[00:00:05]
[CALL TO ORDER]
AHEAD AND GET STARTED.UM, WELCOME TO THE MAY 6TH, UM, REGULAR CALLED MEETING OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION.
UM, I WILL START BY TAKING ROLE, UM, COMMISSIONER HERMA MEYER.
COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT PRESENT.
COMMISSIONER RUTTEN, I BELIEVE, IS NOT GOING TO BE HERE, IS THAT CORRECT? UM, COMMISSIONER N NEN IS NOT HERE YET.
UM, COMMISSIONER REYES WILL NOT BE HERE.
UM, COMMISSIONER SIERRA RELO IS NOT SIGNED ON YET, BUT I BELIEVE HE'S GONNA BE SIGNING ON AND COMMISSIONER SMITH PRESENT.
AND I AM ALSO HERE WITH THAT, WE HAVE QUORUM.
UM, WE'LL JUST KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE, I THINK, TWO ADDITIONAL PEOPLE THAT I THINK TO MAKE SURE.
AND THEN BEFORE WE GET STARTED, UM, I SAW A COUPLE OF OUR, UM, SPEAKERS THAT ARE SIGNED UP FOR ITEM UM, THREE ARRIVE.
IF YOU GUYS COULD JUST BE SURE TO SIGN IN, THAT WOULD BE GREAT ONTO THE SIGN IN SHEET SO WE CAN OFFICIALLY CALL YOU GUYS AT THAT TIME.
UH, CHAIR, THIS IS CHRISTIE PATELLA, THE STAFF LIAISON.
I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT, UH, COMMISSIONER OR I JUST HAVEN'T RECEIVED YOUR CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
IF YOU COULD, IF YOU HAVE NO CONFLICTS, JUST REPLY TO THE EMAIL AND SAY NO CONFLICTS.
UM, AND WITH THAT, UM, DO WE HAVE ANY GENERAL PUBLIC COMMUNICATION? I BELIEVE THE PEOPLE SIGNING UP ARE FOR ITEM THREE.
UM, IF IT'S OKAY WITH YOU ALL, I WAS PLANNING ON TAKING THOSE COMMENTS AT THE TOP OF THAT ITEM.
UM, I'M JUST GONNA LET CHRISTIE GIVE A QUICK GLANCE TO MAKE SURE.
AND FROM THERE, IF YOU GUYS WANNA GO AHEAD AND JUST SKIP AHEAD A LITTLE BIT AND TAKE A GLANCE AT THE MINUTES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE GOOD TO GO WHEN WE GET THERE IN A MINUTE, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
ON TO THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES, WHICH CHRISTIE DISTRIBUTED AND ARE POSTED ONLINE.UM, DO WE HAVE ANY CHANGES, ANY REQUESTS FOR CHANGES DISCUSSION? OKAY.
CAN I GET A, I MOVE FOR APPROVAL? THANK YOU.
CAN I GET A SECOND? SECOND? OKAY.
AND THEN WITH THAT, I'LL JUST GO AHEAD AND TAKE A VOTE.
UM, COMMISSIONER HERM MEYER APPROVE.
COMMISSIONER HOLMES APPROVED COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT APPROVED.
DID I MISS ANYONE? AND I'LL, I'LL APPROVE AS WELL.
AND WITH THAT, WE'LL JUST GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED.
[2. Public Safety Quarterly Report, Austin Fire Department.]
UM, WE'LL START WITH A QUARTERLY REPORT FROM AUSTIN.FIRE KENNEDY, YOU'D LIKE TO GET YOURSELF INTRODUCED.
MY NAME IS JEFF KENNEDY, ONE OF THE ASSISTANT CHIEFS WITH THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT.
VERY HAPPY HERE, UH, TO BE HERE THIS AFTERNOON TO, UH, DELIVER OUR QUARTER TWO REPORT IN THE ABSENCE OF OUR CHIEF OF STAFF.
SO, LAST QUARTER, WE TEASED THAT, UH, FIRE STATION 53 WOULD OPEN, AND IT IS OPEN NOW AS OF FEBRUARY 16TH, WE HAVE AN ENGINE IN A BRUSH TRUCK THAT WE'RE RESPONDING OUT OF THAT STATION, WHICH IS IN DISTRICT TWO, UH, THE GOODNIGHT RANCH NEIGHBORHOOD.
UM, WE ARE CO-LOCATED THERE WITH, UH, AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY EMS MEDIC 42.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE AT THE BOTTOM LEFT THERE AT THE PHOTO, WE DID HAVE A GRAND OPENING ALONG WITH, UH, THE, THE NEIGHBORHOOD COMING OUT, THE COMMUNITY GETTING A TOUR AND, AND MEETING THE NEW FIREFIGHTERS AND MEDICS.
SO, UH, 2024 IS GOING TO BE AN OUTSTANDING YEAR FOR US AS FAR AS OUR INFRASTRUCTURE'S CONCERNED.
AS I SAID, STATION 53 OPENED UP.
UH, WE HAVE ALREADY, UM, HAD THE GROUND POURED IN THE GROUND OPENING, EXCUSE ME, THE GROUND, UH, THE, UM, THE GROUNDBREAKING FOR, UH, STATION 54, WHICH WILL BE AT CANYON CREEK, AND THAT'LL BE IN DISTRICT 10.
UM, THE FOUNDATION HAS BEEN POURED AND THE FRAMING HAS GONE UP FOR THAT STATION.
AND THAT STATION WILL ALSO BE, UH, ONE WHERE WE WILL BE CO CO-LOCATED WITH AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY DMS, AS WELL AS HAVING AN ENGINE IN A BRUSH TRUCK, UH, HOUSED AT THAT STATION.
AND AGAIN, UH, I SAID 24 IS GONNA BE EXCELLENT FOR US.
[00:05:01]
WILL BE, UH, COMPLETED IN AROUND THE WINTER OF THIS YEAR, WHICH WILL BRING TO A CLOSE THE FIVE FIRE STATIONS IN SIX YEARS.SO WE HAVE FIVE OTHER STATIONS THAT ARE IN SOME FORM OF RECONSTRUCTION OR REMODELING, AND WHERE OUR DEFERRED MAINTENANCE AND PROJECTS ARE CONCERNED, STATION 22 IS SLATED TO COME TO COMPLETION AND OPEN AROUND THE END OF THIS MONTH.
AND SO THAT WILL BRING THE LADDER AND THE ENGINE BACK TO, UH, ITS HOME TERRITORY FROM STATION 35.
STATION ONE IS, UH, SLATED TO BE COMPLETED AT THE END OF THE SUMMER OR AROUND THE SUMMER OF THIS YEAR.
AND THOSE THREE UNITS THAT ARE CURRENTLY, UM, DISPLACED OR, UH, RELOCATED, EXCUSE ME, IS A BETTER TERM, UH, WILL FIND THEIR WAY BACK HOME AT AROUND THE SUMMER AS WELL.
SO WE HAVE ENGINE ONE AND LADDER ONE, WHICH ARE ON, UH, 11TH STREET.
AND THEN ENGINE 13, WHICH IS HOUSED WITH STATION SIX OFF CONGRESS.
THE, UH, REMAINING THREE STATIONS, STATION 8 23 AND 25.
UM, THEIR COMPLETION DATES ARE LOOKING TO BE AROUND THE FALL OF THIS YEAR.
AND, UH, AGAIN, THOSE UNITS ARE DISPERSED IN OTHER LOCATIONS.
ENGINE EIGHT IS ON SITE OUT OF A TRAILER THERE AT STATION EIGHT, WHERE LADDER EIGHT IS HOUSED WITH STATION 30.
AND, UH, ENGINE 23 ITSELF IS, UH, ON CAMERON ROAD, A LITTLE BIT AWAY FROM THE STATION IN A TRAILER.
AND ENGINE 25 IS COATED CO-LOCATED WITH STATION 44.
AND SO WHAT WE'RE PROUD OF WITH THESE, UH, UH, PROJECTS IS THAT WE'RE UPGRADING SOME OF THE UTILITIES.
AND THEN FOR OUR FIREFIGHTERS, UH, WE HAVE GENER NEUTRAL BATHROOMS AND INDIVIDUAL ROOMS, BUT FOR OUR FATIGUE MANAGEMENT, AND A, A FEATURE THAT I REALLY LIKE ABOUT NEW DESIGNS IS BEING ABLE TO, UH, ISOLATE THE DIFFERENT CREWS THAT ARE LOCATED TOGETHER WHERE ALARMS ARE CONCERNED.
FOR INSTANCE, UM, AS I WAS COMING UP, IF YOU HAD THREE DIFFERENT CREWS IN THE SAME STATION AND ONLY ONE OF 'EM WAS GOING OUT, ALL THREE WERE AWAKENED.
SO, UM, THAT WOULD DEFINITELY MAKE FOR A RESTLESS NIGHT.
BUT THE NEW TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS FOR YOU TO SELECT WHOMEVER IS ON WHAT UNIT AND WHAT ROOMS AND ONLY THEY WILL BE, UH, ALERTED.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S, UH, AN OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT THERE.
AND THEN ALSO, SOME OF THE FEATURES WITH THE NEW STATIONS ARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES, CHARGING STATIONS, AND THEN COURSE WITH THAT TECHNOLOGY, UH, NOISE REDUCTION IN INSTALLATIONS.
SO, AUTOMATIC AID CONTINUES TO BE A VERY, UH, I WOULD SAY A CROWN JEWEL IN, IN ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR US IN OUR ESD PARTNERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE, FOR INSTANCE, WITH WESTLAKE, THIS LAST QUARTER, I BELIEVE THERE WAS 66 TIMES THAT WESTLAKE RESPONDED INTO AUSTIN'S JURISDICTION AS A FIRST IN UNIT.
AND SO WITH AUTOMATIC AID, IT ALLOWS FOR US TO HAVE NO DELAY IN RESPONSE, UH, NO MATTER THE CALL.
UM, ALSO, UH, IN WESTLAKE, THERE WERE TWO INSTANCES WHERE WE RESPONDED TO HELP THEM WITH FIRES.
ONE IN JANUARY WHERE, UH, IT WAS A CHIMNEY FIRE, WHICH ALLOWED THEIR COMMAND UNIT TO BE ON SCENE.
WE PROVIDED A LADDER UNIT AND AN ENGINE THAT HELPED WITH EXTINGUISHING THE FIRE AND PUTTING IT OUT.
AND THEN, UH, IN THIS QUARTER, I BELIEVE THERE WAS A HOUSE THAT WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION THAT BURNED VERY INTENSELY.
SO, UH, THE FIRE WENT TO SECOND ALARM.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO PROVIDE MORE RESOURCES TO KEEP THAT FIRE CONFINED TO THAT FOUNDATION AND NOT SPREAD TO THE OTHER, UH, HOUSES THAT WERE ROUND IN STRUCTURE.
SO, AGAIN, AN ANOTHER GREAT SUCCESS FOR AUTOMATIC AID AND, UM, CHALLENGES, UH, THAT LAST BULLET IS ONE THAT IS, UM, OF CONCERN OF OURS.
IT'S DE ANNEXATION, UH, AS PER HOUSE BILL 30 53, UH, AS THE VOTE THAT HAPPENED THIS PAST WEEKEND FOR THE, UM, UH, UH, I WANNA SAY MANANA AND, AND, UH, GOSH, I CAN'T THINK OF THE NAME OF THE, THE AREAS, BUT THEY'RE IN THE WESTLAKE AREA.
YEAH, UH, WE DON'T, AS FAR AS I KNOW, THERE ARE NO REAL IMPLICATIONS FOR US, US IN OUR AUTO AID AGREEMENT.
UH, BACK IN JANUARY, FEBRUARY, WE DID HAVE DISCUSSIONS WITH CHIEF WILSON, ALONG WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF CITY OF AUSTIN ON THE IMPLICATIONS OF THAT VOTE AND WHETHER OR NOT IT WOULD REQUIRE US REDRAWING OUR DISTRICTS, AND, UH, ANY OTHER ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AUTOMATIC AGREEMENT ITSELF OR ANYTHING ELSE LEGALLY.
AND AS FAR AS I KNOW TODAY, UH, FROM THAT VOTE, WE DON'T SEE ANYTHING ON THE HORIZON, BUT I WOULD IMAGINE SINCE IT JUST HAPPENED ON SATURDAY, THAT SOMETIME IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO WE'LL PROBABLY CONVENE AGAIN AND, UH, DETERMINE EXACTLY WHAT, WHAT THE ROAD LOOKS LIKE.
UH, WE REPORT ON THIS QUARTERLY, AND, UH, UNFORTUNATELY, AS WE KNOW, UH, IN THE PAST WEEK, THERE WAS A, UH, A SPIKE IN OVER A 24 HOUR PERIOD.
AND SO, UH, TRENDING ON THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE AT THE GRAPH TO THE LEFT, SINCE QUARTER ONE OF 23 TO QUARTER TWO OF THIS YEAR, UM, WE'VE SEEN, UH, A DOWNTREND.
BUT AGAIN, THAT DOESN'T ACTUALLY
[00:10:01]
EQUATE TO HOW, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE PROBLEM IS SEVERE OR HOW IT'S DIMINISHING.BUT WHAT I DO WANT TO LET YOU ALL KNOW WHAT THAT TOP LINE, UH, FOR QUARTER TWO, YOU SEE, WE RESPONDED 138 TIMES TO OVERDOSE CALLS.
UH, THE BOTTOM LINE 71 ARE THE NUMBER OF, UM, TIMES THAT WE AS A FD ADMINISTERED OR ASSISTED IN ADMINISTERING NARCAN.
THE NUMBER IN THE MIDDLE WITH THE YELLOW LINE 95, UH, INDICATES THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE PATIENTS AFTER NARCAN, NARCAN WAS, WAS, UH, ADMINISTERED.
