING IF ANY OF THOSE, UM, THE WORD IS A THE GENERATORS.
IF ANY OF THOSE GENERATORS HAVE MADE IT INTO THIS BUDGET, LIKE THE ADDITIONAL FUNDING THAT YOU GUYS NEEDED FOR THAT, I CAN, WE'RE WORKING ON THAT IN THAT THERE WAS A SECOND RESOLUTION FOR GENERATORS, AND IT'S BEING LED THROUGH THE PROCESS BY OUR, UM, UM, NOW I'VE LOST A BUILDING SERVICES DEPARTMENT, AND SO ALL OF US, THERE'S STUFF WITH EMS ALSO ON THE GENERATORS.
THEY'LL BE COMING BACK TO COUNCIL, I BELIEVE IN MID-JULY OR EARLY JULY, UM, WITH INFORMATION ON HOW MANY GENERATORS ARE NEEDED AND WHAT OTHER INFORMATION FOR THAT.
SO THOSE WILL BE IN TIME FOR THE, FOR THE NEW BUDGET APPROVAL.
UM, I GUESS WITH THAT, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND TAKE EMS NEXT.
I'M THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AT EMS. UM, HERE, LIKE WE NOW MENTIONED, THIS IS OUR FORECAST.
AND FOR OUR FISCAL YEAR 23, OUR APPROVED BUDGET CONSISTS OF $112 MILLION.
UH, OUR POSITIONS AS, UH, CHIEF HOPKINS WENT OVER, UH, 665 SWORN.
OUR CIVILIANS ARE 1 41 AND AT 0.5, WHICH ALSO INCLUDES OUR CADETS.
UM, OUR RESOURCES, UH, WERE 63% OF GENERAL FUND, UM, TAX SUPPORTED, AND WE DO COLLECT REVENUE ABOUT 37% TO FUND US.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE HERE ARE 23 REVENUE PROJECTIONS.
UH, WE'RE AT SITTING AT 42.9 MILLION.
UH, WE ARE TRENDING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
WE ARE ABOUT 70% OF THAT REVENUE COLLECTED ALREADY.
UM, SO TRACKING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, UH, SIMILAR TO OUR FRIENDS AND FIRE, OUR, OUR BREAKDOWN OF OUR BUDGET, PRETTY MUCH THE MAJORITY IS IN OPERATIONS.
UH, WE JUST HAVE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS, WHICH CONSISTS OF COMMS, UM, EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT, AND THEN WE HAVE TRANSFERS, WHICH IS A KEY PART OF A LOT OF, UH, GENERAL FUND DEPARTMENTS.
UH, SOME PROGRAM BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS.
WE DID RECEIVE NINE NEW FTES FOR OUR BILLING SUPPORT.
THAT WAS TO HELP, YOU KNOW, ALLEVIATE OUR BACKLOG ON OUR BILLING.
UM, WE RECEIVED ALSO 200,000 ON OPERATING FUNDS FOR WHOLE BLOOD.
UM, THE KEY PART HERE IS OPERATING.
WE DID RECEIVE ADDITIONAL FUNDING IN CAPITAL ONE TIME TO, FOR THE OTHER, OTHER PART OF THE PROGRAM WITH ITS ALSO INCLUDES, UH, THE SIMULATION LAB.
UM, WE ALSO RECEIVED ADDITIONAL MONEY ON OVERTIME AND TO FINISH PAYING, UH, OUR BALLISTIC VEST PURCHASE.
WE KIND OF SPREAD THAT OUT THROUGH A COUPLE OF FISCAL YEARS.
UH, PARENTAL LEAVE FOR SWORN EMPLOYEES WAS ALSO INCLUDED IN OUR BUDGET.
AND LAST ON OUR LIST, AIRPORT, AIRPORT PILOT PROGRAM.
THIS WAS FUNDED BY A B I A, BUT, BUT WE RECEIVED THE FUNDING IN OUR BUDGET FOR F FY 24 FORECAST.
UH, WE'RE AT 117 MILLION, UH, SIMILAR TO FIRE.
WE ARE IN CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS, SO THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY IS
[00:35:01]
NOT, UH, SHOWN HERE.OUR SW POSITIONS IS INCREASING BY 12.
THAT IS, UH, BECAUSE OF GOODNIGHT RANCH.
UH, WE HAVE A 12, UH, SWORN STAFF BEING INCLUDED.
OUR CIVILIANS ARE REMAINING AT 1 41 0.5.
OUR REVENUE, HOWEVER, IS INCREASING TO 46.9 MILLION.
AND THAT'S JUST BASED ON THE TRENDS THAT WE'RE SEEING NOW.
UH, WITH, LIKE I SAID, THE ADDITIONAL BILLING SUPPORT THAT WE RECEIVED.
UM, OUR BUDGET'S INCREASING RIGHT NOW AT 5.2 MILLION.
WE'RE FOUR AND A 5%, UH, MAJORITY.
IT'S AGAIN, AND, AND PERSONNEL.
UM, UH, INTERNET FUND TRANSFERS, AS RENELL MENTIONED, THAT'S A LOT OF THE TRANSFERS FOR THE WIRELESS CTECH.
THIS, AGAIN, WE HAVE A LOT OF SIMILARITIES, UH, INFLATION AND COST, UH, INCREASES IN MEDICAL SUPPLIES.
WE, WE'VE SEEN A, A DRASTIC INCREASE, AND WE'RE JUST TRYING TO CATCH UP, UM, TO GET US UP AT THOSE PAR LEVELS.
AND THE RE AND THE REDUCTION OF THE 200,000, THAT HAS TO DO WITH ONE TIME FUNDING THAT WE RECEIVE EVERY YEAR FOR EQUIPMENT.
UM, THAT IS LIKE THE VESTS, FOR EXAMPLE.
WHEN WE RECEIVE PERSONNEL, WE HAVE TO BUY LAPTOPS, COMPUTERS, THOSE ARE ALL CONSIDERED ONE-TIME FUNDING.
UM, AND THEY USUALLY TAKE IT OUT THE NEXT YEAR.
UH, FOR OUR ADMIN NEEDS, UH, OUR, OUR, OUR BIG ONE HERE, NUMBER ONE IS RECRUITING DIVISION.
UH, AS YOU GUYS KNOW, FAMILIAR WITH OUR VACANCIES.
THIS IS TO ENHANCE THAT RECRUITMENT PROGRAM.
WE'RE ASKING FOR 11 FTES, UH, FOR THOSE ARE SWORN FOR A TOTAL OF ABOUT $1.6 MILLION.
UM, WE DO HAVE SOME ONE TIME COSTS THERE, UH, TO BUY, LIKE I SAID, THE EQUIPMENT, UM, RADIOS FOR THE SWORN STAFF, UNIFORMS, ET CETERA.
UM, OUR SECOND ASK IS DATA ANALYTICS AS WE'RE TRYING TO USE TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE OUR RESPONSE TIMES TO BE MORE DATA DRIVEN.
AND SO WE'RE ASKING FOR TWO ADDITIONAL STAFFS.
OUR NUMBER THREE, IT'S OUR C4 PROGRAM CURRENTLY IS A 12 HOUR PROGRAM, AND WE'RE ASKING FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO MAKE THAT A 24 HOUR PROGRAM.
UH, NUMBER FOUR IS THE RM FUNDED PILOT PROGRAM.
WE'VE BEEN ASKED TO, TO DO VARIOUS PROGRAMS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
ONE WAS LAKE ME, UM, THE AIRPORT, UH, RAINEY STREET AND CASTED FOR, FOR THE AIRPORT, ALTHOUGH WE GOT THE FUNDING FOR THE ADDITIONAL STAFF.
UH, BASED ON OUR CURRENT TRENDS, WE WERE ASKING FOR AN ADDITIONAL STAFF JUST FOR ROTATION PURPOSES.
UM, AND THEN OUR, OUR LAST ITEM HERE, THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANT.
UM, THIS IS 4.6 MILLION AS, UH, A FEW YEARS OR MORE THAN A FEW YEARS BACK.
OUR CARDIAC MAN CARDIAC MONITORS ARE ONE OF THE VERY EXPENSIVE ITEMS. UM, 70 OF THEM WERE BOUGHT ABOUT FIVE, SIX YEARS AGO.
AND WE'RE, THOSE ARE DUE FOR REPLACEMENT.
WE'RE NOT ASKING FOR ALL THE 70 UP UPFRONT, BECAUSE THAT'S GONNA BE A VERY HUGE ASK.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE BREAKING THAT OUT FOR THE NEXT FISCAL, NEXT FEW FISCAL YEARS AND CREATING A, A CRITICAL REPLACEMENT LIST FOR OUR VENTILATORS AS WELL.
UM, THIS WITH THE STRIKE STRIKERS.
UH, IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE ALSO HAVE SOME, UM, I WANNA MAKE SURE I GET THE NAME RIGHT HERE.
UM, MASS CASUALTY VEHICLES, UM, IN AN INCLEMENT WEATHER VEHICLE, UM, AS YOU'VE SEEN A LOT OF CHANGES IN THE WEATHER LATELY.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE ARE PREPARED.
AND, AND WITH THAT, UM, ANY QUESTIONS FOR EMS? COMMISSIONER KOFF, COMMISSIONER SMITH? I JUST DON'T WANNA LOSE YOU THERE.
ANYONE ELSE? UM, SO I HAD A QU EMS ALSO HAS A CONTRACT RENEGOTIATION COMING UP AS WELL.
SO THESE, THE, THOSE CHANGES AND FIGURES AREN'T, ARE THEY REFLECTED IN HERE AT ALL? NO.
UM, AND THEN ONE OTHER QUE C COULD YOU JUST TELL ME, TELL US BRIEFLY, EXPLAIN BRIEFLY WHAT THE COLLABORATIVE CARE COMMUNICATIONS, UM, CENTER IS? IT'S PERFECT.
I'LL LET, UH, CHIEF HOPKINS HERE.
CERTAINLY THE C FLOOR LINER, THE CLA REPAIR COMMUNICATIONS CENTER KIND OF FALLS UNDER MY AREA OF PURVIEW.
AND THOSE ARE PARAMEDIC, THE CLINICAL SPECIALISTS THAT ARE EMBEDDED AT THE 9 1 1 CENTER.
AND SO THEY TAKE THE LOWEST PRIORITY CALLS AND THEY TRY TO ASCERTAIN THE PROBLEM NATURE AND FIND INNOVATIVE WAYS TO DISPOSITION THAT CALL WITHOUT INVOLVING AN AMBULANCE.
AND SO IT COULD BE THAT, UH, YOU NEED YOUR MEDICATIONS REFILLED, AND SO WE ARE ABLE TO HELP NAVIGATE THAT FOR YOU.
THERE, THERE'S MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF CALLS THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO DO THAT TOO.
AND WE'VE HAD REALLY GOOD SUCCESS ON THE, ON, ON, ON
[00:40:01]
THE DAYTIME HOURS, BUT WE HAVE A GAP AT NIGHT WHEN THOSE CREW MEMBERS GO HOME.AND SO WE JUST WANT THAT TO BE 24 HOURS SO THAT WE CAN, WE CAN REALLY, UH, KIND OF HELP PEOPLE IN THE MOST, UH, COST EFFECTIVE WAY.
IT'S THE, THE RIGHT RESOURCE TO THE RIGHT PATIENT AT THE RIGHT TIME.
ANYTHING ELSE? IS THERE ANY, ANY, ANYTHING IN THIS LIST THAT SOMEBODY WOULD LIKE, JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMA, LIKE THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT CAST, LIKE WHAT CASTED IS, ANYTHING LIKE THAT? TALK A LITTLE MORE.
COMMISSIONER NGUYEN HAS QUESTIONS.
UM, SO WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THOSE, UH, HIGH WATER VEHICLES, ARE YOU ALSO PUTTING IN THEIR BUILDING AND TRAINING FOR THOSE STAFF, UM, AS WE'VE SEEN SEVERE WEATHERS, UH, BECOMING MORE PREVALENT.
SO, UM, I'M WONDERING IF THAT ASK ALSO INCLUDES THAT AS WELL.
THE, THE ASK IS JUST FOR THE ACTUAL VEHICLE, UH, PURCHASE.
WE HAVE NOT INCLUDED ANY, ANY TRAINING.
AND THEN I WILL ASK, JUST FOR THE SAKE OF EVERYONE WATCHING AT HOME, IF YOU COULD EXPLAIN WHAT CASTED IS.
SO CASTED IS WHERE WE TAKE A LOT OF TIMES AN AUSTIN POLICE OFFICER, TWO OF 'EM, A MEDIC AND A FIREFIGHTER.
AND SO THEY ARE IN TYPICALLY THE DOWNTOWN CORNER, UH, POISED TO AFFECT ANY KIND OF ACTIVE ATTACK GUN VIOLENCE CALL.
AND SO THEY, UH, ARE A SPECIALIZED RESOURCE THAT ALLOWS US TO GET MEDICS TO THE PATIENT FASTER, UH, BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE PROTECTION OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
AND HOW MANY OF THOSE TEAMS ARE THERE RIGHT NOW? IS THERE JUST ONE TEAM DOWNTOWN, OR ARE THERE MULTIPLE TEAMS? TYPICALLY THEY'RE ON THE, THE, THE WEEKEND EVENINGS.
AND WE CAN HAVE ANYWHERE FROM ONE TO TO THREE TEAMS, KIND OF DEPENDING ON WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE DOWNTOWN CORRIDOR.
COMMISSIONER HALL, MARTIN, UM, I WAS CURIOUS WHAT YOUR PARENTAL LEAVE IS FOR SWORN EMPLOYEES.
WHAT DO Y'ALL OFFER? DO YOU KNOW?
I'M SORRY, BUT WE CAN NO, IT'S OKAY.
I FEEL LIKE I'VE EXHAUSTED QUESTIONS, SO WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD.
