[00:00:04]
[CALL TO ORDER]
HAVE, I CAN'T REMEMBER HOW FAR.ANITA, DO I NEED TO, CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME IF IT'S THERE? OKAY.
SO, UM, WITH THAT WE WILL START OUR REGULAR MEETING OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION.
THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR JOINING US.
UM, I'M GONNA DO A QUICK ROLL CALL.
UM, COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT PRESENT.
COMMISSIONER KOFF IS NOT HERE TODAY.
COMMISSIONER HALL MARTIN IS NOT HERE EITHER.
AND COMMISSIONER SMITH, WE DON'T HAVE HER ONLINE, IS THAT CORRECT? OKAY.
UM, I ACTUALLY JUST WANTED TO MAKE A BRIEF STATEMENT BEFORE WE GET GOING, JUST FOR THE SAKE OF TRANSPARENCY AND FOR THE COMMUNITY.
I KNOW THAT LAST MEETING, THE OFFICE OF POLICE OVERSIGHT WASN'T ABLE TO JOIN US AT THE LAST MINUTE.
UM, AN INVITATION WAS EXTENDED TO THEM TO JOIN US THIS MONTH AS WELL.
UM, THEY DECLINED THE INVITATION.
THEY ARE GOING TO BE SPEAKING AT, UM, THE COUNCIL WORK SESSION, WHICH I BELIEVE IS TOMORROW.
UM, THERE IS NO PUBLIC COMMENT AT THAT MEETING, BUT IF ANYBODY THAT'S WATCHING ONLINE OR ANY OF THE COMMISSIONERS HERE WOULD LIKE TO REACH OUT TO THEIR COUNCIL MEMBERS WITH ANY QUESTIONS THAT THEY MAY HAVE FOR THE OPO, I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO DO THAT.
UM, THEY ARE ALSO DOING A PUBLIC INPUT SESSION, I BELIEVE, UM, ON JUST OPO IN GENERAL WITH THE PUBLIC.
I BELIEVE I CIRCULATED THAT INFORMATION TO THE COMMISSIONERS, AND I'LL SEE IF THERE'S A WAY FOR US TO ADD IT TO OUR BACKUP SO THAT THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE CAN SEE THAT MEETING THAT'S HAPPENING LATER THIS MONTH.
UM, AND WE HAVE ALSO EXTENDED INVITATION TO THEM TO JOIN US IN DECEMBER, WHICH THEY'VE ACCEPTED.
UM, AND I'M HOPEFUL THAT THAT WORKS OUT.
UM, WE HAVE NOW INVITED THE OFFICE OF POLICE OVERSIGHT THREE TIMES THIS YEAR AND HAVE NOT HAD IT WORK OUT THREE TIMES.
I'M HOPING THAT THIS FOURTH TIME IN DECEMBER WILL BE THE CHARM AND THAT NOTHING WILL GET IN THE WAY OF THAT MEETING.
AND SO WITH THAT, I JUST WANTED TO MOVE ON, UM, TO OUR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
[Public Communication: General]
AND I BELIEVE WE HAVE MR. LEON.SO, CARLOS LEON, FIRST AND FOREMOST, GRA FOR LETTING ME SPEAK AGAINST ENEMIES.
THREATENING OUR PUBLIC SAFETY, BLATANTLY DISREGARDING RULE OF LAW VIA TWO TRACK INJUSTICE SYSTEM PRACTICED DAILY BY THEM AGAINST US IN PLAIN VIEW.
THOUGH THE 14TH AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA GUARANTEES EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW FOR ALL US CITIZENS, OUR ENEMIES SELECTIVELY IGNORE SUCH BEDROCK LEGAL PRINCIPLES TO ATTACK US.
NOW NOVEMBER 1, 10 23 TO 10:38 PM CAT METRO ROUTE FIVE, NORTHBOUND BUS 2 3 7 9, GUILTY, BLACK AFRICAN FIGHTING AGE MALE BUS DRIVER OPERATOR 3 0 7 9 6 0.
YET AGAIN, SPOKE AND ACTED LIKE A HOMOSEXUAL OBAMA SEX OFFENDER, ILLEGAL ALIEN TROLL WHO SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY AND PERMANENTLY FIRED, AS WELL AS DEPORTED BACK TO HIS COUNTRY OF ORIGIN ASAP.
AFTER I INITIALLY TREATED HIM RESPECTFULLY AS ALWAYS, HE REPEATEDLY DISRESPECTED ME IN RETURN.
HOW THE LAW DEMANDS ILLEGALLY REFUSING TO BOARD OR TRANSPORT ME, THOUGH HE'S A PUBLIC SERVANT PER TEXAS PENAL CODE 1.07 A 41 A EARLY THIS MORNING, AN APD OFFICER APPEARED TO BE STALKING ME, ALLEGEDLY ABUSING HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY FOR AT LEAST 10 MINUTES.
ON MAY BE BETWEEN 44TH AND 45TH.
I WAS PEACEFULLY SLEEPING OUTSIDE ON THE PROPERTY OF ROSEDALE BAPTIST CHURCH, WHERE I PERSECUTED CHRISTIAN WHISTLEBLOWER AND TARGETED INDIVIDUAL HAVE PERMISSION TO TAKE REFUGE WHEN THE CHURCH IS CLOSED.
WHILE A BLACK AND WHITE APD VEHICLE WAS PARKED DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET IN TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH'S EMPTY PARKING LOT FACING ME.
[00:05:01]
COP WILL LIKELY CLAIM TO ONLY BE STAGING THERE, DO THAT ELSEWHERE.DO NOT WATCH ME LIKE A STALKING F****T.
THEREFORE, I FILED A COMPLAINT AGAINST THAT COP WITH THE OFFICE OF POLICE OVERSIGHT.
INSTEAD OF THE THANK YOUS I NORMALLY SEND RECOGNIZING OFFICERS PUBLIC SERVICE.
BOTTOM LINE, THIS UPSIDE DOWN.
OBAMA BIDEN ANTI-REAL RESULTS IN PART FROM NOVEMBER 3RD, 2020 BEING A STOLEN RIGGED ELECTION WITH MASSIVE ELECTION FRAUD IN GEORGIA, ARIZONA, NEVADA, MICHIGAN, PENNSYLVANIA, AND WISCONSIN.
IN TRUE REALITY, PRESIDENT TRUMP WON REELECTION IN A LANDSLIDE COUNTING EACH AND EVERY LEGAL LEGITIMATE VOTE ONE TIME ONLY WITH EQUAL WAITING ONLY TRUMP 2024 TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN BY MAKING AMERICA STRAIGHT MASCULINE PATRIARCHAL AGAIN WITH US.
GOD FEARING DEPLORABLES IN CHARGE EVERYWHERE TO SCHEDULE F THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE NATIONWIDE, AND DEFEAT THE ALIEN, ELITIST, ANTI-AMERICAN ENEMY AND DESTROY THEIR WORKS ONCE AND FOR ALL.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
APPROVAL OF MINUTES.UM, MS. JACKSON EMAILED THOSE OUT THIS MORNING.
UM, COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT NOTED THAT SHE WAS NOT IN ATTENDANCE, SO WE NEED TO CORRECT THAT.
SHE'S NOTED AS AN ATTENDANCE IN THE MINUTES.
UM, AND I DID NOT SEE ANYBODY ELSE.
DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY CORRECTIONS OR NOTES FOR THE MINUTES WITH THAT? I THINK WE'LL VOTE ON ADOPTION WITH THOSE CHANGES.
SO WE HAD A MOTION FROM COMMISSIONER NEN A SECOND, AND THAT WAS A UNANIMOUS VOTE.
UM, NEXT WE HAVE, UM, STAFF BRIEFINGS.
UM, DID YOU HAVE ANY FOLLOW UP ITEMS THAT WERE POSTED? NOPE.
AND THEN WE'LL START WITH THE QUARTERLY REPORT FROM FIRE.
[3. Public Safety Quarterly Report – Austin Fire Department (Sponsors: Commissioners Ramírez and Bernhardt)]
ALRIGHT.ROB ERS, THE CHIEF OF STAFF WITH THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
UM, MUCH LIKE LAST TIME, TRYING TO CHANGE THINGS UP A LITTLE BIT, THERE'S A LOT OF DATA THAT WE PROVIDED IN PREVIOUS QUARTERLY REPORTS THAT TYPICALLY WERE JUST SLIDES THAT WE MOVE THROUGH WITHOUT DISCUSSION.
SO YOU'LL HAVE ALL OF THAT INFORMATION AS A SEPARATE, UM, HANDOUT, UH, FOR Y'ALL TO REVIEW, UH, ON THERE.
SO HERE I'M GONNA JUST FOCUS ON SOME OTHER THINGS ABOUT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT LIKE WE DID LAST TIME.
SO, UM, ONE OF THE, UH, SINCE WE SPOKE LAST AND PRESENTED TO Y'ALL, ONE OF THE MAJOR ADJUSTMENTS HERE WAS WE, UH, NOW HAVE A CONTRACT FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
THIS WAS A BIT UNIQUE IN THAT IT WAS AN ARBITRATION AWARD.
THE PREVIOUS CONTRACTS, UH, WHATEVER THE END RESULT WAS, WAS TYPICALLY VOTED ON BY THE UNION MEMBERSHIP AND, AND THE CITY COUNCIL TO RATIFY AND APPROVE IT TO MOVE FORWARD, UH, WITH THE, UM, ADDITION OF BINDING ARBITRATION.
IF, UH, AN AGREEMENT'S NOT COME TO THEN THEY GO THE, THE CITY AND THE LABOR GO BEFORE AN ARBITRATION PANEL AND PRESENT INFORMATION AT THE END OF THAT, THAT ARBITRATION PANEL PROVIDES AN AWARD.
IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN CHOOSE DIFFERENT FROM.
IT'S WHAT IS, IS, UH, GIVEN TO THE DEPARTMENT.
SO ON THIS ONE, THIS IS HOW THIS ONE PARTICULARLY PLAYS THE FIRST TIME EVER FOR US, THAT IT PLAYED OUT THAT PARTICULAR WAY.
UH, WITH THIS ARBITRATION AWARD IN THE AWARD, SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM, FROM THE, THE NEW CONTRACT ARE 4% PAY RAISES FOR THREE YEARS IN A ROW STARTING FISCAL YEAR, UH, 23, 24, AND 25.
THERE ARE, UM, SOME LUMP SUM PAYMENTS AS A PART OF THIS THAT, UH, WILL BE KIND OF EQUIVALENT TO YOU CAN'T BACK PAY PEOPLE FOR HOURS ALREADY WORKED, BUT THIS IS KIND OF THE EQUIVALENT OF IT FOR FISCAL YEAR 23.
THAT 4% WILL COME IN A, A LUMP SUM.
THERE'S ADDITIONAL 2% IN THERE.
AND THERE'S ALSO A, A LUMP SUM FOR, UH, WHAT WAS OVERTIME THAT WOULD'VE BEEN AT A HIGHER RATE, HAD THE CONTRACT GONE INTO EFFECT.
UH, UH, AND ANOTHER ONE ON, UM, THE, UH, SOME STIPENDS THAT WERE ADJUSTED WHEN WE WERE OUT OF CONTRACT.
THE, FOR AWARENESS, OUR, OUR CONTRACT TECHNICALLY EXPIRED
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OCTOBER 1ST, 2022.THERE WERE SOME EXTENSIONS ALL THE WAY THROUGH TILL JULY 1ST OF 23.
AND THEN WE WERE OUT OF CONTRACT FROM JULY 1ST OF 23 TILL SEPTEMBER 8TH.
THAT'LL COME INTO PLAY WHEN WE TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE HIRING STUFF HERE IN A LITTLE WHILE.
UM, THERE WERE SOME ADDITIONAL STIPENDS ADDED TO THE, THE CBA THROUGH THE CBA FOR THE FIREFIGHTERS.
THERE'S ALSO A CHANGE IN OUR DRUG TESTING POLICY, UH, VERY SIMILAR TO EMS, TO WHERE WE USED TO, TO TO DO RANDOM DRUG TESTING AND, AND, AND TESTING AFTER ACCIDENTS.
NOW THAT THE DRUG TESTING WILL ONLY BE FOR, UM, SUSPICION OF IMPAIRMENT.
SO BIG CHANGE THERE, WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THE POLICIES TO MAKE THAT UP TO DATE.
THE, UM, THERE'S SOME OTHER LANGUAGE IN THERE THAT BY THE LAST MONTH OF THE CONTRACT THAT THERE'S TWO ADDITIONAL KELLY SHIFTS, UH, THAT ARE ADDED TO THE FIREFIGHTERS.
UH, FOR THEM TO HAVE ADDITIONAL TIME OFF.
A KELLY SHIFT IS A WAY TO, TO BALANCE OUT THEIR TIME BY, BY WORKING EVERY SINGLE SHIFT, THEY WORK TOO MANY HOURS.
SO RIGHT NOW, EVERY 19TH SHIFT IS A, IS A SHIFT OFF, AND WE REFER TO THAT AS A KELLY SHIFT.
THIS WOULD ADD TWO MORE TO THAT PARTICULAR EQUATION, WHICH REDUCED THEIR, THEIR, THEIR AVERAGE WORK WEEK FROM 53 DOWN TO 52 HOURS ROUGHLY.
SO THAT'S ALSO IN THE CONTRACT.
UM, AND THEN FOR OUR HIRING PROCESS, AND YOU'LL SEE THIS AGAIN A LITTLE BIT LATER IN ONE OF THE SLIDES, WHEN WE STARTED THE HIRING PROCESS, WE WERE UNDER THE, THE, THE, THE PREVIOUS CONTRACT, BUT WAS RECOGNIZED THAT WE WOULD POTENTIALLY BE OUT OF CONTRACT.
AND THERE'S AN ISSUE THERE BECAUSE UNDER THE CONTRACT THERE'S A TESTING PROCESS THAT HAS A WRITTEN TEST THAT'S SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT THAN CHAPTER 1 43.
AND THEN THERE'S A STRUCTURED ORAL PROCESS WHERE THERE'S ACTUALLY A, A VERBAL PART TO THE HIRING PROCESS.
THOSE WERE ONLY, UH, DONE IF YOU'RE UNDER CONTRACT.
SO WE ACTUALLY HAD TO DELAY OUR TEST 'CAUSE WE WEREN'T GONNA BE ABLE TO, TO GO THROUGH FRUITION OF THAT WHOLE PROCESS BEFORE THE CONTRACT EXPIRED.
AND THIS TIME AROUND, WE ACTUALLY HAVE A STRAIGHT 1 43 HIRING PROCESS THAT IS GOOD FOR ONE YEAR.
AND YOU'LL SEE THAT WITH SOME NUMBERS AGAIN HERE A LITTLE BIT LATER.
BUT THE CONTRACT THAT'S IN PLACE NOW ALSO KEEPS THAT INTACT THAT THOUGH THAT HIRING PROCESS STARTED OUTSIDE OF A CONTRACT, IT'LL GO THROUGH FRUITION FOR, FOR ONE YEAR.
WE'LL BE HIRING, UH, AGAIN HERE IN THE SPRING FOR A NEW HIRING LIST.
BUT THE LIST THAT'S IN PLACE NOW WILL BE GOOD FOR ONE ONE YEAR.
UH, THE, THE CITY'S BEEN VERY GRACIOUS O OVER THE PAST, UH, SEVERAL YEARS FOR A COUPLE DIFFERENT THINGS.
ONE IS, UH, THE, THE FIVE NEW STATIONS OVER SIX YEARS, WHICH WILL BE A, A FUTURE SLIDE.
UH, ALSO GOING BACK AND DOING, UH, MUCH NEEDED REPAIRS AND RENOVATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR EXISTING FIRE STATIONS.
STATION ONE, WHICH IS AT FIFTH AND TRINITY HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE THE 1930S.
UH, AND, UH, WAS, UH, WELL CARED FOR BY THE FIREFIGHTERS THAT DO A GOOD JOB OF TAKING CARE OF THE FACILITIES AND, AND WELL CARED FOR BY THE CITY AS WELL.
BUT THE, UH, ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF IT WAS SO OLD THAT BREAKERS WERE NO LONGER COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE.
THOSE WERE FOUND, UH, GENTLY USED ONE OWNERS THROUGH EBAY WHENEVER THOSE WENT BAD.
AND SO DEFINITELY IN NEED OF A, OF A, OF A, A HUGE FACELIFT, NOT JUST, UH, UH, PAINT AND SOME REMODELING, BUT SOME SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES TO THE INTERIOR.
UH, THE PLAN THAT STARTED WITH THIS ONE TO OCCUPY THE STATION THROUGH THOSE RENOVATIONS, BUT WE RAN INTO SUCH MAJOR ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS THAT WE HAD TO, UH, WE HAD THE FIRE MARSHAL GO IN AND DO AN INSPECTION OF THINGS AND DETERMINE THAT IT WASN'T GONNA BE, UH, THE CONDITIONS WEREN'T VIABLE TO OCCUPY THE STATION WHILE THE REMODEL WAS OCCURRING, SO WE HAD TO MOVE EVERYBODY OUT.
THAT'D BE THREE FIRE APPARATUS AND ONE EMS AMBULANCE THAT HAD TO MOVE OUT.
YOU'LL SEE UP THERE, UH, COVERAGE DURING THE RENOVATION GIVES YOU SOME LOCATIONS WHERE WE MOVE THOSE APPARATUS TO INITIALLY.
UH, AND THOSE ARE OTHER FIRE STATIONS.
UH, STATION SIX IS DOWN IN THE, THE SOUTH CONGRESS OR SOCO AREA.
STATION 51 IS ROUGHLY NEAR THE Y AND OAK HILL.
AND STATION 32 IS OFF OF MOPAC, JUST ON THE NORTH SIDE OF BARTON CREEK MALL FOR GENERAL REFERENCE.
THOSE AREN'T IDEAL FOR RESPONSE DOWNTOWN.
UH, THOUGH THE UNITS WERE HOUSED OUT OF THERE.
THEY, THEY WERE DOING, UH, UH, TOURS OF DRIVING AROUND THE DOWNTOWN AREA TO BE MORE IN THEIR TERRITORY FOR RESPONSE DURING THE, THE DAYTIME HOURS.
UH, WE'VE RECENTLY GOTTEN, UH, A CONTRACT WITH THE COUNTY FOR A FACILITY THAT'S AT 11TH AND GUADALUPE.
UH, THE, IT'S A, UH, A COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE THAT THERE'S A, A VACANT SUITE IN THERE ON THE FIRST FLOOR THAT IS SUBSTANTIAL IN SIZE AND HAS THE, THE, THE AMENITIES NECESSARY TO, TO, TO CREATE
[00:15:01]
A PUBLIC SAFETY STATION.WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF MAKING THE ADJUSTMENTS FOR IT TO OPERATE AS SUCH AND ARE HOPEFUL THAT BY FRIDAY THE 11TH, SO HERE IN JUST A FEW DAYS, THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO OCCUPY THAT WITH TWO FIRE APPARATUS IN THE AMBULANCE FOR BETTER RESPONSE TO THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
SO THAT IS IN THE WORKS, THOUGH, NOT ON THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE.
THE RENOVATIONS TO STATION ONE AREN'T JUST ELECTRICAL, BUT THEY'RE TO IMPROVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS.
UH, THE, THE, THE, UM, UH, CANCER SAFETY INITIATIVES FOR GENDER NEUTRAL LOCKERS AND BATHROOMS, UH, INDIVIDUAL BEDROOMS FOR BETTER SLEEPING.
UH, AND AS IT SITS NOW THAT THAT STATION, ALL THE UNITS, THE FIRE UNITS ANYWAYS, OCCUPIED ONE LARGE OPEN SLEEPING BAY.
SO EVEN IF IT WASN'T YOUR UNIT THAT HAD TO GO, EVERYONE GOT WOKE UP WITH THE ALARM.
THIS WILL THEN, LIKE OUR OTHER STATIONS BE SET UP TO WHERE THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT ARE WOKE UP ARE THE ONES THAT NEED TO RESPOND, WHICH HELPS IMPROVE SLEEP AND, AND, AND, AND MOST CERTAINLY, UH, UH, HEALTH CONDITIONS FOR, UH, ALL OF OUR MEMBERS.
ALRIGHT, SO, UH, MORE DEFERRED MAINTENANCE.
THESE ARE FOR STATIONS 8 23 AND 25.
YOU SEE THE PHOTOS THERE, THE VARIOUS, UM, LEVELS OF, OF WORK BEING DONE.