SO, UM, IT AGAIN, PROVES TO BE A VERY VALUABLE AND, UH, NEEDED RESOURCE.
AND, UH, WE ARE HAPPY TO BE PART OF THE RESPONSE FORCE WITH EMS AND A PD AND OTHERS THAT HAVE THAT RESOURCE AVAILABLE FOR THOSE THAT ARE, UH, IN THOSE MEDICAL SITUATIONS.
AND THE, UH, CHART TO THE RIGHT OR THE MAP IN THE RED INDICATES THE NUMBER OF TIMES THAT A FD HAS BEEN ON SCENE TO EITHER ADMINISTER OR ASSIST THE MINISTRY NARCAN AND THE DARK, OR THE BLACK DOTS, OR, UH, JUST THE OTHER CALLS THAT WE HAVE BEEN THERE BUT NOT HAD THE PATIENT CONTACT.
UH, NEXT SLIDE INVESTIGATIONS, WHICH IS PART OF THE FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE, TENDS TO, UM, JUST BE CONSISTENT.
AS YOU CAN SEE, UH, UNDER THAT FIRST BULLET, THE NATIONAL CLEARANCE RATE IS 22%.
WE CONTINUE TO BE CONSISTENT WELL ABOVE THAT.
QUARTER ONE, WE HAD A 38% CLEARANCE RATE, AND QUARTER TWO WE HAD A 46, UH, PERCENT CLEARANCE RATE.
AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT FROM THE TIME THAT THE CALL HAS COME IN AND IT'S BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A POSSIBLE ARSON CASE OR SITUATION, OUR INVEST INVESTIGATORS GO OUT AND, UH, THEY, THEY, UH, DIG THE SCENE, SO TO SPEAK, AND THEN MAKE THE CONNECTION AND EITHER, UH, IT LEADS TO A CITATION OR AN ARREST.
SO, UM, MOST RECENTLY IN THE NEWS, THE ARREST OF DORSEY BRIAN HARDIMAN, WHO WAS, UH, FOUND TO BE IN CONNECTION TO MULTIPLE FIRES IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE SUCCESSES, UH, UH, FROM OUR ARSON INVESTIGATIONS OFFICE.
UH, AS OF THIS MORNING, IF YOU WERE, UH, ABLE TO SEE THE MAYOR AND, UH, THE COUNTY JUDGE COLLECTIVELY OR TO, TOGETHER WITH A, UH, PRESS BRIEFING, UM, URGED THE COMMUNITY TO, UH, BE PREPARED AS WE ARE APPROACHING OUR WILDFIRE SEASON, UM, THAT MESSAGING IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE, ARE PROUD TO, UH, PUSH OUT AND PUSH FORWARD.
AND WITH, UH, THE COLLECTION OF, OF SPECIALTIES AND SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS IN COLLABORATION WITH DIFFERENT AGENCIES.
UH, THIS PAST SATURDAY, WE HAD, UH, THE WILDFIRE SYMPOSIUM FOR THE 2024, UM, UH, PREPAREDNESS CAMPAIGN.
AND SO WITH THE COUNTY, UH, WITH OTHER ESDS AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS IN THE, THE CITY OF AUSTIN, WE WERE AT THE, UH, ROSEWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITY ON THE EAST SIDE.
AND, UH, HAD ABOUT FIVE HOURS OF, OF EDUCATION AND INTERACTION AND, UM, UH, DISPLAYS FOR, FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE ON THAT MESSAGING.
SO, WITH THE MAYOR AND, UH, THE JUDGE TODAY, OUR EFFORTS ON THIS PAST SATURDAY, UH, THE WILDFIRE DIVISION, ALONG WITH, UH, AGAIN, MANY OF OUR OTHER CITY PARTNERS ARE DOING A GREAT JOB.
MATTER OF FACT, UM, LAST WEEKEND WE WERE OUT, UM, ON THE EAST SIDE WITH DOOR HANGERS, CANVASSING THE NEIGHBORHOOD, AND DID WELL OVER A THOUSAND DID OF THOSE.
SO, UH, BACK TO THE TOP WITH OUR OUTREACH IN EDUCATION, WE HAVE A THIRD PERSON ASSIGNED TO THE WILDFIRE MITIGATION, UH, POSITION.
AND AGAIN, THEY'RE OUT THERE IN, UH, UH, MEETING AND GREETING AND, AND WORKING IN THE COMMUNITIES.
WE ARE CURRENTLY WITH THE, UM, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OFFICE WORKING ON, UH, THE COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN, UPDATING IT, UM, THAT IS A VERY, VERY THICK, UH, BOOK, BUT IT IS VERY DETAILED WITH THE THINGS THAT ARE NECESSARY TO PREPARE OUR COMMUNITY.
AND AGAIN, WE ARE FOCUSING ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IN, IN, IN THAT EFFORT.
AND, UM, THE THIRD BULLET IS ONE THAT WILL PROBABLY YIELD SOME SORT OF RESULT HERE AS THE UT UH, UH, SEMESTER COMES TO A CLOSE, UH, COLLABORATING WITH UT.
UH, WE WERE WORKING ON A, UM, SMOKE WARNING PROGRAM AND, UM, UH, SMOKE ALERTING PROGRAM.
AND MY UNDERSTANDING WITH, UH, TALKING WITH, UH, JUSTICE JONES TODAY THAT AS THIS, UH, SEMESTER IS ENDING, THERE SHOULD BE SOME REPORT ON, UH, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT THEY FOUND WITH, WITH THAT RESEARCH STUDY.
AND, UM, AGAIN, UH, WITH THAT NEXT BULLET IS ESTABLISHING PARTNERSHIPS.
WE'VE ESTABLISHED PARTNERSHIPS WITH, UH, GAVA.
WE'VE ESTABLISHED A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE, UM, UM, UH, AUSTIN CERT COMMUNITY, AND THEN SPECIFICALLY THE AUSTIN, UM, DISASTER RELIEF NETWORK.
[00:15:01]
TO, OR NOT BEGINNING, BUT WE'RE CONTINUING TO FOSTER, UH, COLLABORATIONS IN, IN PARTNERSHIPS TO MULTIPLY AND MAGNIFY THAT MESSAGE OF PREPAREDNESS.UM, THE DEPARTMENT IS VERY PROUD TO HAVE, UM, WORKED ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE, UH, WILDFIRE AND VULNERABILITIES POPULATIONS TOOL.
AND WHAT THAT DOES IS IT HELPS PEOPLE IDENTIFY THE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT HAVE WILDFIRE LAP, UM, EXCUSE ME, WILDFIRE THREATS, AND, UM, OTHER VULNERABILITIES, EXCUSE ME, TO, YOU KNOW, HAVE A WAY TO PREPARE AND BE INFORMED.
AND THEN, AS ALWAYS, ATX WILDFIRE.COM, WE'LL TAKE YOU TO OUR HUB AND OTHER MATERIALS AND OTHER LINKS THAT WILL HELP FURTHER THE PREPARATION FOR, UM, THE WILDFIRE THREAT FOR THE COMMUNITY.
AND THE OTHER THING THAT I WANTED TO ADD WAS THAT WITH OUR OUTREACH TO, UH, THE DIFFERENT PARTNERS, UM, WE'VE ALSO HAVE MATERIALS THAT ARE BEING TRANSLATED IN OTHER LANGUAGES AS WELL.
SO, THE FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE REMAINS VERY BUSY AND EMPLOYED.
MM-HMM,
UH, THE THING THAT I WANNA BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION IS, UM, THE BULLET THAT IS ENTITLED 2024 SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.
UM, WE SPENT WELL OVER 800 HOURS, UH, JUST IN SUPPORT OF THE EVENT ITSELF AND THOSE, THOSE 10 DAYS, BUT IT DOESN'T REALLY ACCOUNT FOR THE HOURS THAT WERE SPENT PRIOR TO IT IN GRANTING PERMITS AND DOING THE WORK BEHIND THE SCENES FOR THE EVENT THAT, UH, TO BE CARRIED ON.
AND FOR THOSE THAT WERE EXPERIENCING THE EVENT TO HAVE THE BEST EXPERIENCES THAT THEY COULD, UH, FOR NASCAR AND MOTO GP.
AS WE RAN OUT THE FINAL BULLETS ON THIS SLIDE, AGAIN, WE, UH, HAVE AT LEAST 30 PEOPLE ON SCENE OR ON SITE, EACH OF THOSE THREE DAYS OF THOSE EVENTS.
SO AGAIN, WE HAVE A VERY ROBUST, UH, PRESENCE.
BUT THE FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE REMAINS VERY BUSY AND ENGAGED ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS IN MAKING SURE THAT THESE EVENTS, UH, GO OFF UNDER UNINTERRUPTED.
AND THE COMPLIANCE ENGINE IS ANOTHER, UH, PORTION OF THE, UH, FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE.
UM, THIS IS A DATABASE THAT HELPS US TRACK THE COMPLIANCE OR NON-COMPLIANCE OF FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS IN COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS, WHETHER IT BE THE ALARM SYSTEM ITSELF OR SPRINKLERS.
UH, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM QUARTER ONE, WE'VE HAD A 2% INCREASE FROM 84% TO 86%.
AND WHAT THAT IS, IS A VISUAL ON OVER 36,000, UH, FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS IN FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS IN THE CITY.
SO THERE'S A LARGE NUMBER AND, UH, WE HAVE, UH, VISIBILITY ON 86%.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, WE'RE CONTINUING TO TREND UP.
UH, THERE WAS A TREND UP THERE IN, UH, FISCAL YEAR 19, EXCUSE ME, IN 2019 THAT DROPPED OFF WITH COVID.
AND SINCE THEN WE'VE SLOWLY GONE UP.
I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT THAT 86% IS ALSO THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE RATING THAT WE'VE HAD SINCE WE'VE, UM, UH, ADOPTED AND WORKED WITH THE COMPLIANCE ENGINE.
AND CORE TO WHAT WE DO IS, UH, COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND MAKING SURE THAT OUR RESIDENTS ARE SAFE IN THEIR HOMES, AND WE DO SO BY PROVIDING, UH, FREE SMOKE ALARMS AND THEN ANY TRAINING THAT MAY BE REQUIRED OR REQUESTED.
AS YOU CAN SEE UNDER THE BULLET FOR SMOKE ALARMS IN QUARTER ONE, WE PROVIDED 115 AND QUARTER TWO.
THAT NUMBER SKYROCKETED TO 488, AND BY NATURAL PROGRESSION OF THE HOLIDAYS, UM, NOT BEING ABLE TO GET OUT AS OFTEN.
AND CANVAS IS THAT FREEZING IN DIFFERENCE IN THAT, THAT LARGE NUMBER.
UH, AS FAR AS FIRE SAFETY TRAINING IS CONCERNED, UM, WE IT DOWN A LITTLE, UH, AND THOSE ARE THE REQUESTS FROM PEOPLE TO HAVE, UH, SOME SORT OF HANDS-ON FIRE EXTINGUISHER TRAINING OR SOME SORT OF FIRE, UH, AWARENESS TRAINING, WHETHER IT BE DEMONSTRATION OR IN AN EDUCATION, UM, UM, METHOD.
AND THEN RED ANGELS, UH, THE RED ANGELS PROGRAM IS, UM, SOMETHING THAT, UH, WE DO IN COLLABORATION WITH AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE'S NURSING PROGRAM, WHERE WE GO INTO HOMES AND WE PROVIDE WELLNESS CHECKS AS WELL AS DO HOME HAZARD SAFETY ASSESSMENTS.
AND THIS QUARTER, UH, WE'VE DONE 65, AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT QUARTER THREE, THE NUMBERS WILL BE ABOUT THE SAME.
REAL WILL, WILL REMAIN ROBUST.
AND SO HERE WE HAVE, UH, THE SLIDE THAT KIND OF TALKS ABOUT OUR SEPARATIONS, BOTH ON THE SWORN SIDE AND, UH, THE CIVILIAN SIDE.
TO THE LEFT IS THE GRAPH THAT, UH, DEPICTS OUR RETIREMENTS IN BLUE AND OUR RESIGNATIONS IN RED.
AND AS OF APRIL 11TH, WE CURRENTLY HAVE 59 VACANCIES IN THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT.
UM, AND I'LL SPEAK A LITTLE BIT MORE TO THAT IN THE NEXT SLIDES ON HOW, UM, THE DIFFERENCES IS COMING THERE.
BUT TO THE RIGHT OF THAT SLIDE, YOU ALSO SEE THAT WE HAVE 16 VACANCIES IN OUR CIVILIAN SECTION, AND THAT'S SPREAD ACROSS THOSE, UM, SECTIONS THERE BETWEEN FINANCE AND WILDFIRE.
[00:20:01]
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, WITH THE BLUE DEPICTING OUR RETIREMENTS, UH, WE'VE GOT, UH, AN EXPERIENCE THAT'S, YOU KNOW, TRANSITIONING OUT WITH, UH, 28 YEARS OR MORE OF, OF THAT AVERAGE.SO, UM, UH, THE RESIGNATIONS ARE A LITTLE BIT ON THE YOUNGER END, AND WHAT WE HAVE FOUND THERE ARE MOST OF THOSE ARE FOLKS THAT ARE LOOKING TO GO BACK HOME AND, UH, SUPPORT THEIR SPOUSES AND FAMILY WITH, WITH OTHERS.
UH, THERE ARE VERY FEW THAT, UH, ARE JUST LEAVING BECAUSE, UH, THEY WANNA DO SOMETHING ELSE OTHER THAN AUSTIN FIRE.
AND SO, AS I WAS SPEAKING ABOUT THE 59 VACANCIES, UM, FROM THE EFFORTS OF THE 23 HIRING PROCESS, WE CURRENTLY HAVE TWO CADET CLASSES IN SESSION RIGHT NOW.