UM, AND THEN WE HAVE A P D NEXT.
UH, JAMES MASON, ASSISTANT CHIEF FOR THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
JUST WAITING ON THE PRESENTATION.
SO IF WE LOOK AT OUR CURRENT 2023 APPROVED BUDGET, WE'RE AT 440, UH, 4.9 MILLION.
UH, WE CURRENTLY HAVE 1,812 OR ALLOWED 1,812 SWORN EMPLOYEES, UH, ABOUT 508, UH, CIVILIANS.
AND MOST OF THOSE CIVILIAN STAFFING ARE AT, UH, OUR COMMUNICATIONS CTECH, UH, DE, UH, DEPARTMENT.
IF WE LOOK AT, IF WE BREAK IT DOWN BY BUDGET, UH, ABOUT 50% IS, UH, IS FUNDED AND BASED THROUGH OUR NEIGHBORHOOD POLICING.
UH, ABOUT 13% IS, IS IN OUR INVESTIGATIONS.
IF YOU LOOK AT OUR 2023 BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS, UH, WE DID, WE WERE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY CREATE THE FORENSICS DEPARTMENT.
UH, IT IS COMPLETELY SEPARATE FROM THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT, AND IT IS, IT IS ON THE, IT IS THEIR OWN DEPARTMENT, UH, SEPARATELY BY ITSELF.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE, UH, AND THIS WAS HEAVILY, UH, RIGHTFULLY SO, WATCHED BY COUNSEL, OUR CONTINUED INVESTMENTS FOR OUR VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT.
UH, WE DID TWO MARKET STUDIES FOR WAGE INCREASES FOR OUR TELECOMMUNICATIONS 9 1 1, AND AS WELL AS DISPATCHERS AND AS WELL AS OUR VICTIM SERVICES EMPLOYEES, UH, RECEIVED BOTH OF THOSE STUDIES.
UH, AND THEN WE DID REPLACE THE HELICOPTER THIS YEAR.
UM, AND THEN, UH, WE ALSO ARE CIVILIANIZING OUR, UH, REALTIME CRIME CENTER, UH, PERSONNEL.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT, UH, LIKE DR.
PAULSON SAID, THIS IS OUR 2024 FORECAST.
OF COURSE, THE ULTIMATE IS UP TO THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE.
UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, AN INCREASE TO 467.5 MILLION.
UH, OUR SWARM PERSONNEL AND OUR CIVILIAN PERSONNEL, UH, WILL NOT CHANGE THE OLD STATE 1812 AND 508.
AND, AND THEN IF WE BREAK DOWN THE COST OF THE INCREASE FOR THE 467.5 MILLION, UH, THE, THE BIG INCREASE IS THE, UH, PERSONNEL COST DRIVERS, UH, GOES UP TO 14.9 MILLION.
UH, A LOT OF THAT WAS THE 4% RAISE THAT CITY COUNCIL APPROVED.
UH, THERE'S ALSO A COST FOR ALL THREE, UH, US ACTUALLY, UH, CITYWIDE AS, UH, THE INSURANCE COSTS ARE GOING UP.
UH, ALSO OUR INTER FUND TRANSFERS, UH, WHICH ARE OUR, YOU KNOW, OUR FLEET, UH, SUPPORT SERVICES THAT WE PAY OUT FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT
[00:45:01]
US, UH, THAT'S GOING TO 5.2 MILLION.UH, AND THEN OUR, OUR CONTRACT AND OPERATING INCREASES, THERE'S 2.5 AND, UH, INCREASED THE 2.5 MILLION AND THAT EQUALS A TOTAL OF ABOUT 22.6 MILLION OR ROUGHLY 5%.
AND THEN IF WE LOOK AT OUR, UH, OUR COUNCIL INITIATIVES OR OUR, OUR UNMET, UNMET NEEDS, UH, TWO BIG THINGS YOU'RE GONNA SEE HERE AS ADVERTISING.
UH, WE, YOU KNOW, OF COURSE WE ARE, WE'RE WE'RE RATE OF ABOUT 322 VACANCIES, UH, OFFICER WISE, UH, PLUS THE 150 THAT THAT COUNCIL HAD ORIGINALLY, UH, TAKEN AWAY FROM THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
SO WE'RE AROUND 500 VACANCIES.
UH, WE WANTED, WE NEED TO DO SOME AND LIKE TO DO SOME, UH, ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN FOR OUR SWORN RECRUITING PERSONNEL.
UH, NOT ONLY, NOT ONLY STATEWIDE BUT NATIONWIDE CUZ THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, OFFICERS THAT ARE COMING MOVING FROM DIFFERENT STATES.
WE'D LIKE TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THAT, TO GET OTHER OFFICERS THAT ARE ALREADY HAVE THE EXPERIENCE TO BE ABLE TO COME HERE, UH, TO BE ABLE TO RECRUIT THEM.
UH, WE DID, UH, THROUGH SALARY SAVINGS THIS YEAR, WERE ABLE TO, UH, GIVE A RETENTION BONUS TO OUR 9 1 1 AND DISPATCHER EMPLOYEES.
IT WAS A THOUSAND DOLLARS AND THREE INSTALLMENTS THROUGHOUT THE, THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
UH, WE WITH WE'RE FORTUNATE ENOUGH AND IT'S TAKING TIME, BUT WE'RE SLOWLY, UH, YOU KNOW, GETTING PEOPLE ON BOARD AND TRAINING THEM.
UM, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA NEED, NEED TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THAT.
WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THAT AND WE NEED THAT IN OUR BUDGET AND NOT BE ABLE TO USE IT IN OUR CURRENT.
SO WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO INCREASE IT BY, AND THAT'LL COST ABOUT 501
AND THEN OF COURSE, UM, CONTINUE ADVERTISING FOR OUR 9 1 1 AND DISPATCHERS AT 200 KK.
AND THEN OUR, UM, OUR OPEN RECORDS REQUESTS, UH, FOR ALL THREE DEPARTMENTS, ESPECIALLY THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, UH, IS CONSTANTLY, YOU KNOW, RECEIVING PIS, PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUESTS.
UM, AND WE'D LIKE TO BE ABLE TO HAVE FOUR FULL-TIME CIVILIAN FTES AS WELL AS THE COMPLIANCE WITH THE STATE BILL, UH, ONE 11, UH, WHICH WAS THE, UH, THE LAW THAT, THAT REQUIRES US TO MAKE SURE WHEN WE HANDLE OUR CASE TO THE DA'S OFFICE, THAT, UH, WE, WE, WE PRETTY MUCH SWEAR OR SWORN TO THE, THAT WE'VE GIVEN ALL THE INFORMATION, ALL THE VIDEOS, ALL THE INFORMATION TO BE ABLE TO FOR THE DA.
SO WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO HAVE SOMEBODY FULL-TIME IN THAT POSITION TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S BEING DONE RIGHT.
AND THEN OUR LAST, UH, BIG TICKET ITEM, UH, IS, UH, EARLY INTERVENTION SYSTEM.
AND THIS WAS, UH, CREATED THROUGH AN AUDIT THAT WAS DONE THIS TO THE CITY MANAGER'S OFF OUR CITY MANAGER, UM, INITIATED IT THROUGH THE AUDIT OFFICE.
AND, UM, THERE, OUR CURRENT SYSTEM, OR THE ONE THAT WE DID HAVE IN PLACE IS THIS NOT EFFECTIVE AND IT'S BEEN YEARS OLD AND THE PROGRAM IS JUST NO ONE EVEN KNOWS HOW TO, HOW TO BE ABLE TO COMPLY IT OR TO BE ABLE TO WORK IT.
UH, SO WE ARE LOOKING FOR A NEW INTERVENTION SYSTEM AND WE, WE'D LIKE TO BE ABLE TO FUND THAT.
SO, UM, IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS, I'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO ANSWER.
DO WE HAVE QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER HOLMES, I'VE GOT A QUESTION ON, UM, UNDER THE BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS.
ONE THING THAT WAS LISTED WAS CONTINUED INVESTMENTS IN VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT.
ONE, I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN HEARING A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THAT, BUT IT ALSO BRINGS TO MY MEMORY, BEFORE I WAS ON THIS COMMISSION, IT SEEMS LIKE I SAW IN THE NEWS ONE DAY SOME TALK OF MOVING VICTIM SERVICES OUT OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
IS VICTIM, IS THERE STILL A VICTIM SERVICES WITHIN A P D? YES, THERE IS.
AND THERE'S NO, UM, THERE'S NO, UM, TALKS OR ANY MOVEMENT OF MOVING THEM OUT OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
THEY'RE ACTUALLY EMBEDDED INTO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
I DON'T KNOW WHERE, I THOUGHT I HEARD SOMETHING LIKE THAT A COUPLE YEARS AGO.
BUT, UM, WHAT IS THIS? WHAT IS THIS INVESTMENT? UM, IT'S, IT'S CONTINUED, UH, COUNCIL, UH, REQUESTED SEVERAL ITEMS. UH, THERE WAS ACTUALLY, THEY WANTED CARS FOR EACH OF THE, THE DETECTIVES AS WELL AS, UH, LOOPHOLES AND MAKE SURE THAT THAT REPORTS AND EVERYTHING WERE FOLLOWED UPON AND MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T, UH, BASICALLY DROP THE BALL ON ANY TYPE OF VICTIM, MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE GIVEN THE, THE, THE PROPER TREATMENT AS WELL AS, AS ANYTHING THAT'S REQUIRED BY LAW TO BE ABLE TO GIVE THEM.
SO IT'S A CONTINUED FUNDING FOR THAT.
UH, IT'S, IT'S IN THE RESOLUTIONS AND IT'S, IT'S A MANDATED ITEM.
DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? AND I'LL JUST RE-UP THE THING THAT, THAT ALSO A P D HAS CONTRACTS THAT ARE, SO THERE ARE SOME INCREASES HERE THAT ARE, THAT SORT OF ACCOMMODATE FOR THE, THE CITY COUNCIL ENACTED, UM, PAY COMPENSATION, UM, SORT OF GAP MEASURES THAT WERE MADE IN ABSENCE OF A CONTRACT.
BUT THIS DOES, THIS ALSO DOES NOT REFLECT FUTURE CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS CUZ THAT'S PENDING, CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT, YES MA'AM.
I'M LOOKING AROUND TO SEE IF WE HAVE ANYTHING ELSE.
AND WITH THAT, I DO BELIEVE WE HAVE SOME PUBLIC COMMENT ON, UM, THE PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT BUDGET.
IF YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND COME UP AT THIS TIME.
[00:50:10]
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.HELP YOURSELF TO WHICHEVER ONE AND JUST TURN THE MIC ON AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO US.
HI, MY NAME IS CYNTHIA SIMONS AND I AM THE DIRECTOR OF WOMEN'S JUSTICE AT THE TEXAS CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND EQUITY.
AND WE ARE ALSO A PARTNER ORGANIZATION, UM, WITH EQUITY ACTION.
AND WE COLLABORATED AMONGST A NUMBER OF OTHER COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS TO PUT TOGETHER THE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET.
SO I'M HERE SUPPORTING THAT AND ASKING FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN THAT.
UM, THE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET WAS PUT TOGETHER FROM A GROUP OF, UM, PEOPLE WHO DO POLICY, PEOPLE WHO DO DIRECT SERVICES, PEOPLE WHO ARE INUNDATED IN THE COMMUNITY AND HAVE BEEN IN INUNDATED IN THE COMMUNITY FOR A WHILE.
SO THEY HAVE THEIR FINGER ON THE PULSE OF WHAT IS CURRENTLY HAPPENING IN THE COMMUNITY, WHAT THE COMMUNITY'S NEEDS ARE AND WHERE THOSE GAPS ARE.
AND THEY ALREADY HAVE, YOU KNOW, RECOMMENDATIONS AND RESOLUTIONS IF FUNDED PROPERLY ON HOW TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY.
AS WE ALL KNOW, THERE IS DISTRUST IN THE COMMUNITY BETWEEN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND COMMUNITY.
AND SO THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT, UM, WE HAVE TO BUILD UPON IN ORDER TO GET PEOPLE ACCESS TO SERVICES WHILE ALSO BEING ABLE TO WORK WITH THOSE, UM, ORGANIZATIONS TO WORK WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AND OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO CON CONTINUE TO TRY TO REPAIR, UM, THE RELATIONSHIP AND THE HARM THAT'S BEEN DONE IN THE COMMUNITIES.
I SPECIFICALLY WANNA, UM, ELEVATE TWO AREAS OF INTEREST.
UM, PEER SUPPORT SPECIALISTS AND CASE MANAGERS, UM, PEER SUPPORT SPECIALISTS, UM, YOU HAVE 'EM NOW IN YOUR MENTAL HEALTH PUBLIC DEFENDER'S OFFICE.
UM, THEY ARE THE, ONE OF THE, UM, ONLY TANGIBLE THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO COME UP WITH DATA THAT ACTUALLY SHOWS REDUCED RECIDIVISM RATES WHEN YOU HAVE SOMEBODY WHO HAS EXPERIENCED HOMELESSNESS, WHEN YOU HAVE SOMEBODY WHO'S EXPERIENCED INCARCERATION DEALING WITH FAMILY SEPARATION, SUBSTANCE ABUSE DISORDER, THEY ARE A CRITICAL COMPONENT TO HELPING PEOPLE OVERCOME THE BARRIERS AND GETTING THEM, UM, ACCESS TO SERVICES THAT THEY OTHERWISE MAYBE NOT FEEL SAFE, UM, IN ARTICULATING WHAT THEIR NEEDS ARE.
I THINK SOMETIMES, UM, WITH THE SERVICES, WELL NOT, I THINK THAT THERE WAS A REPORT THAT WAS, UM, PRESENTED TO COMMISSIONER'S COURT, UM, ABOUT A MONTH OR SO AGO.