AGAIN, UH, OLDER FIRE STATIONS IN NEED OF, OF DRAMATIC REPAIRS TO, TO DO THE SAME IMPROVEMENTS LIKE WE JUST TALKED ABOUT FOR STATION ONE.
UH, WE DO OUR BEST WHERE WE CAN TO KEEP THE UNITS IN THEIR TERRITORY.
UH, FOR ENGINE EIGHT, YOU'LL SEE THE, THE TRAILER IN THAT BOTTOM LEFT HAND PHOTO THAT IS ACTUALLY ON THAT PROPERTY SO THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO KEEP AT LEAST ONE ENGINE AND I BELIEVE AN AMBULANCE THERE FOR RESPONDING TO THE TERRITORY.
WE TRY HARD TO FIND THINGS WITHIN THE, THAT TERRITORY WHERE WE CAN OCCUPY, BUT AS, AS Y'ALL ARE WELL AWARE THAT THE SPACE IN AUSTIN IS WELL UTILIZED,
SO FINDING VACANT SPOTS OR OR PLACE THAT'S, UH, THAT WE COULD PUT A TRAILER THAT'S SUBSTANTIAL ENOUGH FOR, FOR ALL THE THINGS THAT WE WOULD NEED TO PUT THERE, UH, IS A BIT OF A CHALLENGE.
SO WHERE WE'RE NOT ABLE TO FIND THAT, WE DO PUT THEM ELSEWHERE.
SO YOU SEE ENGINE 25 IS ACTUALLY A STATION 44, ENGINE 23, THEY'RE IN A TRAILER AND THEY'RE JUST A FEW BLOCKS AWAY FROM WHERE THE, THE ACTUAL FIRE STATION IS.
SO AGAIN, DOING OUR BEST TO KEEP UNITS IN THEIR TERRITORY WHERE WE ARE ABLE.
AND AT THE END OF THIS, WHEN THOSE ARE RENOVATED, THEY'LL HAVE THE SAME ACCOUTREMENTS LIKE WE JUST TALKED ABOUT FOR, FOR STATION ONE.
UH, UH, AGAIN, UH, THE VERY APPRECIATIVE OF THE, OF THE CITY'S INVESTMENT IN, UH, THE MUCH NEEDED, UH, ADDITION OF PUBLIC SAFETY STATIONS, UH, AROUND THE CITY AND THE, THE FIVE STATIONS IN SIX YEARS.
UH, STATION NUMBER 43 WILL BE NUMBER FOUR.
UH, AND WE'LL BE, WE'RE EXCITED TO OPEN THAT ONE HERE IN JANUARY.
YOU'LL SEE THE, THE CONSTRUCTION PHOTO THERE.
IT'S, IT IS FURTHER ALONG THAN WHAT THAT PARTIC PARTICULAR PICTURE SHOWS.
AND THE TOP PICTURE THERE IS WHAT IT'LL LOOK LIKE WHEN IT'S COMPLETED.
AND, AND WE'LL BE EXCITED TO DO A, A GRAND OPENING FOR THAT PROBABLY SOMETIME IN FEBRUARY.
WE'LL BE OCCUPYING IT MID-JANUARY IS WHAT IT WE'RE ON TARGET FOR.
AND ONCE THEY MOVE IN, MAKE SURE ALL THE, THE, THE, UH, PUNCH LIST IS FIXED AND ANY OF THE, THE, THE KINKS ARE WORKED OUT.
WE'RE EXCITED TO HAVE, UH, AN OPEN HOUSE FOR THAT.
PROBABLY SOMETIME FEBRUARY SHOULD BE MY GUESS.
AND AGAIN, THE NEW STATIONS HAVE ALL THE DECREASES TALKED ABOUT AS FAR AS GENERAL NEUTRAL BATHROOMS, UM, CANCER INITIATIVES WITH WASHERS AND DRYERS, UH, AND THE WAY PLACES TO DECON BEFORE YOU GO ACTUALLY INTO THE, THE, THE, THE FACILITY ITSELF.
SO YOU'RE NOT JUST DRAGGING CONTAMINANTS THROUGH THEIR BACK TO YOUR, YOUR PARTICULAR LOCKER OR BEDROOM TO, TO CHANGE CLOTHES.
UM, THEY'RE ALSO, UM, L LEAD SILVER DESIGNATIONS, ALL THE, THE NEW STATIONS TRY TO MEET THE HIGH STANDARDS THE CITY HAS ABOUT BEING GREEN.
SO, UH, WE'RE EXCITED TO HAVE THAT ONE OPEN HERE IN ANOTHER COUPLE OF MONTHS.
SO, AUTO AID, UH, FOR A DECADE PLUS WE HAD THAT JUST WITHIN TRAVIS COUNTY.
AS I SHARED WITH YOU IN PREVIOUS QUARTERLY, UH, REPORTS THAT EXPANDED TO INCLUDE WILLIAMSON COUNTY.
THE, IF, IF YOU TRAVEL NORTH THROUGH AUSTIN, IT'S HARD TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THE LINE ENDS, WHERE YOU'RE TECHNICALLY IN AUSTIN AND NOW IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY AND WE RUN INTO IS THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT DISPATCHING CENTER UP THERE.
SO YOU COULD HAVE SOMEONE LITERALLY JUST ON ONE SIDE OF THE STREET OR OTHER WOULD MAKE, MAKE A DIFFERENCE ON WHERE THEIR NINE ONE ONE CALL WENT TO.
AND THE STATION THAT'S CLOSEST TO 'EM WOULD NOT NECESSARILY KNOW THAT THEY HAVE A PROBLEM BECAUSE IT WOULD BE BASED ON WHAT THAT DISPATCHING CENTER HAD ACCESS TO.
SO AUTO AID MADE IT TO WHERE NOW OUR DISPATCH CENTERS ARE ABLE TO SEE THOSE OTHER UNITS.
SO TRULY THE CLOSEST UNIT POSSIBLE GOES.
AND YOU SEE SOME OF THE SUCCESS STORIES THERE JUST IN THE PAST QUARTER, UH, OF FIRE UP IN THE CEDAR PARK AREA.
UH, IT JUST SO HAPPENED THAT THE AFD UNITS WERE FIRST TO ARRIVE AND
[00:20:01]
FOUND AN UNCONSCIOUS PATIENT IN THE HALLWAY.AND I'M HAPPY TO REPORT THAT PERSON IS, UH, UH, ALIVE TODAY.
UH, AND WHEN SECONDS MATTER, HAVING THIS ALONG WITH HIGHLY TRAINED FIREFIGHTERS THERE TO TO, TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, NOT JUST AUSTIN FIREFIGHTERS, ALL OF OUR REGIONAL FIREFIGHTERS, HIGHLY TRAINED, UH, MAKES SUCH A HUGE DIFFERENCE.
IT REALLY IS A, A TREMENDOUS WIN FOR ALL OF OUR COMMUNITIES.
YOU SEE A COMMENT THERE THAT WAS FOUND ONLINE AS WELL FOR ANOTHER FIRE, UH, THAT, UH, WE HAD CEDAR PARK AND ROUND ROCK RESPOND TO UP IN THE AVERY RANCH AREA.
AND AS, AS WE ALL HAVE LOVED ONES, UH, OF, OF FAMILY MEMBERS, WE'VE ALSO GOT LOVED ONES THAT ARE, THAT ARE OF THE FOUR-LEGGED TYPE.
AND HERE THE BEARDED DRAGONS WERE, WERE SAVED THROUGH THE, THE QUICK ACTIONS INVOLVED.
AND, UH, I MEAN, IT MEANS A LOT TO PEOPLE THAT, THAT THOSE ARE, UH, OUR, OUR FAMILY MEMBERS TO FOLKS.
AND TO BE ABLE TO GET THERE AND GET THE FIRE OUT AND TO, TO SAVE, UM, UH, THINGS THAT ARE VERY NEAR AND DEAR TO SOMEONE IS, IS TREMENDOUS.
SO VERY GRATEFUL FOR THAT AUTO AID, UH, PROGRAM.
IT'S WORKING WELL, UH, REGIONWIDE FOR, FOR US.
NEXT SLIDE TO GET TO THE THINGS I JUST DESCRIBED IS NOT A SIMPLE TASK.
UH, YOU'VE GOT A, A 14 PLUS DIFFERENT FIRE DEPARTMENTS THAT WERE WORKING IN UNIQUELY DIFFERENT WAYS.
SOMETIMES SIMILAR, SOMETIMES SEPARATE.
YOU HAD RADIO SYSTEMS THAT WERE PROGRAMMED ONE WAY VERSUS ANOTHER.
UH, THERE IS A GREAT NUMBER OF THINGS THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN BEHIND THE SCENES TO MAKE SURE THAT A COLLABORATIVE SMOOTH RUNNING, UH, OPERATION ON SCENE GOES WELL AND THAT EVERYONE'S WORKING OFF THE SAME SHEET OF MUSIC, IF YOU WILL.
UH, SO A LOT OF POLICIES, UH, CHANGED, UH, THROUGH COLLABORATION, UH, AND A LOT OF TRAINING INVOLVED AS WELL, WHICH IS WHAT THAT SLIDE SPEAKS TO.
AND VERY GRATEFUL FOR, UH, OUR OWN MEMBERS THAT PUT A LOT OF TIME, ENERGY, AND ALSO THE, THE PROFESSIONALS OF THOSE OTHER DEPARTMENTS WITHOUT THEM COMING TOGETHER AND LOOKING FOR SOLUTIONS THAT WE COULD ALL STAND BEHIND.
UM, IT, IT MAKES OPERATING ON SCENE IN DIFFICULT CONDITIONS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE.
SO GETTING ALL THAT STUFF DONE AND AND TRAINING TOGETHER SO THAT WE'RE WORKING SEAMLESSLY IS, IS CRITICAL.
SO A LOT OF HATS OFF TO A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT YOU'LL NEVER KNOW THE NAMES OF TO MAKE ALL OF THAT HAPPEN.
PHENOMENAL WORK TO, TO HAVE US WORK SEAMLESSLY AS A REGION.
AGAIN, UH, WE GO ON A LOT OF MEDICAL CALLS AS WELL.
WE, THE BOTTOM LINE IS THE NUMBER OF TIMES AFD USED NARCAN.
THE MIDDLE LINE IS, IS THE, WHERE YOU SAW PATIENT IMPROVEMENT WITH THE USE OF NARCAN.
AND THEN THE TOP LINE IS THE NUMBER OF TIMES NARCAN WAS USED.
SO IT MIGHT'VE BEEN ANOTHER AGENCY OR, OR, UH, UH, A PRIVATE PERSON YOU HAD THAT TO, TO USE TO HELP FOLKS OUT.
AND JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT 90 TO, TO 120 TIMES PER QUARTER, THAT IS A SIGNIFICANT RESOURCE TO THE CITY AND GRATEFUL FOR THE, THE PROGRAMS EMS HAS RUNNING THAT ARE, ARE, ARE, ARE SIGNIFICANT IN THIS AREA.
AND FOR OUR FIREFIGHTERS QUICK RESPONSE TO HELP OUT WITH THAT AS WELL MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN AN OUTCOME FOR A PATIENT.
UH, AS I'VE SHARED BEFORE, UH, KUDOS TO OUR ARSON INVESTIGATORS, UH, NATIONWIDE.
YOUR CLEARANCE RATE, WHICH MEANS ACTUALLY IDENTIFYING THE CAUSE AND THE, THE PERSON WHO CAUSED AN ARSON FIRE IS AROUND 22%.
WE'RE TYPICALLY DOUBLE OF THAT, UH, 50% THIS LAST QUARTER, 39%.
SOME OTHER CHALLENGES WITHIN OUR, OUR, OUR SERVICE AREA WITH THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CALLS ARE GOING ON TO, BUT TREMENDOUS WORK OUR ARSON INVESTIGATORS PUT IN DAY IN, DAY OUT TO, UH, DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF A, OF A, OF A FIRE AND WHERE IT IS INTENTIONALLY SET, UH, FINDING THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT TO AVOID THEM DOING IT AGAIN ELSEWHERE.
AND HERE'S AN EXAMPLE BELOW THE SECOND ALARM FIRE AT AN APARTMENT COMPLEX WHERE THERE WAS $2 MILLION WORTH OF DAMAGE DONE.
UH, OUR ARSON INVESTIGATORS HAVE, UH, DETECTION CANINES.
THEY DO PHENOMENAL WORK WHERE THEY'RE ABLE TO SNIFF OUT WHERE THERE WAS ACCELERANT USE.
SO WE CAN FIND THE, EVEN IN A, IN A SIGNIFICANTLY BURNED OUT STRUCTURE, YOU CAN FIND EVIDENCE THAT HELPS LEAD YOU TOWARDS THE, THE CAUSE.
AND IF IT'S INTENTIONALLY SET WHERE, WHERE THE, THE ACCELERANT WAS TO GET THE INFORMATION AND EVIDENCE NECESSARY TO FOLLOW THROUGH FOR, UH, UH, THE CLEARANCE RATES THAT THEY DO.
SO PHENOMENAL WORK ON, ON BEHALF OF OUR INVESTIGATORS.
OUR WILDFIRE DIVISION, UH, AS THEY WERE INITIALLY SET UP, UH, WE PUT A LOT OF TIME AND ENERGY INTO MITIGATION THAT'S TRYING TO GO CLEAR LAND TO MINIMIZE, UH, THE RISK OF WILDFIRE AS BEST AS POSSIBLE.
BUT THE LIMITATION ON THAT IS WE CAN ONLY GO ON PUBLICLY OWNED LAND,
[00:25:01]
WHICH IN AUSTIN'S ABOUT 30%.AND A GOOD PORTION OF THAT IS, IS OWNED BY AUSTIN ENERGY, AUSTIN WATER OR PARD.
AND, AND THROUGH THE YEARS, EACH OF THEM HAVE BUILT UP THEIR OWN MITIGATION PLANS, WHICH KIND OF PUT A, A SIGNIFICANT LIMIT TO WHAT OUR MITIGATION CREWS COULD DO.
SO WE'RE ACTUALLY IN THE PROCESS NOW OF RECLASSIFYING POSITIONS TO BE MORE OF A, UH, TRAINING CADRE AND INFORMATION CADRE TO GO OUT TO THE OTHER 70%, THE PRIVATELY OWNED LAND WHERE WE DON'T HAVE AUTHORITY TO DO THE MITIGATION, BUT WE CAN MOST CERTAINLY GIVE EDUCATION ENCOURAGEMENT AND DIRECTION TO THOSE PRIVATE LANDOWNERS TO HELP MAKE THEIR, THEIR PROPERTY, UH, MORE, UH, WILDFIRE RISK SAFE.
AND SO WE PUT A LOT OF ENERGY INTO THAT.
YOU'LL SEE, UH, THE, THE WILDFIRE RISK UP THERE, HOW WE'VE TOUCHED ALMOST 1700 HOMES TO A, UM, A VALUE PROTECTION OF ALMOST A LITTLE OVER $1.6 BILLION.
IF WE CAN KEEP, UH, THE, THE, THOSE GRASS FIRES FROM TURNING INTO MAJOR THINGS LIKE WE SAW A LITTLE OVER A DECADE AGO WITH THE PINNACLE FIRE AND ELSEWHERE, LIKE IN BASTROP OR EVEN THIS PAST YEAR UP IN, IN CEDAR PARK, WE CAN, WE'LL BE VERY FORTUNATE AND WE'RE DOING A LOT OF HARD WORK TO, TO DO OUR BEST TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITY SAFE IN THAT AREA AND HANDS OFF TO OUR WILDFIRE FOLKS FOR THAT NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UH, AUSTIN IS, IS THE HOME OF A GREAT NUMBER OF SPECIAL EVENTS.
WE JUST GOT THROUGH THE, THE BIG ONES WITH ACL AND F ONE, AND THAT'S NOT DONE, UH, WITHOUT THE TREMENDOUS WORK OF THE AUSTIN CENTER FOR EVENTS.
AND, AND WITHIN THAT IS OUR, OUR FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE.
SO YOUR NEW CONSTRUCTION THAT GOES UP EVERYWHERE YOU SEE A CRANE.
OUR FOLKS HAVE HANDS IN THAT TO MAKE SURE THOSE, THOSE STRUCTURES ARE DESIGNED IN A, IN A, IN A SAFE WAY.
THAT THEY HAVE ALL THE FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND THE ABILITY FOR PEOPLE TO, TO GET OUT IN AN EMERGENCY IN A, IN A, IN A, IN APPROPRIATE FASHION BASED ON CODE.
UH, I'LL USE ACL L AS AN EXAMPLE, UH, A COUPLE YEARS AGO.
SO YOU GOT A PARK AND YOU'VE GOT PEOPLE THAT LIVE NEAR THAT PARK THAT, THAT USE THAT PARK ON A REGULAR BASIS, BUT YOU CHANGE IT BY PUTTING UP FENCING ALL THE WAY AROUND IT.
SO YOU NOW MAKE IT AN ENCLOSED STRUCTURE WITH FIVE STAGES.
SO FIVE CONCERT VENUES, 40 PLUS SOME ODD RESTAURANTS, ALONG WITH A LOT OF OTHER UNIQUE ACTIVITIES, ET CETERA.
AND THE WAY THAT THAT'S ALL SET UP, AND ONCE YOU'RE INSIDE THERE, YOU CAN MOST EASILY GET DISORIENTED.
AND THERE WAS A, A, A FAMILY THAT WAS THERE, AND THEY, THEY HAPPEN, YOU'RE IN UNIFORM, SO YOU STICK OUT.
SO THEY WALK, HEY, UH, HOW DO WE GET OUTTA HERE? AND WE, WE WEREN'T BUT, BUT MAYBE A HUNDRED YARDS AWAY FROM AN EXIT, BUT YOU COULDN'T SEE IT FROM WHERE WE WERE.
THERE'S GREAT WAYFAIR INSIDE, THERE'S SIGNAGE THERE THROUGHOUT, BUT THEY WERE TURNED AROUND.
THEY LIVED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD RIGHT NEXT TO ZILKER PARK, AND THEY COME THERE ON A REGULAR BASIS, BUT BECAUSE THE ENVIRONMENT WAS SO DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT, THEY'D GOT TURNED AROUND AND LOST.
AND SO THE, THE VALUE OF WHAT OUR FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE DOES IS TO GO IN THERE TO MAKE SURE THAT EXITS ARE CLEARLY MARKED AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
SO IF THERE IS, UH, A MAJOR INCIDENT, PEOPLE CAN GET AWAY SAFELY AND THAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT RESOURCES NEARBY MEDICALLY, OR, OR FIRE WISE OR, OR, OR POLICE WISE, SO THAT WE CAN MITIGATE A SITUATION AT, AT THE EARLY STAGES SO IT DOESN'T GET TO BE SOMETHING LARGER, RIGHT? FOR, FOR LIFE SAFETY PURPOSES.
AND YOU SEE JUST A HANDFUL OF THE ITEMS THAT THEY, THAT THEY'VE DONE, UH, THIS YEAR.
SO NOT ONLY IS IT NEW CONSTRUCTION AND ALL THE, THE, THE GREAT FESTIVALS AND EVENTS THAT WE HOUSE HERE IN AUSTIN, BUT WE ALSO NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT FACILITY IS MUCH LIKE THE ONE ONE RIGHT NOW ARE PROPERLY MAINTAINED, THAT EXITS DON'T GET BLOCKED, THAT THE, THE FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS WORK, THAT THE SPRINKLERS ARE CHECKED, THAT EVERYTHING AGES OVER TIME AND, AND, AND, AND CAN MALFUNCTION IF IT'S NOT TENDED TO AN APPROPRIATE FASHION.
THE SAME WITH FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS. AND SO THE PROBLEM WE HAD IN THE PAST IS THAT YOUR APARTMENT COMPLEXES OR BUILDING MANAGERS, THOSE PEOPLE CHANGE OVER SO FREQUENTLY THAT IF ONCE YOU HAD A CONTACT OF A NAME A YEAR OR TWO DOWN THE ROAD, YOU LOSE THAT.
AND SO YOU'RE HAVING TO CONSTANTLY REBUILD CONNECTIONS TO THE VARIOUS PLACES, WHICH WAS DIFFICULT TO DO.
AND WITH THAT, YOU SEE 5%, EIGHT, 13, AND 16% WITH THE BEST EFFORT OF A GROUP OF PEOPLE.
TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE SYSTEMS WERE MAINTAINED PROPERLY WAS A FUTILE EFFORT.