UH, CLASS 1 37 IS, UH, SCHEDULED TO GRADUATE ON AUGUST 9TH.
THEY CURRENTLY HAVE 34 STUDENTS OR CADETS.
THEY STARTED OUT WITH 39, UH, CADET CLASS 1 38 BEGAN A COUPLE WEEKS AGO ON AUGUST 22ND.
AND THEY CURRENTLY HAVE, UH, 22 STUDENTS.
THEY STARTED OUT WITH 24 WITH AN EXPECTED GRADUATION ON NOVEMBER 1ST.
SO THAT BRINGS US UP TO ABOUT, UH, 56 OF, UH, OF HOPEFULS THAT WE'LL HAVE IF THEY CONTINUE TO PROGRESS WELL THROUGH THE, UH, THE CADET CLASS WITH THAT 59 THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE.
SO WE'RE, UH, CONTINUING WORKING TO CLOSE THAT GAP ON OUR VACANCIES ON THE SWORN SIDE.
UH, THE 2024 HIRING PROCESS BEGAN IN MARCH OF THIS YEAR.
AND THAT, UH, THE APPLICATION PROCESS ENDED IN, UH, ON APRIL THE 17TH.
WE HAD CLOSE TO 1400 APPLICANTS.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S HAPPENING NOW IS THEY'RE GETTING READY TO DO THE WRITTEN EXAM AND THEN THE ORAL INTERVIEWS.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE SLIDE, MAY 28TH AND 29TH ARE WHEN THESE WILL HAPPEN.
WHAT WE'VE DONE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY THIS YEAR IS THAT WE'VE OFFERED THE WRITTEN EXAM AND THE ORAL, UH, INTERVIEW ON THE SAME DAY, ON EACH DAY.
SO USUALLY IT WOULD BE YOU COME FOR ONE, UH, UH, CALENDAR DAY FOR THE WRITTEN, AND YOU COME BACK LATER FOR ANOTHER CALENDAR DAY FOR THE ORAL.
AND THAT WENT FOR EVERYBODY THIS YEAR.
WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING TO DO, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO IS SPLIT THAT UP, LET'S SAY, OF THAT 1400, 700 SHOW UP ON THE 28TH, AND THEY GET THE WRITTEN EXAM AND THE ORAL PROCESS, AND THEY'RE DONE UNTIL THE NEXT ROUND.
THE NEXT DAY, THE NEXT 700 DO THE SAME THING.
UH, AND THEN TO THE BOTTOM LEFT, YOU'LL SEE THE CURRENT, UH, DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF THOSE WHO WERE, UH, OF THE 1400 APPLICANTS IN THIS 2024, UH, PROCESS.
UM, IN RECRUITING THOSE FOLKS THAT HAVE DONE SUCH A GREAT JOB IN WORKING TO GET OUR CADETS THROUGH THE DOOR, WE'LL CONTINUE THAT HARD WORK.
UM, AND AGAIN, THE FIRST BULLET GOES BACK TO THE APPLICATION PROCESS, WHICH, WHICH CLOSED ON APRIL 17TH.
RIGHT NOW, WHAT THEY'LL DO IS, UH, CONTINUE TO WORK TO KEEP THOSE IN THE PROCESS ENGAGED AND THEN WORK ON, UH, WHAT WILL BE THE NEXT ROUND NEXT YEAR.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, WE WERE PROUD OF IS THAT, UH, OUR ONLINE CAMPAIGN AD ENDED UP WITH, UH, 1.3 MILLION VIEWS IN THIS AREA BETWEEN DALLAS AND SAN ANTONIO AND THEN EAST OF THE WITH HOUSTON.
AND THEN, UH, SOMETHING I HAD TO ASK ABOUT, UH, IN THAT, THAT LAST, THAT SECOND TO THE LAST BULLET ABOUT OUR SMART TV, MOBILE AND TABLET ADS THAT HAD, UH, OVER 400,000 IMPRESSIONS WITH A HUNDRED THOUSAND UNIQUE HOUSEHOLDS IN THE AUSTIN AREA.
UM, BASICALLY WHAT THAT IS, IS THAT OF THE 400 AND SOME ODD THOUSAND PEOPLE THAT LOOKED AT IT, UM, A HUNDRED THOUSAND WERE, I GUESS, SINGLED OUT AS THE, THAT WAS THE ONLY TIME THAT THEY SAW IT.
UM, THAT'S THE BEST I CAN EXPLAIN HOW IT WAS EXPLAINED TO ME.
BUT EITHER WAY, IT'S GOOD NEWS THAT, UM, OUR, OUR AD CAMPAIGNS AND WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IN, IN RECRUITING IS, UH, CONTINUE TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
AND, UM, SO MY APOLOGIES ON THIS SLIDE HERE, UH, PAST THE TORCH AND THE FIRES EXPLORERS POST THREE 70 WHERE YOU SEE THE QUARTER TWO UPDATE UNDER PASS THE TORCH THAT SHOULD ACTUALLY BE UNDER THE EXPLORERS AND VICE VERSA.
SO WHAT I'LL DO IS START WITH THE TOP, WITH PASS THE TORCH.
UM, YOU KNOW, THOSE PARTICIPANTS BASICALLY GET AN IDEA OF WHAT THE, UH, FIRE DEPARTMENT ACADEMY WILL, WILL LOOK LIKE, AND THEY DO IT OVER A WEEKEND SESSIONS.
AND SO THIS PARTICULAR, UH, GROUP IS THE 10TH THAT WE'VE HAD IN 10 YEARS, SO WE'VE KIND OF HAD OUR 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY, AND THEY HAVE FIVE SESSIONS LEFT.
UH, WHAT'S ALSO NOTABLE HERE IS THAT ALL 35 OF THE PARTICIPANTS OF THIS YEAR'S PASS THE TORCH ARE, UH, THEY ALL APPLIED FOR THE 2024, UM, UM, APPLICATION PROCESS.
AND REALLY WHAT HAPPENS IS THIS PASS THE TORCH PROGRAM IS CONTINUING TO PASS THE TORCH.
THAT BOTTOM BULLET DOES HAVE, UM, UH, A DISCREPANCY IN IT OF THE 18 INSTRUCTORS FOR PASS THE TORCH.
A THIRD OF THEM SIX WERE PASSED THE TORCH GRADUATES, UH, NOT EXPLORER GRADUATES.
[00:25:01]
IT, IT KEEPS ON GIVING.AND THIS, UH, PASS TORCH CLASS WILL HAVE THEIR GRADUATION CEREMONY, UH, IN JANUARY, EXCUSE ME, JULY, JULY 13TH AT THE PDC.
SO, UM, FOR THE FIRE EXPLORERS POST THREE 70, WHICH IS, UH, UH, AN EXTENSION OF, UH, THE SCOUT PROGRAM FOR THOSE THAT AGE OUTTA SCOUTS, UH, BACK AT THE TOP FOR THE QT UH, UPDATE, UH, THAT GROUP OF 12, UH, THERE ARE OTHERS THAT PARTICIPATE, BUT WE HAD A GROUP OF 12 THAT WENT TO DALLAS FOR, UH, THE FIRE GAMES IN APRIL OF THIS YEAR.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THEY TOOK SECOND PLACE IN THE EMS EVENT, THIRD PLACE IN THE ROOM SEARCH EVENT, AND FIRST PLACE IN THE HOSE OFF COMPETITION.
AND WHAT THAT IS, IS, UH, KIND OF A, A TUG OF WAR TYPE THING WHERE YOU HAVE TWO OPPOSING FIRE STREAMS WITH A BARREL IN THE MIDDLE HANGING ON A CABLE, AND WHO CAN EVER PUSH THAT BARREL WITH THEIR FIRE STREAM TO OTHER SIDE WINS.
SO WE TOOK FIRST PLACE IN THAT.
AND SO, UM, THAT GROUP, MUCH LIKE THE, UH, PASTOR TORCH GROUP, WILL, UH, BE ENDING THEIR SESSION, UH, HERE REAL SOON AT THE END OF THIS, UH, MONTH.
AND THEN A NEW SESSION FOR THEM WILL, WILL BEGIN IN THE FALL.
SO AGAIN, PART OF THE RECRUITING PROCESS, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S PAYING, IT'S DIVIDENDS, IT'S GIVING, AND IT'S GIVING BACK.
AND I BELIEVE THAT THAT IS THE LAST SLIDE FOR OUR QUARTERLY REPORT.
UM, IF YOU CAN DOUBLE CHECK THE LAST SLIDE.
UH, ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY, COMMISSIONERS, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER MEYER? ALRIGHT, I HAVE ONE AND HAS DEAL WITH YOUR SLIDE ON NORCAN.
I WOULD LIKE, THE QUESTION IS, IS DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH? AND IF NOT, AND THIS WOULD BE FOR ALL THREE OF THE, THE BRANCHES, DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH? AND IF NOT, WHAT CAN WE DO TO, TO ENSURE THAT YOU ALL OFFICERS, FIREMEN AND EMS HAVE ENOUGH? NOR, UH, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, WE DO HAVE ENOUGH.
AND, UH, AS FIRE, WE DEFINITELY GET OUR SUPPLY AND RESUPPLY FROM OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH, AT, UH, FROM AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY EMS. BUT YES, WE DO HAVE ENOUGH.
RELATED TO AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY, EMS WEST HOPKINS, I'M THE NEW CHIEF OF STAFF FOR AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY EMS. UH, WE DO HAVE AN AMPLE SUPPLY OF NARCAN.
WE SUPPLY NOT ONLY THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT, WE'RE WORKING WITH THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT TO REPLENISH THEIR STOCK TO ENSURE OUR WAREHOUSE HAS ENOUGH FOR AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY EMS AMBULANCES, AND A BACK STOCK OF DEPLOYMENT TO BUILD RESCUE NARCAN KITS THAT OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDICS CAN DEPLOY OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY, JUST LIKE YOU SAW IN THIS LAST SURGE.
AND WE WILL DIVE MORE INTO THAT INTO JUNE WHEN EMS GIVES OUR QUARTERLY REPORT.
WE HAVE ENOUGH, UM, WE'RE COMFORTABLE WITH OUR CURRENT BUDGETARY SUPPLY AND ONGOING IN TERMS OF BEING ABLE TO RESUPPLY THAT.
COMMISSIONER SMITH, IN REGARDS TO WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS, DO WE HAVE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT ENCAMPMENTS HAVE, UM, GOING INTO THE SUMMER MONTHS? I KNOW THAT'S ALWAYS AN ISSUE FOR US, AND I DID GET AN ASK FROM COMMUNITY IN REGARDS, UH, TO THAT REQUEST.
I DO NOT HAVE AN ANSWER FOR YOU ON THAT, BUT I CAN DEFINITELY GET BACK WITH YOU ON HOW THAT IS, IF THAT PROGRAM EXISTS AND WHERE IT FALLS IN WITH A FD.
AND WITH PARTNERSHIPS THAT YOU'RE ESTABLISHING, WE MAY ALSO WANT TO, UH, LOOK AT THE COMMUNITY RESILIENCE TRUST IN MY DAY JOB.
THAT'S HOW I PLUG INTO INCLEMENT WEATHER RESPONSE WHEN IT COMES TO OUR IN HOUSE NEIGHBORS.
AND THOSE WERE THE INDIVIDUALS THAT DID SEND ME THAT REQUEST.
I DO HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION, BUT CHAIR, IF YOU'D LIKE TO GO TO SOMEONE ELSE AND COME BACK, THAT'S COMPLETELY FINE WITH ME.
I WAS WONDERING IF WE HAVE ANY ANALYSIS THAT WE CAN BE PROVIDED WITH NEXT TIME AROUND, UM, ON THE UPTICKS OF OVERDOSES WE SAW LAST WEEK, THANK YOU TO OUR FIRST RESPONDERS FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, ANSWERING THAT CALL.
BUT IT WOULD BE NICE TO BE PROVIDED SOME TYPE OF SWOT ANALYSIS IN REGARDS TO HOW WE DID, UM, YOU KNOW, WORKING WITH EACH OTHER AND CONSIDERING THERE WAS, UM, SUCH A LARGE AMOUNT SPREAD GEOGRAPHICALLY.
WHAT LESSONS DID WE LEARN? WHAT THINGS DO YOU ALL NEED TO BE, UM, PUT INTO A BETTER POSITION OF SUCCESS, WHAT WE CAN DO AS A COMMISSION IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT YOU CONTINUE TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THOSE ENDEAVORS? YES, MA'AM.
UH, I DO KNOW WITH THE SPIKE ON THE 29TH, WE RESPONDED TO, UH, OVER 50 IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS AND HAD GREAT SUPPORT FROM, UH, AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY EMS ON THAT RESPONSE, AS WELL AS THE RESUPPLY OF OUR NARCAN.
SO, UH, WE CAN DEFINITELY DO WHAT, WHAT YOU'VE ASKED.
WE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? I HAD ONE, AND IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF A, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE THE ANSWER NOW, BUT IT'S ALSO KIND OF LOOKING AHEAD TO OUR CONVERSATIONS WE'RE GONNA BE HAVING IN THE COMING MONTHS ON FLEET IS JUST AS I WAS LOOKING AT THE STATS, UM, THE QUARTERLY STATS OF COURSE, UM, IT'S NO SECRET THAT THE, THAT THAT A LARGE PART OF THE CALLS THAT FIRE RESPONSE TO OUR, IN FACT, MEDICAL AND JUST SORT OF
[00:30:01]
THINKING ABOUT HOW, HOW WE, HOW, WHAT KIND OF VEHICLES, HOW WE LE HOW WE BEST LEVERAGE FLEET TO RESPOND TO THOSE KINDS OF CALLS.AT THIS POINT, THEY STILL RESPOND WITH BUYER ENGINES TO MEDICAL CALLS, IS THAT CORRECT? YES.