AND THE DATA REFLECTED VERY CLEARLY THAT THERE WAS, UM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN THE SERVICES THAT PEOPLE WERE RECEIVING AND THAT THEY HAD ACCESS TO.
SO WITH PEER SUPPORT SERVICES, WE GET SOME OF THAT IMPLICIT BIAS OUT OF THERE AND MAKING SURE THAT WE REALLY ALLOCATE FUNDS INTO HOUSING, ESPECIALLY FOR OUR REENTRY COMMUNITY COMMUNITY.
PEOPLE WHO HAVE, UH, FELONY CONVICTIONS, THERE IS NOWHERE FOR THEM TO LIVE.
AND IF PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO SAFE AND HEALTHY, UM, HOUSING, THEN WE ARE RUNNING A REALLY HIGH RISK OF THEM GOING BACK TO, UH, SURVIVAL.
UM, AND OUT OF THAT COMES CRIME, RIGHT? SO MAKING SURE THAT PEOPLE HAVE EQUITABLE, UM, HOUSING CHOICES SO THAT THEY CAN LIVE A LIFE CONDUCIVE TO SUCCESS IF YOU'RE NOT ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR YOUR FAMILY.
AND BY US STRIPPING HOUSING FROM PEOPLE, WE'RE RELEGATING NOT ONLY THAT PERSON, BUT THEIR FAMILIES TO BEING UNHOUSED IN POVERTY IN UNFAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES.
SO WE ASK THAT YOU SUPPORT THE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET, UM, THAT HAS BEEN A HOLISTIC WRAPAROUND APPROACH TO THE NEEDS FOR THE COMMUNITY.
AND I KNOW WE, I KNOW WE RAN OUT OF TIME, BUT IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE, LIKE, I MEAN WE, WE ARE, WE ARE RUNNING A FULL 25 MINUTES OR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE AND WE STILL HAVE TO VOTE AND EVERYTHING, BUT IF YOU HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL LIKE ANOTHER MINUTE OR SO OF THAT YOU'D LIKE TO SPEAK TO.
UM, I THINK THOSE ARE THE MAIN POINTS.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, JUST TAKING A LOOK AT THAT, THIS BUDGET WAS COMPRISED, UM, AND MADE UP OF PEOPLE WHO ARE INUNDATED IN THE COMMUNITY WHO ARE ALREADY DOING THE SERVICES, JUST NEEDING TO FILL THAT GAPS IN FUNDING.
SO IT'S NOT AN ISSUE OF IDENTIFYING WHO NEEDS TO DO WHAT AND WHERE ARE THE GAPS.
THE ANSWERS ARE ALREADY THERE.
WE'RE JUST ASKING YOU TO SUPPORT IT AND ALLOCATE THE FUNDS APPROPRIATELY AND MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE ADDRESSING, UM, THE HOUSING CRISIS THAT FOLKS HAVE.
ESPECIALLY FOR OUR REENTRY COMMUNITY.
TEXAS IS A STATE THAT INCARCERATES MORE PEOPLE BY SHEER NUMBER THAN ANY OTHER STATE.
THE BLACK SINGLE WOMAN CATEGORICALLY HAS THE HIGHEST LIKELIHOOD TO BE INCARCERATED, BUT THE LESS LIKELIHOOD TO RECEIVE SERVICES, THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE REALLY HAVE TO IDENTIFY AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE BOLSTERING UP SERVICES FOR THESE VERY VULNERABLE POPULATIONS.
SO WITH THAT, DO WE HAVE ANY, SO THIS IS ALWAYS ONE OF THE, THE MORE TIME CONSUMING SORT OF RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE PUT TOGETHER.
UM, SO GENERALLY WHAT WE HAVE DONE IN THE PAST IS WE SORT OF TAKE IT DEPARTMENT
[00:55:01]
BY DEPARTMENT AND WE LOOKED AT THEIR UNFUNDED PRIORITIES, UM, AND DECIDE WHETHER WE AS A COMMISSION FEEL COMFORTABLE ENDORSING THEM AS A WHOLE, IF WE'D LIKE TO ENDORSE SOME OF THOSE LINE ITEMS. AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE THE ABILITY TO ADD OTHER THINGS TO OUR BUDGET RECOMMENDATION.FOR INSTANCE, UM, WE, IN PREVIOUS, UM, MEETINGS OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR PASSED A RECOMMENDATION FOR PAY PARITY FOR EMS. WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO ALSO, UM, ENDORSE THE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE DONE IN THE PAST AS WELL, WHICH NOT ONLY MENTIONS THE PEER SUPPORT, UM, SPECIALIST PROGRAMS, BUT THEY ALSO MENTIONED PAY PARODY AND THE COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDICS PROGRAM THAT WE GOT A BRIEFING ON.
UM, THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE CAN DO HERE.
WE CAN REQUEST THAT ALL OF THE GENERATOR EXPENSES FOR THE DEPARTMENTS BE FUNDED.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF ROOM HERE FOR US TO SORT OF PIECE TOGETHER A RECOMMENDATION.
I THINK THE BEST WAY TO START WOULD BE TO TAKE IT DEPARTMENT BY DEPARTMENT.
UM, AND SO STARTING WITH FIRE AND THE UNFUNDED BUDGET PRIORITIES COULD, IS THERE A WAY THAT WE COULD GET THOSE BACK UP ON THE SCREEN JUST SO THAT EVERYBODY CAN SEE THEM? UM, WHICH DID WE DO? I THINK WE DID FIRE FIRST.
I'M GLAD WE HAVE A LITTLE TIME CUZ THIS ONE DOES TAKE SOME TIME TO SORT OF WORK OUR WAY THROUGH.
UM, SO IF WE CAN ALL TAKE A PEEK AT THE DEPARTMENT UNFUNDED BUDGET PRIORITIES.
UM, AND I THINK, DO WE NEED A MOTION FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL PIECE? IS THAT HOW WE SHOULD DO THIS? MS. JACKSON? I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE.
SO I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO END AND, AND AGAIN, EV ANYONE IS FREE TO SORT OF STOP LIKE TO, TO INTERVENE AND SAY YES TO THIS, NO TO THIS.
BUT LIKE, SO I'LL, I'LL START US AS PRESENTING EMOTION TO FUND A, TO, TO, TO RECOMMEND THAT AUSTIN FIRES UNFUNDED BUDGET PRIORITIES, BE ADOPT, BE, BE RECOMMENDED AS A WHOLE BY THE COMMISSION.
DO WE HAVE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND THAT.
DO WE HAVE ANY DISCUSSION ON THAT? NOPE.
SO WITH THAT, I WILL TAKE A VOTE FOR THE FIRE AND I'M GONNA GET MY LITTLE CHEAT SHEET OUT SO THAT I DON'T FORGET ANYBODY.
UM, PRIOR TO THE VOTE, IS THIS A NECESS, DO WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE COMMUNITY BUDGET ENDORSEMENT PRIOR TO THE ENDORSING OF THEIR, THEIR INDIVIDUAL BUDGETS? OR DOES, IS THAT HANDLED LATER? UM, WHAT I WAS PLANNING ON DOING WAS GOING THROUGH EACH OF THE DEPARTMENTS' UNFUNDED BUDGET PRIORITIES AND THEN GOING THROUGH ANY ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO MAKE, INCLUDING THE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET.
WILL, WILL THAT WORK? YES, MA'AM.
IS THERE ANY, ANYTHING ELSE BEFORE WE VOTE ON THE FIRE UNFUNDED BUDGET PRIORITIES? OH, DO WE HAVE ANOTHER SPEAKER ON THE BUDGET? YES.
I THINK THIS IS FOR THE DPS ITEM.
SO WITH THAT WE'LL TAKE A VOTE ON FIRE, UM, UNFUNDED BUDGET PRIORITIES, UM, TO RECOMMEND.
COMMISSIONER HALL MARTIN? YES.
I'M JUST TRYING TO GET ETHICS ON THE PHONE SO I'M NOT SURE IF THERE'S ANYONE IN THE BUILDING, BUT I HELPED PUT TOGETHER THE COMMUNITY BUDGET, SO I'M NOT SURE IF I SHOULD RECUSE MYSELF OR NOT.
SO CONSIDERING THIS IS MY FIRST MEETING, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND PLAY IT SAFE
[01:00:01]
OKAY.AND I DO THINK THAT EVEN WITH COMMISSIONER SMITH, NOT VOTING, WE HAVE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
UM, NEXT WE WILL TAKE UP EMS UNMET NEEDS.
SO FOR THE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET, THEY DO HAVE 14 MILLION, 14.7 MILLION FOR THE EMS WAGE INCREASE.
BUT SHOULD WE STILL ADD, IF WE WANNA ADD THAT TOO TO EMS? YEAH, WE CAN.
UM, WE, WE, WE CAN, WE CAN DO IT, WE CAN ADD IT HERE.
WE CAN DECIDE TO DO COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET AS A SEPARATE LINE ITEM.
BUT, BUT, BUT WE DID, WE DID ALSO AS A COMMISSION PASS A RECOMMENDATION FOR PAY PARITY.
SO I WAS HOPING TO ADD SOME LANGUAGE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE REFERENCE THAT.
UM, SO, BUT LET'S START WITH UNMET NEEDS.
UM, AND FOR EM, S AND AGAIN, I'LL JUST GO AHEAD AND SAY LIKE, RECOMMEND A A MOTION RECOMMENDING THAT THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION RECOMMEND ALL OF EM S'S UNMET NEEDS.
DO WE HAVE ANY DISCUSSION? AMENDMENTS, ADDITIONS? JUST ADDING, I THINK THE PAY INCREASE.
SO ADDING THE, UH, EMS PAY, PARODY PAY, LIKE THE, THE, THAT REFERENCES OUR RECOMMENDATION.
SO WHAT, WHAT WAS THE SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATION? DID I CIRCULATE THAT? DID I CIRCULATE THE PAY PARITY RECOMMENDATION TO EVERYONE? UH, LET, I THOUGHT I HAD IT.
UM, THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR BEARING WITH US.
WAS IT THE 2.1 MILLION FOR STAFF? I DUNNO, I'M, OH, UM, YEAH, IT'S TO GET, YOU CAN GO AHEAD.
CAN YOU JUST, CAN YOU PULL YOUR COMPUTER OVER JUST A LITTLE BIT SO THAT I CAN READ? SO THE, UM, IN, I BELIEVE THIS WAS IN, EARLIER THIS YEAR, I THINK IT WAS IN JULY OF LAST YEAR, OR NOVEMBER OF THIS PAST YEAR, WE PASSED A RECOMMENDATION TO, UM, TO DIRECT THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE TO PROVIDE ATCM S MEDICS WITH PAY EQUITY COMPARED TO THE OTHER SWORN PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES.
THE CITY COUNCIL SHOULD ALSO DIRECT THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE TO LOOK FOR WAYS TO COMPENSATE THEIR PENSION.
SO IT COMES CLOSER TO ALIGNING WITH THE OTHER SWORN PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES.
AND FINALLY, THAT THE CITY COUNCIL SHOULD DIRECT THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE TO PROVIDE PAY FOR PARAMEDIC SCHOOL SINCE IT'S A PROMOTION REQUIREMENT.
AND SO I THINK WE'LL JUST, JUST SORT OF RE-UP THAT RECOMMENDATION AND ADD IT INTO OUR LANGUAGE FOR THE EMS. UM, IF THAT IS OKAY.
IS, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT EMS HAD ASKED FOR? SO WE CAN DO UNMET NEEDS AND WE CAN ALSO DO THAT AS A SEPARATE LINE ITEM IF WE WOULD FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE DOING THAT.
I ALSO JUST CURIOUS AS TO WHY IT WASN'T, THEY DIDN'T INCLUDE IT IN THEIR RIGHT.
UM, AGAIN, I THINK THAT THAT IS JUST US RE-UPPING OUR RECOMMENDATION AS OPPOSED TO WHY DON'T WE, I'M GONNA SUGGEST THAT WE DO UNMET NEEDS AND THEN WE DO THIS SEPARATELY JUST FOR THE REASON THAT COMMISSIONER ORR MENTIONED.
UM, SO WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE FLOOR, AND WE'VE HAD IT SECONDED TO, UM, RECOMMEND THAT ATCM S'S UNMET NEEDS BE RECOMMENDED AS PART OF OUR BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND SO I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND JUST TAKE A VOTE ON THAT UNLESS WE HAVE ANY OTHER DISCUSSION.
SO WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT THE, WE'RE JUST TALKING ABOUT YES.
WE'RE JUST TALKING ABOUT UNMET NEEDS.
I THINK IT'S JUST IN, IN AN EFFORT TO SIMPLIFY.
SO THAT PASSES, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO FIRES.
[01:05:01]
UH, POLICE.AND IF WE CAN BRING THOSE BACK UP.
AND I'M GONNA DO THE SAME, JUST, UH, A RECOMMENDATION THAT, UM, THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION ENDORSED, UM, ALL OF THE APDS UNFUNDED PRIORITIES AS LISTED.
DO I HAVE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND THAT.
COMMISSIONER HOLMES, DID YOU HAVE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS? YES.
I SHOULD HAVE ASKED THIS EARLIER.
UM, BUT WHAT IS THE EARLY INTERVENTION SYSTEM? JUST BASICALLY, YES.
SO BASICALLY THE, UH, EARLY MARRIAGE SYSTEM IS TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT, UH, THERE'S DIFFERENT METRICS THAT WE CAN LOOK AT, UH, DEPENDING ON WHAT WE WANNA LOOK AT.
BUT THERE'S, UH, LIKE ABUSE OF SICK TIME, UH, DIFFERENT TYPES OF, UH, ABUSIVE COMING IN LATE.