BY PARTNERING WITH THIS THIRD PARTY GROUP, THE COMPLIANCE ENGINE, YOU NOW SEE US UP IN THE 80 SOME ODD PERCENTILE RANGE, ENSURING THAT ON ANY GIVEN DAY, IF THERE, IF THERE HAPPENS TO BE A, A FIRE IN, IN A STRUCTURE, THEY'RE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE THE, THE FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS WORK AND WHEN THEY DON'T, UH, SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE.
THERE WAS AN EXAMPLE A FEW YEARS BACK, THE BURGER KING UP OFF OF, UH, LAMAR, NEAR RUNDBERG BURNT TO THE GROUND.
THEY HAD A FRYER THAT WAS MALFUNCTIONING.
THE, THE, THE REPAIR PERSON WAS ON SITE.
[00:30:01]
THEY STEPPED OUTSIDE TO GET A TOOL.THE EMERGENCY PULL, UH, SWITCH FROM THE WALL PULLED OUT OF THE WALL WHEN THEY PULLED IT IN.
THE, THE EXTINGUISHER ALSO MALFUNCTIONED, WHICH RESULTED IN THE BURGER KING BURNING TO THE GROUND, UH, SEVERAL MILLION DOLLARS PEOPLE OUT OF B OUT OF WORK OUTTA JOBS FOR A PERIOD OF TIME, ET CETERA.
WITHIN A WEEK, THERE WAS ANOTHER SITUATION WHERE A PERSON WAS HOME SMOKING IN BED, UH, FELL ASLEEP, THEY HAD OXYGEN ON AS WELL, AND, AND IT BURNT THROUGH THE TUBE AND IT CAUGHT THE, THE BED ON FIRE SPRINKLER SYSTEM PUT IT OUT LESS THAN $5,000 AND LESS THAN A WEEK LATER YOU'D NEVER KNOWN THERE WAS A FIRE THERE.
SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THESE SYSTEMS WORKING PROPERLY, I GIVE YOU TWO EXAMPLES THAT BOOKEND EACH OTHER AND THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE THAT MAKES AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO MAKE SURE THESE ARE OPERATING PROPERLY AND HOW VALUABLE THIS IS TO THE, TO OUR COMMUNITY.
SO THE FIRST LINE OF PROTECTION FOR ANY OF US IS A WORKING SMOKE ALARM.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE 1 5 1 2 9 7 4 0 2 9 9, WE'LL COME OUT AND INSTALL 'EM FOR YOU.
AT NO CHARGE, IT MEANS THAT MUCH, RIGHT? WE DON'T WANT ANYONE TO BE CAUGHT INTO A FIRE.
UH, AND WHEN THERE IS A FIRE, OUR FIRST EFFORTS FROM OUR AMAZING FIREFIGHTERS TO GO IN THERE AND GET PEOPLE OUT, LIFE SAFETY IS THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR US TO DO.
IF EVERYONE'S OUT, THEN WE CAN NOW PUT ALL OF OUR EFFORTS TO EXTINGUISHING THE FIRE AND SAVING, UH, PERSONAL PROPERTY, RIGHT? MINIMIZING THE DAMAGE.
AND THERE'S CERTAIN THINGS THAT, THAT YOU JUST SIMPLY CAN'T REPLACE THOSE PERSONAL MEMENTOS AND, AND, AND, AND THINGS THAT, THAT ARE ONE OF A KIND THAT EACH OF US HAVE IN OUR HOME.
WE CAN PUT MORE EFFORT TO, TO SAVING THOSE AND GETTING THAT FIRE OUT ONCE WE KNOW EVERYONE'S TAKING CARE OF FIRST.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE, THE, THE NUMBER OF INSTALLS THAT WE'VE DONE THROUGH QUARTERS, UH, FIRE SAFETY TRAINING.
IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER OR YOU'RE NOT SURE ABOUT HOME SAFETY TECHNIQUES AND HOW TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE'S OUT AND TO HAVE A, A MEETING PLACE OUT FRONT, WE'RE HAPPY TO DO THAT.
THAT SAME PHONE NUMBER, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO SET THAT UP AND, AND, AND COME HELP YOU OUT.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE DIFFERENT ITERATIONS WE'VE DONE OF THAT.
AGAIN, TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE ARE SAFE THROUGH, THROUGH, UH, SOME SORT OF A FIRE EMERGENCY.
AND THEN LASTLY, OUR RED ANGELS PROGRAM.
UH, THE, UH, TRYING TO BE PROACTIVE AT REACHING OUT TO PEOPLE AND CHECKING ON THEIR, THEIR, THEIR PERSONAL HEALTH, RIGHT? AND INSTEAD OF IT GETTING SO BAD THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE IN A SITUATION THAT THEY GOTTA CALL 9 1 1.
IF WE CAN INTERACT AND IDENTIFY HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE OR DIABETES OR, OR, OR, OR WHATEVER ON THE FRONT SIDE, WE CAN CONNECT THEM TO PROPER RESOURCES AND AVOID THEM EVER HAVING TO CALL 9 1 1 TO BEGIN WITH.
SO, UH, THAT'S A PARTNERSHIP WITH AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND THE NURSING PROGRAM.
AND WE GO OUT THERE AND, AND, AND DO WELLNESS, UH, UH, VISITS FOR FOLKS JUST TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND WHAT, WHAT THEIR HEALTH CONDITION IS AND WHAT RESOURCES THEY MIGHT NEED AND CONNECT THEM TO THOSE PARTICULAR RESOURCES.
ALRIGHT, SO, UH, AS WE'VE SHARED IN THE PAST, THE, THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE THAT WORK FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WORK, UH, A FULL HEALTHY CAREER INTO THE 20 SOME ODD YEARS BEFORE THEY RETIRE.
WE DID HAVE A FEW YEARS AGO, AND I SHARED THIS WITH THIS GROUP, UH, UH, IN A, A COUPLE MONTHS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR WHERE THERE WERE A, A, A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE THAT LEFT WITH FIVE, LESS THAN 10 YEARS IN THE DEPARTMENT.
AND, UH, AT LEAST AS OF NOW, WHAT WE'VE LEARNED SO FAR IN, IN, IN THOSE EXIT INTERVIEWS OR CONNECTIONS WITH PEOPLE'S PEOPLE WERE LEAVING FOR, UH, AT ONE POINT REAL ESTATE, UH, OR, AND IT JOBS, UH, BECAUSE OF THE, THE BOOM THAT EXISTED A FEW YEARS BACK, UH, WE'VE HAD FOLKS LEAVE FOR FAMILY REASONS, UH, BACK TO HAVING TO MOVE BACK TO ANOTHER STATE, ET CETERA.
BUT BY AND LARGE, MOST OF OUR FOLKS, AS YOU SEE THERE, STICK AROUND FOR, UH, A HEALTHY CAREER OF 20 PLUS YEARS.
UH, SO A PART OF OUR, OUR CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS EARLIER WAS A FREEZE ON HIRING CIVILIANS.
'CAUSE ONE OF OUR ARTICLES IN THE CBA DEALS WITH, WITH VARIANCES OUTSIDE OF, UH, 1 43 AS FAR AS WHERE SOME OF OUR CIVILIANS ARE, ARE ABLE TO WORK.
SO WE HAD A, NOT ONLY WITH THE GREAT RESIGNATION AND PEOPLE MOVING, UH, AND LOOKING FOR JOBS ELSEWHERE, WE ALSO HAD TO, TO WAIT FOR THE, THE CBA TO BE IN PLACE BEFORE WE WERE CERTAIN WHETHER WE COULD FILL A JOB WITH, WITH ANOTHER CIVILIAN OR NOT.
SO WE HAD A DELAY ON THAT, BUT WE PUT A LOT OF EFFORT INTO ADVERTISING AND SEEKING OUT, UH, FOLKS TO GET A, A, A GOOD, UH, QUALITY GROUP OF CANDIDATES TO, TO FILL THE ROLES TO HELP SUPPORT, UH, UH, OUR FIREFIGHTERS AND, UH, OUR FIRE DEPARTMENT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE DOING THE BEST SERVICE WHERE WE CAN TO THE COMMUNITY.
SO, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, I SAID WE TALKED ABOUT THIS CADET HIRING THING AS IT STARTED, UH, AT ONE POINT UNDER A CONTRACT, THEN OUT OF CONTRACT, NOW WE'RE BACK IN CONTRACT AGAIN.
SO THE, THIS HIRING PROCESS IS DONE
[00:35:01]
SOLELY UNDER 1 43 THIS TIME.UH, SO IT WAS JUST A WRITTEN TEST.
THERE WAS NO STRUCTURED ORAL FOR, IT WAS A HUNDRED QUESTION, UH, EXAM.
SO A BIT DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE NORMALLY DO UNDER A A, A CONTRACT PROCESS.
AND THIS CONTRACT WE HAVE IN PLACE NOW PROTECTED THIS THROUGH THAT ONE YEAR DEAL.
UH, WE DID HAVE TO DELAY WHEN THE WRITTEN TEST WAS DONE.
SO IT DID AFFECT THE NUMBER OF APPLICANTS THAT SHOWED UP.
AND THIS WAS ONE OF THE SMALLEST GROUPS WE'VE EVER SEEN, UH, AT LEAST IN MY 28 YEARS IN THE DEPARTMENT, WITH ONLY 644 PEOPLE SHOWING UP FOR THE WRITTEN EXAM.
THE, THE SAVING GRACE HERE IS IT'S JUST A ONE YEAR LIST AND WE'RE LOOKING AT ONE, MAYBE TWO CLASSES BASED ON OUR VACANCIES, UH, OF 48 PEOPLE PER PER CLASS.
SO WE'RE TRACKING TO BE ABLE TO FILL THOSE WITHOUT ISSUE.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION THERE BELOW.
UM, WE ARE GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS NOW WITH RECRUITERS.
THEY, THEY WORK YEAR ROUND AND WE'LL HAVE ANOTHER HIRING PROCESS HERE IN THE SPRING.
UH, THAT WILL BE A TWO YEAR LIST UNDER THE, THE, THE CONTRACT AND HAVE THE, THE, THE WRITTEN TEST BY CONTRACT AND THE STRUCTURAL ORAL PROCESS LIKE WE NORMALLY HAVE.
TO, AGAIN, THE RECRUITERS WORKING, UH, VIGOROUSLY TO, TO KEEP US GOING WITH, UH, MAKING SURE WE GOT PLENTY OF, UH, APPLICANTS THAT ARE, THAT ARE LOOKING AT AND CONSIDERING THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
UH, PASS THE TORCH IS A RECRUITING TOOL FOR US.
THEY, THEY HAVE TO APPLY TO BE A PART OF IT AND THEY GO FOR A NUMBER OF WEEKENDS, UH, TO THE, OUR FIRE TRAINING ACADEMY.
AND THEY KIND OF GET TO, TO SEE BEHIND THE CURTAIN A LITTLE BIT.
THEY PUT THE TURNOUTS ON, THEY GET TO, TO WORK THE, THE FIRE HOSE.
THEY PUT FIRES OUT IN A SAFE FASHION 'CAUSE THEY'RE NOT YET QUALIFIED FOR, FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AND THIS DOES NOT QUALIFY 'EM AS A FIREFIGHTER WHEN THEY'RE DONE.
BUT AS FAR AS PUTTING HANDS ON AND SEEING WHAT, WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A FIREFIGHTER, THIS TRULY GIVES THEM A VERY CLEAR SNAPSHOT OF, OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
UH, YOU CAN SEE CURRENTLY THAT, UH, 13 PEOPLE FROM A PREVIOUS PAST THE TORCH ARE STILL IN OUR HIRING PROCESS.
NOW, THE CLASS SIZE CAN ONLY BE ABOUT 30 OR 35 PEOPLE TO, TO RUN IT EFFECTIVELY.
UM, BUT IT IS A GOOD RECRUITING TOOL FOR US.
AND THEN FIRE EXPLORERS IS KINDA LIKE THE SCOUTS.
IT, IT'S MEANT FOR A YOUNGER AUDIENCE AND IT'S, IT'S AGAIN, LOOKING TO SEE IF THERE'S, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUNGER AND THEY'RE NOT SURE WHAT THEY WANT TO DO AS THEY GET THROUGH, UH, HIGH SCHOOL AND MAYBE THEY WANT TO CONSIDER A A JOB VERSUS COLLEGE.
THIS IS DEFINITELY AN OPPORTUNITY TO TO, TO HELP THEM WITH THAT.
AND WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF REVAMPING THAT EXPLORER PROGRAM.
AND AGAIN, WE ARE ALWAYS RECRUITING.
IF YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN JOINING THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, JOIN A AFD.COM IS THE WEBSITE TO GO TO GET 'EM LOTS OF INFORMATION.
THEY CAN SUBMIT THEIR PERSONAL INFORMATION IN THERE TO BE CONTACTED BY US TO GET, UH, A LOT MORE DETAILS, ET CETERA.
AND, UH, WITH THAT, IF YOU KNOW, PLEASE SHARE WITH OTHER FOLKS.
OTHER THAN THAT, THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION.
ANY QUESTIONS? YEAH, DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS.
SO FIRST I'M GONNA APOLOGIZE, UH, FOR MISSING THE LAST MEETING BECAUSE A LOT OF MY QUESTIONS HAVE TO DO WITH WILDFIRE MITIGATION.
UM, SO I WILL TOTALLY GET IT IF THIS ALL JUST NEEDS TO BE DEFERRED TO A RESPONSE AFTER THIS MEETING.
ACTUALLY, SINCE WE ARE SHORT ON TIME, IF WE CAN SKIP THE WILDFIRE, WELL GO AHEAD AND ASK, GO AHEAD AND ASK THEM.
YEAH, SO THE ONES I WANT TO PUT ON THE RECORD, UM, ARE, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN Y'ALL GIVE US THE NUMBER OF HOMES, UM, LOOK, FIRST OF ALL, HOW MANY HOMES TOTAL IN THE AUSTIN AREA ARE HIGH RISK FOR WILDFIRES? JUST KNOWING WHEN YOU, WHEN Y'ALL PROVIDE STATISTICS AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE, LIKE THE TOTAL IS, IT'S REALLY HARD TO KNOW WHAT IT MEANS.
UM, SIMILARLY, AND I CAN SEND THESE IN AN EMAIL AFTERWARDS IF YOU WOULD.
UM, HOW MUCH, UH, I, I READ THAT THERE WAS 150 ACRES OF PRESCRIBED FIRES.
UM, HOW MANY OF THOSE 150 ACRES WERE ACTUALLY HIGH RISK ACRES? UM, I DON'T KNOW WHAT CWPP STANDS FOR.
MAYBE YOU COULD COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN.
I HAVE TROUBLE WITH ACRONYMS. UM, AND THEN, UM, HOW DOES THE RED ANGELS GET REFERRALS, UM, TO PEOPLE IN NEED? OKAY.
THAT, THAT, THAT'D BE A, A PHONE CALL TO US.
UH, OFTENTIMES IT'S, IT'S CANVASSING A NEIGHBORHOOD AND WE LET THEM KNOW ON THE FRONT SIDE THAT WE'RE GOING, BUT, UH, I BELIEVE THAT THEY CAN HANDLE REFERRALS AS WELL.
BUT I'LL HAVE TO GET BACK TO YOU ON HOW THAT REFERRAL PART WOULD WORK.
YEAH, I WOULD JUST SUGGEST MAYBE REACHING OUT TO COMMUNITY PARTNERS LIKE MEALS ON WHEELS, UH, TO KIND OF MORE EASILY IDENTIFY FOLKS WHO NEED HELP.
AND, AND JUST AS A, JUST CLARIFICATION, IF YOU, YOU ARE GONNA SEND THOSE TO ME SO I CAN BE RESPONSIVE BACK TO YOU? WILL DO.
[00:40:02]
DO WE HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS? JUST ONE THING.UH, ALWAYS LOVE THOSE REPORTS.
UM, SO FOR STATION 53 MM-HMM,
UM, AND, AND ONE OF THE CHALLENGES YOU PROBABLY KNOW THAT WE HAVE THERE IS FLASH FLOODING, RIGHT? MM-HMM,
UM, SO, UH, IS THERE, UH, ANY SORT OF SPECIAL TRAINING DEPENDING ON THE AREAS THAT THEY'RE IN, UM, FOR LIKE A HIGH WATER VEHICLE, UH, SINCE THAT'S A HIGHLY PRONE AREA OR, UM, ARE THOSE LOCATED LIKE YOUR SPECIAL OPS LOCATED IN DIFFERENT AREAS? IS THAT A PLAN? SO WE DO HAVE SPECIAL OPERATIONS BATTALION, UH, AND THEY'RE LOCATED AROUND THE, THE, THE CITY.
UM, TYPICALLY FOR A WEATHER RELATED EVENT, THERE'S USUALLY PRECURSORS BEFORE THAT.
AND WE GET THE, THE, THE RIGHT TRAINED RESOURCES STAGED IN AREAS TO BE MORE RESPONSIVE TO SITUATIONS LIKE THAT.
I KNOW THE CITY WENT THROUGH AFTER SEVERAL FLOODS IN, UH, ALONG THE ONION CREEK AREA, A PROCESS OF DEPOPULATING, THE AREA THAT'S PRONE TO FLOOD, UH, SIGNIFICANTLY.
SO THERE'S BEEN SOME PROACTIVE PREVENTION SORT OF DEALS DONE TO TO, TO MINIMIZE THE RISK.
UM, OUR FOLKS, UH, ARE, ARE GIVEN A DECENT AMOUNT OF TRAINING.
THE, THE, THE SPEC OPS FOLKS EVEN MORE SO.
AND THEY, THEY'LL HAVE THE EQUIPMENT, LIKE THE BOATS AND STUFF LIKE THAT TO, TO HELP WITH THE, THE EVACUATION, UH, PART THAT WOULD BE NECESSARY IF THERE WAS FLOODING.
UM, WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO ITEM FOUR,
[4. Discussion of Austin Fire Department Austin Police Department and Austin-Travis County EMS language access policies (Nguyễn, Holmes)]
WHICH IS A DISCUSSION OF, UM, OH YEAH, IT, IT'S A DISCUSSION OF OUR LANGUAGE ACCESS POLICIES ACROSS ALL OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES.AND, UH, JUST SO YOU KNOW, THE THREE DEPARTMENTS HAVE ALMOST AN IDENTICAL PRESENTATION.
SO THE FIRST PROBABLY 90% OF THIS SLIDESHOW IS GONNA BE APPLICABLE TO ALL THREE DEPARTMENTS WHERE I START DEVIATING, I'LL LET YOU KNOW, AND THEN THEY'LL PICK UP AND EXPLAIN THAT LAST PART AND THEN WE WON'T BE AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS.
SO WE KIND OF BROKE THIS DOWN FROM THE ONSET OF THE NINE ONE ONE PHONE CALL THROUGH THE SCENE RESPONSE, THROUGH THE FOLLOW-UP INVESTIGATION THAT MIGHT ENSUE AFTER THAT.
UM, APPROXIMATELY 10% OF OUR CALL TAKERS ARE CERTIFIED SPANISH SPEAKERS.
SO IF A NINE ONE ONE PHONE CALL COMES IN AND WE'RE ABLE TO FIND SOMEBODY WHO'S ACTUALLY IN THE BUILDING AND AVAILABLE, WE'RE GONNA GRAB THAT PERSON FIRST.
JUST PUT THEM ON THE HEADSET, THEY CAN TRANSFER THAT PERSON IN, REGARDLESS IF IT'S POLICE, FIRE, EMS OR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, WE CAN GO AHEAD AND HANDLE IT IN-HOUSE.
IF, UH, ONE OF THOSE, UM, CALL TAKERS WHO'S CERTIFIED TO SPEAK SPANISH ARE NOT AVAILABLE, THEN THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO TRANSFER IN THE LANGUAGE LINE.
AND WHEN WE TRANSFER IN THE LANGUAGE LINE, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT LANGUAGE THEY SPEAK, WE CAN GO AHEAD AND FACILITATE THAT COMMUNICATION, GET THE INFORMATION, UH, TO, UH, REGARDLESS OF WHAT DEPARTMENT'S GONNA BE RESPONDING SO THAT THEY HAVE THAT NEXT SLIDE.
WHEN, UH, WE DO THE LANGUAGE LINE, UH, SOMETIMES WE MAY ACTUALLY HAVE A CALL DIRECTLY FROM A RELAY SERVICE.
SO IF SOMEBODY IS, UH, DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING, EVERY SINGLE WORKSTATION AT 9 1 1 IS GONNA HAVE THAT CAPABILITY.