AND SO I GUESS, UM, JUST KIND OF THINKING AHEAD TO OUR CONVERSATION ON FLEET, THAT'S GONNA BE COMING UP IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS, JUST MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE PREPARED TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT IS THAT THE BEST USE OF VEHICLES FOR THOSE KINDS OF, I KNOW THAT IT'S COMPLICATED.
I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF FACTORS AND I WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION, BUT IN RELATION SPECIFICALLY TO THE REALITY THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE CALLS THAT FIRE RESPONSE TO ARE IN FACT MEDICAL AND WHAT KINDS OF REQUIRED, LIKE, VEHICULAR REQUIREMENTS ARE THERE.
UM, AND WHAT ROOM IS THERE TO SORT OF SHIFT WHAT WE DO? SO LET'S JUST KIND OF THINKING AHEAD YES, MA'AM.
AND WE'VE HAD SOME OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS ON, UH, SQUADS THAT KIND OF HELP ANSWER THAT QUESTION, BUT WE WOULD LOVE TO CONTINUE.
AND, AND, AND GO DOWN THAT ROAD.
DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OH, COMMISSIONER BERNHARD, UM, THIS IS MORE, UH, SOMETHING THAT'S ON MY MIND AND THAT I WAS HOPING THAT MAYBE OUR COMMISSION COULD ADDRESS IN THE FUTURE, UM, IS, UH, UH, WHAT Y'ALL ARE DOING AS A DEPARTMENT TO TRACK CANCERS RELATED TO PFAS.
UM, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THEY'RE, UH, SORT OF INTEGRAL TO YOUR UNIFORMS AT THIS POINT.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF Y'ALL ARE STILL USING FOAM THAT INCLUDES THOSE CHEMICALS.
SO, UH, WE JUST RECENTLY GOT A, A NEW STOCK OF THE NEW FOAM THAT'S BEEN SPECED FOR, UM, UH, I, I WAS GONNA SAY AEROSPACE, BUT OUT AT THE AIRPORT.
AND SO THAT FOAM IS P FFO S FREE.
SO WE'VE ALREADY HAD SOME, UM, UM, TESTING TO, UH, SEE HOW IT WORKS, HOW IT, IT'S DIFFERENT THAN THE OTHER FOAM.
ACTUALLY, IT WILL REQUIRE SEVERAL MORE, UH, GALLONS PER INCIDENT TO MAKE SURE THAT IT, IT HAS THE SAME EQUAL, UM, PROTECTION, YOU KNOW, AS, AS THE PREVIOUS FOAM.
SO YES, WE, WE'VE HAD THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND WE HAVE THAT IN STOCK, BUT WE ALSO ARE EMBARKING UPON AN INITIATIVE TO HAVE, UM, A NUMBER OF OUR PERSONNEL TESTED, UH, FOR THE EFFECTS THAT HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO COME FROM HAVING THE PFAS EXPOSURE.
DO, DO Y'ALL HAVE A, UM, THE CAPACITY TO JUST DO BLOOD TESTS TO, TO FIND OUT SORT OF WHAT LEVELS FOLKS HAVE GOTTEN THEIR SYSTEMS? SO I KNOW THAT THAT'S PART OF THE PROCESS.
I, I CAN'T SPEAK DIRECTLY TO IT BEING THE ANSWER, BUT I DO KNOW IT'S PART OF THE PROCESS AND SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE, UH, ALREADY EMPLOYED IN GOING DOWN THAT ROAD.
AND WITH THAT, I THINK WE ARE GOING TO MOVE ON.
UM, AND WE ARE GONNA GO AHEAD AND MOVE
[3. Cadet Training/Academy Update and Kroll Report Review with Austin Police Department.]
ON TO OUR NEXT ITEM.UM, WHAT IF WE CAN HAVE THE SPEAKERS THAT ARE COMING, I BELIEVE KATHY MITCHELL AND SAM ARE UP, YOU GUYS CAN COME UP AND GIVE YOUR COMMENTS FIRST WHILE EVERYONE'S GETTING SETTLED.
UM, I DID THANK YOU CHIEF HOPKINS FOR INTRODUCING YOURSELF, HOW YOU DID.
I JUST WANTED TO TAKE A SECOND.
UM, CHIEF GARDNER'S NOT WITH US, UM, ANYMORE.
UM, AND SO CHIEF HOPKINS WILL BE HERE, UM, MOVING FORWARD, SO CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME.
AND IF YOU WANNA JUST INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND, UM, JUST FOR THE RECORD, UM, OUR NEXT ITEM IS CADET TRAINING AND THE ACADEMY UPDATE TALKING ABOUT THE CRAWL REPORT REVIEW WITH THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
UH, CHAIR, DO YOU WANNA JUST REMIND THERE'S THREE MINUTES PER SPEAKER? YES.
HI, MY NAME IS SAM LIDY AND I'M A FORMER AUSTIN POLICE OFFICER.
UM, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME TODAY.
I RESIGNED FROM THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT IN FEBRUARY OF 2021.
I COMPLAIN ABOUT SEXISM AND ULTIMATELY RETALIATION.
I'M GONNA READ A LETTER THAT I SENT TO THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS INVESTIGATION THAT INITIATED AS A RESULT OF THE COMPLAINT THAT I MADE.
UM, A PD DECLINED TO ATTEND MY CLOSEOUT MEETING, AND I SENT THIS LETTER IN RESPONSE.
THIS LETTER DID ULTIMATELY BECOME THE DEMAND LETTER FOR THE CONSEQUENTIAL LAWSUIT THAT I FILED AGAINST THE CITY.
UH, I DEMANDED FOUR THINGS IN MY LETTER TO MAKE BRAZILIAN JIUJITSU MANDATORY.
MORE HANDS-ON DEFENSIVE TACTICS TRAINING.
SAFE CORE ADVOCACY TRAINING SHOULD BE MANDATORY.
THAT'S SEXUAL ASSAULT AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ADVOCACY TRAINING FOR OFFICERS.
THREE, RACIAL PROFILING DATA IMPROVEMENTS, AND FOUR LESS OFFICER DISCRETION ABOUT WHICH CALLS TO TAKE.
THESE REFORMS ARE JUST AS RELEVANT TODAY AS THEY WERE THREE YEARS AGO.
AND I'LL READ EXCERPTS FROM MY LETTER NOW AND THEN I'M AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS.
[00:35:07]
ALTHOUGH I DID NOT HAVE A PLEASANT OR APPROPRIATE EXPERIENCE WHILE I WAS WITH A PDI CARE DEAR DEARLY ABOUT THIS DEPARTMENT AND OUR AUSTIN COMMUNITY.IN ADDITION TO MY OWN ROLE AS AN ADVOCATE WITHIN SOCIAL SERVICES PRIOR TO BECOMING A COP, AND THEN MY TIME WITH A PD, I HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME TRYING TO THINK OF SOLUTIONS THAT IMPACT BOTH THE COMMUNITY AND DEPARTMENT ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS, A PD DOES FAIL WOMEN WHO ARE VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE.
I WITNESS THAT FIRSTHAND AS AN OFFICER.
DESPITE THE VOLUME OF FAMILY VIOLENCE CALLS, OFFICERS ARE NOT KNOWLEDGEABLE AND OFTEN APPEAR NOT TO CARE ABOUT THE DYNAMICS OF FAMILY VIOLENCE AND THE SAFETY OF VICTIMS. EVEN MORE DISCOURAGING WAS THAT I VIEWED WAS THE RESPONSE I VIEWED IN RESPONSE TO SEX CRIMES CALLS.
I SAW OFFICERS FAIL TO RECOGNIZE SEXUAL ASSAULT, OUTCR SEX CRIME SERVICE CALLS HOLDING LONGER THAN NECESSARY OR DOWNGRADED BECAUSE OFFICERS DON'T LIKE RESPONDING TO SUCH CALLS.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, THE SEXISM WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT AND RACIALLY CHARGED PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES.
ALTHOUGH WHAT I WITNESSED AND EXPERIENCED IS NOT TRUE OF EVERY POLICE OFFICER IN THE DEPARTMENT, A PD MUST DO BETTER.
THESE ARE THE FOLLOWING CHANGES THAT I BELIEVE NEED TO BE MADE TO MAKE A PDA BETTER DEPARTMENT.
BRAZILIAN JIUJITSU HAS TO BE MANDATORY.
WE KNOW IN LAW ENFORCEMENT THAT UNTRAINED FORCE CAN LOOK LIKE EXCESSIVE FORCE.
THE PUBLIC HAS RAISED THE STANDARD FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT IN RESPONSE TO RESISTANCE.
UNTRAINED FORCE IS EXCESSIVE FORCE.
WHILE MULTIPLE STRIKES MAY EVENTUALLY BE EFFECTIVE, IT IS NOT EFFICIENT.
ALTHOUGH CHAPTER NINE OF THE PENAL CODE IS BROAD, IT SHOULD BE A REQUIREMENT OF OUR DEPARTMENT TO MAKE TRAINING EXPECTATIONS CLEAR.
JUUJITSU BEING MANDATORY WILL BENEFIT THE TOXIC CULTURE OF THE DEPARTMENT.
THE NEGATIVE BELIEFS AND STATEMENTS ABOUT FEMALE POLICE OFFICERS WILL NO LONGER HAVE GROUNDS TO STAND ON.
ALTHOUGH THE DEPARTMENT IS TRYING TO ADDRESS SYSTEMIC RACISM THROUGH GROUNDWATER TRAINING AND REIMAGINING PUBLIC SAFETY, IT WILL TAKE YEARS TO ADDRESS RACISM IN LAW ENFORCEMENT.
THE COMMUNITY DOES NOT HAVE THE PATIENCE, NOR HAS THE COMMUNITY GIVEN US THE GRACE TO TAKE ANY MORE TIME TO ADDRESS THIS.
WHAT BRAZILIAN JUUJITSU, WELL, BRAZILIAN JUUJITSU DOES NOT DIRECTLY ADDRESS RACISM IN LAW ENFORCEMENT OR THE DEPARTMENT.
BRAZILIAN JUUJITSU DOES ADDRESS THE LETHALITY AND PHYSICAL DANGER OF THE MANIFESTATION OF RACISM IN THE DEPARTMENT BY MAKING INTERACTIONS WITH THE POLICE SAFER MANDATORY JUJITSU TRAINING WILL INCREASE OFFICERS
WOULD YOU LIKE HER TO FINISH HER? SHE ALMOST, I WOULD SAY SHE'S TWO THIRD.
I, I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR THE REST OF THIS.
UM, YOU CAN VOTE TO, UM, YEAH, I THINK WE'RE GONNA DO A QUICK VOTE.
UM, TO, TO, I'M GONNA JUST DO A, A, A NOD SO THAT WE DON'T TAKE UP THE TIME, BUT IS THERE A MOTION? THERE ARE A MOTION, YES.
FROM COMMISSIONER SMITH AND COMMISSIONER HERMES MEYER IS SECONDING.
AND THEN I'M DOING A, CAN WE JUST DO A VISUAL SO THAT I CAN SEE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
MANDATORY JUUJITSU TRAINING WILL INCREASE OFFICERS INVESTMENT AND TRUE DEESCALATION TECHNIQUES FROM THE ACADEMY ONWARDS.
WE ARE TAUGHT THAT WE HAVE TO QUOTE UNQUOTE, GET THE DROP ON SUBJECTS.
WE ARE TAUGHT THAT BEING THE FIRST TO GO HANDS-ON IS ESSENTIAL AND IS VALUED.
WHEN OFFICERS ARE UNTRAINED, THEY ARE MORE INVESTED IN HOW TO GO HANDS-ON THAN HOW TO AVOID IT AND DEESCALATE.
THE REALITY IS THAT GOING HANDS-ON WILL ALWAYS BE REACTIVE.
AND WHEN OFFICERS DO NOT HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THEIR ABILITIES, THEY WILL FOCUS MORE ON GETTING THE DROP AND ADVANTAGE ON THE SUSPECT THAN ATTEMPTING ANY TYPE OF DEESCALATION, WHICH COULD PREVENT A RESPONSE TO RESISTANCE ALTOGETHER.
WHEN OFFICERS TRAIN JUUJITSU REGULARLY, THEY ARE CONFIDENT IN THEIR SKILLS AND CAN INVEST IN DEESCALATION.
SECOND, ALL OFFICERS NEED TO ATTEND SAFE ADVOCATE SEXUAL ASSAULT TRAINING.
THE OAG REQUIRES THAT ALL INDIVIDUALS WORKING WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS ATTEND A 40 HOUR TRAINING.
THIS SHOULD BE REQUIRED OF ALL OFFICERS AS WELL.
IT IS INFORMATIVE FOR NOT ONLY ADDRESSING SEXUAL ASSAULT, BUT ALSO THE DYNAMICS OF FAMILY VIOLENCE.
LAW ENFORCEMENT ADDRESS FAMILY VIOLENCE MORE THAN SOCIAL SERVICES EVER, WELL YET ARE THE LEAST INFORMED AND THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE.
THREE, THERE NEEDS TO BE ACCOUNTABILITY AND RACIAL PROFILING DATA.
I CAN TELL YOU THAT I WAS TRAINED WHEN IT CAME TO RACIAL PROFILING DATA.
YOU HIT F NINE, WHICH CREATES A TAB TO INTERRACIAL PROFILING DATA WITHIN THEIR, UH, VEREX OR RECORD MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
IT IS MY BELIEF THAT THESE ARE NOT ONLY TRULY BEING, THESE ARE NOT TRULY BEING CHECKED IN COORDINATION WITH THE FACTS OF THE CALL OR THE FIELD OBSERVATION STOP.