I MEAN, DIFFERENT TYPES OF PARAMETRICS THAT WE COULD ACTUALLY LOOK AT TO BE ABLE TO HELP TO SEE IF A, IF AN OFFICER IS HAVING PROBLEMS, AND THEN FOR SUPERVISORS TO BE ABLE TO INTERVENE WITH THAT PERSON TO BE ABLE TO GET THEM HELP BEFORE IT BECOMES A PROBLEM LATER ON DOWN THE ROAD.
SO, SO THE METRICS ARE, ARE VARYING OF WHAT WE CAN, WHAT WE CAN LOOK AT, UM, UH, THAT, THAT WE'RE OPEN TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT.
SO I THINK WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND FOR FIRE.
DO WE HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION OR QUESTIONS? OKAY.
SO WITH THAT, WE'LL TAKE A VOTE.
AND I'LL VOTE AS WELL? UH, YES.
WELL, SO WITH THAT, WE HAVE THE THREE DEPARTMENTS, AND THEN I WAS HOPING WE COULD, UM, ADD, UH, TO OUR RECOMMENDATION, SUPPORT OF THE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT I CIRCULATED TO ALL THE COMMISSIONERS IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING.
UM, IF IT HASN'T ALREADY BEEN ADDED TO BACKUP, IT SHOULD BE MM-HMM.
UM, AND, UM, SO I'LL JUST GO AHEAD AND A MOTION TO ADOPT, UM, TO, TO RECOMMEND THAT CITY COUNCIL, UM, FOLLOW THE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET GUIDELINES.
WE HAVE, WE HAVE A SECOND FROM COMMISSIONER HALL.
MARTIN, DO WE HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION QUESTIONS? OKAY.
SO WITH THAT, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND TAKE A VOTE.
UM, AND I AS WELL WILL SUPPORT, UM, AND THEN WE CAN DECIDE WHETHER WE WANT TO GO AHEAD AND ADD TO OUR RECOMMENDATION.
UM, JUST A RE-UP OF OUR, UH, EMS PAY PARODY RECOMMENDATION FROM NOVEMBER.
WE CAN JUST SORT OF ATTACH IT AND SEND IT ON, LIKE, SORT OF REMIND EVERYONE WE'VE ALREADY PASSED THAT AS A RECOMMENDATION.
I DON'T KNOW THAT WE NECESSARILY NEED TO ADD IT.
UM, IT'S ALSO MENTIONED IN THE, IN THE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET.
SO JUST SAVES US ANOTHER ROUND OF VOTES IF YOU GUYS WANT
I GUESS, COULD I ASK A QUESTION ABOUT THAT THOUGH? YEAH.
UM, I'M JUST WONDERING ABOUT REASSERTING THAT OR WHATEVER, AT A TIME WHEN THEY'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS AND THE EFFECT AND WHERE, WHERE THEY WOULD LAND, WHERE WE WOULD LAND.
AND IF THAT IS IN CONTRADICTION TO THE CITY'S POSITION WITH YEAH.
IS THAT OKAY? JUST A SECOND CONCERN.
I, I DON'T KNOW IF I, I DOUBT ANYBODY CAN SPEAK TO THAT IF THEY'RE IN THE MIDDLE.
SO, SORRY, BUT I JUST WANTED TO MAKE NOTE OF THAT.
WELL, JUST AS I'LL, WHAT I'LL SAY THEN IS WE, WE WON'T NECESSARILY TAKE A VOTE ON WHETHER OR NOT TO INCLUDE IT IN OUR OFFICIAL BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT THE, BUT THE COMMISSION DID ALREADY PASS A RECOMMENDATION BACK IN NOVEMBER, UM, SUGGESTING PAY PARITY.
SO WITH THAT, I THINK WE HAVE A BUDGET RECOMMENDATION THAT WE CAN PIECE TOGETHER
UM, THANK YOU EVERYBODY, UM, FOR BEARING THROUGH THAT.
AND WE'RE EVEN AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
[01:10:01]
I THINK WE'RE DONE WITH, UM, BUDGET DISCUSSIONS AND WE ARE GONNA MOVE ON[5. APD/DPS Partnership Update (Ruttan, Holmes) 5:20pm-5:45pm -Austin Police Department -City Manager’s Office ]
TO ITEM FIVE, WHICH IS OUR A P D DPS PARTNERSHIP UPDATE.I DO BELIEVE WE HAVE COMMUNITY, UM, WE HAVE COMMENT, PUBLIC COMMENT.
SO IF WE COULD HAVE YOU COME ON UP.
THANK YOU BOTH FOR BEING HERE.
AND IF YOU COULD JUST INTRODUCE YOURSELF SO THAT WE HAVE IT ON THE RECORD.
UM, UH, HONORABLE, TURN YOUR MIC ON.
UH, MY NAME BILL WALLACE, AND I WANT TO SPEAK ON, UM, DPS, UH, BEING HERE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
THE FACT THAT DPS IS HERE, UM, OR IS SCHEDULED TO BE HERE, UM, TEMPORARILY ON PAUSE AT THE MOMENT, UM, IN A WAY THAT WASN'T TRANSPARENT, UH, TO THE PEOPLE OF AUSTIN, TEXAS.
UM, AND ALSO, UH, THE WAY THAT THEY WERE COMMISSIONED TO GO ABOUT DOING THEIR JOB.
AND THAT, UH, THE DIRECTORS SPECIFICALLY, UH, SAID THAT THEY WERE GOING TO, UM, HOSTILELY AND, UH, CONSTANT CONSTANTLY, UH, OBSERVE, UH, INDIVIDUALS FOR QUOTE UNQUOTE TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS.
EVERY SINGLE TRAFFIC VIOLATION THAT'S IN THE BOOK.
UM, AND THE FACT THAT THE A P D CHIEF, UM, HAS RECOMMENDED THAT THEY BE IN PRIMARILY BLACK AND BROWN COMMUNITIES, BASICALLY MEANS THAT, UH, BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE WILL BE TARGETED AT EVERY BEND AND EVERY TURN, UH, LEAVING THEIR HOMES.
WE BELIEVE THAT, UH, THIS IS NOT SAFETY.
UM, IT'S ACTUALLY, UH, A POSITION WHERE BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE FEEL UNSAFE.
AND NOT ONLY THEM, UH, WE HAVE, UH, THOSE INDIVIDUALS IN OUR COMMUNITY WHO ARE STRUGGLING FOR MENTAL HEALTH, AND AT A TIME WHERE WE'RE STRUGGLING TO FIND MENTAL HEALTH ANSWERS AND RESOURCES FOR 'EM AT A TIME WHEN, UH, WE'RE SPENDING A WHOLE LOT OF TIME WITH OUR FIREFIGHTERS AND OUR EMS AND OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT TRYING HARD TO, UH, ANSWER THE CALL OF WHAT TO DO WITH OUR UNHOUSED POPULATION.
UH, WHEN CALLS ARE BEING MADE AND THEIR LIVES ARE BEING AT RISK, WE DECIDE THAT THE BEST THING TO DO IS TO BRING IN PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT, UH, RESPECTING THE CULTURE OF AUSTIN, TEXAS, THAT WE'RE TRYING TO BE PROGRESSIVE IN DEALING WITH THE UNHOUSED WHEN WE'RE TRYING TO BE PROGRESSIVE IN DEALING WITH THOSE INDIVIDUALS SUFFERING FROM MENTAL ILLNESS, TO BRING IN SOMEONE THAT'S GONNA BE STIFF AND UNRELENTING AND TRYING TO, UH, ENFORCE EVERY RULE THAT THEY CAN FIND.
THE DIRECTOR OF THE D P S UH, TOLD US PUBLICLY THAT THEY ARE LOOKING TO SET TRAPS, BECAUSE IF PEOPLE SEE WHERE THEY'RE AT AND KNOW WHERE THEY'RE AT, THEN WE TEND TO ACT ACCORDINGLY.
THAT GOES AGAINST THE CULTURE OF AUSTIN.
THERE'S NO NEED TO SET A TRAVEL, BE PRESENT, EARN THE TRUST OF THE PEOPLE, EARN THE RESPECT OF THE PEOPLE.
THEY ARE ULTIMATELY RULED BY GREG ABBOTT, WHO HAS BEEN HOSTILE TO OUR UNHOUSED COMMUNITY FOR YEARS.
SO THERE'S NO WAY THAT WE CAN TRULY HAVE PUBLIC SAFETY IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, AS LONG AS WE HAVE A DPS UNITS THAT ARE ANSWERING TO GREG ABBOTT AND DAN PATRICK, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
UH, I'M THE POLICY DIRECTOR AT THE AUSTIN JUSTICE COALITION.
UM, SO THE, THE PROGRAM WAS HARMFUL.
UM, MOST OF THIS, THESE, THIS, THESE NUMBERS COME FROM THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE ARTICLE.
UH, WE HAVE NEARLY 300 STOPS PER DAY, UH, CONCENTRATED IN JUST THREE PARTS OF TOWN, ACCORDING TO DPS DIRECTOR MCCRAW.
UH, IN DESCRIBING THE PROGRAM, LESS THAN 7% OF THESE RESULTED IN ARREST.
AND VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE ARRESTS MADE BY DPS TROOPERS HAVE BEEN FOR MISDEMEANOR OFFENSES.
88% OF THESE ARRESTS WERE OF BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE THAT MAKE UP ROUGHLY 41% OF THE COUNTY'S POPULATION.
A LARGER SHARE, BUT STILL, MINORITY OF THESE STOPS RESULTED IN CITATIONS ACCORDING TO JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.
TWO, THE VAST MAJORITY OF THESE TRAFFIC TICKETS WERE FOR COMPLIANCE VIOLATIONS, MEANING A REGISTRATION, UH, TAG, UH, NOT MOVING VIOLATIONS.
THIS REFLECTS A PRETEXTUAL STOP OPERATION DESIGNED TO STOP PEOPLE, UM, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AS
[01:15:01]
A PRETEXT TO LOOK FOR OTHER OFFENSES.UH, THE DATA HERE ABOUT THIS MOSTLY BEING MISDEMEANORS, THE RACIAL DISPARITIES THAT ARE INVOLVED WITH IT, UM, REFLECTS THE STUDIES THAT HAVE BEEN DONE OF THESE TYPES OF OPERATIONS AROUND THE COUNTRY.
NAMELY, UH, AND THIS IS FROM A POLICING PROJECT STUDY, UH, OF A SIMILAR PROGRAM IN NASHVILLE.
THESE LOW LEVEL TRAFFIC STOPS ARE UNNECESSARY, UNFAIR, AND BIASED.
THEY ALSO CREATE UNNECESSARY OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONFRONTATION THAT CAN BE DANGEROUS FOR BOTH THE OFFICERS AND MOTORISTS.
THESE STOPS ALSO LEAD TO COMMUNITY MISTRUST OF POLICE, AND TAKE RESOURCES AWAY FROM MORE IMPORTANT PUBLIC SAFETY NEEDS.
WHILE RARELY HELPING POLICE SOLVE MAJOR CRIMES, THE PROGRAM ISN'T THE BEST WAY TO DEPLOY POLICE.
THEY'RE NOT RESPONDING DIRECTLY TO 9 1 1 CALLS.
THEY'RE NOT FOCUSED ON VIOLENCE.
THEY'RE NOT FOCUSED ON TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT WHERE THE MOST FATALITIES OCCUR, WHICH IS ON FREEWAYS.
WHEN A P D HAD 80 MORE OFFICERS, WHICH IS HOW MANY WERE DEPLOYED AS PART OF DPS, THEY WEREN'T USING THEM THIS WAY.
THEY DIDN'T DEPLOY THEM THIS WAY.
UH, SO THEIR, THEIR DEFENSE OF THIS PROGRAM NOW STRIKES ME AS VERY ODD.
THE PROGRAM ALSO JUST ISN'T A PARTNERSHIP.
THE PARTNERSHIP WAS ENTERED, ENTERED INTO UNILATERALLY BY MAYOR WATSON, DESPITE NO ENUMERATED POWERS TO DO SO, NO COUNCIL MEMBERS, EVEN IN IMPACTED DISTRICTS, NO COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACTORS, NO JPS, NO COURTS, NO JUDGES, NO PROSECUTORS, NOT EVEN THE SHERIFF WERE CONSULTING IN ADVANCE OF THIS PROGRAM.
NO COMMUNITY INPUT WAS SOUGHT.
UH, AND THE ONLY PUBLIC OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS COUNCIL THUS FAR, UH, WAS AFTER THE PROGRAM ENDED AND INCLUDED, NO POSTED WAY OF CALLING IN OR SPEAKING.
THE CITY REPEATEDLY INDICATED IT COULDN'T GET DATA FROM DPS.
THE PARTNERSHIP WAS ALSO ENDED UNILATERALLY BY THE STATE.
THEY TRULY BELIEVE THAT THIS SHOULD BE ESSENTIAL TO THE SAFETY OF AUSTIN, THAT THEY WOULDN'T CONDUCT A PARTNERSHIP IN THIS WAY.
THEREFORE, THE COMMISSION SHOULD RECOMMEND A PUBLIC PROCESS.
WELL, HONESTLY, IT SHOULD RECOMMEND THAT THE, THE DPS NOT RETURNED, UH, IN THIS WAY.
BUT AT MINIMUM, IT SHOULD RECOMMEND A PUBLIC PROCESS THAT INVOLVES ALL THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE STAKEHOLDERS, AS WELL AS PARTICULARLY, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS FROM DISTRICTS WHERE DPS PLANS TO BE DEPLOYED IN A PUBLIC PROCESS THAT WOULD DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THIS PARTNERSHIP WOULD BE RESTARTED.
AND FINALLY, I'LL JUST SAY THIS WAS TRIED IN DALLAS AND WENT ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME.
THEY MADE ABOUT 250 STOPS A DAY.