SO WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT TRANSFERRING IN LANGUAGE LINE OR FINDING SOMEBODY WHO'S CERTIFIED TO SPEAK.
WE CAN GO AHEAD AND HANDLE THAT IMMEDIATELY.
ONCE THE DISPATCHER GETS THE CALL, IF IT'S URGENT IN NATURE, WE'RE GONNA PUT THE CLOSEST PERSON IN ROUTE.
IT DOESN'T MATTER IF IT'S POLICE, FIRE EMS, UH, WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT WE GET AN ASSET, UH, TO THE SCENE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
WE MAKE SURE THAT WE RESPON, WE INFORM THE RESPONDING FIRST RESPONDER, UM, THAT, UM, A TRANSLATION IS GOING TO BE NEEDED SO THAT THEY CAN BE PREPARING FOR THAT.
IT'S GONNA BE ENTERED INTO THE CALL TEXT AS WELL.
AND THE DISPATCHER CAN GO AHEAD AND START ASSIGNING RESOURCES OR SOUNDING OUT IN ADJOINING SECTORS OR DISTRICTS, UH, ON WHAT THEY NEED.
IF IT'S A SPANISH SPEAKER OR A AN ASL TRANSLATOR, ET CETERA.
FOR NON-URGENT CALLS, IF IT CAN HOLD A LITTLE BIT, WE'RE GONNA TRY TO JUST GET THE RIGHT PERSON THERE TO BE THE FIRST RESPONDER.
IF, IF THERE'S NO REASON TO SEND ANYBODY THERE, THAT JUST HAS TO WAIT.
RIGHT NOW AT APD WE HAVE TWO, UM, OFFICERS WHO ARE CERTIFIED AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS.
SO WE CAN CALL THOSE PERSONS DIRECTLY IF THEY'RE AVAILABLE OR IF THEY'RE WILLING TO COME IN, UM, ON THEIR TIME OFF AND BE THE THE FIRST PERSON TO DO THAT TRANSLATION FOR US.
UH, IF, IF THOSE OFFICERS THAT ARE FLUENT IN ASL ARE NOT AVAILABLE, WE CAN IN SOME INSTANCES, AND THIS IS WHERE WE'LL DEVIATE A LITTLE BIT FROM, UH, MY COUNTERPARTS HERE ON THE ANSWER HERE, BUT WE CAN UTILIZE SOMETIMES A NOTEPAD, ELECTRONIC DEVICES OR FAMILY MEMBERS OR FRIENDS TO DO THAT TRANSLATION FOR US.
AND SPECIFICALLY THAT'S GONNA BE, UM, A COOPERATIVE, UM, VICTIM OR WITNESS TO PRETTY SIMPLE KIND OF TRANSLATIONS THAT WE NEED.
IF WE GET INTO A SITUATION WHERE WE'RE HAVING TO ESTABLISH PROBABLE CAUSE OR INTERVIEW
[00:45:01]
SOMEBODY WHO'S INTOXICATED OR NOT COOPERATIVE WITH US, THEN WE NEED TO ACTUALLY REACH OUT TO THE ASL, UM, ASSISTANCE AND THEY'LL SEND SOMEBODY TO THE SCENE TO ASSIST US THROUGH THAT PROCESS.CURRENTLY, 318 PEOPLE AT APD ARE CERTIFIED BILINGUAL TRANSLATORS.
THAT'S APPROXIMATELY 21% OF OUR SWORN WORKFORCE THAT'S SPREAD ACROSS VARIOUS RANKS AND UNITS THROUGHOUT THE DEPARTMENT.
SO THERE MAY BE PATROL, IT MIGHT BE INVESTIGATIONS, IT MIGHT BE SOMEBODY WHO'S SITTING IN THE OFFICE WHO'S AVAILABLE TO COME OUT AND HELP DEPENDING ON THE SITUATION.
BY FAR, UH, SPANISH IS THE MOST COMMON LANGUAGE, UH, THAT WE GET THE REQUEST TO TRANSLATE FOR APPROXIMATELY 18.
OF THE 21% OF OUR CERTIFIED SPANISH, UH, BILINGUAL TRANSLATORS IS SPANISH.
ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES, UH, GOES ON AND ON.
I JUST PUT THE MOST COMMON ONES THERE AT ARABIC, GERMAN, KOREAN, VIETNAMESE, RUSSIAN, CANTONESE, AND MANDARIN.
THERE WAS ALSO QUESTIONS ABOUT TRAINING.
SO IN OUR TRAINING ACADEMY, OUR CADETS GET 40 HOURS OF BASIC SPANISH.
THE, THE PURPOSE OF ANYBODY WHO'S EVER TAKEN A A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES GONNA JUST LAUGH AT 40 HOURS.
UM, THE PURPOSE OF THIS IS TO GET THROUGH A BASIC TRAFFIC STOP WHERE, WHY DID I STOP YOU? WHO AM I, WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO WITH THIS TICKET THAT YOU'RE GETTING? UM, AND TO GET THE BASIC INFORMATION THAT SOMEBODY MIGHT HAVE OR IN AN URGENT SITUATION, IF WE HAVE TO GIVE COMMANDS IN SPANISH ON, UH, WHAT WE WANT SOMEBODY TO DO TO BE SAFE, DROP THE GUN, WALK THIS WAY, STEP AWAY FROM THAT PERSON, WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE.
IT'S NOT MEANT TO MAKE SOMEBODY BILINGUAL OR, UM, A PERFECT TRANSLATOR.
WE ALSO HAVE A FOUR HOUR CLASS OF INTERACTING WITH DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING, AS WELL AS AN ONSITE VISIT TO THE TEXAS SCHOOL FOR DEAF AND A ONE HOUR TRAINING MODULE TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY KNOW HOW TO USE THE LANGUAGE LINE SHOULD THEY NEED TO ONCE THEY'RE IN THE FIELD.
UH, THAT'S THE CADETS FOR ADVANCED EDUCATION FOR THE OFFICERS WHO HAVE ALREADY GRADUATED THE ACADEMY.
OVER 450 OFFICERS HAVE GONE BACK AND TAKEN THAT FOUR HOUR CLASS AS WELL SINCE 2016 WHEN IT CAME OUT.
OUR EXTERNAL APD WEBSITE HAS A TRANSLATOR TOOL THROUGH GOOGLE TRANSLATE SERVICES THAT, UM, ACCOMMODATES, I STOPPED COUNTING AT ABOUT 50.
IT'S, IT'S WELL OVER 50 LANGUAGES IN THE DROP DOWN BOX, UM, FOR THAT AND OUR PRINTED MATERIALS.
UM, MOST COMMONLY, UM, WHAT WE'LL LEAVE BEHIND IS OUR PAMPHLETS FOR VICTIM SERVICES OR DONE IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
IF ANY ADDITIONAL NEEDS ARISE IN TERMS OF LANGUAGES, OUR VICTIM SERVICES UNIT OR THE OFFICERS ON SCENE CAN USE THE AFOREMENTIONED METHODS TO TRANSLATE, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE THE PHONE NUMBERS AND THE FOLLOW-UP RESOURCES THAT THEY NEED.
I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY CLARIFICATIONS FOR YOUR, YOUR DEPARTMENTS BEFORE WE OPEN UP FOR QUESTIONS? I PREFER TO MOVE THAT SINCE YOU HAVE GUEST
ALRIGHT, I FIGURED THAT THERE, I'D BRING SOME EXPERTS IN TO TALK THROUGH THIS.
SO I'VE GOT, UH, CHIEF KENNEDY, WHO'S OVER OPERATIONS AS WELL AS OUR DISPATCHING CENTER, AND I'VE GOT CHIEF SHELF HERE WHO'S DIRECTLY OVER THE DISPATCHING CENTER TO BE ABLE TO HELP OUT WITH ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ABOUT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND LANGUAGE TRANSLATION.
COMMISSIONER NEWMAN, I BELIEVE THIS WAS YOUR ITEM, SO IF YOU HAVE SOME ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.
YEAH, SO, SO I'M SEEING, UM, A PERCENTAGE FOR SPANISH, WHICH I UNDERSTAND IS THE MAJORITY, BUT ARE YOU SEEING A NEED, UM, ESPECIALLY SINCE WE'RE SEEING THAT, UH, AAPI COMMUNITIES, ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES ARE THE FASTEST GROWING COMMUNITY HERE IN AUSTIN.
ARE YOU SEEING AN INCREASED NEED FOR LANGUAGES LIKE ARABIC OR, OR CHINESE? UM, AND WITH THOSE, UH, THIS IS A ADDITIONAL QUESTION TO THAT, UM, IS FOR YOUR INCENTIVES FOR LANGUAGE, IS IT PER LANGUAGE OR IS IT ONLY FOR ONE? ON THE FIRE SIDE, WE'RE NOT SEEING ADDITIONAL NEED FOR, UH, THE OTHER LANGUAGES BEYOND SPANISH.
AND FOR US IT'S A SINGLE INCENTIVE PAY FOR LANGUAGE.
WE, UM, ALSO HAVE A BILINGUAL STIPEND PAY THAT I BELIEVE ALL THE, ALL THE DEPARTMENTS HAVE WITHIN THAT.
UM, WE HAVE MULTIPLE LANGUAGES THAT ARE CONSIDERED FOR OUR DEPARTMENT.
WE HAVE 80 SWORN STAFF THAT RECEIVE THAT STIPEND.
75 OR SPANISH THREE ARE AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE, ONE FARSI AND ONE CANTONESE.
AND WE ADDED SEVERAL OF THESE LANGUAGES OVER THE PAST YEAR, UM, WITH THROUGH OUR CONTRACT PROCESS TO DO THAT.
UM, WE DO RECOGNIZE THAT THERE IS A GROWING COMMUNITIES THAT SPEAK MANY DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AND DIALECTS BESIDES SPANISH OR ENGLISH.
UM, AND WE'RE WORKING TO, YOU KNOW, IDENTIFY THOSE.
I DID ASK WITHIN OUR COM CENTER IF THEY WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY HOW FREQUENTLY WE'RE ASKING FOR LANGUAGE LINE SERVICES FOR A PARTICULAR, UM, LANGUAGE.
BUT I DON'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION YET.
I THINK THEY'RE, THEY'RE TRYING TO SEE IF THEY, IF THAT'S POSSIBLE TO BRING BACK, I CAN ADD ONE OTHER ITEM FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
A FEW YEARS BACK WE PUT A SMARTPHONE ON, ON EVERY FIRE APPARATUS.
AND ON THAT SMARTPHONE, ONE OF THE APPS THAT WE HAD INCLUDED WAS GOOGLE TRANSLATE.
UH, WE PREFER TO HAVE SOMEONE BE ABLE TO THERE TO TO, TO INTERACT AND, AND CONVERSE WITH SOMEONE AND, AND WORK THROUGH A SITUATION, BUT AS A, A, A PLAN B, IF YOU WILL,
[00:50:01]
OR AN IT ALTERNATIVE THAT GOOGLE TRANSLATED SOMETHING ON EVERY ONE OF OUR APPARATUS TO HELP ACCRUE THROUGH A SITUATION IF THERE'S NO OTHER VIABLE MEANS.AND, AND JUST ONE FOLLOW UP TO THAT, UM, WITH, UH, MULTILINGUAL INDIVIDUALS.
UM, I, I KNOW THAT YOU SAID THAT YOU PROVIDE AN INCENTIVE FOR ONE OF THOSE LANGUAGES.
UM, IS IT EVER SOMETHING YOU MAY CONSIDER, UM, FOR MULTILINGUAL FOR IN DEMAND LANGUAGES TO INCENTIVIZE THEM FOR MULTIPLE LANGUAGES RATHER THAN JUST ONE? WE ACTUALLY, THE, THE INCENTIVE PAY THAT WE USE, UM, IT, IT INCLUDES A, A NUMBER OF, I THINK THERE'S UP TO 20, 25 LANGUAGES THAT ARE, THAT ARE INCLUDED IN THAT.
THE PROCESS FOR IT IS THAT IF SOMEONE WANTS TO RECEIVE THAT COMPENSATION, THEY GO THROUGH A TESTING PROCESS FOR THAT PARTICULAR LANGUAGE.
UM, AND THAT'S WHEN THEY'RE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE THAT STIPEND.
DOES THAT, DOES THAT MAKE ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? I'M JUST GONNA CLARIFY ONE MORE TIME.
SO FROM MY UNDERSTANDING OF, OF THE INCENTIVE, UH, IN INTENT INCENTIVIZING A PROGRAM MM-HMM,
SO LET'S SAY YOU KNOW SPANISH, THAT'S CORRECT.
AND YOU KNOW, ARABIC, YOU DON'T GET INCENTIVIZED FOR SPANISH AND ARABIC EVEN IF THERE'S A DEMAND FOR BOTH AND YOU MAY USE BOTH.
YOU ONLY RECEIVE ONE AMOUNT FOR THE LANGUAGE PAY TO DO DIFFERENTLY WITH THAT.
UM, THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE SOMETHING THAT IS NEGOTIATED THROUGH THE CONTRACT PROCESS, AND THAT'S THE SAME WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
DO, DO WE HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER RUTTEN? UM, A COUPLE.
FIRST, HAS THE STIPEND CHANGED RECENTLY IN CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS TO REFLECT, YOU KNOW, INFLATION COST LIVING TO MAKE IT STAY SORT OF A SIMILAR INCENTIVE? SO APDS OUT OF CONTRACT, UM, THE COUNCIL WAS KIND ENOUGH TO GRANT US AN EXTENSION ON WHAT THE STIPENDS WERE FOR THE PREVIOUS CONTRACT.
SO WE'VE BEEN AT THE SAME RATE FOR, UH, WORKING ON SIX YEARS NOW.
OURS IS THE SAME AS WELL BEEN FOR SOME TIME.
THERE IS A CITY ORDINANCE THAT WHEN WE WERE OUT OF CONTRACT, UH, HELD MOST OF THE STIPENDS AT THE SAME LEVEL.
THERE WAS A COUPLE OF 'EM THAT DID LOWER, UH, BACK TO WHAT THE ORDINANCE SAID.
UH, BUT WHEN I MENTIONED THE LUMP SUM PAYMENTS EARLIER, THE, THE DIFFERENCE IS BEING REPLACED BACK TO THOSE FOLKS FOR THE, THE, UH, TWO, TWO AND A HALF MONTHS THAT WE WERE OUTTA CONTRACT.
BUT THE, THE ACTUAL STIPEND AMOUNT HAS NOT CHANGED, UH, IN QUITE SOME TIME AND OUR AMOUNT HAS NOT CHANGED EITHER.
THE ONLY THING THAT HAS CHANGED WITHIN THAT IS THE NUMBER OF LANGUAGES THAT WOULD BE RECOGNIZED FOR THE LANGUAGE PROGRAM AND TO INCREASE THAT WOULD BE PART OF THE CONTRACT PROCESS THEN? CORRECT.
COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT, UM, SO THIS IS KIND OF AS MUCH A QUESTION ABOUT SORT OF HOW TO TRACK THINGS IN THE FUTURE, BUT, UM, IS THERE A, A ROUTINE TRACKING OF HOW MANY 9 1 1 CALLS COME INTO EACH LANGUAGE CATEGORY? LIKE IS THAT BEING REGULARLY TRACKED, THAT IS BEING TRACKED BY THE, UH, COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT? THEY WERE UNABLE TO PROVIDE US THOSE NUMBERS, UH, IN A TIMELY FASHION FOR THIS MEETING.
DO THEY SEPARATE IT OUT FOR DIFFERENT KINDS OF CALLS OR IS IT JUST ONE BIG BLOB? WHEN I SPOKE WITH 'EM ON THE PHONE, THEY INDICATED THEY COULD SEPARATE IT OUT BY WHAT TRANSLATION SERVICE WAS USED.
THAT INFORMATION WOULD BE SUPER HELPFUL WHENEVER YOU GUYS HAVE THAT, TO GET THAT.
I THINK IT'D JUST BE GREAT TO HAVE IN BACKUP TO GET A, A SENSE OF JUST TRACKING AND CHANGES AND THINGS THAT HAPPEN.
I HAD ONE MORE QUESTION AND IT'S ACTUALLY HAS TO DO WITH, I UNDERSTAND HOW IT WORKS FOR ROUTINE SORT OF MORE ROUTINE SORT OF INTERACTIONS AND STUFF, BUT, UM, CAN, CAN YOU GUYS SPEAK AT ALL TO LIKE CRITICAL INCIDENTS AND HOW ADEQUATE IS THE LANGUAGE TRAINING THAT YOU GUYS HAVE AND THE LANGUAGE RESOURCES THAT YOU HAVE AVAILABLE WHEN YOU HIT CRITICAL INCIDENTS? LIKE, UM, IS THE, IS ARE, ARE PE IS IT BEING EASY ENOUGH TO REACH? IS A LANGUAGE ACCESS LINE SUFFICIENT? UM, CAN YOU GUYS SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO THAT? JUST HOW, HOW YOUR RESOURCES MEASURE UP IN CRITICAL INCIDENTS? I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE LANGUAGE LINE IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE AND THEY ALWAYS HAVE SOMEBODY, YOU KNOW, TO CHAT THROUGH THE LANGUAGE LINE.
THAT'S NOT IDEAL TO DO THINGS THROUGH THE TELEPHONE.
WE WANNA HAVE SOMEBODY ON SCENE.
UM, MOST OF OUR, UM, REQUESTS ARE FOR SPANISH SPEAKERS.
WE ALMOST ALWAYS HAVE SOMEBODY WHO'S AVAILABLE.
UM, I CAN'T REMEMBER THE EXACT NUMBER, MAYBE KACHINA LATER COULD TELL ME, BUT THROUGH VICTIM SERVICES, I THINK IT'S, IT'S MAYBE 10% OF VICTIM SERVICES SPEAK SPANISH OR A LITTLE LESS PUTTING YOU ON THE SPOT.
UM, WE'LL, WE'LL GET THAT INFORMATION, BUT, BUT, BUT MOST OF OUR OFFICERS ARE GONNA BE ABLE TO COME AND, AND ASSIST WITH TRANSLATION ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.
SO WE'RE ALMOST ALWAYS ABLE TO GET A SPANISH SPEAKING OFFICER THERE.
I'VE BEEN ON SEVERAL SCENES WHERE WE'RE ABLE TO FIND SOMEBODY WHO SPEAKS VIETNAMESE OR KOREAN.
UM, I KNOW A COUPLE THAT SPEAKS GERMAN AS WELL, SO WE
[00:55:01]
USUALLY FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT WORK.UM, WE HAVEN'T HAD AN, AN INCIDENT WHERE, UM, WE'VE HAD JUST AN OUTLIER LANGUAGE IN A CRITICAL INCIDENT.
SO, SO FAR IT'S BEEN, UM, A SUCCESS.
AND, AND, AND ON THAT SAME LINE ALONG THE LINES OF WHAT COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT ASKED IF LANGUAGE IS A FACTOR IN A CRITICAL INCIDENT, IS THAT A METRIC THAT'S BEING TRACKED? IT, IT'S NOT BEING TRACKED AUTOMATICALLY, BUT WE HAVE THE DATA.
UM, SO WE COULD, WE COULD ABSOLUTELY FIND THAT OUT.
I THINK FOR US, AS WE GET INTO CRITICAL INCIDENTS, WE ARE, UM, MOST LIKELY DEALING WITH REALLY TIME SENSITIVE, UM, SITUATIONS.
SO IT, I WOULD SAY IT'S PROBABLY NOT IDEAL IN, IN THAT CIRCUMSTANCE.
UM, WE DON'T HAVE THE ABILITY TO, UH, YOU KNOW, SEND IN IF IT'S A CRITICAL SITUATION, WAIT FOR ANOTHER AMBULANCE WITH SOMEBODY WHO SPEAKS THAT LANGUAGE TO GET ON SCENE.
SO WE ARE RELYING EITHER ON BYSTANDERS OR THE LANGUAGE LINE, OR IN SOME CASES JUST PROBLEM SOLVING AS, AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN, UM, TO, YOU KNOW, GET THE PATIENT TO WHERE, WHERE WE NEED THEM.
UM, THERE'S A LOT OF PRE INFORMATION THAT THE CREWS WILL GET FROM OUR DISPATCH CENTER IF THERE IS A, A LANGUAGE BARRIER THAT THEY KNOW ABOUT, THEY WILL GIVE THEM ALL THE INFORMATION UP FRONT SO THAT AS THEY GET INTO THOSE CALLS, IF THEY NEED ASSISTANCE, UH, ONCE THEY GET THERE.