SECONDLY, IF WHEN MAKING A STOP, THE OFFICER RUNS INVOLVEMENT ON THE PLATE, THAT SHOULD BE DOCUMENTED SOMEWHERE.
RACIAL PROFILING DATA AS EITHER YES, THEY KNEW THE RACE OF THE RACE OR THE DRIVER, OR THEY THOUGHT THEY HAD AN IDEA OF WHO WAS DRIVING.
IF EVERY OFFICER IS PAYING AS LITTLE ATTENTION TO THAT DATA INPUT AS EYE WITNESS, THEN THERE IS DISCREPANCY IN THE DATA PUBLISHED.
AND THE TRUTH FOUR OFFICER RESPONSIBILITY IN A CITY THIS LARGE IS TOO EXPANSIVE.
UM, I THINK WE, IF YOU, IF YOU GUYS MIND STICK, I THINK WE'RE GONNA CLEAR THE TABLE SO WE CAN KEEP GOING.
BUT IF YOU DON'T MIND STICKING AROUND SO THAT YOU'RE AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS AFTER.
[00:40:01]
UM, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING.UM, AND I BELIEVE WE HAVE, UM, KATHY MITCHELL UP NEXT.
AND THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR BEING MINDFUL OF TIME.
IT'S TIME IS OUR, OUR ONE ENEMY IN THIS ROOM.
WE JUST DON'T EVER HAVE ENOUGH OF IT.
SO, UM, WE'RE DOING OUR, I'M GONNA DO OUR BEST TO MOVE US THROUGH THIS SO THAT WE CAN HAVE SOME ROBUST DISCUSSION, DISCUSSION AND TIME FOR QUESTIONS.
HI, MY NAME IS KATHY MITCHELL AND I WAS A MEMBER OF THE REVIEW PANEL FOR SOMETHING OVER THREE YEARS.
UM, AND WE WERE CHARGED THROUGHOUT THE COLD PROCESS WITH, UH, REVIEWING CURRICULUM, ACTUALLY LOOKING AT THE, THE, UH, OUTLINE, THE POWERPOINT THAT WAS SHARED WITH THE STUDENTS AND TAUGHT FROM, UH, ALL THE MATERIALS, ALL THE SOURCING.
UH, WE REVIEWED DOZENS OF UNITS, NOT ALL THE UNITS WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE, UH, MUCH WITH RESPECT TO USE OF FORCE AND SOME OTHER AREAS, BUT WE DID LOOK AT EVERYTHING ON SEARCH AND SEIZURE.
WE LOOKED AT RACIAL PROFILING, UH, MULTIPLE TIMES.
UH, WE, UM, WE MADE COUNTLESS RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND I THINK THAT THE THING THAT I WOULD LIKE YOU ALL TO TAKE AWAY FROM THE KROLL FINAL REPORT IS THAT AT THE END OF ALL OF THAT, AT THE END OF THREE YEARS, IT IS NOT CLEAR TO ANY OF US AND CERTAINLY NOT CLEAR TO ANYONE ELSE, INCLUDING KROLL, THAT CURRICULUM ACTUALLY WAS CHANGED OR CHANGED SUBSTANTIVELY.
WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WORDS WERE CHANGED HERE AND THERE.
THAT'S KIND OF HOW IT'S BEEN DESCRIBED TO ME.
UH, OUR REVIEWS CAME FORWARD WITH A SIGNIFICANT SUBSTANTIVE REFORM SUGGESTIONS, UH, AT THE VERY END OF THE PROCESS, AND I SPOKE TO THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION ON THIS.
THE, ONCE THIS REPORT WAS RELEASED, UH, WE DID A COMPLETE REWRITE OF THE RACIAL PROFILING UNIT.
THAT UNIT REVIEW HAD BEEN POSTPONED TWICE BECAUSE IT WAS, UH, DEEMED BY ALL SIDES, INCLUDING THOSE WITHIN A PD AT THE TIME.
UH, SO INSUFFICIENT, SO OFF POINT LARGELY THAT IT HAD TO BE COMPLETELY REWRITTEN.
AND AT THE VERY END OF THE PROCESS, IN SORT OF A DEEP FRUSTRATION WITH THE LACK OF REAL, YOU KNOW, IMPLEMENTATION, OUR COMMITTEE DID A REWRITE OF THAT PIECE AS OUR SORT OF LAST ACT.
UM, TO THIS DAY, WE STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT, IF ANYTHING HAPPENED WITH OUR RACIAL PROFILING UNIT.
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT, IF ANYTHING WAS DONE WITH THE, UH, SIMILAR RELATED RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE SEARCH AND SEIZURE UNIT.
AND THE REASON THAT THIS MATTERS IS THAT IT RELATES DIRECTLY TO EVERYTHING THAT YOU JUST HEARD.
THE, UM, THE FRONT END OF THE SYSTEM.
THE THING THAT WE ALL SEE IN THE HEADLINES ARE THE MAJOR USE OF FORCE INCIDENTS.
THE THING THAT GENERATES THE CULTURE OF FEAR THAT UNDERLIES THOSE FORCE INCIDENTS IS A TRAINING THAT HONES IN ON OFFICER SAFETY FIRST WITH AN IMPLICATION THAT THE COMMUNITY IS DANGEROUS.
AND THAT CULTURE OF FEAR IS WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO CHANGE IN EVERY ITERATION OF OUR WORK FOR THREE YEARS.
AND WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT OUTCOME.
AND WITH THAT, IF WE CAN GET A PD REPS TO COME UP, UM, SO THAT WE CAN START THE PRESENTATION.
IS DIALOGUE OR DISCUSSION ON THE PUBLIC SPEAKERS APPROPRIATE NOW OR AFTER MEETING? UM, HOW DO I, I I SAY LET'S DO THE PRESENTATION AND THEN KIND OF HAVE A BIG CONVERSATION AFTER.
I FEEL LIKE WE HAVE ENOUGH TIME.
I, I TRIED TO KEEP THE SCHEDULE UN PADDED, UM, SO THAT WE WOULD HAVE TIME FOR THIS CONVERSATION AND SO THAT WE COULD DO SO WITH CARE.
UM, SO LET'S GET THROUGH THE A PD PRESENTATION FIRST.
MY NAME IS ROBERT MCGRATH AND THIS IS COMMANDER MIKE CHANCELLOR.
[00:45:01]
I'M THE NEW PROGRAM MANAGER OVER AT THE POLICE ACADEMY.UH, TODAY'S BRIEFING RESPONSE TO KROLL'S FINAL ASSESSMENT OF, UH, THE A PD AD'S, LONG-TERM PROCESSES AND THE SUSTAINABLE REFORM MEASURES.
AND YOU'VE ALL RECEIVED A COPY OF THAT, UH, AS AN ATTACHMENT.
UH, TODAY WE'LL COVER, SO WILL COVER SOME, SOME OF THE GOOD WORK IT IS THAT'S BEING DONE AT A, AT THE A PD POLICE ACADEMY.
WE'LL COVER THE PROGRESS WE'VE MADE SINCE WE MET WITH THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE ON MARCH 25TH AND THE UPDATES ON THE CURRICULUM REVIEW COMMITTEE.
WE'LL PROVIDE A GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE ACADEMY PROCESSES, THE FINAL PAROLE REPORT, AND THE NEXT STEPS FOR THE POLICE ACADEMY.
HERE YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE IMPROVEMENTS IT IS THAT WE'VE MADE SINCE MARCH 25TH, WHERE WE HAVE FINALIZED THE PRE ACADEMY SCHEDULE.
THAT'S THE, THE TWO WEEKS NOW THAT COME BEFORE EACH ACADEMY CLASS, THE 32 WEEK, UH, BASIC POLICE OFFICER COURSE WHERE WE ARE DOING A LOT OF, OF OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY CONNECT PROGRAMMING.
WE'VE HIRED OUR E-LEARNING SUPERVI, UH, TEAM SUPERVISOR, WHICH IS FANTASTIC.
WE'RE, UM, GETTING VERY CLOSE TO FINISHING ALL OF THE CIVILIAN HIRES.
UH, WE'RE INTO OUR LAST THREE POSITIONS RIGHT NOW WITH ONE, UM, ANOTHER SET OF INTERVIEWS THAT SHOULD BE COMING UP IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, UH, WHICH IS VERY EXCITING.
UM, WE ARE, WE'VE SUBMITTED THE FUNDING REQUEST FOR THE PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
WE ACTUALLY HAVE OUR FIRST PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING TOMORROW, WHICH IS ACTUALLY VERY EXCITING.
UM, WE'RE GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PAC AND THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
THE CAC, IT'LL LOOK IN A COUPLE OF SLIDES HERE.
UM, AS I SAID, WE'RE, WE'RE GETTING VERY CLOSE TO FINISHING, UH, POSTING THE REST OF THE CIVILIAN POSITIONS.
UM, MY TEAM HAS ALREADY BEGUN TO ABSORB THE FIELD TRAINING PROGRAM.
UH, WE JUST HELD THE LAST WEEK, THE, THE NEW A A A CLASS A 40 HOUR CLASS FOR THE, UM, FIELD TRAINING OFFICERS.
WE JUST HAD 28 NEW FIELD TRAINING ADDED TO 28 NEW FIELD TRAINING OFFICERS TO THE PROGRAM LAST WEEK, WHICH IS EXCELLENT.
UH, AND WE'RE CONTINUING THE CURRICULUM REVIEW, UM, WHICH WE'RE GONNA GET INTO A LITTLE BIT HERE.
AND, UH, THE NEW PT PROGRAM THAT WE'RE, WE HAVE DESIGNED FOR THE NEW CLASS THAT'S COMING UP IN ONE 53RD.
SO THE CUR THE CURRICULUM REVIEW COMMITTEE, UM, PREVIOUSLY WHAT WAS PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS THE CURRICULUM REVIEW COMMITTEE HAS NOW BEEN SPLIT INTO TWO SEPARATE ENTITIES.
UM, WHAT WE'RE STARTING WITH FIRST IS THE PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
LIKE I SAID JUST A MOMENT AGO, THAT THE FIRST MEETING OF THAT GROUP IS TOMORROW.
UM, THE PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE PROVIDES, UM, IT'S THE INTERNAL, UH, ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE ACADEMY MEMBERS WITH TWO SEPARATE WORK GROUPS, WHICH ARE GONNA SPLIT C SPLIT UP HERE.
UM, AND WE ARE BEING VERY INTENTIONAL TO ESTABLISH THE PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FIRST, SO THAT WHEN WE ACTUALLY GET THE, GET TO, UH, THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE, WE ALREADY HAVE THE PAC ESTABLISHED, UH, THE GOVERNANCE WORKOUT WORKED OUT THE, THE, UM, SUB, THE STANDARDIZED OPERATING PROCEDURES IRONED OUT SO THAT WE CAN WORK TOGETHER HARMONIOUSLY.
SO YOU CAN SEE HERE, THESE ARE THE MEMBERS OF THE PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
UM, ON THE ACADEMY WORK GROUP SIDE, IT'S COMMANDER, UH, AND MYSELF, IT'S GOING TO BE THE CADET TRAINING UNIT LIEUTENANT AND OR THE ADVANCED EDUCATION UNIT LIEUTENANT, DEPENDING ON THE CURRICULUM THAT'S BEING REVIEWED.
UH, THE ASSIGNED LEAD INSTRUCTORS FOR THAT UNIT OR MODULE THAT'S BEING, BEING REVIEWED.
THE, ON THE CIVILIAN SIDE, THE CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION DEVELOPMENT, UH, SUPERVISOR, THE FIELD TRAINING AND COMMUNITY CONNECT PROGRAM SUPERVISOR AS WELL, AS WELL AS A MEMBER OF RT COLE TEAM.
THEN ON THE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT WORK GROUP SIDE, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A VICTIM SERVICES REPRESENTATIVE, A WELLNESS REPRESENTATIVE, UH, A REPRESENTATIVE, UM, FOR DEIB, THE CONTRACTED SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS, OR ANY OTHER SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS FOR THAT, UH, PARTICULAR MODULE.
[00:50:01]
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE OFFICE OF POLICE OVERSIGHT IS GOING TO BE PART OF THE PAC.SO I PREVIOUSLY MET WITH, UM, MEMBERS OF THE CURRICULUM REVIEW COMMITTEE PREVIOUSLY, UM, AND TO UNDERSTAND SOME OF HISTORICAL ASPECTS OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED PRIOR TO US COMING ON BOARD.
AGAIN, I ACTUALLY STARTED, UH, JUST IN DECEMBER LAST YEAR.
UM, AND THERE WERE A LOT OF CHANGES THAT WERE TRYING TO HAPPEN ALL AT ONCE.
AND OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF CHANGE AT THE E POLICE ACADEMY.
SO TRYING TO BE INTENTIONAL TO DO THIS RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.
THAT'S WHY WE'RE SETTING UP THE PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FIRST, UM, AGAIN, TO GET THE GOVERNANCE PROCESSES DEVELOPED AND IRONED OUT.
UH, THIS WILL ALSO GIVE US THE TIME TO RESEARCH AND EVALUATE THE BEST WAY TO ESTABLISH A COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
SO WE'VE ALREADY BEGUN WORK, UH, WORKING ON HOW TO ESTABLISH THE CAC, SO IT'S FUNCTIONAL.
UM, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE TO CONNECT WITH CSER AGENCIES, UH, WITH SIMILAR COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARDS TO ASSIST US IN SEEING HOW IT IS THAT THEIR FRAMEWORK IS.
UH, WE'VE ACTUALLY JUST SENT ONE OF OUR TRAINING SPECIALIST TO, UM, TO ATLANTA TO, TO ATTEND THE POLICE AT THE NATIONAL POLICE AT CONFERENCE THIS, THIS LAST WEEK.