IN SEVEN WEEKS, THE COMMUNITY ROSE UP, COUNCIL MEMBERS AND ALL, AND THEY DEMANDED THEY LEAVE.
TWO WEEKS LATER, A A MAN WAS KILLED, AND A MONTH LATER THEY WERE GONE.
WE HAD ALMOST 300 STOPS A DAY, AND THREE DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS.
UH, ABOUT FOUR WEEKS IN, A BUNCH OF US ROSE UP TO SAY, YOU GOTTA GO.
TWO WEEKS LATER, THEY KILLED A MAN, AND THEN THEY'RE GONE.
KRANK ONLINE, MR. CR, JONATHAN KRAGAN ONLINE.
AND IS ANYONE ELSE GONNA BE OKAY? OKAY.
KREGAN IS WITH ME, AND IF THERE'S ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, HE, HE WILL HELP BE HELPING ME OUT ON THAT.
JUST GONNA, UH, QUICKLY GO OVER AN O OVERVIEW OF OUR, OUR PARTNERSHIP GOALS AND OBJECTIVES, AS WELL AS THE STRATEGY THAT HAS BEEN THROUGHOUT THE, UH, AND MAINLY THE FIRST TWO ARE CRASHES.
AND THEN EMERGENCY, UH, CFS IS, UH, CALLS FOR SERVICE, UM, RELATED TO AND LOOKING AT IMPORTANCE OF, OF GUNS, UH, LOOKING AT FUTURE REPORTING.
AND THEN, AND THEN WE'LL CLOSE WITH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
SO OUR, OUR GOALS AND OBJECTIVES WERE, UH, HAVE AND CONTINUE TO BE TO REDUCE, UH, TRAFFIC, UH, FATALITY INJURIES, UH, SERIOUS INJURIES AND FATALITIES, AS WELL AS, UH, REDUCE THE INCIDENCE OF VIOLENT CRIME, PARTICULARLY INVOLVING FIREARMS. AND THEN ALSO TO REDUCE OUR RESPONSE TIME, UH, TO OUR CALLS AT 9 1 1 FOR ASSISTANCE.
UM, THIS KIND OF BLOWS MY MIND A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE I THINK OF IN, IN TERMS OF POLICE DISTRICTS, AND THIS IS BROKEN UP INTO COUNCIL DISTRICTS, UH, RIGHTFULLY SO.
CAUSE THIS WILL BE PRESENTED TO KAZA COUNCIL.
UH, SO BEAR WITH ME IF I, IF I, I GO BACK AND FORTH, BUT THIS IS, IS DISTRICT WISE.
SO, UM, IF YOU COULD RUN THROUGH THE NEXT SLIDE.
UH, THIS SHOWS OUR HOTSPOTS AND WHAT WILL COME UP ON THE, UH, SCREEN IS THE COUNCIL DISTRICT OR DISTRICT FOUR.
UH, RED IS OUR HOTTEST OR OUR MOST CRIME FOR OR NOT, NOT CRIME IN THIS CASE.
UM, WE'LL GET THAT TO YOU IN A SECOND.
BUT, UH, THIS IS OUR INJURY CRASHES AND WHERE THE, THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF INJURY CRASHES ARE.
IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, IT'LL SHOW WHERE WE WERE CONCENTRATED, UM, WHEN DPS FIRST, UH, STARTED THE INITIATIVE AND FIRST CAME TO TOWN.
THAT'S IN THE RED IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT ONE.
UM, AND THESE ARE DIFFERENT COUNCIL DISTRICT D FOUR, D ONE, D THREE, AND I BELIEVE THERE'S ONE MORE AND D TWO.
UH, AND YOU CAN SEE THEY'RE ALL FOCUSED ON WHERE THE RED IS.
AND THAT'S OUR, OUR HOT HOTSPOTS.
NOW AS WE GO TO THE BLUE, THIS IS AFTER, UM, THE INITIATIVE OF GETTING
[01:20:01]
OUT OF THE HOTSPOTS AREA AND, AND, AND CONCENTRATING MORE ON DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE CITY.SO YOU'LL SEE THIS COME UP IN BLUE.
UH, DISTRICT SIX, DISTRICT THREE, AND DISTRICT FIVE.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT, UM, THIS WAS THE SECOND PART WHEN WE REDEPLOYED THEM, NOT IN JUST THE HOTSPOT AREAS, BUT OVERALL IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF TOWN THAT MAY NOT BE OF HOTSPOT ITSELF.
UH, IF WE MOVE ON TO FATALITY CRASHES, AND I THINK YOU CAN HIT, UH, GO AHEAD FOUR TIMES, PLEASE.
UM, IF WE LOOK AT, UH, THIS IS WHEN DPS FIRST GOT HERE FROM FATALITY CRASHES.
THEY CONCENTRATED IN DISTRICT FOUR AND COUNCIL MEMBER DISTRICT THREE'S AREA, UH, WHERE THE, WHERE THE RED SPOTS ARE.
AND THEN WHEN WE REDEPLOYED 'EM, THEY WERE CONCENTRATING IN NOT THE HOTSPOT AREAS, BUT DIF DIFFERENT PARTS OF AUSTIN.
UH, JUST THE DISTRICT TWO FOR FATALITY CRASHES.
AND THEN IF WE GO INTO OUR, OUR GUN, OUR P ZEROS ARE PRIORITY ZERO CALLS, CALL FOR SERVICE.
IF YOU LOOK AT, UH, INITIALLY WHEN THEY FIRST CAME, UH, AND, AND DID THE DEPLOYMENT.
THEY WERE CONCENTRATED IN DISTRICT FOUR, UH, RIGHT AROUND ON THE HOTSPOT AREAS.
AND THEN, AS THEY, WE WERE REDEPLOYED, UH, THEY CONCENTRATED IN THE NON HOTSPOT AREAS, DE UH, DISTRICT ONE AS WELL AS DISTRICT TWO.
SO IF WE, IF WE LOOK AT, THIS IS A CHART THAT'S DONE, UH, BY WEEK.
UM, AND THERE'S A, A RED VERTICAL LINE TOWARDS THE RIGHT END OF THE SCREEN.
IF YOU LOOK AT ALL THE YELLOW SPOTS, THIS IS ALL THE CRASHES THAT WERE PRIOR TO DPS, UH, HELPING US OUT WITH THIS DEPLOYMENT.
THAT'S ALL THE YELLOW, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THEY'RE HIGHER.
AND THEN THE BLACK IS THE BY WEEK, UH, AFTER THE RED LINE.
THE BLACK DOTS ARE WHEN DPS STARTED, UH, DOING THE DEPLOYMENT IN TOWN.
SO YOU CAN SEE, ACCORDING TO THIS DATA, THAT THE, THE NUMBER OF CRASHES HAVE REDUCED SINCE DPS HAS BEEN DURING THEIR DEPLOYMENT.
IF WE SWITCH OVER TO VIOLENT CRIMES, UM, IN THE, IN THE, THAT DOTTED LINE THROUGH THE MIDDLE IS THE AVERAGE NUMBER.
UH, THIS IS ALSO DONE BY WEEK.
UH, THE YELLOWS ARE PRE-DEPLOYMENT.
UH, WHEN DPS WAS HERE, UH, WHEN WE GET INTO THE TWO, UH, VERTICAL BLUE LINES, UH, THAT'S WHEN DPS, UH, STARTED DOING THEIR DEPLOYMENT.
AND, AND WE'RE IN HERE IN TOWN.
AND THAT'S REPRESENTED BY THE GREEN SLOTS OR THE GREEN DOTS, I'M SORRY, BY WEEK.
AND YOU CAN TELL THAT THE VIOLENT CRIME WENT DOWN.
AND THEN IF WE LOOK AT THE SECOND VERTICAL LINE, UH, IF YOU LOOK AT THE TWO RED, UH, SLOTS, THAT'S SO FAR BY WEEK.
AND OF COURSE THEY'VE BEEN GONE FOR, UH, TAKES TIME TO GET THIS DATA IN.
BUT YOU CAN TELL THAT THOSE RED DOTS ARE WHEN DPS WAS DEPLOYED TO THE BORDER, AND THEY'RE NO LONGER EN ENFORCING IN AUSTIN.
SO YOU CAN TELL THAT, THAT IT WENT DOWN, UH, WHEN THE VIOLENT CRIMES, WHEN THEY WERE HERE, WHEN THEY WERE ENFORCING, AND THEN, AND IT'S GONE BACK UP.
SO IF WE, IF WE PUT, UH, THOSE TWO CHARTS IN INTO WORDS, OUR IMPACTS IN THE AREAS, UH, WHERE DPS WAS, UH, DEPLOYED, IT DID REDUCE THE CALLS FOR SERVICE, IT REDUCED OUR RESPONSE TIMES, AND IT REDUCED OUR VIOLENT CRIMES.
AND THEN WHEN, AND THEN WHEN THEY WERE RE WERE REDEPLOYED IN OTHER AREAS BESIDES THE HOTSPOTS, THEY, WE DID SEE AN INCREASE IN CALLS FOR SERVICE OUR SPAWN TIMES IN, IN OUR VIOLENT, IN OUR VIOLENT, VIOLENT CRIMES ALSO.
SO, LIKE I STATED BEFORE THIS, THESE MAPS ARE, UM, AND JOHN, DR.
KRING HAS DONE A GOOD, GREAT JOB OF DOING THIS BY DISTRICT, UH, WHICH IS UNUSUAL FOR US, LIKE I SAID.
UH, BUT IT IS, UH, REDUCED DOWN INTO TRAFFIC CRASHES, UH, INJURY CRASHES AND FATALITIES, AS WELL AS, UH, 9 1 1 CALLS AND VIOLENT CRIMES VICTIMIZATION, UH, ACCORDING TO THE DISTRICT MAPS OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UH, DRON, WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU, YOU WANTED TO ADD, PLEASE? UH, NO, I'M GOOD.
JUST HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
I'M ACTUALLY GONNA TAKE THE FIRST QUESTION JUST TO GET US GOING AND IF WE CAN GO BACK TO SOME OF THIS.
UM, WHAT TIMEFRAME WAS USED TO PUT TOGETHER THESE HEAT MAPS, LIKE FROM, FROM THIS DATA? IT'S HARD TO TELL WHETHER THIS IS A HEAT MAP FROM A TWO-WEEK PERIOD, A ONE-YEAR PERIOD, A TWO-YEAR PERIOD.
SO COULD YOU SPEAK TO, NOT JUST IN THE HEAT MAPS, BUT JUST IN GENERAL, LIKE THIS, THIS SLIDE ON, UM, CRASHES.
THERE'S, THERE'S NO, THERE'S NO METRICS ON THE LEFT OR THE RIGHT AS TO WHAT THIS IS INDICATING.
SO IF YOU COULD GIVE US SOME MORE INFORMATION ABOUT, IT'S NOT REALLY CLEAR WHAT I'M LOOKING AT
SO IF YOU COULD CLARIFY, IF YOU TAKE A LOOK AT, IF YOU WANT TO PUT IT BACK UP, OR I GUESS Y'ALL CAN SEE IT, BUT I CAN DO IT FROM MEMORY.
UM, THE BACKGROUND IS DARK, AND THAT'S JUST GENERIC, RIGHT? THE COLOR RAMP GOES FROM GREEN, WHICH MEANS MORE THAN NOTHING
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THROUGH TO RED, WHICH MEANS QUITE A LOT.AND SO IF YOU GO BACK TO ANY OF THOSE HEAT MAPS, RIGHT, UH, WHAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE, FOR EXAMPLE, SO THIS IS FATAL CRASHES.
UH, THE DARK AREAS, THE DARKEST AREAS INDICATE THERE ARE NO FATAL CRASHES IN THOSE AREA, IN THOSE VICINITIES, LIGHT BLUE WOULD BE SORT OF MOVING IN THE DIRECTION ALONG THE BLUE, UH, YOU KNOW, BLUE TO RED, BASIC COLOR RED, RIGHT? SO THOSE LIGHT BLUE ONES, LIMITED CRASHES, NOT A LOT.
BY THE TIME YOU GET TO GREEN, YOU'RE SEEING MORE CRASHES.
UH, YELLOW IS GOING TO BE BEGINNING TO BE QUITE HIGH, AND RED IS VERY HIGH, RIGHT? SO IT FOLLOWS A BASIC RAINBOW, RIGHT, IF YOU WILL.
AND SO WHAT WE SEE IN IT WITH THE FATAL CRASH DATA IS, UM, WE SEE OBVIOUSLY THERE'S A SUBSTANTIAL EFFECT FOR I 35.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S JUST ABSOLUTELY KNOWN, RIGHT? SO YOU SEE SOME OF THAT, BUT NOT ALL OF THAT BEING CAUSED BY I 35.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE INITIAL DEPLOYMENT PATTERNS, UH, THERE WERE A LOT OF RESOURCES INITIALLY PUT ON I 35 FOR TRAFFIC, UM, AND WHATNOT.
AND THEN WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE SORT OF SECONDARY DEPLOYMENT, BUT THERE ARE AREAS IN HERE, IF YOU, IF YOU GET INTO THE MAPPING, UM, WHERE YOU CAN FIND, THERE ARE KEY INTERSECTIONS IN THE CITY THAT HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF, UH, INJURY COLLISIONS, MORE SO THAN FATAL COLLISIONS.
SO, UH, AND THAT GIVES US A LITTLE BIT MORE THAT WE USE TO KIND OF DIRECT, UH, DPS S'S PATROL.
SO THE INITIAL DEPLOYMENT, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF INCLUDED I 35 WITH A SUBSTANTIAL FOCUS, 180 3 MOPAC IN ADDITION TO LATER POINT, IT PICKED UP TWO 90, UM, 71 EAST.
UM, IS, THERE'S AN AREA THAT'S THE GREEN AREA THAT GETS PICKED UP LATER, AS WELL AS SOME SURFACE STREETS THAT ARE WITHIN THESE DISTRICTS.