BUT IF WE'RE DEALING WITH A TIME CRITICAL SITUATION, THAT'S PROBABLY WHERE IT'S GONNA BE, UM, THE LESS ADVANTAGEOUS.
COMMISSIONER SMITH, WE SEE YOU.
WE'RE GONNA LET THEM FINISH UP.
SOMETHING, SOMETHING HAPPENED WITH THE AUDIO.
I HAVE MY MIC ON, RIGHT? IT'S THAT ONE SPECIFIC MICROPHONE.
WHAT IS IT? IT'S THAT ONE MICROPHONE.
IT'S, IT'S, IT, IT'S, IT'S A LOT OF MICROPHONES.
UM, CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? OKAY.
DO I NEED TO RE WHAT, WHAT, WHAT SHOULD I REPEAT HERE, I INTERRUPT.
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HEAR YOU.
IT'S THE SAME, UH, ECHOING, BUT EMS IS SAYING WE'RE ON, ON SCENE IN OUR OPERATIONS STANCE.
UH, THE TIME CRITICALITY IS, UH, IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.
SO WE WILL UTILIZE THE TOOLS WE HAVE OR RESOURCES AROUND US IN ORDER TO FACILITATE COMMUNICATION WITH THE, THE PERSON ON SCENE AND TO GET THEM TO HELP.
THEY NEED, UH, ON THE DISPATCH SIDE, WE TRY TO COMMUNICATE THAT IN ADVANCE AS WE GET THOSE CALLS COMING INTO THE CENTER.
SO THOSE CREWS CAN PREPARE AS BEST THEY CAN FOR ARRIVAL TO FIGURE OUT A COMMUNICATION METHOD.
DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING, COMMISSIONER TIM? ONE OTHER QUESTION.
WHAT, WHAT'S THE QI PROCESS FOR WHEN THE LANGUAGE LINE IS INVOLVED? IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S RELATIVELY INFREQUENT, AT LEAST FOR IN-PERSON INTERACTIONS ON THE POLICE SIDE.
I KNOW THERE'S A WIDE VARIABILITY IN THIRD PARTY CONTRACTING LANGUAGE SERVICES FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF WORKING WITH THEM, IS THERE ANY PROCESS AND AS VENDORS CHANGE OVER, MAKING SURE THAT IT'S PROVIDING THE QUALITY THAT WE WOULD EXPECT? ON THE FIRE SIDE? UH, THE QA PROCESS IS DONE INTERNALLY THROUGH SOME OF THE, UH, REVIEW TEAM THAT, UH, DOES SPEAK SPANISH.
NORMALLY, WE DO NOT REVIEW THE CALLS THAT ARE, UH, NON-SPANISH TRANSLATION, BUT WE'LL DISTRIBUTE THEM FOR ACCURACY THAT THE TRANSLATOR IS SPEAKING, UH, THE QUESTIONS THAT WE NEED HIM TO HAVE ASKED AND ANSWERED TO THE PERSON ON THE OTHER END OF THE PHONE.
SO WE TRY TO CATCH AS MANY OF THOSE AS WE CAN WHEN WE GET THOSE REPORTS IN FROM THE DISTRICT ABOUT THE, THE INCIDENTS THAT COME TO US.
UM, JUST, JUST A FOLLOW UP TO ALL THIS.
IS THAT ON THE RECRUITING END, UM, IS IT BEING TRACKED ON FOR THE GROWING IMMIGRANT POPULATIONS? UM, IS IT SOMETHING THAT'S BEING TRACKED TO, TO IDENTIFY THOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE, UM, BILINGUAL OR MULTILINGUAL IN THOSE COMMUNITIES? MICROPHONE.
UM, I'LL, I'LL CHECK IN WITH OUR HR, BUT I THINK THAT AS FAR AS DEMOGRAPHICS, WE ARE NOT TRACKING LANGUAGE.
UM, WE DO TRACK OTHER ELEMENTS, BUT NOT THAT SPECIFICALLY.
LIKEWISE FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, SAME.
UM, IT WOULD BE GREAT TO GET THAT BACKUP DATA.
UM, AND JUST, JUST IN GENERAL, JUST KNOWING THAT JUST GROWING FLUENCY IN GENERAL JUST FEELS LIKE A, IT JUST SEEMS LIKE HUGE RUIC, IT SEEMS RIDICULOUS.
[01:00:01]
HUGELY IMPORTANTI MEAN, I KNOW THAT AS A COMMISSION, UM, THERE WAS ONE POINT WHERE WE HAD A SPANISH LANGUAGE, LIKE A, THE SPANISH FIRST LANGUAGE, UM, COMMISSIONER THAT CONSIDERED JOINING US.
AND IT, THE, THE LANGUAGE BECAME THE BARRIER, I THINK, IN LARGE PART, BECAUSE IT WOULD'VE MEANT HAVING TRANSLATION SERVICES HERE AND HAVING ALL OF OUR DOCUMENTS TRANSLATED.
AND SO ANY LITTLE STEPS THAT WE CAN TAKE TO SORT OF MAKE PUBLIC SAFETY IN GENERAL MORE ACCESSIBLE ACROSS MULTIPLE LANGUAGES IS, IS APPRECIATED.
I'M GONNA JUMP IN WITH ONE THING THAT I PROBABLY NEGLECTED TO MENTION ON THIS TOPIC.
UM, OUR PUBLIC INFORMATION, OH, SORRY.
UM, OUR PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE AND OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES, WHEN THEY'RE PUSHING OUT CRITICAL INFORMATION TO THE COMMUNITY, IT IS TRANSLATED, UM, IN A VARIETY OF LANGUAGES AND DIALECTS.
SO THAT IS ANOTHER AREA THAT I THINK IS IMPORTANT TOO, TO RECOGNIZE THAT AS WE'RE PUSHING OUT EMERGENCY INFORMATION WHEN THERE'S, UM, WEATHER OR, YOU KNOW, SOME OTHER, UM, EVENT THAT'S HAPPENING, THAT, UM, IT'S AVAILABLE IN THOSE LANGUAGE TOO.
SO THAT IS ONE THING THAT WE WORK WITH THE CITY, UM, ON DOING THAT.
THEY, THEY PUSH THAT THROUGH MOST OF OUR COMMUNICATION CHANNELS.
UM, AND WITH THAT, UM, WE WILL MOVE ON TO ITEM FIVE.
[5. Discussion and overview of Victim Services, Collective Sex Crimes Response Model and potential formation of working group (Sponsors: Commissioners Hall-Martin & Holmes) ]
WE'RE GONNA BE GETTING, WE'RE GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT, UM, VICTIM SERVICES, GETTING A GENERAL OVERVIEW.FIRST, KAINO, WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME UP? AND I KNOW SHE HAS PEOPLE JOINING US AS WELL.
IF YOU ALL COULD JUST PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELVES, UM, AND, UM, GET US KICKED OFF.
UM, THIS ITEM IS KIND OF GONNA HAPPEN IN TWO PARTS.
WE'RE GONNA DO A GENERAL OVERVIEW OF VICTIM SERVICES, AND THEN WE'RE ALSO GONNA GET A, A DOWNLOAD FROM THE COLLECTIVE SEX CRIMES RESPONSE MODEL PROJECT
UM, WE'RE GONNA SORT OF GET, UH, A, AN A DOWNLOAD AND AN UPDATE AS TO WHERE THEY ARE.
THANKS FOR HAVING US HERE TODAY.
WE'RE, WE'RE HAPPY TO GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF VICTIM SERVICES.
I AM THE DIVISION MANAGER, UM, OVER VICTIM SERVICES AND WELLNESS AT THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
I'M VICTIM SERVICES SUPERVISOR.
UM, SO I WILL SAY IT'S, UH, JUST TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, CHIEF GREENWELL, ABOUT THE PERCENTAGE, IT'S TH 30% OF OUR STAFF.
I JUST PUT OUR SPANISH OR OTHER LANGUAGE, BUT MOSTLY SPANISH.
I HAVE A LOT OF PERCENTAGES IN MY HEAD RIGHT NOW, SO, UM, ALRIGHT.
SO, UM, I JUST, YEAH, WE WANNA START OFF WITH JUST TELLING YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR HISTORY.
UM, VICTIM SERVICES DIVISION HAS BEEN IN EXISTENCE SINCE 1981.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, PROGRAM AS COUNSELORS THAT SERVE AS SYSTEM-BASED ADVOCATES.
WE WORK WITH COMMUNITY-BASED ADVOCATES, BUT WE'RE SYSTEMS-BASED ADVOCATES WHO PROVIDE BOTH ON SCENE AND FOLLOW-UP SUPPORT TO INDIVIDUALS IMPACTED BY TRAUMA OR TRAUMATIC INCIDENT.
UM, THERE ARE, IF YOU WANNA GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, SORRY.
YEAH, THERE, THIS IS OUR LARGE ORG CHART.
IT IS EXPANDED GREATLY IN THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS.
SO THERE ARE CURRENTLY 52 FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES WITH VICTIM SERVICES.
THAT INCLUDES ME, UM, TRACY MORRISON, OUR NEW, UM, OR IN OUR VICTIM SERVICES MANAGER POSITION, FIVE SUPERVISORS, UM, AND 44 COUNSELORS.
AND THEN OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST, MARCY ALONZA, WHO'S HERE TODAY.
UM, WE, UM, MANY OF THINGS ABOUT VIC APD VICTIM SERVICES.
UM, WE HAVE WIDESPREAD, WIDESPREAD INTEGRATION INTO BOTH THE CITY AND POLICE DEPARTMENT.
THE SIZE OF VICTIM SERVICES IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER VICTIM SERVICES PROGRAM IN A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY IN THE COUNTRY.
WE, UH, OUR COUNSELORS HOLD MASTER'S DEGREES IN A MENTAL HEALTH ORIENTED FIELD TO PROVIDE IN-DEPTH CLINICAL SERVICES TO VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS.
AND THEN WE HAVE, UM, TWO, TWO TEAMS. WE HAVE OUR IMMEDIATE CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM AND THEN OUR FOLLOW-UP TEAM, WHICH IS OUR INVESTIGATION SUPPORT TEAM.
WE ALSO SUPPORT AFD AND EMS, SO WE'LL, WE'LL ASSIST THEM ON CALLS AS WELL, SO THEY CAN ASK THAT, UM, FOR US TO COME OUT AND ASSIST.
I'M NOT GONNA GET INTO A WHOLE LOT OF DETAILS ON THIS BECAUSE, UM, TRACY AND ROXANNA ARE GONNA COVER THIS.
BUT WE HAVE, UM, ALONG WITH OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALISTS, WE HAVE, UM, WE HAVE TWO PRIMARY TEAMS. OUR CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM, THIS IS, THESE ARE COUNSELORS THAT PROVIDE SUPPORT TO SURVIVORS IMMEDIATELY AFTER AN INCIDENT HAS OCCURRED.
SO THEY WORK WITH PATROL OFFICERS.
THEY'RE DISPATCHED TO CALLS, THEY PROVIDE ON SCENE COUNSELING.
THEY'RE ADDRESSING REALLY IMMEDIATE NEEDS.
[01:05:01]
PROVIDE RESOURCES AND SHORT-TERM SAFETY PLANNING AND SOME ADVOCACY.THEN OUR INVESTIGATION SUPPORT TEAM PROVIDES THAT ONGOING SUPPORT INFORMATION ABOUT CRIME, VICTIMS' RIGHTS, INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR OTHER RIGHTS AS CRIME VICTIMS, ADVOCACY CONNECTION TO OTHER RESOURCES, THEY SAFETY PLANNING, AND THEN SHORT TERM NEEDS ASSESSMENT.
WE HAVE, UM, THIS IS PRETTY RECENT.
WE'VE PUT A POSITION OUT AT, UM, OUR MUNI EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION TO A COUNSELOR POSITION TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO THOSE STAFF, TO THE NINE ONE CALL, NINE ONE CALL TAKERS AND DISPATCHERS.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE A POSITION AT, UH, A COUNSELOR POSITION AT OUR TRAINING ACADEMY.
THIS PERSON PROVIDES SOME SUPPORT TO CADETS, BUT REALLY, UM, IS THERE TO, UM, REVIEW CURRICULUM, ASSIST WITH TRAINING, BUT, BUT ENSURE THAT CURRICULUM IS REALLY TRAUMA INFORMED AND VICTIM CENTERED.
UM, AND SO WE'LL MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON CURRICULUM.
LIKE I SAID, WE ARE THE, I MEAN, IF THERE IS A LARGER VICTIM SERVICES DIVISION, I HAVE NOT HEARD OF IT.
I THINK WE ARE THE LARGEST VICTIM SERVICES, UM, DIVISION WITHIN A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY IN THE COUNTRY.
UM, OUR COUNSELORS ARE, UM, ALL ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE A MASTER'S DEGREE IN A MENTAL HEALTH FIELD.
UH, AND THEN WE HAVE A, A GOOD PERCENTAGE OF THEM THAT HAVE CLINICAL LICENSURE WORKING TOWARDS THAT.
I WAS ASKED LAST TIME ABOUT, UM, RACE ETHNICITY OF OUR COUNSELORS.
SO FOR THOSE, WE, WE CHECKED IN WITH STAFF AND GOT A RESPONSE FROM MAJORITY OF STAFF.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, UM, THERE'S THE, THE CHART, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN READ IT, BUT 55% OF OUR STAFF ARE WHITE OR CAUCASIAN.
UM, 34% BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN, NO, HISPANIC OR LATINO, I'M SORRY, 9% BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN.
AND, UM, THAT PRETTY CLOSELY REPRESENTS THOSE WE SERVE.
AND WE'LL, TRACY'S GOING TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT IN A MINUTE.
UM, AND YEAH, I THINK THAT'S IT FOR THAT, AND I'LL PASS ON TO YOU.
UM, FOR THE LAST ABOUT YEAR, I'VE GOTTEN TO SUPERVISE THE CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM.
AND SO WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT THAT TEAM SPECIFICALLY DOES SINCE PART OF THE QUESTION IS, WHAT DOES VICTIM SERVICES DO AND PROVIDE? AND WE ARE KIND OF HOUSED IN TWO SEPARATE TEAMS. THE CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM IS EITHER, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE MOBILE, SO THEY ARE HOUSED IN, IN CARS THAT ARE, UM, DISPATCHING WITH POLICE OFFICERS.
AGAIN, SOMETIMES WE'RE CALLED TO OTHER TYPES OF SCENES WHERE APD MIGHT, MIGHT NOT BE INVOLVED, BUT WE'RE STILL RESPONDING IN THOSE VEHICLES.
UM, SO THEY'RE DOING MOST OF THEIR WORK INSIDE OF, OF A VEHICLE RESPONDING TO A SCENE TO WORK WITH A VICTIM OR A SURVIVOR ON THAT SCENE.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE EXAMPLES OF CALLS THAT WE MAY RESPOND TO.
THERE ARE OTHER CALLS THAT, THAT OUR COUNSELORS MAY BE CALLED TO OR MAY WORK.
UM, I ASKED SOME OF OUR COUNSELORS TO LOOK OVER THIS LIST AND SAY, WHAT AM I MISSING? AND I GOT ABOUT SIX MORE RESPONSES.
AND SO NOT BEING ABLE TO PUT THEM ALL ON A SLIDE.
UM, THERE ARE ALSO, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES THERE ARE SOME THAT WE, WE COULDN'T EVEN REMEMBER IF WE TRIED.
UM, AND SO THESE ARE JUST SOME EXAMPLES.
I WOULD SAY THE, THE ONES THAT WE TEND TO RESPOND TO THE MOST ARE FAMILY VIOLENCE OR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT.
UM, WE CERTAIN, WE ALSO DO RESPOND, AND I'M GONNA COVER IT IN A COUPLE SLIDES, WE DO RESPOND, UH, TO SOME NONCRIME CALLS, UH, LIKE A DEATH, A NATURAL DEATH.
UM, AND WE WILL PROVIDE COUNSELING AND, UH, INPUT TO SURVIVORS ON SCENE IN THAT WAY AS WELL, UH, TO VICTIMS. BUT THE TWO MAIN ONES THAT WE RESPOND TO, I WOULD SAY ARE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND THEN SEXUAL ASSAULT.
SOMETIMES THESE SORTS OF THINGS ARE NICE TO TALK ABOUT IN, IN THESE STATISTICS, AND YET IT DOESN'T GIVE A REALLY GOOD RESPONSE TO WHAT WE ACTUALLY DO.
SO IF OUR, ONE OF OUR COUNSELORS HAS CALLED, LET'S SAY, LIKE A FAMILY VIOLENCE SCENE, UM, I'LL JUST GO WITH ONE THAT I HAVE HAD THE CHANCE TO WORK WITH.
UM, WHILE MAINTAINING CONFIDENTIALITY, THEY WILL SHOW UP ON SCENE AND GET SOME INPUT FROM THE POLICE OFFICER THAT'S ON SCENE.
AND THEN PRETTY QUICKLY START TO WORK WITH FAMILY MEMBERS THAT ARE THERE.
THEY'RE PROVI OFFERING, UM, ANYTHING OF PRIMARY NEEDS THAT THEY MIGHT NEED, SEEING IF THEY NEED SOME WATER, IF THEY NEED FOOD.
BUT ON TOP OF THAT, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS THAT, THAT I LIKE TO TALK WITH OUR TEAM ABOUT IS THAT WE KNOW SHOWING UP AT A SCENE OF TRAUMA THAT THERE'S GONNA BE SOME, SOME NEUROBIOLOGY OF TRAUMA GOING ON WITH THOSE FAMILY MEMBERS THAT ARE ON THE SCENE, WHETHER THAT BE SURVIVING, UM, VICTIMS OR EVEN CHILDREN OR OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS ON THAT SCENE.
AND SO WE LIKE TO, TO REMIND THAT WE ARE GIVING EDUCATION, UM, PRETTY CONSTANTLY ON IN PART OF THAT CRISIS COUNSELING, UM, MODEL BY TRYING TO EDUCATE ON WHAT YOU MAY EXPERIENCE OVER THE NEXT 24 TO 48 HOURS FROM A LARGER SCALE.
WE'RE TRYING TO HELP MINIMIZE THE, THE SYMPTOMS OF TRAUMA THAT WOULD COME NEXT, WHICH WE THINK WOULD THEN HAVE A, A LARGER IMPACT, UM, GENERATIONALLY, UM, IF WE ARE ABLE
[01:10:01]
TO GET IN THERE AND HELP REDUCE SOME OF THAT SYMPTOM FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.UM, ONCE WE'VE DONE SOME OF THAT EDUCATION, WE'RE GONNA START WORKING ON THINGS LIKE RESOURCES.
UM, WE DO, I THINK IT WAS MENTIONED BEFORE, WE PROVIDE PAMPHLETS IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH SO THAT, UM, SURVIVORS HAVE EVERYTHING THAT THEY NEED WRITTEN DOWN.
SINCE WE KNOW IN A TRAUMATIC SITUATION, A LOT OF TIMES THERE'S GONNA BE VERY LITTLE RECALL ABOUT WHAT WE ACTUALLY TALKED ABOUT.
WE HAVE THINGS IN HERE RELATED TO COUNSELING, RELATED TO, UM, A PHONE NUMBER THAT THEY CAN CALL TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY KNOW WHEN THE OFFENDER IS GOING TO BE RELEASED FROM JAIL.
UM, WE HAVE INFORMATION THERE ABOUT FUNERAL HOMES.
WE HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT, UM, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS, ANYTHING THAT WE THINK THAT THEY COULD BE USEFUL ON SCENE FOR THAT FAMILY.
AND THEN LASTLY, WE WILL OFFER TRANSPORTATION IF NEEDED, UM, IN ORDER TO HELP US ARRIVE OR GET TO WHERE THEY NEED TO GO IN ORDER TO BE SAFE.
WE'RE ALSO GONNA HELP, UH, SAFETY PLAN SHORT TERM, UM, WITH THOSE FOLKS.
ONCE CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM IS DONE, THAT COUNSELOR NO LONGER HAS ANY, ANY FURTHER, UM, COMMUNICATION TYPICALLY WITH THOSE VICTIMS OR SURVIVORS, WHICH IS WHEN I, THE INVESTIGATION SUPPORT TEAM WOULD COME IN FOR NEXT STEPS.
SO ONCE, UM, A REPORT IS MADE, THE NEXT DAY, UH, SUPERVISORS IN THE INVESTIGATIVE SUPPORT TEAM WILL GET THOSE REPORTS AND REVIEW THEM AND THEN ASSIGN 'EM TO COUNSELORS.