SO I HAVEN'T YET ACTUALLY EVEN SPOKEN TO HER ABOUT WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THAT CONFERENCE.
SO, UM, SOME EXCELLENT WORK IS BEING DONE ON THAT END.
BUT WE ARE, AGAIN, BEING INTENTIONAL TO SET UP THE PAC FIRST BEFORE WE JUMP INTO THE CAC.
UM, AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, AGAIN, IT'S THE, THE FIRST MEETING IS GOING TO BE TOMORROW FOR THE PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
UM, THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE, THE CAC, UM, IS, THIS IS EXPECTED THAT WE ARE GOING TO BEGIN TO ESTABLISH THAT IN THE BEGINNING OF THE LAST QUARTER OF 2024.
MY DEADLINE FOR, OUR DEADLINE FOR, FOR INITIATING THE CAC IS GONNA BE APRIL OF 2025.
BUT WE'RE ALREADY SO FAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE AND THE PAC I'M ASSUMING IT'S GOING TO BE SOONER THAN THAT, BUT TRYING TO KEEP, UH, EXPECTATIONS, UH, REALISTIC, UH, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO BEGIN WORKING ON DEVELOPING THE CAC IN THE LAST QUARTER OF THIS YEAR.
SO, AS PART OF THE LONG-TERM PROCESSES, UM, THAT KROLL WAS WORKING WITH A PD ON, WE HAVE BROKEN DOWN EACH OF THE 22 LONG-TERM PROCESSES INTO INDIVIDUAL TASKS, WHICH COULD BE IMPLEMENTED OVER THE SPAN OF THREE SEPARATE PHASES, PHASES ONE, TWO, AND THREE.
ONE BEING THE FOUNDATIONAL AND PLANNING AND LOGISTICS STAGE.
WHERE WE ARE, UH, PRIMARILY FIRST HIRING ALL OF THE PERSONNEL NEEDED TO ACTUALLY CARRY OUT A LOT OF THE TASKS IDENTIFIED THROUGH THE 22 LONG-TERM PROCESSES.
THAT'S MY BIGGEST GOAL RIGHT NOW.
UM, THEN ONCE, ONCE YOU'VE GOTTEN ALL OF THE PERSONNEL HIRED, ONBOARDED, TRAINED, AND WE, WE HAVE WORKED THROUGH, UM, AND ONBOARDED THOSE PERSONNEL, THEN WE CAN REALLY START TO WORK ON THE LONG-TERM PROCESSES.
UM, THAT'S GONNA BE INTO PHASE TWO.
AND ONCE WE'VE GOTTEN TO PHASE THREE WHERE WE'RE GOING TO DO AN EVALUATION AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT ON ALL OF THE LONG-TERM PROCESSES, UM, THIS IS, THIS IS AN ORGANIC FRAUD.
IT'S REALLY AN ORGANIC PROCESS THAT WE'RE DOING HERE.
AND, AND SOME OF THESE THINGS WILL START, UM, SOONER.
UH, WE'RE ALREADY WORKING ON SOME, SOME, UH, SOME OF THE LONG-TERM PROCESSES IN PHASE TWO, EVEN THOUGH WE'RE ALREADY, WE'RE STILL IN PHASE ONE, SO WE WILL CARRY ON.
SO YOU'LL SEE HERE THIS IS AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT THE ACADEMY, UH, WILL BE LOOKING LIKE, UM, STARTING WITH THE ONE 53RD WHERE WE HAVE THE PRE ACADEMY BEFORE THE ACTUAL 32 WEEKS OF THE BPAC, THE BASIC POLICE OFFICER COURSE.
THEN WHEN WE GET INTO THE, THE ACTUAL BO ITSELF, THE BASIC POLICE OFFICER, WEEKS ONE THROUGH EIGHT IS ALL ABOUT PROFESSIONALISM AND FOUNDATIONAL LEGAL COURSES FOR POLICE OFFICERS.
THEN THE NEXT THREE WEEKS WILL GO INTO SKILLS WEEKS WITH THE LEARNED SKILLS UNITS.
THEY'LL GO INTO PATROL SKILLS.
THEY WILL THEN GO INTO USE OF FORCE WITH ROLE PLAYS, UM, AND FOLLOWING THAT WITH BASIC ROLE PLAYS.
AND THEN INTO THE TACTICAL WEEKS FOLLOWING THOSE ROLE PLAYS, THEN THEY'LL GET INTO DWIS WITH INTOXICATED DRIVERS.
AND THEN THE, UH, CADETS WILL BE ABLE TO THEIR WRITE OUTS WITH THE,
[00:55:01]
THE O OFFICERS OUT IN THE, IN THE STREETS.WHEN THEY COME BACK, THEY WILL THEN GO INTO INTERMEDIATE ROLE PLAYS, CRIMINAL LAW, ROLE PLAYS, AND THEN FOLLOW UP WITH THEIR TOL TESTING.
UM, THROUGHOUT ALL OF THESE, UH, WEEKS, THERE'S, EVEN THOUGH IT'S SAYING HERE, MINDFULNESS IN WEEK 31, MINDFULNESS IS ACTUALLY BEING INTRODUCED INTO THE PRE ACADEMY AND ALL THROUGHOUT THE ACADEMY AND INTO THE PT SESSIONS.
UM, IT'S NOT JUST INTO WEEK 31.
UM, AND THEN THEY GRADUATE WEEK 32, FOLLOWING GRADUATION AT WEEK 32, THEY COME BACK, UH, FOR AN INTERMEDIATE ACADEMY, WHICH IS A FOUR WEEK, UH, INTERMEDIATE ACADEMY, AND THEN THEY'LL BE RELEASED INTO THE FIELD TRAINING PROGRAM FROM THERE.
SO HERE, AS, AS MANY OF YOU HAVE SEEN, THIS IS THE OPERATIONS MANUAL AND THROUGH A LOT OF DEDICATED WORK, UH, WITH THE A AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE ACADEMY STAFF AND GUIDANCE FROM THE KROLL TEAM, UH, WE'VE CREATED THE A PD OPERATIONS MANUAL ACADEMY OPERATIONS MANUAL.
THE MANUAL IS A LIVING DOCUMENT THAT WILL HELP GUIDE PROPEL US FORWARD AND CONTINUE TO MAKE POSITIVE CHANGES AT THE TRAINING ACADEMY THROUGH THE OPERATIONS MANUAL.
A PD HAS ADDRESSED 22 LONG-TERM PROCESSES, AND WE KNOW THAT IMPROVEMENT IS INCREMENTAL AND THAT IT WILL TAKE TIME TO EVOLVE AND IMPROVE AS AN ORGANIZATION.
THIS DOCUMENT IS ANOTHER FOUNDATION FROM WHICH US FOR US TO WORK FROM, AND THE CURRENT ITERATION IS AVAILABLE IN THE BACKUP.
SO IN THE KROLL FINAL REPORT, DEFINING EFFECTIVENESS IS ACTUALLY A VERY RESOUNDING, UM, THEME.
IT'S ALSO ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX QUESTIONS THAT THEY ASK, AND DEPENDING ON WHAT IT IS THAT THEY ASK ON THE CERTAIN QUESTIONS, SOME ARE EASIER TO ANSWER THAN OTHERS.
UM, AS YOU, AS YOU'LL SEE HERE, UM, IN THESE NEXT COUPLE OF SLIDES, THERE'S SOME QUESTIONS THAT ARE VERY, A LOT EASIER TO ANSWER.
UM, ONE OF THE, UM, BIGGEST ROLES THAT ONE OF MY, UH, THE RESEARCH ANALYSTS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE GOING TO BE HIRING ONTO THE TEAM, THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE OF THEIR PRIMARY OBJECTIVES, IS ACTUALLY HELPING US DEFINE EFFECTIVENESS IN SOME OF THESE, UM, IN SOME OF THESE LONG-TERM PROCESSES.
SO AGAIN, SOME OF THESE ARE FAIRLY EASY.
HOW EFFECTIVELY DID ACADEMY STAFF WORK WITH COMMITTEES? HOW EFFECTIVE WAS CO-CONSTRUCTION? THESE ARE, THESE KIND OF QUESTIONS ARE A LOT EASIER TO ANSWER AND, AND DEFINE EFFECTIVENESS AS COMPARED TO, WAS DEESCALATION TRAINING EFFECTIVE WAS CIT TRAINING EFFECTIVE? HOW EFFECTIVE IS ABLE, THESE, THESE ARE MUCH MORE COMPLEX QUESTIONS AND DEFINING WHAT EFFECTIVE MEANS IN RELATION TO THESE PARTICULAR QUESTIONS WOULD TAKE A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF THOUGHTS, PREPARATION TIME, RESOURCES, AND DATA TO REALLY BE ABLE TO ANSWER IT.
AND OUR TEAM IS EXCITED TO DO THIS.
AND THE, THE INTRODUCTION OF GETTING THE ENTIRE TEAM PUT TOGETHER AND LOOKING INTO THESE AND DEVELOPING OUT THE TRAINING APPROPRIATELY IS, IS ACTUALLY A VERY EXCITING THING TO DO.
IT'S JUST AS WE'RE, UM, THESE ARE TREMENDOUSLY IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THE LONG-TERM PROCESSES.
WE JUST, WE HAVE TO PRIORITIZE THE ORDER OF OPERATIONS IN WHICH WE ATTACK THESE LONG-TERM PROCESSES.
SO, GOING NOW THROUGH THE LOUD, THE, THE KROLL REPORT, THE FINAL CROW REPORT, WHEN WE GET TO SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS, KROLL SAYS THAT WE MUST ESTABLISH ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN THE ACADEMY FOR SELECTING AND MAINTAINING SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE EXTERNAL SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS WHO CO-CONSTRUCT IN THE CADET CURRICULUM, AND WE CURRENTLY ARE IN THE STAGES OF ESTABLISHING THE PAC AS I SAID EARLIER, THAT TOMORROW IS THE FIRST OFFICIAL MEETING.
THE TEAM IS DEVELOPING, UH, THE PROCESS FOR MONITORING AND EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SUBJECT MATTER ASSISTED INSTRUCTION.
AND JUST AS AN EXAMPLE, WE HAVE DR. KEVIN FOSTER, WHO, WHO ASSISTS IN THE HISTORY OF RACE AND POLICE IN AUSTIN.
UH, NOELLE DAVIS ASSISTS IN MINDFULNESS AND RESILIENCE, AND DR.
SEAN ROCHE ASSISTS US WITH PROFESSIONAL POLICING, UM, IN RELATION TO INCORPORATING ADULT LEARNING.
KROLL SAYS THAT WE NEED TO CLARIFY PROCESSES FOR THE CURRICULUM INSTRUCTION TRAINING STAFF TO ASSIST THE STRUCTURES TO INCORPORATE OR AUGMENT THE USE OF ADULT OR ACTIVE LEARNING PRINCIPLES INTO THE CURRICULUM.
THIS IS A PRIMARY FUNCTION OF, OF ONE OF MY TEAMS, THE CID TEAM, WHICH IS THE CURRICULUM INSTRUCTION STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT TEAM.
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TEAM IS FULLY ESTABLISHED WITH THE NEW SUPERVISOR IN PLACE, AND ONCE THE TEAM HAS COMPLETED THEIR FIRST TASK OF REVIEWING THE CADET CURRICULUM FOR TOL COMPLIANCE, THE TEAM WILL ESTABLISH ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES, WHICH WILL INCLUDE SUPERVISORY REVIEW OF ADULT ACTIVE LEARNING EXERCISES.THE OPERATIONS MANUAL WILL BE UPDATED TO INCLUDE A MORE THOROUGH PROCESS AS IT'S DEVELOPED IN RELATION TO COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT.
KROLL SAYS THAT WE NEED TO FURTHER DETAIL IN THE OPERATIONS MANUAL, HOW THE PROGRAM WILL RUN AND OPERATE, AND THAT WILL COME WITH TIME AS THE PROGRAM IS DEVELOPED.
AND WE HAVE TEAM MEMBERS IN PLACE TO RUN THE PROGRAM.
WE HAVE THE, UM, ACTIVE ON, ON THE AUSTIN WEBSITE, AUSTIN JOB WEBSITE, THE FIELD TRAINING AND COMMUNITY CONNECT PROGRAM SUPERVISOR POSITION.
THAT IS A KEY ELEMENT OF THIS TEAM.
UM, SO THE DRIVING FORCE FOR THE COMMUNITY CONNECT PROGRAM IS TO HAVE THE ACADEMY START WITH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, WHICH IS WHY IT'S PART OF THE PRE ACADEMY, UH, THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS, I WANT THAT TO BE HIGHLIGHTED.
THAT THAT IS A VERY POSITIVE CHANGE THAT WE'RE, WE'VE ALREADY MADE, STARTING WITH THE ONE 53RD AND THEN CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE ACADEMY AND INTO THE FIELD TRAINING PROGRAM, WHICH IS WHY IT'S THE FIELD TRAINING COMMUNITY CONNECT PROGRAM.
SO WE, EACH CADET CLASS STARTS WITH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN THE BEGINNING AND CONTINUES IT THROUGH THE ACADEMY.
AND THEN ONCE THEY GRADUATE, IT GOES INTO FIELD TRAINING.
AND THIS NEW PROGRAM WILL PROVIDE CLARITY IN THE PROCESSES FOR PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING COMMUNITY CONNECT AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMMING FOR THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT RELATING TO, UM, INSTRUCTOR EVALUATIONS.
SO KROLL SAYS THAT WE NEED TO FURTHER DETAIL IN THE OPERATIONS MANUAL, HOW THE EVALUATIONS WILL RUN AND OPERATE.
AND AGAIN, THAT WILL COME IN, COME WITH TIME AS, AS WE GET, AGAIN, MY TEAM'S SET IN PLACE.