THERE ARE CERTAIN INTERSECTIONS LIKE SOUTH CONGRESS AND SOUTH FIRST AND THE VICINITY OF TWO 90, UH, SOUTHWEST PARKWAY, WEST WILLIAM CANNON, WEST SLAUGHTER 2222, AND THE VICINITY OF 360.
SO THESE ARE AREAS THAT ARE KNOWN.
UH, WE COORDINATED WITH AUSTIN TRAFFIC, UH, IN TERMS OF LOOKING AT THE DIFFERENT LOCATIONS, UM, AND SHARING WITH DPS WHAT THE, WHAT THE AREAS FOR TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT SHOULD LOOK LIKE.
UM, AS FAR AS THE VISUALIZATION GOES, THE VISUALIZATION IS LOOKING ACTUALLY AT ONE YEAR OF ONE CALENDAR YEAR, AVEDA, UM, IF YOU LOOK AT THE VIOLENT CRIME HOTSPOTS MAPS, SO THIS IS GONNA BE THE NEXT ONE.
AND IMPORTANTLY, I I WANT TO EMPHASIZE THESE ARE CALLS FOR SERVICE.
THE DARK BLUE AREAS INDICATE AREAS IN THE CITY WHERE RESIDENTS ARE NOT CALLING FOR EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE RELATED TO FIREARMS. AND THE AREAS THAT ARE BLUE, YOU'RE SEEING A LITTLE BIT MORE THE AREAS THAT ARE, UH, THAT ARE GREEN THAN YELLOW THAN ORANGE THAN RED.
THAT'S JUST AN INCREASING NUMBER OF CALLS FROM THE COMMUNITY TO 9 1 1.
UM, LOOKING FOR ASSISTANCE FOR, FOR, UH, FIREARM ACTIVITY, RIGHT? AND SO THIS GIVES YOU A SENSE OF THAT.
AGAIN, THIS IS A YEAR DATA IT FOR VISUALIZATION PURPOSES.
I CAN TELL YOU, UM, THAT IT DOES NOT MATTER WHETHER YOU VISUALIZE ONE YEAR OF DATA, WHETHER YOU VISUALIZE FIVE YEARS OF DATA.
UM, THESE PATTERNS ARE TIME STABLE.
THERE IS ONLY THE BIGGEST DOT, THE BIG RED ONE RIGHT UP ON THE TOP.
UM, THERE'S ONLY ONE PERIOD IN AUSTIN'S HISTORY WHERE THAT RED DOT DOESN'T SHOW UP, AND THAT'S THE SIX WEEKS THAT DPS WAS WORKING IN THAT AREA.
AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S JUST THE NATURE OF IT.
NOW, WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE GREEN INDICATORS AS DPS WORKED, THAT RED DOT AREA, IT CRIME WENT DOWN, AND THAT WAS WHAT JUSTIFIED MOVING THEM TO OTHER AREAS.
SO YOU MIGHT NOTICE IF YOU LOOK BACK AT THOSE SLIDES, THOSE SECONDARY DEPLOYMENTS TENDED TO BE GREEN AREAS ON THE MAP, BECAUSE THOSE ARE HIGHER THAN DARK BLUE, RIGHT? AND SO AS WE SAW REDUCTIONS IN ONE AREA, WE MOVED OUT RESOURCES TO ANOTHER AREA.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? UM, I HAVE LOTS OF QUESTIONS, BUT I
I'D LIKE TO PULL UP THE SLIDES AGAIN AND THE YELLOW DOT MAP, PLEASE.
THIS ONE WAS REALLY INTERESTING TO ME BECAUSE THE NEXT YELLOW DOT, THE NEXT ONE,
THEN ON THIS ONE I COULD USE SOME HELP UNDERSTANDING HOW DPS IS ATTRIBUTED TO THE DROP IN THAT TINY TIMEFRAME BETWEEN THE BLUE WHEN THERE WERE OTHER TIMES, LIKE IF YOU LOOK TO THE LEFT OF CENTER, THERE WAS A MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT TIME PERIOD WHERE THERE WERE ONLY YELLOW DOTS UNDER THE LINE.
AND IT MAKES ME WONDER WHAT WAS HAPPENING THEN, AND HOW CAN WE ATTRIBUTE THIS DROP, MOMENTARY DROP TO DPS AND NOT THESE OTHER DROPS.
YEAH, AND THIS IS, UH, IN THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE PRESENTATION THAT'S EXPLAINED.
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UM, MEETING THAT'S RECORDED THAT EXPLAINS IT IN, IN DETAIL.UM, IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND, THESE ARE VISUALIZATIONS TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND, IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH CRIME, YOU FIRST HAVE TO MODEL CRIME SEASONALITY IN ALMOST EVERY JURISDICTION IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE.
CRIME GOES UP IN THE LATE SPRING INTO THE SUMMER AND CRIME PEAKS IN THE SUMMER.
IT HAS TO DO WITH, WITH, UH, A NUMBER OF BASIC SOCIAL FORCES, NOT THE LEAST OF WHICH BEING SCHOOL BEING OUT AND THERE BEING A LOT OF FREE TIME AMONG, UH, A HIGHLY VICTIMIZED GROUP.
AND SO YOU HAVE A VARIETY OF FACTORS, LONGER DAYS, MORE TIME OUTSIDE, ET CETERA.
SO CRIME IN THE WINTERTIME BOTTOMS, AND IN THE SPRING IT FLOATS AND LATE SPRING IT BEGINS TO UPTURN.
AND IF YOU ACTUALLY MODEL THE CURVES ON HERE, YOU'LL SEE IT EVERY YEAR.
AND IT DID, IT THROUGHS THREE YEARS OF DATA.
AND YOU SEE THREE CURVES THAT GO JUST LIKE THIS.
SO THE REAL QUESTION IS THE FIRST BLUE POINT ON THE LEFT, THAT'S A TRANSITIONAL WEEK THAT WAS PARTIAL DPS DEPLOYMENT, RIGHT? AND SO THE REAL QUESTION IS, WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED BASED UPON WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH CRIME? WELL, IF YOU LOOK AT THE DOTS, MAYBE THE FIRST FIVE OR SIX DOTS TO THE LEFT OF THE BLUE LINE, YOU'LL NOTICE THOSE ARE GOING UP BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS IN THE SPRING.
THAT HAPPENS EVERY SINGLE YEAR.
AND SO THE HOW YOU LOOK AT THIS, AGAIN, THIS IS FOR VISUALIZATION.
IT'S TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND, UM, I HOPE I CAN MAKE THIS CLEAR TO UNDERSTAND WHETHER THERE IS AN EFFECT FOR A DPS INTERVENTION.
WE DO NOT LOOK AT, THERE ARE TECHNICALLY SIX WEEKS WITHIN THE DPS PERIOD THAT WERE FULL.
WE DO NOT ACTUALLY LOOK AT SIX WEEKS OF DATA IN SIX WEEKS.
THERE ARE 28 DAY, UH, THERE ARE, I'M SORRY, IN, UM, SIX WEEKS.
AND EACH OF THOSE DAYS DPS WORK HALF THE DAY, BUT NOT THE OTHER HALF.
AND SO THAT TAKES US TO 84 SHIFTS, IF YOU WILL.
BUT TO UNDERSTAND THE EFFECT OF PATROL, YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THOSE 84 SHIFTS ON EACH INDIVIDUAL CITY BLOCK.
IT'S ABOUT 40,000 CITY BLOCKS IN AUSTIN.
IT'S ABOUT 3.2 MILLION TIMES IN PLACES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
AND THAT'S THE WAY THAT YOU ACTUALLY MODEL.
YOU LOOK AT THIS VERY DETAILED, GRANULAR PICTURE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING, WHAT THE PROBABILITIES OF EVENTS ARE ON EACH OF THESE 3.2 MILLION TIMES IN PLACES.
AND STATISTICALLY, YOU'RE ASKING THE QUESTION, GIVEN THE TRENDS AND WHAT SHOULD IT BE EXPECTED RELATIVE TO HISTORIC, TEMPORAL, AND SPATIAL PATTERNS, WERE THESE OBSERVED GREEN DOTS, IF YOU WILL, RIGHT? EXCEPT VERY, VERY MANY OF THEM WERE THEY MUCH LOWER THAN WOULD BE EXPECTED.
AND THAT'S WHAT THE VISUALIZATION, YOU KNOW, KIND OF BEARS OUT IF YOU COULD SEE THE, THE UPTICK THAT'S HAPPENING LEADING UP TO THE DPS INTERVENTION.
NOW, KEEP IN MIND THIS IS A, A TIME SERIES DATA ANALYSIS.
TIME SERIES DOES NOT LEND ITSELF TO FLAT LINES, RIGHT? ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS LOOK AT, SAY, THE STOCK MARKET AS AN ECONOMETRIC PROCESS.
IT GOES UP AND IT GOES DOWN AND CRIME GOES UP AND GOES DOWN.
AND VERY OFTEN CHANGES MAY NOT MEAN ANYTHING.
WHAT QUESTIONS ARE RELEVANT IS WHETHER THE CHANGE ENDURES OR HOLDS FOR A PERIOD, RIGHT? IF YOU LOOK AT SAY BETWEEN, IF YOU LOOK AT SAY, UH, 2023 AND THE PERIOD OF TIME BEFORE 2023, KEEP IN MIND YOU'RE LOOKING AT A SECTION THAT IS PRIMARILY LATE FALL INTO THE WINTER, RIGHT? AND SO, BUT LOOK AT THE MID MONTHS OF 2022.
IF YOU LOOK HALFWAY BETWEEN 2022 AND 2023, AND YOU'RE LOOKING FOR YELLOW DOTS, YOU'LL LOOK UP NEAR THE VERY TOP OF THE GRAPH, RIGHT? BECAUSE THAT'S THE SUMMER OF 2022, LATE SPRING SUMMER CRIME GOES UP.
AND SO I HOPE THAT GIVES SOME KIND OF, UH, HELP TO UNDERSTANDING WHY IT IS THAT ONE, THERE'S A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF UNDERSTANDING THAT GOES VERY FAR BEYOND THIS PARTICULAR IMAGE.
THIS IMAGE IS AN ATTEMPT TO SORT OF SIMPLIFY, UM, THE BASIC RECOGNITION THAT THE DPS PATROL DID REDUCE CRIME, IT DID REDUCE VIOLENT CRIME AND IN PARTICULAR, VIOLENT CRIME RELATED TO FIREARMS, RIGHT? UM, I HAVE SAID SEVERAL TIMES, AND I'LL SHARE WITH THE COMMISSION FROM A SCIENTIFIC STANDPOINT, THAT IS A NON FINDING THAT HAS BEEN UNDERSTOOD BY CRIMINOLOGISTS FOR AT LEAST THE LAST 30 YEARS.
IT IS SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN SUPPORTED BY MULTIPLE TRUE EXPERIMENTS AND HAS NOW BEEN METALY.
IT'S THE HIGHEST ORDER OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE.
SO THE QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT PATROL IS GOING TO REDUCE CRIME IF WE PUT PATROL IN A PLACE THAT WILL REDUCE CRIME, UM, IS LARGELY SETTLED.
AND SO WHAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAW IN ALMOST IN, IN, IN SORT OF EVERY JURISDICTION WHERE THERE WAS AN EXPERIMENTAL OR QUASI EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION, RIGHT? AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S ONLY TWO WEEKS OF DATA, BUT THE RED DATA POINTS, WHICH
[01:35:01]
IS OF COURSE AFTER DPS HAS LEFT, UM, THOSE ARE AN INDICATION OF, OF, OF WHAT WE WOULD EXPECT TO HAPPEN IS THAT THAT DETERRENT EFFECT WOULD DISAPPEAR, UM, AND THE NUMBER OF VIOLENT CRIMES WOULD LIKELY GO UP.SO WE SEE IT MOVING BACK IN THE DIRECTION OF THE LEVELS THAT WE WERE SEEING BEFORE.
I WOULD EXPECT THAT WE'LL SEE IT GET QUITE A BIT HIGHER.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? COMMISSIONER HOLMES, AT SOME POINT, I'VE GOT A COMMENT.
UM, CAN, WE'RE GONNA STICK TO QUESTIONS FOR RIGHT NOW, JUST SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE WE MAKE THE ROUNDS.
COMMISSIONER KOFF, COMMISSIONER SMITH, DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I DON'T WANNA LOSE TRACK OF YOU GUYS AS I'M LOOKING AROUND THE ROOM.
COMMISSIONER SMITH, I HAVE MORE SUBSTANTIVE QUESTIONS, BUT JUST OVERARCHINGLY, WHERE IS THIS IN OUR BACKUP? UM, I BELIEVE IT IS ITEM FIVE A P D DPS PARTNERSHIP UPDATE.
IS THAT HYPERLINKED WITH THEIR, UH, PRESENTATION? YES.
OR IT SHOULD BE IN, IT'S A, IT'S A POWERPOINT FROM A P D DPS S PARTNERSHIP.
UM, OH, MS. JACKSON WILL SEND IT TO YOU SO THAT YOU HAVE IT.
I KNOW THAT YOU HAD THE ONBOARD PRETTY QUICKLY, SO, UM, DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER SMITH? YOU DID.
OH, COMMISSIONER NUEN, GO AHEAD.
I JUST WANTED, UM, TO KIND OF ADDRESS, UH, AND I APPRECIATE THAT, UM, UH, THAT CLARIFICATION ON, UM, HOW THAT DATA LOOKS, UM, AND THE TRENDS, UH, THAT'S REALLY USEFUL.
BUT WITH THAT SAID, UM, THIS SOUNDS ALMOST LIKE A BANDAID.
IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S NOT A SOLUTION.
UM, AND AS YOU SAID, UM, IF THIS PARTNERSHIP ENDED, IT'S NOT VERY SUSTAINABLE, UM, TO ADDRESSING VIOLENT CRIME.