ON MY TEAM, FOR EXAMPLE, I ASSIGN ABOUT 15 TO 20 CASES TO COUNSELORS A WEEK.
SO WITH THESE CASES, UM, THE COUNSELORS ARE GOING TO FOLLOW, PROVIDE, FOLLOW UP.
A CRISIS COUNSELOR MAY OR MAY HAVE NOT MET WITH THEM THE NIGHT BEFORE.
AND WE TRY TO REACH OUT NEXT BUSINESS DAY OR WITHIN THAT SAME WEEK.
UM, WE WILL PROVIDE INFORMATION ON CRIME VICTIMS COMPENSATION.
WE'LL HELP THEM FILL OUT THE APPLICATION, SUBMIT IT FOR THEM, EXPLAIN WHAT IT IS, UM, HELP WITH ANY PAPERWORK THAT COMES AFTER THAT.
WE EXPLAIN, YOU KNOW, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS AND SUPPORT THEM THROUGH THAT JOURNEY.
UM, WE'RE ALSO CO CO-LOCATED WITH THE DETECTIVES IN THOSE INVESTIGATIVE GROUPS.
AND THAT'S SUPER IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE COUNSELORS CAN BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH THOSE DETECTIVES AND BETTER ADVOCATE FOR THOSE VICTIMS OF CRIME.
UM, WE ADVOCATE FOR THE VICTIM WITH SEVERAL ENTITIES.
I MEAN, IT COULD BE THE DETECTIVES, IT COULD BE THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE, AN APARTMENT COMPLEX SCHOOL, UM, WHATEVER THE VICTIM IS NEEDING AT THAT TIME.
UM, AND WHAT I HAVE LISTED HERE IS JUST SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO, AND IT DEPENDS ON WHAT CRIME TYPE WE'RE WORKING WITH.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, COMMUNICATION WITH THE MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE, THE PEOPLE ON MY TEAM WHO WORK HOMICIDE CASES, UM, OR DEATH CASES, WILL BE HAVING THAT COMMUNICATION WITH THE MEDICAL EXAMINER AND EXPLAINING IT.
UM, WE ALSO DO SAFETY PLANNING.
WE FOLLOW UP WITH A LOT OF THE RESOURCES AND THINGS THAT TRACY WAS DESCRIBING THAT THE CRISIS TEAM DOES.
WE UNDERSTAND THAT WITH TRAUMA, A LOT OF VICTIMS MAY NOT REMEMBER EVERYTHING THAT WAS SHARED WITH THEM WHEN THEY MADE THE REPORT.
AND SO WE PROVIDE THAT FOLLOW UP TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR THAT THEY GOT THE INFORMATION AND UNDERSTAND IT AND IT'S, AND THEY CAN PROCESS IT.
CAN I, CAN I JUST ADD SOMETHING REALLY QUICKLY? I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE Y'ALL KNOW WHICH INVESTIGATIVE UNITS ARE OUR COUNSELORS ARE, UM, COUNSELORS WORK WITH.
SO WE HAVE COUNSELORS IN OUR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE UNIT, OUR HOMICIDE UNIT, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, ROBBERY, CHILD ABUSE, VEHICULAR HOMICIDE, HUMAN TRAFFICKING, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, SEX CRIMES.
I MAY BE REPEATING MYSELF, BUT, SO IN ALL OF THE MAJOR CRIME UNITS, WE ALSO FOLLOW UP ON OTHER CASES.
SO SOMETIMES THE FINANCIAL CRIMES UNIT WILL REACH OUT TO US, THERE'S A FRAUD CASE, UM, AND ASK US TO PROVIDE SUPPORT.
WE ALSO FOLLOW UP ON ALL HATE CRIMES AS WELL.
UH, BUT WE DO PULL STATISTICS, UM, ON THE SURVIVORS THAT WE WORK WITH.
THEY ARE FOR, WE HAVE A LOT OF GRANT FUNDED, UM, OPPORTUNITIES.
AND SO MOST OF THE STATISTICS, STATISTICS THAT WE PULL ARE IN CORRELATION WITH WHAT'S REQUIRED OF US.
FROM THOSE, IT WAS HARD FOR US TO CHOOSE WHICH STATS TO PULL TO SHOW YOU.
SO WE'VE ONLY PULLED A COUPLE BECAUSE THEY SEEMED THE MOST RELEVANT FOR THE CONVERSATION.
UM, SO THE FIRST ONE YOU'RE LOOKING AT IS IN OUR FISCAL YEAR.
SO THE LAST YEAR, OCTOBER 1ST OF 22 UNTIL RECENTLY, UH, SEPTEMBER 30TH OF 23, WE SERVED 12,271 SURVIVORS TOTAL WITHIN OUR VICTIM SERVICES UNIT AT APD.
UM, THAT PERCENTAGE BREAKDOWN, PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SURVIVORS ARE THOSE WHO ARE DIRECTLY OR SECONDARILY DIRECT, UM, IMPACTED DIRECT DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY IMPACTED BY CRIME.
[01:15:01]
OTHER, THAT SMALLER 15% IS POTENTIALLY NONCRIME OR CIVIL.AND SO, AGAIN, AN EXAMPLE OF THAT WOULD BE A NATURAL DEATH THAT WE RESPOND TO, TO HELP FAMILIES IF IT ISN'T A CRIMINAL MATTER.
ANY OTHER EXAMPLES YOU WANTED TO ADD TO THAT? OKAY.
SO THIS IS THE BREAKDOWN OF OUR SURVIVORS BY RACE AND ETHNICITY.
THIS WAS, THIS IS THE MOST DIFFICULT SLIDE FOR YOU TO READ
ETHNICITIES THAT WERE NOTED THAT IT, THE COLORS ARE NOT DIFFERENTIATED ENOUGH FOR YOU TO NOTICE.
SO I'M JUST GONNA TELL YOU, IT READS LEFT TO RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM.
SO THAT FIRST COLUMN OF JUST OVER 2000 SURVIVORS IS THE BLACK AFRICAN AMERICAN, AND THEN IT GOES AMERICAN, INDIAN, ASIAN, MIDDLE EASTERN, AND SO ON.
SO AS WE HAD MENTIONED BEFORE, BASED ON THE RACE AND ETHNICITY, UM, OF OUR VICTIM SERVICES UNIT, WE'RE PRETTY CLOSE, PRETTY CLOSELY REPRESENTATIVE TO THE VIC, THE SURVIVORS THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH.
UM, SO IN OUR, IN THE SURVIVORS THAT WE HAVE WORKED WITH OVER THE LAST YEAR, YOU'LL SEE THAT, I CAN'T EVEN READ MY SLIDE.
4,700 APPROXIMATELY SURVIVORS THAT IDENTIFY AS HISPANIC OR LATINO LATINA AND THEN FOLLOWED BY CAUCASIAN.
AND THEN BLACK AFRICAN AMERICAN ARE THE TOP THREE PERCENTAGES OF FOLKS THAT WE ARE RESPONDING TO WORK WITH AS SURVIVORS.
SO IN ADDITION TO WHAT TRACY AND I BOTH DESCRIBED AS COUNSELORS, UM, DOING ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS, THESE ARE SOME OTHER PROTOCOL THAT WE HAVE.
SO, CRISIS TEAM COUNSELORS WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY DISPATCHED TO SEXUAL ASSAULT RELATED CALLS FOR SERVICE.
UM, THIS WAS A NEW PROTOCOL AS OF JUNE, 2019.
THEY'RE ASKED TO RESPOND AT THE SAME TIME AS OFFICERS SO THAT WHEN THAT VICTIM OF SEXUAL ASSAULT IS MAKING THAT FIRST OUTCRY, THEY HAVE SUPPORT.
UM, IT ALSO MAKES IT SO THAT THE VICTIM DOESN'T HAVE TO RECOUNT AND TELL WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM OVER AND OVER AGAIN SEVERAL TIMES.
UM, THE COUNSELOR IS THERE TO ALSO, UM, BE THERE WHEN THEY MAKE THE OUTCRY.
UM, THE COUNSELOR'S ALSO THERE TO PROVIDE SUPPORT THROUGH THE INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS ON SCENE.
WHEN THE OFFICER ON SCENE IS ASKING QUESTIONS, THE COUNSELOR'S GONNA BE THERE.
UM, IF THE COUNSELOR DECIDES TO GET A SAFE, UM, VICTIM SERVICES CAN PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION.
UM, WE CAN ALSO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE NEXT STEPS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS.
WITH THAT, ANY TIME A CITY EMPLOYEE, UM, DIES AND THERE IS A REPORT MADE, WE HAVE, UM, DISPATCH NOTIFY A SUPERVISOR OR MANAGER, UM, SO THAT WE'RE AWARE AND WE CAN TAKE CARE OF THAT THE NEXT DAY OR AT THAT TIME, DEPENDING ON WHAT THE SITUATION IS.
WE ALSO HAVE IMMEDIATE MANAGER NOTIFICATION OF OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTINGS.
UM, CRISIS TEAM WILL RESPOND TO THESE CALLS IF FAMILY OR WITNESSES ARE PRESENT AND NEEDED.
AND THIS IS BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH A HIGH NUMBER OF CALLS TO GO TO SEXUAL ASSAULTS, FAMILY VIOLENCE, THAT WE WILL RESPOND TO THESE.
UM, IF, IF, IF IT'S NEEDED AT THE TIME, UM, AFTER IT'S REPORTED TO A MANAGER, IT'LL BE ASSIGNED TO A COUNSELOR.
USUALLY I'M THE PERSON THAT WILL WORK THESE CASES.
AND IF I'M UNABLE TO, I ASSIGN IT TO SOMEONE ON MY TEAM.
AND WHAT I'M GONNA DO IS REACH OUT TO THAT FAMILY, EXPLAIN THAT I DO WORK FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THEY DON'T HAVE TO TALK TO ME, BUT I'M THERE TO PROVIDE SUPPORT.
UM, I ADVOCATE FOR THEM ON, I ADVOCATE ON BEHALF OF THE VICTIM WITH INVESTIGATORS.
I CONNECT THEM TO THE PERSON INVESTIGATING THAT, UH, REPORT.
I, UH, PROVIDE INFORMATION ON RESOURCES, ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS, TALK WITH THEM ABOUT WHERE THEIR LOVED ONE IS GOING, WHETHER IT'S ME OR A FUNERAL HOME.
AND I CONTINUE TO PROVIDE SUPPORT EVEN WHEN THEY GO AND WATCH, UM, THE CRITICAL INCIDENT BRIEFING, WHICH ARE THE VIDEOS, UM, FROM THE SCENE.
AND I PROVIDE SUPPORT THERE AS WELL.
UM, WE ALSO, UM, SUPPORT OR RESPOND TO LARGE SCALE INCIDENTS.
UM, SOME EXAMPLES OF THAT WOULD'VE BEEN LIKE THE RECENT SHOOTING AT THE ARBORETUM WHEN THAT HAPPENED.
WE SEND OUT SEVERAL COUNSELORS TO THAT SCENE.
AND THEN, UH, WE HAD COUNSELORS EVEN TRANSPORTING WITNESSES AND VICTIMS TO THE, UM, HEADQUARTERS SO THAT THEY CAN BE INTERVIEWED AND COUNSELORS WERE PROVIDING SUPPORT.
AND I WAS ONE OF THOSE COUNSELORS BECAUSE THERE WERE SOME SPANISH SPEAKERS.
[01:20:01]
DO DEATH NOTIFICATIONS FOR TRAVIS COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE.SO ONCE THEY IDENTIFY SOMEONE, THEN THEY'LL REACH OUT TO VICTIM SERVICES AND WE DO IT, UM, AS A COURTESY FOR THEM.
WE ALSO DO DEATH NOTIFICATIONS FOR WILLIAMSON COUNTY.
AND I THINK WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UNLESS YOU ALL HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ADD.
I WAS JUST GONNA ADD THAT WE ARE FORMALIZING IN OUR POLICY, THE RESPONSE TO OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTINGS.
I SAID LAST TIME THAT WE DID NOT HAVE THAT END POLICY JUST BECAUSE THESE WERE CASES THAT ARE A LITTLE MORE CHALLENGING TO RESPOND TO.
BUT THAT IS GONNA BE INCORPORATED INTO, INTO OUR STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
SO I WILL GO THROUGH THIS, THIS LAST SLIDE VERY QUICKLY.
UM, 'CAUSE YOU'RE GONNA HEAR SOME ABOUT THIS WHEN YOU'RE HEARING ABOUT THE, THE COLLECT, THE C-S-C-R-M FOR SHORT
UM, WE ARE, UM, INVOLVED WITH INDIVIDUAL AGENCIES, UM, BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEM.
WE HAVE COUNSELORS THAT HAVE CONTACT WITH AGENCIES EVERY DAY, KIND OF ALL DAY LONG.
UM, WHEN TO SECURE SERVICES FOR SURVIVORS, SHARE INFORMATION.
UM, AND THEN WE'RE ALSO, WE'RE PART OF EVERY COLLABORATION I THINK THAT, UM, HAS A FOCUS ON, ON SERVING SURVIVORS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AS YOU CAN SEE, I WOULDN'T EVEN GO THROUGH THE LIST, BUT IT'S THE AUSTIN CENTRAL TEXAS SUICIDE PREVENTION COALITION, THE FAMILY VIOLENCE TASK FORCE, OUR HATE CRIMES TASK FORCE, UM, IMMIGRATION SERVICES NETWORK OF AUSTIN, THE C-S-C-R-M, WHICH YOU'LL HEAR ABOUT VICTIM SERVICES COALITION.
UM, AND SO THIS, THOSE BUILDING THOSE RELATIONSHIPS, AND WE'VE ALWAYS, THIS HAS BEEN VERY IMPORTANT TO VICTIM SERVICES IS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO, UM, BETTER SERVING OUR SURVIVORS.
WE WANNA BE ABLE TO MAKE WARM HANDOFFS TO AGENCIES.
WE WANNA BE ABLE TO TALK THROUGH ISSUES, UM, AS THEY COME UP.
WE WANT PEOPLE TO BRING ISSUES TO US.
AND SO HAVING THE RELATIONSHIP INTERNALLY WITH, WITH LAW ENFORCEMENTS IMPORTANT, UM, BUT ALSO WITH, UH, WITH OUR PARTNER AGENCIES AS WELL.
SO WE ARE, WE HAVE VICTIM SERVICES STAFF THAT PARTICIPATE IN EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE AND, AND SOME THAT, THAT I DIDN'T, DIDN'T EVEN LIST.
UM, I'M TRYING TO BE MINDFUL OF TIME.
I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE TIME TO TALK TO YOU.
SO IF YOU GUYS WANNA COME UP AND I THINK WE'LL JUST DO QUESTIONS AT THE END SURE.
JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GET EVERYTHING.
UM, SO IF YOU GUYS WANNA COME UP NEXT, UM, I, AND AGAIN, IF YOU GUYS COULD JUST INTRODUCE YOURSELVES, UM, AS YOU COME JOIN US SO THAT WE ALL KNOW WHO WE'RE TALKING TO YOU.
I'LL, HI, GOOD AFTERNOON, COMMISSIONERS.
I AM A LIEUTENANT WITH THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT, AND I WORK WITH THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT'S SEX CRIMES UNIT AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE UNIT.
I AM THE DIRECTOR OF FORENSIC NURSING OVER AT THE SAFE ALLIANCE.
WE LOOK AFTER FOLKS AFTER, IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH OF SEXUAL ASSAULT.
I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS WORK FOR 17 YEARS, AND I'M REALLY HAPPY TO BE HERE TO SHARE WITH YOU GUYS WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THIS PROJECT.
UM, I'M A SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVOR AND ONE OF THE LEAD PLAINTIFFS THAT BROUGHT THE LAWSUIT AGAINST THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND THE TRAVIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE FOR THEIR MISHANDLING OF SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES.
UM, I REPORTED MY SEXUAL ASSAULT TO THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT IN DECEMBER OF 2006.
UM, AND THEN FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS OF MY LIFE, I PRETTY MUCH DID MY BEST TO TRY TO FORGET ABOUT IT AND MOVE ON.
UM, IT WASN'T UNTIL 2017 THAT I FINALLY FOUND THE SPACE AND THE COURAGE WITHIN MYSELF TO TAKE PAUSE AND REALLY LOOK AT THE EVENTS THAT HAPPENED TO ME.
NOT ONLY THAT NIGHT, BUT IN THE WEEKS, MONTHS AND YEARS THAT FOLLOWED.
AND THIS IS WHERE MY OWN PERSONAL JOURNEY INTERSECTS WITH THE HISTORY THAT EVENTUALLY LED TO THE CREATION OF THE COLLECTIVE SEX CRIMES RESPONSE MODEL PROJECT, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS C-S-C-R-M.
SO I THINK AS MANY OF US KNOW, UM, THERE'S A DEEP HISTORY ON THIS TOPIC.
UM, APD HAS EXPERIENCED MANY CHALLENGES OVER THE PAST DECADE.
UM, SPECIFICALLY IN 2017, ISSUES FOUND IN THE DNA LAB WERE SO SYSTEMIC THAT IT ULTIMATELY LED TO ITS CLOSURE.
AND ONE OF THE FORENSIC SCIENTISTS THAT FELL UNDER SCRUTINY DURING THIS TIME WAS THE SAME INDIVIDUAL THAT SIGNED OFF ON MY OWN SANE EXAM OVER A DECADE.
[01:25:01]
AND THE DA'S OFFICE WITHDREW THEMSELVES FROM THE AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY SEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE AND RESOURCE TEAM.AND THAT SAME YEAR, AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORT CAME OUT ZEROING IN ON AUSTIN, HIGHLIGHTING THE MISUSE AND OVERUSE OF EXCEPTIONAL CLEARANCE IN THE CLOSURE OF THEIR SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES.
IT WAS ONLY AFTER LISTENING TO THAT INVESTIGATIVE REPORT THAT I WAS JOLTED TO DIG MY OWN COPY OF MY CASE OUT OF THE DEPTHS OF MY DESK, ONLY TO LEARN THAT I TWO HAD BEEN EXCEPTIONALLY CLEARED.
AND THEN IN 2018 AND 2022 CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS WERE FILED AGAINST THE CITY AND COUNTY FOR THEIR IMPROPER HANDLING OF SEXUAL ASSAULT.
IT WAS THAT SECOND STATE LEVEL CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FILED IN 2020 THAT I BECAME THE LEAD PLAINTIFF OF.
AND THEN FINALLY, IN 2022, OVER 100 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHANGE WERE PUBLISHED BY THE POLICE EXECUTIVE RESEARCH FORUM AFTER THEY HAD ENGAGED TO CONDUCT AN, UH, AN INDEPENDENT THIRD PARTY REVIEW OF APDS SEX CRIMES UNIT AND SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES SPANNING AN EIGHT YEAR PERIOD FROM 2012 TO 2020.
SO OVER MY PAST FIVE OR SIX YEARS, I HAVE BECOME PUBLICLY KNOWN AS A SURVIVOR, A PLAINTIFF, AND A RELATIVELY VOCAL ADVOCATE.
BUT WHAT MANY PEOPLE HAVEN'T KNOWN ABOUT ME IS THAT I COME WITH A PRETTY DEEP HISTORY FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR SERVING OVER 20 YEARS IN LARGE SCALE ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE, RISK COMPLIANCE, AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT.
SO AS APD AND SART MEMBERS STARTED TO CONVENE AND LOOKING AT THE WORK THAT WAS AHEAD OF THEM WITH, WITH THE CHANGES THAT NEEDED TO OCCUR, IT PRETTY QUICKLY BECAME EVIDENT THAT, UH, A FORMAL PROJECT NEEDED TO BE STOOD UP TO BE ABLE TO EXECUTE THIS WORK.
AND I WAS BROUGHT IN UNDER CONTRACT BY APD TO ASSIST WITH LEADING THIS EFFORT.
UM, TODAY WE'RE HERE TO SHARE WITH YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PROJECT FRAMEWORK THAT'S BEEN ESTABLISHED, THE PROGRESS THAT HAS BEEN MADE TOWARD THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CHANGE, AND A SNAPSHOT INTO SOME OF THE LESSONS LEARNED THUS FAR, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE TO DATE.
UM, THE MAJORITY OF THE MATERIAL THAT WE'LL BE COVERING, UH, WAS ALREADY PRESENTED TO CITY COUNCIL THIS PAST SEPTEMBER.