SO WITH, WITH THAT DATA AND THAT KNOWLEDGE IN MIND, WHAT WOULD YOUR RECOMMENDATION BE, UM, AS MORE OF A LONG-TERM SOLUTION WHILE ALSO ADDRESSING, UH, SOME OF THE CURRENT CONCERNS THAT, UM, CITIZENS TODAY HAVE TALKED ABOUT? YEAH, SO THERE ARE A VARIETY OF, UH, ISSUES RELATIVE TO IT.
OBVIOUSLY, UH, INTERVENTION, UH, USING SHARED LAW ENFORCEMENT, UM, TO ADDRESS VIOLENT CRIME IS OR IS NOT LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE.
HOW WE DEFINE LONG-TERM MAY VARY, RIGHT? HOW LONG DPS COULD MAKE AVAILABLE RESOURCES.
UM, I THINK THE BASIC NUMBERS THAT CHIEF MASON GAVE ARE SORT OF INDICATIVE, UH, DPS, UH, LOAN US 8,200 OFFICERS, UH, OR TROOPERS.
UM, AND WE'RE ACTUALLY DOWN SOMEWHERE IN THE RANGE OF 340 AS A POLICE DEPARTMENT.
AND SO, UM, THERE WAS AN, THERE, THERE WERE, UH, THERE, THERE HAVE BEEN STATEMENTS MADE, I GUESS I WOULD SAY THAT SUGGEST THAT IF A P D HAD A LARGER PATROL FORCE, THEY WOULD NOT BE DOING THESE THINGS.
UM, WE WOULD BE DOING MORE, BUT WE WOULD BE DOING SOME OF THESE THINGS.
AND SO THE THINGS THAT WE KNOW, AS A MATTER OF FACT RELATED TO STAFFING IS THAT OFFICER TIME, WHICH IS NOW SPENT ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY MOVING FROM ONE EMERGENCY CALLED FOR SERVICE TO ANOTHER, IS NO LONGER SPENT GENERALLY ENGAGING IN TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT BEYOND THAT, AND PERHAPS MORE DISCONCERTING, UH, THE BASIC COMMUNITY POLICING THAT SHOULD BE OCCURRING, RIGHT? AND SO, WHILE THE DPS INTERVENTION IS LONG-TERM UNSUSTAINABLE, BECAUSE THE CITY WILL HAVE TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM ITSELF, UM, THE REALITY, IF YOU THINK ABOUT THOSE NUMBERS, 340 VERSUS 80 SPEAKS TO THE CORE ISSUE HERE, WHICH IS THAT, UH, THE STAFFING CHALLENGE IS SOMETHING THAT WILL HAVE TO BE OVERCOME.
UM, BEYOND THAT, AS THERE ARE VARIOUS WAYS IN WHICH IT'S BEEN STUDIED, AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS, I BELIEVE, 1,812 AUTHORIZED POSITIONS BEING DOWN 340.
UH, CHIEF MASON MADE MENTION OF THE 150 POSITIONS THAT WERE CUT, WHICH AT THAT TIME WOULD'VE AUTHORIZED A STRING OF MAYBE 1,959 POSITIONS, WHICH WAS AUTHORIZED IN 2017, I THINK 20 17, 20 18 HAD A RECOGNITION DURING 2017 THAT THE POPULATION OF AUSTIN HAD GROWN SUCH THAT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES WERE, WERE GOING TO BE NEEDED, RIGHT? AND SO ADDRESSING THE STAFFING CHALLENGE IS KEY TO IT.
UM, AND SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE WORKING, YOU KNOW, AS A DEPARTMENT TO
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ADDRESS AND WORKING WITH CITY MANAGEMENT TO ADDRESS, UH, AS MANY DIFFERENT CHANNELS OF THAT WAY AS WE POSSIBLY CAN.UM, AND WE CAN TALK ABOUT THAT, YOU KNOW, IN ANOTHER MEETING, UH, FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS.
YEAH, I'D, I'D JUST LIKE TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT.
SO, UH, WHEN I WAS ON THE STREET, WE HAD, UH, TIME THAT WE WEREN'T INVOLVED GOING CALL TO CALL FOR NINE ONE ONE RIGHT NOW OFF, THAT'S, THAT'S WHEN WE SHOWED UP WITH 10 OFFICERS ON THE, SO WE HAD DISCRETIONARY TIME TO BE ABLE TO PATROL, YOU KNOW, BE OUT THERE, BE OUT THERE WITH THE KIDS, AS WELL AS DO TRAFFIC INITIATIVES, ET CETERA.
UH, SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY, UH, TO BE ABLE, OFFICERS JUST DON'T HAVE THAT.
THEY'RE SHOWING UP WITH THREE AND FOUR PEOPLE ON THE SHIFT.
UH, SO THEY'RE GOING CALL FROM CALL FROM NINE ONE ONE.
SO THAT'S WHERE DPS CAME IN AND WAS ABLE TO NOT BE SO QUAL DRIVEN, UH, OTHER THAN THE GUNS, THE P ZERO CALL WITH THE GUNS, BUT THEY'RE ABLE TO DO THE INITIATIVE THAT WE JUST AREN'T BE ABLE TO DO RIGHT NOW BECAUSE OF OUR STAFFING NUMBERS.
AND THEN THE ONLY THING I, I, I WANTED TO ADD TO MY, UH, PRESENTATION IS, I KNOW IT'S A BIG, UH, QUESTION OF WHEN WILL DPS RETURN.
UH, OF COURSE, THEY'VE BEEN GONE FOR THREE OR FOUR WEEKS NOW.
THEY HAD TO, YOU KNOW, TAKE CARE OF THE BOARD'S SITUATION.
UM, WE'RE BEING TOLD THERE'S NOT A CONCRETE NUMBER, BUT WE'RE STILL BEING TOLD AT LEAST TWO WEEKS OUT.
SO I DON'T, WE DON'T HAVE AN EXACT DATE, BUT THAT'S WHAT WE'RE BEING TOLD AS OF RIGHT NOW.
SO ACTUALLY HAVE A, A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS.
UM, I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS, UM, BUT, UM, WE'LL START WITH JUST SOME CONCRETE, SOME VERY SIMPLE CONCRETE STUFF IN TERMS OF THE VIOLENT CRIMES.
UM, DOES THAT MAP TO THE VIOLENT CRIMES REPORTS THAT WE LIKE, WHAT, WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THIS VIOLENT CRIMES SORT OF GRID? RIGHT.
SO THE INFORMATION THAT WE WERE COUNTING THAT WE SHARED WITH DPS, WE FOCUSED ON VIOLENT CRIMES INVOLVING FIREARMS, RIGHT? SO THE VIOLENT CRIMES INVOLVING FIREARMS ARE DIFFERENT THAN THE TITLE CODE COUNTS, RIGHT? SO FOR EXAMPLE, WE'LL REPORT ON, ON ASSAULT OR AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, RIGHT? UM, WE'LL REPORT ON ROBBERY.
ROBBERY HAS TWO VERSIONS OF ROBBERY.
ONE VERSION OF ROBBERY IS AGGRAVATED ROBBERY, MEANING INVOLVING A WEAPON.
ANOTHER IS ROBBERY BY ASSAULT, WHICH MEANS ROBBERY BY THREAT.
AND SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THESE NUMBERS, WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IS NOT NECESSARILY WHICH TITLE CODE CATEGORY IS IT, BUT HOW DO WE LOOK AT THESE NUMBERS AND FIND CALLS THAT INVOLVE FIREARMS. AND SO IN THE END, UM, YOU KNOW, IN THE END WE'RE WORKING TO PROVIDE, YOU KNOW, ADDITIONAL, MORE GRANULAR DATA THAT ARE FORMATTED BASED ON THE WAY THAT WE WERE INFORMING DPS, AND WE'RE GOING TO BE MAKING THAT AVAILABLE.
UM, WE'RE WORKING ON IT NOW, AND WE HAVE A, A BIT OF A TECHNICAL HOLD UP, BUT WE'RE GOING TO BE USING AUSTIN'S OPEN DATA PORTAL, UM, TO MAKE THE COUNCIL DATA SETS RELATED TO ALL OF THIS AVAILABLE SO THAT, UH, WE CAN ALL REVIEW IT IN MORE DETAIL.
AND THEN JUST SORT OF A FOLLOW, SO DPS ARRESTS THAT THEY MADE, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THEY ARE BY AND LARGE MISDEMEANORS, RIGHT? UM, OR, OR, OR IT, IT, DID THEY MAKE VIOLENT CRIME ARRESTS? IS THIS, IS LIKE, IS, ARE THESE NUMBERS ATTRIBUTED BECAUSE DP BECAUSE YOU, YOU, YOU'VE MADE REFERENCE TO D P S IMPACTING VIOLENT CRIME, AND SO DID D P S MAKE VIOLENT CRIME ARRESTS? I KNOW THAT THERE WAS ONE, AT LEAST ONE THAT I KNOW OF SHORTLY AFTER SOME, AFTER THEY STARTED OF ONE LARGE DRUG BUST THAT I'M ASSUMING THAT IN ORDER TO COORDINATE A BUST OF THAT SIZE WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS IN PROGRESS BEFORE THEIR DEPLOYMENT STARTED.
SO, UM, AND IF NOT, I SEE YOU NODDING YOUR HEAD NO.
SO IF YOU COULD JUST SORT OF EXPLAIN YEAH, YEAH.
THE FENTIN, THE BIG FENTANYL ARREST WAS OPPORTUNISTIC BASED UPON THEIR PATROL ACTIONS.
AND SO IT WAS BASED UPON, UM, SOMETHING THAT THEY SAW IN THE PROCESS OF DOING BASIC PATROL.
AND SO, UM, THERE WAS NOT A PREVIOUS ONGOING INVESTIGATION THAT LED TO THAT, ET CETERA.
AND SO, UM, BUT WHAT I CAN SAY IS THAT WHEN WE MEASURE VIOLENT CRIME FOR THIS DISCUSSION, WHAT I'M ACTUALLY MEASURING IS THOSE CRIMES THAT WE GO IN AND WE KNOW AFTER THE FACT THAT THESE INVOLVE THE FIREARM THAT THESE, UH, YOU KNOW, OR THAT THESE ARE, ARE THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED.
IN SOME CASES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TRYING TO MAKE IT CLEAR, BUT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CALLS FOR SERVICE WHERE SOMEONE MAY CALL AND SAY HE OR SHE HAS A GUN, RIGHT? THOSE ARE DIFFERENT.
AND SO, UM, WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IS ARRESTS.
NOW, DPS DID MAKE ARRESTS THAT WOULD BE BASED UPON VIOLENT CRIMES, BUT THERE'S BEEN A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT THE MISDEMEANOR ARRESTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED.
SO THERE, THERE'S A LOT OF MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT THAT.
UM, I BELIEVE THE INFORMATION THAT WAS MADE PUBLIC FROM, UH, THE COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE THAT WAS REPORTED ON IN GREAT DETAIL REFERENCED 167, UM, MISDEMEANOR ARRESTS
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THAT HAPPENED IN THE FIRST FOUR WEEKS OF THE DEPLOYMENT.NOW, I HAVE NOT REVIEWED IN DETAIL DPS INFORMATION ON THE FIRST FOUR WEEKS.
I HAVE ONLY REVIEWED THE FIRST THREE WEEKS.
IN THE FIRST THREE WEEKS, THEY HAD MADE 104 MISDEMEANOR ARRESTS THAT INVOLVE 94 ARREST WARRANTS.
IT'S IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE TO UNDERSTAND THAT UNDER THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, IT IS ILLEGAL FOR AN OFFICER TO NOT MAKE AN ARREST IF THEY KNOW THE IDENTITY OF A PERSON FOR WHICH THERE IS A STANDING ARREST WARRANT.
SO THE PERCEPTION THAT THE 167 ARRESTS WERE NEW CHARGES THAT WE D P S WENT OUT AND FOUND INDIVIDUALS AND SAID, WE'RE GOING TO ARREST YOU FOR THIS MISDEMEANOR OFFENSE, UM, IS ALMOST, YOU KNOW, IS, IS NOT AN ACCURATE PORTRAYAL GIVEN THE NUMBER OF ARREST WARRANTS THAT ARE INVOLVED RIGHT NOW.
IT IS, UM, ALSO IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND, AND WE ACTUALLY JUST GOT INFORMATION FROM THE COUNTY DA THAT I LOOKED AT TODAY.
THE COUNTY ATTORNEY THAT WE LOOKED AT TODAY, THE 167 ARRESTS THAT ARE ROUTINELY REFERENCED AND DISCUSSED INVOLVE 235 CHARGES.
SO WHAT WE HAVE ALSO SEEN IN THAT IS THAT THERE'S A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF DISCUSSION, FOR EXAMPLE, ABOUT MARIJUANA ARRESTS BECAUSE DPS, AND THEY INDICATED THIS TO COUNSEL DPS DEFERS TO THE LOCAL MAGISTRATE AS TO HOW TO PROCEED IN THAT INSTANCE.
AND SO THEY WERE FOLLOWING THE SAME BASIC PROCEDURE THAT AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT WAS FOLLOWING.
SO THE QUESTION BECAME HOW DID THEY MAKE THESE, UH, MARIJUANA BASED ARRESTS, IF IN FACT THEY WERE FOLLOWING THAT? WELL, WITH 167 INDIVIDUALS AND 235 CHARGES, YOU HAVE ABOUT 70 INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE BEING ARRESTED FOR MULTIPLE THINGS.
SO I WENT BACK AND LOOKED AT THE MARIJUANA ARRESTS AND FOUND THAT THE SINGLE LARGEST OTHER CHARGE WAS AN ILLEGAL WEAPONS CHARGE.