UM, SO NOT TO BE REDUNDANT, BUT REALLY TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE ALL COMING TOGETHER AND ON THE SAME PAGE WITH HOW WE'RE MOVING FORWARD.
SO, THE PROJECT FRAMEWORK, UM, THE PROJECT THAT WE STOOD UP WAS ONE WITH VERY SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES IN MIND.
WE KNEW WE WEREN'T LOOKING FOR QUICK FIXES.
WE NEEDED SOMETHING THAT WAS GONNA BRING SYSTEMIC AND LASTING CHANGE.
WE ALSO KNEW THAT WE NEEDED TO IMPROVE THE TRUST AND TRANSPARENCY AND REALLY ENCOURAGE COLLABORATION WITH OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND THROUGHOUT TRAVIS COUNTY.
UM, WE KNEW WE HAD A TON OF SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT RIGHT HERE, AND WE NEEDED TO ENGAGE THEIR EXPERTISE, ENSURE THAT THEY WERE ENGAGED IN THE WORK THAT THEY WERE EXPERTS OF, AND ENSURE THAT THERE WERE CHECKS AND BALANCES PUT INTO THIS PROJECT RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING.
UM, THE SCOPE OF THE C-S-C-R-M PROJECT IS REALLY, UM, DERIVED FROM TWO CORE AREAS.
ONE IS THE PERF RECOMMENDATIONS OF WHICH THERE WERE 103 RECOMMENDATIONS COMING OUTTA THAT REPORT, AS WELL AS 16 ITEMS, UM, THAT CAME OUT OF THE SETTLEMENT FROM THE SURVIVOR LAWSUIT.
SO WE HAVE 119 ITEMS OF SCOPE THAT WE ARE WORKING ON IMPLEMENTING, AND EACH OF THOSE 119 ITEMS HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED TO ONE OF THE SIX GROUP SIX WORK GROUPS THAT WE HAVE STOOD UP.
THE SIX WORK GROUPS THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE ARE POLICY TRAINING, RESPONSE AND INVESTIGATION DATA AND METRICS, OUTREACH AND PARTNERSHIPS AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT.
SO FOR EACH OF THOSE WORK GROUPS, WE HAVE TWO CO-CHAIRS, SPECIFICALLY ONE CO-CHAIR THAT IS AN APD PERSONNEL OR EMPLOYEE, AND ONE CO-CHAIR THAT IS A NON APD INDIVIDUAL OR EMPLOYEE.
UM, AND WE'RE ALSO USING WHAT'S REFERRED TO AS A RACING MODEL TO HELP DEFINE OUR ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
IT'S A TOOL THAT'S OFTEN USED IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT, UM, THAT HAS CLEARLY IDENTIFIED THAT IT'S APD THAT IS RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE WORK.
WHILE IT'S THE BROADER PROJECT TEAM, OUR PARTNERS ARE ADVOCATES THAT NEED TO BE CONSULTED THROUGH THIS AS WE, AS WE PROGRESS.
AND THEN INDIVIDUALS LIKE YOURSELF, COMMISSION FOR WOMEN, CITY COUNCIL, THAT NEED TO BE INFORMED AS WE, AS WE MOVE FORWARD AS WELL.
SO JUST BY WAY OF BACKGROUND, I'LL START BY SAYING THAT EVERY COMMUNITY ACROSS THE COUNTRY DEALS WITH SIMILAR ISSUES WHEN THEIR PROFESSIONAL RESPONSE TO SEXUAL ASSAULT.
AND WE HAVE A REALLY INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY HERE WITH THIS PROJECT AND WITH THE PEOPLE WHO ARE INVOLVED IN IT TO MAKE REALLY BIG AND LASTING CHANGES.
SO I'M VERY, VERY HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO BE INVOLVED WITH THIS.
AND SO GRATEFUL THAT HANNAH'S LENDING HER EXPERTISE BECAUSE NONE OF US CAME TO THE TABLE WITH ANY BACKGROUND IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT.
WE WERE LIKE, WELL, HOW CAN WE SIT DOWN AND BREAK THIS INTO PARTS THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISH? VERY HAPPY TO HAVE YOU.
[01:30:02]
I WANNA POINT OUT THAT WE HAVE A LOT OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND A LOT OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN THIS PROJECT.YOU CAN READ THE LIST OF AGENCIES WHO ARE PARTNERED IN THIS PROJECT, BUT LET ME POINT OUT THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE WORKING IN HEALTHCARE LIKE I AM.
THERE ARE CIVIL LEGAL SERVICES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS.
WE HAVE A, A REALLY WONDERFUL DIVERSITY OF BACKGROUNDS AND EXPERTISE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE PARTICIPATING IN THIS.
THE EVEN BETTER STUFF, THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR THIS YEAR, THIS IS, THIS IS A VERY NEW PROJECT.
WE REALLY GOT OUR MARCHING ORDERS AT THE END OF THE YEAR LAST YEAR, AND SPENT THE BEGINNING PART OF THIS YEAR TRYING TO ORGANIZE OURSELVES ABOUT HOW WE WERE GONNA GO ABOUT DOING THIS WORK.
SO IT, IT'S REALLY NICE THAT WE ARE ALL WORKING TOGETHER.
I WAS HERE WHEN A LOT OF THE, THE BACKGROUND INFORMATION THAT HANNAH SHARED WITH YOU WAS HAPPENING.
AND THOSE ARE REALLY DIFFICULT TIMES BECAUSE WE WEREN'T ALL TALKING TO EACH OTHER.
WE WERE NOT ALL COLLABORATING.
AND WE ARE AGAIN, AND IT'S GREAT.
UM, WE WILL BE COMING TO VISIT WITH YOU AND THE WOMEN'S COMMISSION ON A QUARTERLY BASIS TO GIVE YOU UPDATES ON THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING.
AND I, I REALLY DO THINK THAT WHAT WE'RE DOING IS GOING TO BECOME A NATIONAL BEST PRACTICES MODEL.
WE ARE HOPING TO BE ABLE TO EVALUATE WHAT WE'RE DOING AND THEN SHOW WHAT WE'RE DOING SO THAT OTHER COMMUNITIES CAN TAKE THIS MODEL UP AND IMPROVE THEIR SERVICES TOO.
ALSO, WE HAVE A LOT OF, A LOT OF ITEMS TO TACKLE, BUT WE HAVE MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS THROUGH THEM ALREADY.
ALMOST HALF OF OUR SCOPE IS EITHER IN THE WORKS OR WE'VE COMPLETED IT.
AND WE'LL GO THE NEXT SLIDE WHERE THERE'S A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT, A LITTLE TIMELINE ABOUT THIS PROJECT ON THE LEFT SIDE.
AND YOU CAN SEE IN THE CHART ITEMS THAT ARE GREEN OR THE GREEN BARS ARE ITEMS THAT ARE COMPLETED IN BLUE.
WE HAVE THE IN PROGRESS AND THE GRAY IS NOT STARTED.
WE ARE, WE ARE ON TRACK TO GET THROUGH.
I'M NOT SURE HOW LONG IT'S GONNA TAKE TO GET THROUGH THIS.
LET ME BACK THAT UP JUST ONE SECOND.
BUT I, I HAVE TO SAY THAT I'M IMPRESSED WITH THE PROGRESS THAT IS BEING MADE.
EVERYBODY'S DOING A GREAT JOB.
AND THE NEXT ONE, UM, I WILL BE TALKING TO THE GROUP ABOUT ISSUES AND RISKS AND, UM, YEAH, WHAT JENNY SAID.
I THINK AS WE, AS WE GET THROUGH THE WORK AND START TO PUT MORE INTO THE ACCOMPLISHED AND SIGNED OFF ON, UM, CATEGORY, WE BEGIN, WE BEGIN TO CALIBRATE AND FIGURE OUT MAYBE HOW LONG THIS WILL TAKE.
BUT IT'S GONNA TAKE AS LONG AS IT TAKES 'CAUSE WE'RE GONNA GET IT RIGHT
UM, AMONG THOSE ISSUES AND RISKS OUR FINANCIAL AND BUDGETARY PROCESSES, UH, WE RECOGNIZE THAT IMPROVEMENTS CAN BE MADE IN THE AWARENESS, COMMUNICATION, AND PROCESSING OF FINANCIAL AND BUDGETARY MATTERS.
THESE WILL RESULT IN ADEQUATE TIME FOR REQUIREMENTS GATHERING AND PLANNING EFFORTS, BETTER ALIGNMENT OF BUDGET DOLLARS TO THE SCOPE OF WORK, AND ALSO DECISIONS BEING MADE WITH CLARITY AND CONSENSUS ACROSS THE PROJECT TEAMS. UM, WE ARE, UH, INDEBTED TO, UM, MANAGER CLARK FOR WORKING DILIGENTLY TO IDENTIFY WHERE CITY COUNCIL'S, UH, BUDGETED, UH, MONIES FOR INITIATIVES RESIDED.
AND, UM, THAT TOOK A LOT OF WORK AND FINDING OUT WHERE THESE WERE AND THEN GETTING THEM MOVED OVER TO APDS BUDGET AND CONTROL THAT ATE UP REALLY CRITICAL TIME, UH, FOR US AND, AND DIDN'T ALLOW FOR US TO COMMIT AND EXERCISE THAT COLLABORATION THAT WE HAD COMMITTED TO.
UM, IT RESULTED IN, IN SOME KIND OF TOP HEAVY, UM, UNILATERAL DECISION MAKING.
UM, WE ARE, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS DONE AMONG NON APD MEMBERS, BUT IT WAS NOT IDEAL AND WE DON'T WANNA REPEAT IT.
SO, UM, IT'S INFORMING US AS WE MOVE FORWARD WHEN WE'RE REQUESTING THESE BUDGETED MONIES, UM, WHERE, WHERE THEY SHOULD LAND WITH US.
SO THAT GIVES US ADEQUATE TIME TO DO THAT COLLAB, UH, THE CALAB, THE COLLABORATION THAT WE'RE COMMITTED TO.
UM, BETTER ALIGNMENT OF BUDGET DOLLARS TO THE SCOPE OF WORK, AGAIN, IN, IN DOING THIS WORK.
AND, UM, ENCUMBERING THE SERVICES THAT ARE BUDGETED FOR.
AND IN, IN COMPLETING THEM, WE'RE GONNA BE BETTER INFORMED IN, IN WHETHER THE MONEY BUDGETED FOR THE INITIATIVES FOR THE REALLY BIG ONES WERE ENOUGH.
UM, WE ANTICIPATE AND KIND OF FEEL LIKE SOME OF THEM WERE OVER, YOU KNOW, BUDGETED HIGHER, LOWER PEOPLE WERE DOING THE BEST THEY COULD, MAKING INFORMED DECISIONS.
UM, WE KIND OF JOKE WE WISH WE COULD MOVE SOME OF THE ALLOCATED MONIES.
ONE MIGHT FIT BETTER WITH THE OTHER, BUT, UM, IT WILL INFORM US AND WE CAN REPORT BACK TO GROUPS SUCH AS YOURSELVES, UM, TO DO IT TO IN THE COMING YEARS.
UM, AND AGAIN, THAT, THAT CONSENSUS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, IT EVEN RESULTED
[01:35:01]
IN US, UM, BRINGING TO BEAR DIFFERENT APPARATUS AND STRUCTURE TO OUR VERY PROJECT, UM, SPECIFICALLY LIKE A STEERING COMMITTEE, SO THAT ALL DECISIONS BEING MADE BY THE PROJECT, UH, WORK GROUP, UM, COULD BE TALKED ABOUT IN A GROUP AND VOTED ON IN IN COLLABORATION.UM, TEAM AND TIME, UH, THIS IS A LARGE PROJECT.
WE HAVE A, A LITTLE BIT OVER 40 MEMBERS, UH, MOST OF THEM NON APD, UH, AND THAT TAKES TIME TO IMPLEMENT CORRECTLY, SYSTEMICALLY AND COLLABORATIVELY.
A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WORK IS OCCURRING ON A VOLUNTEER BASIS BY INDIVIDUALS AND OR LOCAL AGENCY PARTNERS.
WE'RE INCREDIBLY INDEBTED TO, UM, OUR PROJECT MEMBERS.
AND THE BEST WAY I COULD DESCRIBE IT IS LIKE HAVING A SECOND JOB ON TOP OF WHAT YOUR PRIMARY DUTIES ARE.
UM, IN SERVICE OF SURVIVORS, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE VERY GRATEFUL FOR THEIR, THEIR CONTRIBUTION.
APD AND NON APD TEAM MEMBERS'.
BANDWIDTH IS LIMITED AND NOT WITHOUT CONSTRAINTS.
UM, THAT WE HAVE JOBS AND FAMILIES AND LIFE HAPPENS AND WE HAVE TO ACCOMMODATE FOR THAT.
TEAM TURNOVER IS ANTICIPATED AND THE MODEL HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO HANDLE SUCH.
SO WE'RE CONFIDENT ABOUT BEING GUIDED BY PROJECT MANAGER KO'S EXPERTISE AND, UM, AND, AND HER, UM, HER KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PROJECT MANAGEMENT TO ACCOUNT FOR THAT.
PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY MOVED ON AND WE'VE ALREADY ONBOARDED NEW MEMBERS.
ALSO, INVESTMENT, UH, FUTURE INVESTMENT IS ANTICIPATED TO SUPPORT ADEQUATE STAFFING ENHANCEMENTS IN TRAINING AND IMPROVEMENTS TO THE APD WEBSITE.
UM, PLEASE CONTINUE TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
TALKING ABOUT PRIORITIES AND NEXT STEPS, UM, WE WANT TO ENSURE ONGOING APD LEADERSHIP AND SWORN PARTICIPATION SUPPORT AND VISIBILITY.
UM, I, UH, AM CONTACTED ON A, A FREQUENT AND ONGOING BASIS BY CHIEFS FITZGERALD, CHIEF GREENWALD, CHIEF HENDERSON, WHO ARE ASKING ME, HOW ARE THINGS GOING? WHAT DO YOU NEED? UM, A LOT OF THIS HAS BEEN, UM, TO LET THEM KNOW, PLEASE GIVE US THE SPACE TO DO THE WORK.
UM, BUT WE'VE ALSO HEARD FROM OUR PROJECT MEMBERS, SURVIVORS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT, THAT THEY WANT, THEY WANT TO KNOW THAT IT IS SUPPORTED.
I FEEL THAT WE'RE WORKING IN ACHIEVING THAT.
UM, AND WE'RE SEEING THEM SHOW UP IN OUR MEETINGS, UH, OUR START MEETINGS AND OUR PROJECT MEETINGS.
AND IT'S VERY, UH, IT'S NOTICED AND APPRECIATED.
UH, WE NEED TO FINALIZE THE TRAINING PROPOSAL FOR ENHANCEMENT REQUESTS AND APPROVAL.
OUR TRAINING WORK GROUP HAS A HEAVY LIFT.
UM, WE TALK ABOUT BEST PRACTICE AND WE WISH THAT IT EXISTED OUT THERE, MAYBE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OR SOMETHING THAT YOU COULD REFERENCE, UH, UTILIZE, ADOPT, PAY FOR EVEN.
BUT IT, IT DOESN'T, AS WITH MOST THINGS, UM, IF YOU'RE WANTING THE BEST, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO GO FIND THE PARTS OF IT AND BRING THEM TOGETHER IN OUR MODEL.
BUT I'M CONVINCED THAT WE HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO DO THAT.
AND WE ASPIRE TO BE THE PREMIER, UH, SEX RESPONSE MODEL IN THE NATION.
AND THAT WE WOULD BE PRACTICING BEST PRACTICE FOR OTHERS TO LOOK TOWARDS AND MODEL AND EMULATE, IDENTIFY THE PROJECT BUDGETARY NEEDS AND ESTABLISHED TIMELINE ESTIMATES TO COMPLETION FOR IMPROVED EXPECTATION SETTING.
AS I'VE ALREADY SAID, BY DOING THE WORK, YOU CAN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND HOW LONG THE WORK WILL TAKE.
UH, WE WILL PROVIDE QUARTERLY STATUS UPDATE TO THE COMMISSION FROM WOMEN AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION.
UM, WE, THIS FIRST INITIAL ROLLOUT REQUIRED A LOT OF UPDATES.
UH, THIS WAS, THIS WAS THE INITIAL ONE.
AND, AND THEY ARE, UM, THEY'RE TIME CONSUMING AND, AND IT TAKES US A WHILE.
WE WE'RE HOPING TO CONSOLIDATE THAT.
UM, AND SO WE CAN JUST KEEP DOING THE WORK.
UH, WE'LL CONTINUE TO BUILD TRUST, TRANSPARENCY, AND REPAIR ACROSS THE, UH, THE TEAM AND WITH OUR COMMUNITY.
WE HAVE LEARNED, UM, THAT PROCESS IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS, AS WHAT WE'RE CREATING AND THE PRODUCT.
UM, I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF INTEREST IN THE FINANCIAL AND BUDGETARY AREA OF THIS.
UM, I WANNA SPEND MOST OF TODAY REALLY TAKING A LOOK AT WHAT'S BEEN SPENT DATE.
UM, I KNOW THERE'S INTEREST REALLY IN DISCUSSION AROUND UNMET NEEDS FOR 2024 AS WELL AS FUTURE ASK FOR FY 25.
UM, THE TEAM'S STILL WORKING ON FINALIZING THOSE SPECIFICS.
OUR HOPE IS REALLY TO BE ABLE TO START THOSE DISCUSSIONS EARLY DECEMBER THOUGH, UM, AND BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THOSE DETAILS.
UM, ONE THING THAT I WANNA POINT OUT FROM THE, THE BUDGETARY PERSPECTIVE IS THAT THERE WAS A REFERENCE TO $4.4 MILLION INVESTMENT THAT EITHER WAS OR WILL BE ALLOCATED TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF SEXUAL ASSAULT HANDLING PER THE LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT TERMS. UM, THE NEXT SLIDE IS A BIT OF AN EYE CHART.
UM, HOPEFULLY YOU GUYS HAVE A DOCUMENT THAT YOU CAN ZOOM IN ON.
UH, BUT IT REALLY, UM, DETAILS OUT WHERE THAT $4.4 MILLION WAS SPENT OVER THE, OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS.
UM, AS REFERENCED EARLIER, THE PROOF REPORT AND THE LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT BOTH OCCURRED IN 2020.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT INITIAL UPLIFT OF INVESTMENT OF NEARLY $1.7 MILLION
[01:40:01]
THAT THEN HIT THAT 2023 FISCAL YEAR.UM, THERE WERE SOME INVESTMENTS THAT WERE BEING MADE PRIOR TO THAT AS THERE WERE KNOWN ISSUES THAT WERE BEING IDENTIFIED, YOU KNOW, THE PUBLICITY OF IT AND SO FORTH THAT THE, THE INVESTMENT WAS COMING IN PREVIOUSLY.
UM, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH OF THIS 4.4 MILLION YOU WANT TO DRILL INTO.
I KNOW WE'RE TIGHT ON TIME TONIGHT.
WE CAN, I'LL LEAVE IT THERE AT A HIGH LEVEL, AND IF YOU HAVE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS, YOU CAN LET US KNOW.
UM, THE NEXT SLIDE IS REALLY JUST THE REFERENCE TO WHAT I MADE A MOMENT AGO IS THAT WE KNOW THERE'S GONNA BE FUTURE ASKS COMING.
WE WANT TO BRING THOSE FORWARD WHEN WE HAVE THE SPECIFIC DETAILS THAT, THAT, THAT BACK IT.
AND WE'VE DONE THAT, THE THOROUGH DUE DILIGENCE AROUND IT.
UM, AND AGAIN, HOPEFULLY THOSE, THOSE DETAILS CAN COME FORWARD EARLY DECEMBER TIMEFRAME.
SO I THINK THAT REALLY WRAPS UP THE FORMAL PRESENTATION.
THERE IS AN APPENDIX TO THIS THAT HAS ALL 119 ITEMS OF SCOPE IN IT FOR YOUR REFERENCE, THE STATUS THAT WAS PROVIDED TO THOSE.
JUST PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THOSE WERE SEPTEMBER STATUSES, MORE MOVEMENT HAS SINCE HAPPENED.
UM, DO WE HAVE FOR VICTIM SERVICES AND, AND, AND FOR THE WORK GROUP, DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS GENERAL THERE? IT'S JUST A LOT OF INFORMATION.
UM, TONS OF QUESTIONS, BUT I WILL TRY TO KEEP IT SHORT.
WE CAN START WITH COMMISSIONER BURNHART.
UM, SO, UM, I KNOW I'M SUPPOSED TO ONLY ASK QUESTIONS, BUT I'M JUST GONNA SAY THANK YOU, UM, BEFORE I START.
AND, UM, WILL THERE BE A PROCESS, UM, WHERE LESSONS LEARNED FROM THIS EFFORT, OUR SHARED CITY OF AUSTIN WIDE, FOR ANY OTHER LIKE MAJOR TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE NEEDS, WHICH BY THE WAY, WE HAVE, SO LET ME TAKE A STAB AT ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION ON A COUPLE OF FRONTS.
UM, WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OF EXPECTED PUBLIC DOCUMENTS THAT WILL BE COMING OUT, UM, ON THE THIRD PARTY LINE ITEM BUDGET.
UM, THERE ARE TWO SPECIFIC ITEMS THERE.
ONE'S AN ANNUAL RECURRING CASE REVIEW THAT'S GONNA BE OCCURRING.
UM, THE OTHER ONE IS AN INCREMENTAL AUDIT ON THIS PROJECT.
AND THE PROGRESS THAT WAS, WAS HOW, HOW IT WENT, ESSENTIALLY AN AUDIT OF HOW THE, THE IMPLEMENTATION WENT.
BOTH OF THE REPORTS COMING OUT OF THOSE EFFORTS WILL BE A PUBLICLY RELEASED REPORT.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT COVERS YOUR ASK.
UM, IT'S ALSO VERY COMMON FROM A PROJECT MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE TO BE ABLE TO DO ON PROJECT CLOSURE KIND OF A POST-MORTEM LESSONS LEARNED, UM, THAT I THINK WOULD BE VERY VALUABLE TO SHARE IN PUBLIC AVENUES LIKE THIS ONCE WE GET TO THAT STAGE.
UM, YES, I THINK THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL.
I HAD TO SORT OF LAUGH WHEN Y'ALL STARTED WITH SORT OF BUDGET COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPARENCY BEING A PROBLEM, UH, BECAUSE THAT'S DEFINITELY SYSTEM-WIDE.
UM, UH, YEAH, MY NEXT QUESTION IS JUST GONNA BE GRUMPY SO I WON'T ASK IT.
UM, UM, WE TALKED A LITTLE, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS WHEN WE HAD OUR WORKING GROUP MEETING.
UM, AND MY QUESTION IS JUST ABOUT THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THIS PROJECT AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF A PROJECT THAT DOESN'T HAVE A FINITE END.
I MEAN, IT, IT DOES IN THAT THERE'S A SCOPE LIST, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF CARE BEING GIVEN TO DOING THINGS RIGHT, DOING THINGS WELL, ESTABLISHING PROCESSES, AND THOSE THINGS TAKE TIME.
UM, AND SO I KNOW YOU MENTIONED THAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY RULED OFF THE GROUP AND MAYBE SOME REPLACEMENTS HAVE HAPPENED, BUT, UM, YEAH, LIKE, UH, COULD YOU SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO WHAT, WHAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING TO SORT OF ADDRESS SUSTAINABILITY IN YOUR PROCESS? SURE.
UM, I FIRST WANNA SPEAK ON FROM A PROJECT MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE, UM, A PROJECT'S DEFINED BY HAVING A DEFINITIVE START AND A DEFINITIVE FINISH.
SO IT'S GONNA BE REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE DO FIND WHERE THAT DEFINITIVE FINISH IS.
UM, JUST FROM A PRIORITIZATION PERSPECTIVE, WE'VE REALLY BEEN FOCUSED ON GETTING STOOD UP, UM, CHASING INITIAL BUDGETARY ITEMS AND ENSURING THAT WE DON'T LOSE FUNDING THAT WAS ALREADY BUDGETED.
WE'RE NOW IN THE STAGE OF IDENTIFYING BUDGETING NEEDS THAT WE HAVE.
AND THEN I THINK REALLY THE NEXT LEVEL OF MATURITY FROM THE PROJECT TEAM IS LIKE, HOW DO WE START GETTING TIMELINES TO THE WORK THAT'S LEFT OUT AND STILL OUTSTANDING? SO IT IS AN OBJECTIVE THAT IT, I WANNA ENSURE THAT WE'RE ADDRESSING.
UM, AS FAR AS SUSTAINABILITY GOES, UM, IT, IT'S A REAL CONCERN, RIGHT? WE ARE HAVING TO CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING.
WE WERE HAVING WEEKLY MEETINGS SOMETIMES, SOMETIMES WE'VE, WE'VE EXPANDED THOSE TO EVERY OTHER WEEK.
UM, DOING A CHECK-IN WITH DIFFERENT TEAM MEMBERS ON, ON AVAILABILITY.
WE KNOW WE'RE BOUNCING INTO HOLIDAYS COMING UP.
IT'S GONNA ALSO COST SOME TIMELINE DELAYS.
UM, THE OTHER THING THAT'S BEEN IN DISCUSSION IS HOW DO WE POTENTIALLY COMPENSATE MEMBERS THAT, UM, ARE DOING THIS WORK KIND OF ON AN INDIVIDUAL VOLUNTEER BASIS.
SO WE ARE CONTINUING TO HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS.
[01:45:01]
FROM THE INFORMATION I'VE RECEIVED SO FAR, THERE'S TWO INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE STRICTLY VOLUNTEERING AND ARE NOT DOING IT VIA AN AGENCY PARTNER, IF YOU WILL.UM, SO THAT IS ANOTHER AREA THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT FROM A SUSTAINABILITY PERSPECTIVE.
I'M SURE YOU GUYS HAVE OTHER THOUGHTS.
I, I FEEL LIKE WE, WE AS, AS YOU DO, WE HAVE A CONCERN FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND, AND WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF OUR MEMBERS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY CAN CONTINUE TO DO THE WORK AND, AND DON'T FALL OUT.
UM, THESE SPEAK TO THINGS LIKE CADENCE.
WE'VE HAD TO LEARN THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT WORK.
UM, SOME PROJECT GROUPS WOULD WORK A LITTLE FASTER OR MEET MORE OFTEN SOME LESS.
AND SO WE'VE KIND OF SETTLED IN, IN A REAL COMFORTABLE CADENCE THAT GETS THE WORK STILL MOVING ALONG, BUT ALSO DOESN'T LITERALLY BURN OUT OUR MEMBERS, UM, WITH TOO MUCH WORK.
SO I THINK THAT SPEAKS AND ANSWERS PART OF THAT QUESTION.
UM, WE'RE COMMITTED TO THIS UNTIL IT'S DONE.
SO, UM, BUT, UH, I, AGAIN, AS AS MANAGER CINCO MENTIONED, UM, A LOT OF THIS FIRST INITIAL PART WAS BUILDING THESE STRUCTURES THAT WOULD MAKE IT ENDURE AND LAST DESPITE, UM, SOME TURNOVER AND I, I, THERE HASN'T BEEN A, A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF TURNOVER.
UM, THEN IT'S, IT'S NOT A, IT, I THINK IT'S MORE OF A FUNCTION OF FOLKS JUST THEY MOVE OUT OF A, OF A POSITION AND SO THEY'RE NO LONGER ABLE TO PARTICIPATE.
SO, UM, YEAH, I'D LIKE TO CONVEY THAT I THINK OUR MEMBERS ARE VERY DEDICATED AND, UM, WANT TO BE A PART OF THIS.
SO, UM, ALSO SUSTAINABILITY, UH, AGAIN, HAVING BUILT THOSE STRUCTURES OUT, WE, WE ARE MOVING INTO THE PART WHERE LIKE THE WORK IS BEING DONE AND WE'RE BEGINNING TO, UM, ADDRESS PRESENT TO THE STEERING COMMITTEE ITEMS THAT WE COLLECTIVELY FEEL HAVE BEEN, UH, ACCOMPLISHED AND WE CAN SAY ARE COMPLETED.
SO, UM, THAT WORK IS STICKING ALONG.
WE, WE HOPE IN THIS NEXT YEAR THAT THIS, WE CALL IT, UM, HANNAH AFFECTIONATELY CALLS IT THRASHING AND THERE WAS A LOT OF THRASHING THAT WAS GOING ON AT FIRST, AND WE'VE WORKED THROUGH THAT.
AND THEN NOW I HOPE THIS, LIKE THIS NEXT YEAR, IT'S REALLY EATING THROUGH THE WORK AND, AND GETTING A LOT OF THINGS COMPLETED.
AND I WANNA HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF IT.
UM, THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN SUCH A POINT OF DIVIDE IN OUR COMMUNITY, IF I CAN SAY IT THAT WAY.
THAT THAT THRASHING IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO COME TOGETHER AND, AND UNDERSTAND WHERE THE OTHER SIDE'S AT AND REALLY HAVE SOME OF THE DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS AND BE ABLE TO DIALOGUE AROUND, THAT'S NOT HOW I SEE IT, OR THIS IS WHAT I THINK.
UM, BECAUSE IF WE'RE NOT DOING SOME OF THAT IN MY MIND, WE'RE NOT DOING THE WORK THAT NEEDS TO BE HAPPENING.
AND SO I DO AFFECTIONATELY CALL IT THRASHING, BUT I ALSO WANNA HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF THRASHING.
AND THAT OFTEN REALLY DOES HAPPEN A LOT MORE IN THE BEGINNING.
NOT ONLY, UM, BUT AS PART OF THE, THE, THE, THE, I DON'T WANNA SAY SLOW START, BUT PART OF WHAT GOES INTO THOSE EARLY STAGES IS WE'RE LEARNING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO WORK TOGETHER AND WHERE WE'RE STUCK.
I I ALSO FEEL LIKE THE, THE PROJECT WORK IS MAKING OUR START, UM, MORE ROBUST AND, AND IT ALL, THE BENEFITS OF THAT I FEEL ARE EXTENDED AND, AND MOVING ON TO SART AS WELL.
SO IT IS WORKING THROUGH LIKE, LIKE WE MENTIONED, PROCESS BEING JUST AS IMPORTANT AS PRODUCT.
AND I THINK WE HAVE ROOM FOR ONE MORE QUESTION 'CAUSE WE NEED TO CLOSE.
UM, I, I NOTICED THAT, UM, THERE'S A SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE, I DON'T REMEMBER THE PERCENTAGE, UM, OF MALE VICTIMS. UM, AND I ONLY SAW ONE KIND OF REALLY OBVIOUSLY MALE NAME ON THE VICTIM SERVICES COUNSELOR CHART.
I'M WONDERING WHAT THE PERCENTAGE OF MALE VICTIM SERVICES COUNSELOR IS IS PRETTY LOW.
UM, WE HAVE TWO, TWO MALES, THREE ON CRISIS TEAM, TWO ON OUR CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM.
AND THEN ONE, ONE IN OUR INVESTIGATION SUPPORT TEAM.
WE'RE, WE'RE ACTIVELY TRYING TO RECRUIT A VERY DIVERSE GROUP, BUT THAT'S, YEAH.
CAN I, AND ONE MORE THING REALLY QUICKLY BACK TO OF COURSE, OF COURSE.
THE OTHER REAL, THE THING, ONE OF THE THINGS WE NEED TO STAY IN THE WORK, THE C-S-C-R-M WORK IS TO MAINTAIN OUR PROJECT MANAGER, AND THAT'S HANNAH, SO I WANNA PUT THAT OUT THERE.
SO WE HAVE, I'M TO KEEP HER IN THAT POSITION IS, IT'S, IT'S VITALLY IMPORTANT TO THIS PROJECT.
SO THAT IS, THAT IS A KEY PRIORITY FOR US GOING INTO THIS NEXT OR COMMISSIONER THIS FISCAL YEAR.
ACTUALLY, JUST ONE FOLLOW UP TO THAT, UM, UH, UH, COMMISSIONER, UH, COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT HAD MENTIONED THE, THE MAIL, BUT, UH, FOR SUPPORT FOR LGBTQ A PLUS, UM, WHAT IS THAT LOOKING LIKE IN, IN TERMS OF THE LANDSCAPE AS WELL? FOR IN TERMS OF STAFF? YES.
UM, AND TRACY? I DON'T, SO WHERE DID TRACY, SHE'S BACK THERE.
UM, SO IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE NECESSARILY WOULD ASK.
[01:50:01]
UM, OR CHOOSE TO SHARE THAT, I DON'T KNOW THE, I I DON'T KNOW THE EXACT PERCENTAGE TO YOU RIGHT NOW.I THINK IT'S, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE KNOW THE PERCENTAGE BECAUSE THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY WHEN WE, IF WE WERE TO ASK FOR IDENTIFICATION TO DECLINE TO ANSWER MM-HMM.
I MEAN, I CAN SAY IT IS IN, IT IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO US AS A TEAM AND IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE DIALOGUE ABOUT, UH, CONSISTENTLY.
UM, IT IS VERY OBVIOUSLY IMPORTANT TO, TO THE TEAM THAT WE HAVE.
THEY ARE ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT IT IN EVERY DIVISION MEETING.
AND ADVOCATING, UM, IN, IN PLACES THAT WE DON'T HEAR ADVOCACY OFTEN.
WELL, UM, I WANNA THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING.
THANK YOU FOR GIVING US THIS DOWNLOAD, THIS UPDATE.
UM, LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING WHAT COMES NEXT.
UM, I THINK IN GENERAL, WE, WE OF COURSE WANNA HEAR ABOUT WE KIND OF BUDGETARY NEEDS YOU GUYS ARE GONNA NEED AS THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR.
LIKE ALL THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS COME UP SOONER THAN IT SEEMS LIKE THEY SHOULD, UM, IN APRIL.
UM, AND ALSO JUST IN TERMS OF, UM, JUST HEARING ABOUT SORT OF THE, THE TRAINING SORT OF FOCUSED, UM, ITEMS ON THE SCOPE, WE WE'RE ALSO VERY INTERESTED IN JUST HEARING ABOUT HOW, HOW THOSE DEVELOP AND HOW THOSE PROGRESS.
AND IF THERE ARE ANY, UM, CONSTRAINTS THAT YOU GUYS HIT.
IF YOU COULD, GUYS JUST LET US KEEP US IN THE LOOP ON THAT, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
WITH THAT, UM, WE ARE ALMOST DONE.
UM, IF WE COULD JUST MOVE ON TO ANY
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
FUTURE AGENDA ITEM REQUESTS.I'M GONNA WHIP THROUGH THIS PRETTY QUICKLY SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE TO GET STUFF ON THE RECORD.
SO THIS IS, UM, MORE OF A QUESTION TO BEGIN WITH THAN A REQUEST, BUT, UM, THE POLICE PROPOSAL THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN TAKE OVER THE ARREST PROCESSING FROM LIKE THE CITY COUNTY, THE CITY JAIL COLLABORATION THAT'S CURRENTLY HAPPENING, UM, IF THAT'S STILL POTENTIALLY IN THE WORKS, I THINK WE NEED TO ADD IT TO THE AGENDA.
DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER ITEMS? HAVE WE ADDED ANYTHING REGARDING AGGRESSIVE DRIVING AND HOW WE'VE BEEN TACKLING THAT AGGRESSIVE DRIVING? NO, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE, NOT, NOT AS A STANDALONE ITEM, BUT I THINK WE DO HAVE SOME TRANSPORTATION SORT OF RELATED STUFF.
BUT I'LL, I'LL WRITE THAT DOWN.
BUT ANYTHING I JUST, UM, I WANTED TO MAKE A COUPLE OF QUICK NOTES.
I KNOW THAT THE CHIEF, OH, COMMISSIONER SMITH.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO KNOW IF WE COULD ADD SOMETHING ON A FUTURE AGENDA CONCERNING THE SOBERING CENTER AND SPECIFICALLY HOW FIRST RESPONDERS ENGAGE, UM, UH, WITH THE SOBERING CENTER, SPECIFICALLY THE CRITERIA BY WHICH THEY DECIDE THOSE TO DISTURB SOBERING CENTER RATHER THAN, AND YES.
WE'LL ADD THAT, UM, I HAD A COUPLE THINGS.
I KNOW THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFF THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER HAS OFFICIALLY MOVED UNDER THE EMS DIVISION.
UM, SO JUST WE'D LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT WHAT THAT'S CHANGED, IF IT'S CHANGED ANYTHING.
LOVE TO HEAR FROM THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER ON THAT.
WOULD YOU LIKE FOR ME TO INCLUDE THAT IN OUR QUARTERLY UPDATE NEXT MONTH? OH, ACTUALLY, YES.
THAT WOULD BE A GREAT WAY TO HANDLE THAT.
SO, UM, JUST HEARING AN UPDATE ON HOW THAT, HOW THAT, I THINK I CAN PROBABLY INCLUDE AT LEAST SOME PRELIMINARY INFORMATION ON SOBERING CENTER AS WELL.
UM, AND THEN THE OTHER THING I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT, AND JUST FOR A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM IS JUST STATUS ON APD DATA.
I KNOW THAT IT'S NOT A OFFICIALLY A PORTAL, BUT THAT LARGE SORT OF UPLOAD OF DATA THAT'S GOING, I KNOW WE LOST MR. MATSON OVER THE SUMMER.
UM, THE STAFFING IS SORT OF TAKING A TOLL.
UM, AND I WANNA KNOW THAT THERE'S, I WANNA HEAR ABOUT WHAT SORT OF CONTINGENCY PLAN IS IN PLACE TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT DATA GATHERING IS STILL HAPPENING.
WE'RE PUSHING FORWARD WITH A VERY SIMILAR TIMELINE.
AND I THINK WE'LL HAVE GOOD, UH, ANSWER FOR YOU, BUT WE'RE HAPPY TO REPORT OUT WHENEVER YOU GUYS ARE READY.
WELL, IT'S AGENDA ITEMS, NEVERMIND AGENDA ITEMS. SO IF WE HAVE ANY OTHER AGENDA ITEMS, UM, I KNOW THAT COMMISSIONER OR HAD ALSO ASKED FOR AN UPDATE ON, IT KEEPS COMING UP IN VARIOUS FORMS, THE ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES.
UM, I FEEL LIKE WE NEED TO DO EVERY, EVERYBODY WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT A LITTLE PIECE.
SO WE WANTED TO HEAR ABOUT THE SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES.
WE WANTED TO HEAR ABOUT THE, THE, THE SCOOTERS IN PEDESTRIANS SORT OF WALKWAYS.
UM, IT, IT'S JUST COME UP IN VARIOUS FORMS. SO I THINK WE JUST NEED TO, I KNOW WE WANNA TALK ABOUT THEM INDIVIDUALLY.
[01:55:01]
I THINK WE JUST NEED TO BUNDLE 'EM TOGETHER AND TALK ABOUT ALL, UH, THE, THE ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES SO THAT I DO HAVE AN AGENDA.UM, AND MAYBE THIS IS SOMETHING THAT COULD BE ADDITION, LIKE ADDED TO THE NEXT LIKE APD QUARTERLY REPORT.
UM, IS WHAT THE POLICY IS ON, UM, UH, ARRESTS OF, UH, LIKE CIVILIAN AND SWORN STAFF OF APD, UM, IN TERMS OF THEIR EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CITY.
I'M GONNA HAVE TO REVISIT THAT QUESTION.
AND THEN COMMISSIONER NGUYEN, UM, I, I KNOW WE HAD THE, UH, FIRST TRAUMA RECOVERY CENTER THAT WAS OPEN HERE IN AUSTIN.
UM, AND I, I KNOW IT'S GONNA TAKE SOME TIME TO BUILD THOSE RELATIONSHIPS.
UM, BUT I'D BE INTERESTED IN SEEING HOW, ESPECIALLY WITH Y'ALL'S OFFICE OVER HERE, HOW WE CAN COLLABORATE MORE LONG TERM, UM, IN LONG-TERM RECOVERY ASPECT.
THINKING IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT TERMS, UM, BECAUSE THOSE, THOSE TRAUMAS LAST YEARS, IF NOT DECADES.
UM, SO AS THAT COMES AND DEVELOPS, I'M WONDERING HOW WE WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING TOGETHER ON THAT END TO ENSURE THAT THOSE VICTIMS RECEIVE THOSE SERVICES AND, AND REALLY HAVE THE, THE HELP THAT THEY NEED THROUGH THE NEW CENTER THAT HAS OPENED UP.
SO AN UPDATE SORT OF STATUS ON TRAUMA RECOVERY CENTER.
UM, WITH THAT, I THINK WE ARE DONE AND I ADJOURN.