AND SO IT, IT, THERE IS A GREAT DEAL OF CONFUSION IN THE DISCUSSION ABOUT IT BECAUSE THE DISCUSSION HAS BEEN INCOMPLETE.
SO THE MISDEMEANOR, UM, MARIJUANA ARRESTS THAT BECAME SUCH A, A CONCERN, UM, IT IS LIKELY THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF THEM ARE WHAT OCCURRED ON AN EVENT WHERE THEY MADE A WARRANT BASED ARREST THAT THEY HAD TO MAKE, RIGHT? THE OTHER PART OF IT IS THAT WE CLEARLY HAVE, UH, MULTIPLE CASES IN HERE, UM, AMONG THAT SET OF 70 WHERE PEOPLE HAVE MORE THAN ONE CHARGE ON THE SAME ARREST WHERE THERE WAS A MARIJUANA CHARGE, RIGHT? BUT THEY WERE ARRESTED FOR AN ILLEGAL FIREARM.
UM, BEYOND THAT, THERE WERE OTHER, UH, CO ARRESTS.
THERE MAY HAVE BEEN MARIJUANA, THERE WAS A RECKLESS DRIVING, RIGHT? SO WE'VE HAD A DISCUSSION ABOUT, UH, WE'VE GOT A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT, UM, DPS BECAUSE BY POLICY DPS ENFORCES THINGS LIKE DRIVER'S LICENSE AND INSPECTION, THAT'S DPS POLICY, IT APPLIES STATEWIDE.
UH, BUT WE DO ALSO SEE THAT THEY MADE ARRESTS FOR THINGS LIKE RECKLESS DRIVING, UM, THAT ARE WHAT WE CALL HIGH RISK MOTORIST BEHAVIORS.
UM, SO, SO THOSE, THOSE PIECES OF INFORMATION, KIND OF, KIND OF, IT'S SOMETHING WE NEED TO LOOK FURTHER INTO.
WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND AN EXTREMELY GRANULAR DETAIL BECAUSE A SIMPLE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE NUMBER OF MISDEMEANOR ARRESTS NOT IGNORING THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF THEM WERE WARRANT BASED, UM, OR INVOLVED WEAPONS CHARGES OR RECKLESS DRIVING CHARGES, UM, YOU KNOW, IS, IS SORT OF A MIS PORTRAYAL OF, OF WHAT REALLY SEEMED TO HAVE HAPPENED.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? SO, SO, YES.
SO, UM, YOU JUST MADE REFERENCE TO A WHOLE LOT OF DATA THAT WE DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO.
SO I'M GONNA OFFICIALLY REQUEST THAT THAT DATA BE MADE AVAILABLE
SO IF, IF WE COULD GET THAT, AND I SEE COMMISSIONER SMITH, YEAH.
JUST TO PIGGYBACK ON THAT, I'D LIKE KEYS AS WELL TO YOUR DATA.
UM, ANY, UM, AS ASSERTATIONS OR ANY, UM, ARTICULATION OF METHODOLOGY USED MM-HMM.
UM, AND A DEFINITION SECTION, UM, I THINK WE'RE STILL KIND OF SKATING AROUND THE DEFINITION OF VIOLENT CRIME.
I'M SURE THERE'S A DEFINITION FOR THAT.
ALSO, YOUR HEAT MAPS, RIGHT? LIKE WHAT, IS IT A SPECIFIC COLOR THAT MAKES IT GREEN OR IS IT ITS RELATION TO THE YELLOW THAT MAKES IT YELLOW AND GREEN, RIGHT? LIKE THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL AND METHODOLOGY, WE NEED TO ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND THE FULL, THE, THE FULL, YOU KNOW, LANDSCAPE AS
[01:50:01]
WELL AS GIVING OUR CONSTITUENTS THE ABILITY TO CLEARLY ARTICULATE THEIR PACE BASED ON THE INFORMATION THAT YOU ALL HAVE AT YOUR POSSESSION.DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? YEAH, NO, THAT, THAT MAKES SENSE.
AND I'VE HAD THIS DISCUSSION MANY TIMES SINCE THIS BEGAN, IS THERE'S SOMETHING, UH, IN, IN, IN MY, UH, PROFESSIONAL ORIENTATION, THERE'S SOMETHING REMARKABLY DIFFERENT ABOUT A VISUALIZATION FOR A DISCUSSION VERSUS SHARING ACTUAL DATA, RIGHT? AND SO, UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, HAPPY TO DO THAT.
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT TOPIC BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN A GREAT DEAL OF DISCUSSION ABOUT THIS.
THERE IS A LEGAL ISSUE WITH WHAT CAN AND CANNOT BE SHARED THAT LEGAL ISSUE EXISTS BECAUSE I AM THE CUSTODIAN OF RECORD FOR AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT DATA, MEANING UNDER LAW, ANYTHING THAT IS NOT RESTRICTED FOR RELEASE, I CAN RELEASE.
I AM NOT THE CUSTODIAN OF RECORD FOR THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY.
IF THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY MAKES A TRAFFIC STOP, THAT IS THEIR DATA.
IT IS NOT AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT'S DATA BEYOND THAT IF THEY MAKE AN ARREST.
SO, JUST SO WE UNDERSTAND, IF THEY MAKE AN ARREST, THAT ARREST THEN GOES TO TRAVIS COUNTY JAIL, THE ARREST AFTER THE FACT BECOMES THE JAIL'S DATA, AND THEY ARE THE CUSTODIAN RECORD FOR THAT, WHICH IS WHY WE HAD TO ACTUALLY WAIT FOR, UM, SEVEN WEEKS TO GET THIS INFORMATION FROM, WELL, I GUESS SINCE THE BEGINNING, BUT A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF TIME AS COUNCIL MEMBER POOL POINTED OUT TO GET THIS INFORMATION FROM THE COUNTY ATTORNEY BECAUSE IT IS NOT OUR INFORMATION.
SO WE CAN PROVIDE SUMMARIES OF IT, WE CAN MAKE THE SAME, ANYONE CAN MAKE THE SAME REQUEST TOO, OR WE CAN ASK THE COUNTY ATTORNEY FOR PERMISSION TO GIVE OUT THEIR SOURCE DATA, WHICH I'M HAPPY TO DO IF WE, IF WE GET PERMISSION TO DO SO.
THE OTHER ELEMENT OF IT, WHICH IS IMPORTANT IN THIS, UM, EXCEEDINGLY IMPORTANT, IS THAT WE ALSO HAVE D P S OPERATIONAL INFORMATION BECAUSE UNDER CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS, THEY CAN SHARE INFORMATION WITH US ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING, BUT WE ARE NOT CUSTODIAN FOR THAT.
AND SO WE HAVE INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT PURPOSES, BUT THAT DOESN'T GIVE US THE LEGAL RIGHT TO DISSEMINATE IT, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
SO WE WE'RE TRYING TO GET AS MUCH INFORMATION OUT AS POSSIBLE AS WE NAVIGATE THE COMPLEXITY OF WHO IS LEGALLY REQUIRED TO DISSEMINATE AND WHO CANNOT.
KREGAN, I'M, I'M SORRY TO INTERRUPT.
WE ARE, WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME, SO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT IF WE HAVE ANY OTHER SORT OF LARGE QUESTIONS THAT WE NEED TO GET SURFACED ON THE RECORD BEFORE WE ADJOURN, THAT WOULD BE GREAT, DOC.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE EVEN TIME TO ANSWER THEM, BUT I WANNA GET THEM ASKED.
THE QUESTION I HAVE IS, I'VE, I'VE PERSONALLY HEARD THE ELECTED SHERIFF OF TRAVIS COUNTY AND AT LEAST ONE ELECTED CONSTABLE SAY THAT THEY WERE NOT APPROACHED ABOUT, UM, ANY KIND OF ASSISTANCE PRIOR TO DPS BEING BROUGHT INTO THE COMMUNITY.
IS THERE A BARRIER TO A P D OR THE CITY MAKING AGREEMENTS WITH OTHER ELECTED TRAVIS COUNTY OFFICIALS? I DON'T KNOW IF THEY HAVE THE NUMBERS TO DO WHAT DPS DID IN THAT TIME, BUT IS THERE, CAN WE, IS THERE A BARRIER TO CHECKING WITH THE ELECTED OFFICIALS, LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS IN THE COMMUNITY TO SEE IF THEY COULD CONTRIBUTE PRIOR TO DPS BEING BROUGHT BACK IN? AND AGAIN, I KNOW I, I WANNA HAVE A ROBUST DISCUSSION, BUT WE ARE, WE ARE, WE HAVE LIKE FIVE MINUTES LEFT AND SO I WANNA MAKE SURE WE HAVE MORE, LIKE MY, MY QUESTION IS ALONG THE SAME LINES IS WHEN FIRE, WHEN EMS HAS LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS, THERE ARE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENTS THAT ARE SORT OF ENTERED, UM, THAT CREATE PARAMETERS, UM, THAT ESTABLISH GOALS, GUIDELINES, YOU KNOW, WHERE COUNCIL GETS TO PUT THEIR INPUT.
AND I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHY THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN WITH THIS, AND WHILE WE'RE AT THIS PAUSE, WHY THAT CAN'T HAPPEN MOVING FORWARD FOR A POLICE, UM, FOR A POLICE PARTNERSHIP LIKE THIS, ESPECIALLY OF THE SCALE, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THAT, UM, THERE IS AN INDEFINITE SORT OF, UM, TIMEFRAME PLACED AROUND IT.
UM, OH, COMMISSIONER SMITH ON THAT LINE, I'D LIKE WHEN YOU, WHEN WE DO DISCUSS, UM, WHY THERE WASN'T AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT, I WANT TO BE DIRECTED SPECIFICALLY TO THE RULES OF OUR CHARTER THAT NEGATED ANYBODY'S ABILITY TO DISCUSS AND MAKE SUGGESTIONS ON THIS BEHALF BEFORE IT WAS ACTUALLY DONE, I WANT TO BE POINTED TO HI, UM, WHOMEVER DECIDED THEIR RIGHT TO DO THAT WITHOUT ANYBODY ELSE'S, UH, INTERACTION OR INTERJECTION.
AND I, I THINK THERE'S ENOUGH HERE THAT WE'LL PROBABLY HAVE A FOLLOW UP
[01:55:01]
ITEM AT SOME POINT.I MEAN, OBVI OBVIOUSLY IT SEEMS LIKE THERE'S SOME MOTION TO DO THIS AGAIN, AND WE DIDN'T EVEN GET AROUND TO, TO SPEAKING ABOUT IMPACTS ON WORKLOAD.
UM, IF THE GOAL IS TO, AND, AND THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAD ASKED, UM, AROUND, AROUND WORKLOAD AND IMPACT ON WORKLOAD, LIKE IF THIS TRULY IS SOMETHING THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE HELPING APDS WORKLOAD, UM, WE SHOULD BE SPEAKING, WE, WE SHOULD BE HEARING MORE ABOUT WHERE, WHERE THAT'S WHERE THAT RELIEF IS COMING.
WHERE, WHERE, WHERE IS A P D BEING ABLE TO STAFF UP ARE, ARE THEY BEING ABLE TO STAFF UP IN INVESTIGATIONS MORE BECAUSE NOW THEY HAVE MORE FREE TIME? LIKE, SO, SO UNDERSTANDING AROUND WORKLOAD IS SOMETHING THAT I ALSO WANT TO HAVE MORE DISCUSSIONS AROUND.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS - 5:50pm-6:00pm]
EVERYONE.I THINK WE'RE JUST GONNA HAVE A QUICK ROUNDED ROUND THE TABLE FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. UM, WE STILL HAVE A RELATIVELY LONG LIST.
I'M GOING TO RECIRCULATE THAT LIST TO SEE IF WE CAN GET SECONDS ON ITEMS. I WOULD LIKE TO GET OUT OF THE HABIT OF CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR BEING SECONDS ON ITEMS. UM, SO I'M GONNA RECIRCULATE THAT LIST AND IS, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT WE'D LIKE TO SURFACE FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? CAN WE GO AHEAD AND PUT THE PARTNERSHIP UPDATE ON THERE? YEP.
I'LL MAKE A MOTION FOR THAT THEN PARTNERSHIP UPDATE.
AND I THINK WE HAVE PLENTY OF SECONDS FOR THAT.
ANYTHING ELSE? I'D LIKE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT, UM, IF A P D HAD THE OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMUNITY POLICING, UM, WHAT WOULD THAT LOOK LIKE, UM, AND HOW WOULD THAT BE DEVELOPED? OKAY.
UM, I AM GOING TO UM, SURFACE SOMETHING FROM COMMISSIONER BEHAR BERNHARDT THAT WASN'T ABLE TO BE HERE.
UM, WE, UM, WANTED TO HEAR ABOUT OVERTIME PAY.
I KNOW THAT THERE WAS A STORY ABOUT APDS, UM, ON NOT GETTING PAID THEIR OVERTIME WITHIN THE SAME TIME PERIOD.
UM, AND SO I JUST IN GENERAL WOULD LIKE TO HEAR A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT OVERTIME PAY FOR AP D AND HOW IT'S GETTING PAID OUT.
AND ALSO JUST FOR EVERYONE ELSE TO SEE HOW THE OVERTIME PAY SYSTEMS WORK ACROSS ALL THE AGENCIES.
UM, AND IF WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE, UM, THANK YOU EVERYBODY.
THAT WAS PRODUCTIVE LONG, BUT GOOD MEETING.
WITH THAT I'LL, WE STAND ADJOURNED.
AND NOW SEARCH, WE'RE OUR BOAT FOR THAT STREET, YOUNG GROVE FROM MEXICO.
I BOWL TOWN TO TOWN IN THE STORY TO TELL ABOUT A BIT OVER ANY HEARTS WITH THE MAGIC SPILL.
USE SOME PORTIONS OF MATCHING JET, BUT I KNOW IT'S JUST.