AND WE HAVE DEVELOPED, UM, ESPECIALLY ON THE CID TEAM, THE CURRICULUM INSTRUCTOR DEVELOPMENT TEAM.
I NEED THE SUPERVISOR IN PLACE.
UH, AND THEIR FIRST ROLE IS TO, UM, AGAIN, EVALUATE THE, ALL OF THE CURRENT CU CADET CURRICULUM FOR TCO COMPLIANCE.
AND THEN WE CAN GET, START TO GET INTO INSTRUCTOR DEVELOPMENT.
UM, OF COURSE, AN INSTRUCTOR DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATIONS IS ALREADY, IS ALREADY UNDERWAY AND BEING DEVELOPED, AND THE STANDARDIZED FORM HAS ALREADY BEEN CREATED.
A, THE CID UH, SUPERVISOR WILL ESTABLISH THE PROCESSES, UH, FOR THE EVALUATION SCHEDULE FOR EACH ACADEMY CLASS AND, AND HELP CLARIFY THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THAT TEAM ADDITIONALLY.
UM, I, I'M REALIZING WE'RE ON SLIDE 3.4 AND WE HAVE, UM, THREE POINT 20 SOMETHING TO GET THROUGH.
UM, AND I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN DO THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE COMPRESS, LIKE IF THERE'S A WAY WE CAN COMPRESS THIS.
'CAUSE I WANT US TO HAVE TIME TO ASK QUESTIONS AS WELL.
WE'RE ALREADY THROUGH THE FIRST 30 MINUTES OF OUR 45 MINUTES THAT I KIND OF HAD ALLOTTED FOR US, SO I CAN SPEAK FASTER.
YEAH, IF YOU CAN, IF YOU CAN MOVE THROUGH A, I MEAN, WE ALL HAVE THE PRESENTATION.
WE CAN MOVE THROUGH FOR ANYBODY FOLLOWING ALONG IN THE PUBLIC, UM, THE, THE PRESENTATION IS POSTED TO OUR WEBSITE AS WELL AS BACKUP MATERIAL, SO EVERYBODY'S FREE TO READ ALONG, SO THANK YOU.
UH, SO THE, FOR THE CIVILIAN STAFF RULES, UM, WE WILL, UM, KROLL ASK US TO FURTHER IDENTIFY THE MANUAL, HOW THE CIVILIAN POSITIONS WILL RUN AND OPERATE.
IT WILL MAKE MORE SENSE TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING MYSELF, TO, ONCE I'VE GOTTEN ALL GOTTEN ALL OF THE POSITIONS HIRED, I WANT TO RELY ON THE EXPERTISE OF THE TEAMS TO HELP ME DEVELOP OUT THE ROLES.
IT WAS INTENTIONAL TO, UM, HAVE THE LEAN INTO THE MEMBERS WHO ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO BE OPERATING, RUNNING THE TEAMS TO HELP DEVELOP OUT THOSE ROLES.
UM, FOR ACADEMY CULTURE, UM, UH, KROLL SAID THAT WHILE WE, WE ADDRESS THESE ITEMS, SO AT THE MANUAL, UH, WE JUST, IT JUST NEEDS TO BE CONSOLIDATED WITHIN THIS SECTION.
UH, FOR THE SEPARATION PROCESS.
THIS IS MAINLY GONNA BE A TASK FOR THE, UM, RESEARCH ANALYSTS, WHICH ONCE THEY'RE HIRED, THEY'LL BE ABLE TO ASSIST US WITH IN, UM, WORKING WITH THAT ANALYSIS.
THE FIELD TRAINING PROGRAM, AGAIN, WE'RE ALREADY ONBOARDING.
UM, THE, WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF HIRING THE, THE SUPERVISOR OVER THAT, AND WE ARE ABSORBING THE FIELD TRAINING PROGRAM.
UH, AND THE LARGEST THING THAT KROLL ANNOUNCED OR WROTE ABOUT IN THEIR, UH, FINAL REPORT WAS THE, UM, OR THE FEEDBACK SESSIONS, WHICH IS GONNA BE SOMETHING IT IS THAT WE WILL DO ONCE
[01:05:01]
WE'VE HAD TIME TO, TO FULLY ABSORB THE PROGRAM IN ADVANCED EDUCATION.UH, ONCE THE CADET CURRICULUM HAS BEEN FULLY ADDRESSED, THE CID TEAM WILL BE ABLE TO WORK WITH A EU TO, UM, REFLECT THE SAME PROCESSES IN THIS, IN THIS UNIT, THE VIDEO LIBRARY, COLE DIDN'T HAVE VERY MUCH TO SAY ABOUT, UH, SCHEDULING COORDINATION WILL TAKE PLACE MUCH PROBABLY IN ABOUT THE ONE 54TH ONCE YOU'VE HAD TIME TO WORK OUT THE ONE 53RD.
UH, AGAIN, CADET SE CADET SEPARATION DATA IS GONNA BE DEALING PRIMARILY WITH THE RESEARCH ANALYST ONCE THEY COME ON BOARD.
UM, ABEL IS UP AND RUNNING AND WE'RE DOING FAIRLY WELL WITH IT.
ANY OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS KROLL WANTED, WE CAN JUST MAKE THOSE, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS IN A REVI IN A REVISION TO THE NEXT MANUAL.
UH, THE NEXT THREE FOR PROCEDURAL JUSTICE, UM, EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND TRAUMA-INFORMED TRAINING.
KROLL SAYS THAT WE NEED TO, AGAIN, DEFINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EACH ONE OF THOSE THREE.
UM, ESPECIALLY WITH THE ROLE PLAYS RESPONSIBILITIES RELATED TO CURRICULUM REVIEW.
ALL OF THOSE ARE BEING, UM, REVIEWED.
AND AGAIN, THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAVING MY FULL TEAMS AVAILABLE TO ME WOULD HELP US OUT WITH IDENTIFYING AND, AND DEFINING EFFECTIVENESS FOR THESE THREE.
UH, THE PHYSICAL TRAINING PROGRAM IS, IS, IS NOW BEING ROBUST.
UM, WE'VE ADDED 22 HOURS TO THE PT PROGRAM.
UM, THERE'S GONNA BE FOUR STAGES OF PROGRESSION.
SOME OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CADET TRAINING UNIT ARE GETTING CERTIFIED IN CROSSFIT, UH, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON MINDFULNESS, UM, SO THAT THEY CAN ACTUALLY UTILIZE SOME OF THESE MINDFULNESS, UM, EXERCISES DURING AND AFTER EACH PT SESSION THROUGHOUT THE ACADEMY.
UM, GOING INTO A, UM, THIS IS, AGAIN, DEFINING RULES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE MEMBERS WHO ARE OVERSEEING THESE THIS UNITS, WHICH IS TOTALLY DOABLE.
AND WE CAN, UH, AMEND THESE, AMEND AND ADDRESS THESE, UH, THIS SECTION AND THE OPERATIONS MANUAL ONCE WE GET TO THE LATER THIS YEAR.
THE CADET MENTORSHIP PROGRAM IS IN THE FINAL STAGES OF BEING APPROVED AND IT'S STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
AND THIS SECTION CAN GET ADDRESSED.
AND THE, UH, ONCE, ONCE THOSE S SOPS HAVE BEEN FINALIZED, UM, RECOVERY TIME IS, IT'S OUR, WE'RE ALREADY HAVING ONE DAY EACH MONTH BUILT OUT FOR EACH UNIT TO HAVE TE UH, DOWNTIME FOR, UH, TEAM BUILDING.
UH, AND WE WILL BE ABLE TO, UM, LOOK INTO SCHEDULING THE CLASSES OUT, UM, TO, TO MAXIMIZE RECOVERY TIME FOR THE UNITS FOR SWORN.
AND THEN THE INTERNAL AUDIT PROTOCOLS IS ONE OF THE TOP PRIORITIES FOR US.
I NEED TO GET THE RESEARCH ANALYST IN PLACE.
THIS IS ONE OF THEIR TOP PRIORITIES, UH, BECAUSE IT IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LONG-TERM PROCESSES.
THE A PD IS TO ADDRESSING, IS ENSURING THAT WE'RE REPORTING OUT AND SELF-REPORTING ON A LOT OF THE, A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT KROLL WOULD, UM, CRAWL RECOMMENDED.
SO, AND JUST AS A, AS A FINAL, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE HERE ARE SOME DEADLINES IT IS THAT WE'VE PUT TOGETHER FOR PHASE ONE.
SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT ESTABLISHING THE PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE OCTOBER 1ST, WE'RE ALREADY HAVING THE FIRST MEETING TOMORROW, SO WE'RE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.
I'M JUST TRYING, UM, WE ARE JUST TRYING TO MAINTAIN, UH, A POSITIVE OUTLOOK, AND WE BELIEVE THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO MEET THESE DEADLINES FAR BEFORE IT IS THAT WE NEED TO.
BUT BEING REALISTIC WITH ALL THE MANY THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON, UM, ESTABLISHED IN THE CACI DID WITH A DEADLINE OF APRIL 1ST, 2025.
WE, WE BELIEVE THAT IT'LL BE MUCH SOONER THAN THAT, BUT, UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT'S THE JULY 1ST IS GETTING THE REST OF MY TEAM HIRED AND ONBOARDED TO HELP US OUT WITH ALL THE REST OF THESE LONG-TERM PROCESSES.
THANK YOU FOR GETTING US THROUGH THAT.
UM, THERE'S A LOT OF GRANULARITY AND WE CAN GET REALLY, AND SO I, I GUESS I JUST WANTED TO GET US TO SORT OF THE BIGGER PICTURE SORT OF DISCUSSION THAT WE CAN BE HAVING.
UM, JUST TO KIND OF, BEFORE I OPEN QUESTIONS, JUST TO KIND OF CIRCLE BACK, LIKE WE HAVEN'T TALKED ABOUT THE PAROLE REPORT OR THE ACADEMY IN QUITE SOME TIME.
UM, THE LAST TIME WE TOUCHED BASE WAS ON THE CURRICULUM REVIEW COMMITTEE.
IT WAS WELL OVER A YEAR, A YEAR AND A HALF AGO PERHAPS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I'M SITTING HERE AND WHAT I WAS, UM, KIND OF LEAFING THROUGH AND REREADING WAS RESOLUTION 66, WHICH WAS BACK FROM 2019, WHICH IS WHAT SORT OF SET A LOT OF THIS STUFF IN MOTION, EVEN BEFORE ALL THE 2020 PROTESTS.
SO THIS WORK HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR A LONG TIME.
UM, AND I APPRECIATE HOW HARD AND HOW MUCH TIME IT TAKES TO INSTITUTE CHANGE IN AN ORGANIZATION AS LAW, AS LARGE AS A PD.
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THAT HAS AS MUCH, UM, YOU, YOU GUYS HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN MOTION ALL THE TIME.THERE'S A LOT OF STAFF CHANGES HAPPENING, PEOPLE PROMOTING UP, PEOPLE COMING OUT.
LIKE THERE'S JUST A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, FLOW AND CHANGES IN STAFF.
UM, AND I APPRECIATE THAT ALL OF THOSE FACTORS MAKE THINGS MOVE NOT VERY FAST.
UM, BUT IT IS THE MIDDLE OF 2024.
WE ARE FIVE YEARS OUT, I THINK, FROM THE ORIGINAL RESOLUTION.
AND I THINK THE COMMUNITY AND THE COMMISSION, A LOT OF PEOPLE IN GENERAL JUST WANT US TO KIND OF LIKE GO.
AND SO CAN YOU JUST TO KIND OF OPEN UP CONVERSATION AND BEFORE WE GET INTO OTHER QUESTIONS, IS LIKE, WHAT CAN WE DO? I MEAN, I THINK THIS, THIS PLAN DOCUMENT THAT YOU GUYS ARE WORKING ON, I'M HOPING WILL CREATE SOME CONTINUITY OR BE THE BEGINNINGS OF SOME CONTINUITY.
BUT, UM, WHAT CAN WE DO TO GET THIS PROCESS MOVING? I FEEL LIKE WE'RE STARTING THINGS THAT WE SHOULD BE TWO OR THREE YEARS INTO.
SO CHIEF GREENWELL, I DON'T KNOW WHO WANTS TO SPEAK TO THAT.
LIKE, OH, I'LL WEIGH IN AND YOU, YOU GUYS CAN FEEL FREE TO FOLLOW UP IF NEEDED, BUT, UM, YOU'RE NOT GONNA HEAR US DISAGREE THAT WE'RE RUNNING LATE, THAT THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED YEARS AGO.
WHAT I DO WANT EVERYBODY TO KNOW IS WE HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN PLACE NOW.
MR. MCGRATH HAS DONE A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF WORK IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS, AND HOW WE, UM, WOULD ASK FOR SUPPORT FROM YOU GUYS MOVING FORWARD IS TO JUST KEEP THE DIALOGUE GOING, KEEP THE PROGRESS CHECKS COMING.
UM, WE'RE GONNA HAVE REGULAR REPORT OUTS, WHETHER IT'S IN PERSON OR EMAILS.
UM, YOU'RE GONNA SEE THAT THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN PLACE RIGHT NOW AND THE THINGS THAT THEY HAVE MOVING AND THE PEOPLE THAT ARE HIRED AND, AND IN PROGRESS OF BEING HIRED RIGHT NOW ARE GONNA PUT TOGETHER A PRODUCT THAT WE CAN BRAG ON A YEAR FROM NOW.
WE ARE LATE, BUT WE'RE IN THE RIGHT PLACE NOW TO HAVE THOSE CHANGES THAT WE WOULDN'T WANTED TO HAVE SEVERAL YEARS AGO.
COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT AND, AND EVERYBODY JUST, I'M, I'M GONNA DO MY BEST TO KEEP TRACK OF HANDS AND QUESTIONS AND IF WE HAVE A REMINDER THAT WE DO HAVE SPEAKERS THAT ARE AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS AS WELL.
SO, UM, I MEAN, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, UH, TO BOTH Y'ALL.
UM, AND, UM, I FEEL, I FEEL MYSELF GETTING IN TROUBLE AGAIN, AND I'M REALLY GONNA TRY NOT TO, BUT I HAVE BEEN ON THIS COMMISSION FOR EIGHT YEARS.
UH, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS ISSUE FOR THE BETTER PART OF, YOU KNOW, FOUR AND A HALF TO FIVE.
UM, AND THE PRESENTATION THAT I JUST HEARD KIND OF BORDERED ON THE RIDICULOUS IN TERMS OF WHERE IT STARTED.
UM, IT'S LOOKED LIKE A SNOW JOB TO ME.
IT LOOKED LIKE, I MEAN, MAKING SURE THE CURRICULUM IS COMPATIBLE WITH T COLE.
I MEAN, THAT'S NOT WHAT WE ASKED YOU TO DO.
WE UNDERSTAND IT'S A REQUIREMENT, BUT IT IS A, IT IS NOT A CEILING, IT'S A FLOOR.
IT IS NOT HARD TO MEET T COLE'S REQUIREMENTS.
I HAVE LOOKED AT CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT BEFORE I HAVE GOTTEN OPEN RECORDS REQUESTS FROM T COLE.
THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, AND THIS IS NOT WHAT WE'RE ACTUALLY SUPPOSED TO BE DOING.
WHAT WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING IS IMPROVING THE SAFETY OF POLICE OFFICERS ON THE BEAT.
WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE IMPROVING THE RESPONSE TO CRIME, AND WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE IMPROVING THE SAFETY OF THE CITIZENS OF AUSTIN.
AND I HAVE NO CONFIDENCE AT THIS POINT THAT THIS TEAM AND THIS VISION IS EVEN HEADED IN THAT DIRECTION.
I HATE TO BE, AGAIN, DISRESPECTFUL AND I DON'T THINK IT IS WHEN YOU ACTUALLY TELL THE TRUTH.
IT IS INCREDIBLY TIRESOME AS A VOLUNTEER.
AND I'M SURE IT WOULD BE TIRESOME IF IT WAS MY DAY JOB TO SIT HERE AND HAVE Y'ALL TRY TO CONVINCE US YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING WHEN YOU'RE NOT.
THAT IS WHAT, AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, WHENEVER A PD GETS ASKED TO CHANGE SOMETHING THAT THEY DON'T WANT TO CHANGE, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS.
AND IT, IT, I'M SURE I'M NOT THE FIRST PERSON WHO'S NOTICED IT BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH Y'ALL FOR 20 YEARS AND NOT MAKING ANY PROGRESS.
COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT, I'M SORRY.
IF WE CAN GET, IF WE CAN GET TO THE QUESTION PART.
IF WE CAN GET TO THE QUESTION PART.
CREN WAS YOUR PREDECESSOR, IS THAT RIGHT? MR. MCGRATH? YES.
UM, I WANT, I WANT, ACTUALLY, THIS IS FOR CHIEF GREENWALD.
I WANT YOU TO EXPLAIN TO ME, CHIEF GREENWALD, HOW A WOMAN OF COLOR WITH A PHD WHO'S AN EXPERT IN POLICING, UH, WAS LESS QUALIFIED THAN A CRIME ANALYST WHO USED TO BE A COP
[01:15:01]
TO ACTUALLY FIGURE OUT HOW TO CHANGE THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CADET TRAINING.AND FOR THAT MATTER, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF Y'ALL, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT THAT PRIORITIZES YOUR SAFETY OVER OUR SAFETY EVERY DAY IN A WAY THAT'S UNNECESSARY TO SAFETY.
TELL ME HOW WE'VE, WE'VE MOVED FORWARD.
CHIEF GREENWALD, SO I'M, WE'RE NOT MAKING ANY ASSERTATIONS THAT ONE PERSON IS MORE QUALIFIED THAN THE OTHER.
WHAT I'M HERE TODAY TO TELL YOU IS THAT WE DID NOT MAKE ENOUGH PROGRESS IN THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT WE SHOULD HAVE.
I BELIEVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE ARE IN PLACE NOW TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
I'VE ONLY BEEN IN THESE CONVERSATIONS FOR A FEW MONTHS.
MR. MCGRATH HAS ONLY BEEN HERE FOR THREE OR FOUR MONTHS.
COMMANDER CHANCELLOR HAS ONLY BEEN THERE FOR A MATTER OF A FEW MONTHS.
SO I UNDERSTAND THE LACK OF CONFIDENCE BECAUSE OF THE, THE LATE SCHEDULE THAT WE'RE ON, BUT WITH CONTINUED DIALOGUE.
AND WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE, UM, INSTEAD OF ASKING FOR AN ENTIRE UPDATE ON THE WHOLE CRAWL REPORT AND 45 MINUTES, AND THEN NOT UNDERSTANDING WHY YOU DON'T HAVE MORE MEAT TO IT, WE CAN MAYBE DISSECT IT INTO PIECES THAT WE CAN TAKE A DEEPER DIVE ON.
AND I THINK YOU'LL UNDERSTAND AT THAT POINT, RIGHT, THE PROGRESS THAT'S REALLY BEEN MADE INSTEAD OF THE HIGH LEVEL RIGHT OVERVIEW THAT WE WERE GIVEN TODAY.
I HAVE A S WE CAN, WE CAN DO A DEEPER DIVE.
FOR MR. MCGRATH AND FOR CHIEF GREENWELL, UM, WHY WON'T YOU CHANGE THE ACADEMY TO TEACH YOUR CADETS? DOESN'T HAVE TO BE JUUJITSU, ONE OF A HANDFUL OF MARTIAL ARTS THAT WILL MAKE THEM LESS PRONE TO OVERREACTIONS IN PHYSICAL CONFRONTATIONS WITH PEOPLE MORE CONFIDENT IN THEIR SKILLS.
WE DO SAFER AS PEACE OFFICERS.
WE ACTUALLY TEACH BRAZILIAN JUUJITSU NOT ONLY TO THE CADETS, BUT WE OFFER A PROGRAM TO OUR OFFICERS WHO HAVE ALREADY GRADUATED, THAT IF THEY GO RECEIVE BRAZILIAN JIUJITSU TRAINING ON THEIR OWN, WE COMPENSATE THEM, UH, THROUGH COMP TIME SO THAT THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE OUT THEIR OWN MONEY AND TIME.
IS IT MANDATORY COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT? I'M GONNA MAKE SURE THAT WE GO ONTO EVERY OTHER PEOPLE, OTHER PEOPLE.
UM, CAN, CAN CHIEF ANSWER THAT? YES.
IS IT, IS IT MANDATORY? IS EVERYBODY LEARNING A MARTIAL ART? THE CADET, THE CADETS ARE, UM, MANDATORILY GIVEN THE DEFENSIVE TACTIC TRAINING, WHICH INCLUDES COMPONENTS OF BRAZILIAN JIUJITSU.
IT'S NOT MANDATORY FOR THE OFFICERS TO GO DO THAT ON THEIR, THEIR OWN.
DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY.
WELL, I, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS AS WELL.
UM, SO, UM, MY QUESTION IS, I I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA KICK IT BACK TO CONTINUITY.
UM, AND JUST, UM, I WANT THIS TO WORK RIGHT? UM, I WANT THIS TRAINING REFORM TO HAPPEN.
UM, I DON'T KNOW THAT TRAINING ACADEMY REFORM IS ENOUGH, UM, TO REFORM AN ENTIRE DEPARTMENT.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE GRADUATING 30 TO 35 CADETS AT A TIME, AND THAT'S A TRICKLE, RIGHT? UM, AND I'M NOT SURE THAT THAT'S HOW SYSTEMIC SORT OF CHANGE HAPPENS, BUT IT'S WHAT WE HAVE TO WORK WITH AT THIS POINT.
UM, UM,
AND AT WHAT POINT IN THAT 32 WEEK PROCESS, PEOPLE ARE FALLING OFF? AND WHAT CHANGES? LIKE, HOW, HOW ARE YOU GUYS LOOKING AT THE TRAINING, UM, TO SORT OF LIKE ADJUST? LIKE I, IF YOU CAN TALK TO US A LITTLE BIT.
I'M JUST TRYING TO TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH SO THAT WE CAN GET INTO A LITTLE BIT OF THE MEATS AND BONES OF WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
UM, BECAUSE BIG, BIG PICTURE, I THINK EVERYONE'S JUST FRUSTRATED, RIGHT? SO, YEAH.
SO, UM, I ACTUALLY WENT AND SPOKE WITH THE CADETS, BROKEN UP INTO GROUPS WITH OUR VICTIM SERVICES ONSITE COUNSELOR LAST WEEK, AND TALKED TO 'EM ABOUT THE ATTRITION RATE FOR THE CURRENT CLASS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE ATTRITION RATE IS HIGH.
AND I TALKED TO THEM AND I ASKED THEM, WE HAD AN OPEN DISCUSSION BASICALLY LIKE, WHAT DO Y'ALL THINK, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE Y'ALL SEEING? WHAT, WHAT'S GOING ON? UM, AND MIND YOU, I'VE BEEN HERE FOR A MONTH, SO I'M STILL LEARNING A LOT OF THIS, BUT, UM, THE, THE MAIN RESPONSE FROM EVERY SINGLE ONE OF 'EM IS A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN HIRED AND MADE IT PAST RECRUITING, AND I HATE TO SAY THAT, BUT OUT OF CONTRACT, WE DO HAVE A, A DIFFERENT STANDARD AND WE'RE NOT LOWERING OUR ACADEMY STANDARD.
A LOT OF 'EM ALSO TALKED ABOUT THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE VIRTUAL MEETINGS BEFOREHAND, AND SOME OF THE PEOPLE, THIS WAS A PLAN B, AND THEY WERE LOOKING AT LEAVING ANYWAYS, SO THEY WERE, UM, THERE ARE OTHER THINGS THAT WE HAVE TO LOOK AT.
YOU KNOW, WE DO HAVE, UM, CADETS THAT OCCASIONALLY FAIL MAJOR EXAMS. AND ONCE YOU FAIL THROUGH YOUR MAJOR EXAMS, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE, YOU'RE, UH, YOU LEAVE THE PROGRAM.
UM, SO WE'VE INSTITUTED A, UH, OPTIONAL STUDY SESSIONS FOR CADETS FROM THE MEETINGS THAT WE HAD LAST WEEK.
WE'RE, WE'RE ALLOWING THEM TO STAY AFTER ON THEIR OWN TIME IF THEY CHOOSE TO, AND PROVIDING THEM WITH ADDITIONAL STUDY MATERIAL.
[01:20:01]
PHYSICAL TRAINING.A LOT OF THE CADETS WERE ASKING LIKE, HEY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE SUBSTANDARD HERE.
WE'RE STRUGGLING WITH PHYSICAL TRAINING.
WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME IN THE ACADEMY.
HOW DO WE DO THIS? SO THAT'S ANOTHER THING THAT WE'VE GIVEN THEM OPTIONAL.
IF YOU'RE SUBSTANDARD HERE AND YOU CHOOSE TO ON YOUR OWN, WE WILL PROVIDE THAT ADDITIONAL TRAINING FOR YOU.
OF COURSE, WE'VE ONLY GOT 40 HOURS IN A WEEK TO WORK WITH THEM, AND THAT'S, YOU KNOW, LIMITED FOR EVERYTHING WE'RE TRYING TO GET DONE.
UM, BUT WE ARE GOING TO START DOING THAT.
UM, THAT'S ALREADY A CALENDAR PUT TOGETHER, UH, FOR THE CADETS TO LOOK AT AND WORK TOWARDS THOSE DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, AND SO WE ARE TRYING TO ADDRESS THOSE THINGS.
UH, IN, IN A COUPLE MORE WEEKS, I WILL GO MEET WITH THE CADETS AGAIN.
AND, UM, TRYING TO OPEN THAT UP, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY SEE THE STARS AND THEY KNOW THE RANK AND THEY KIND OF WANT TO CLOSE DOWN.
AND SO PART OF THAT IS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I HAD ALL THE INSTRUCTORS LEAVE THE CLASS, AND, UH, THEN WE HAD WHAT WAS AN OPEN DIALOGUE, AND THEN I LEFT THE CLASS MYSELF AND LEFT THEM IN THERE WITH OUR VICTIM SERVICES COUNSELOR SO THAT SHE COULD HAVE THAT CONVERSATION TOO.
SHE WAS ABLE TO PULL OUT A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION FROM IT.
UH, NOTHING GROUNDBREAKING OR DIFFERENT, BUT JUST TRYING TO LOOK AT THOSE THINGS AND DO THOSE THINGS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DO GIVE THE CADETS THE BEST OPPORTUNITY WE CAN TO SUCCEED.
UM, LONG TIME AGO, I WAS A CADET INSTRUCTOR OUT THERE AND, AND I SAW CADETS THAT WERE STRUGGLING, UM, AND WAS LOOKING AT WAYS, HOW DO WE, EXCUSE ME, HOW DO WE HELP THESE CADETS IMPROVE AND GET THERE AND NOT LOWER THE BAR, BUT GET THE CADETS ALL, EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO GET ABOVE THE BAR.
UM, AND I THINK THERE, THERE ARE WAYS TO DO THAT, YOU KNOW, AND IT STARTS WITH, YOU KNOW, ADDING THOSE OPTIONAL EXTRA TIMES IN THERE FOR THEM WHEN THEY'RE STRUGGLING.
ANOTHER THING THAT WE'RE DOING IS, UH, PREVIOUSLY WE DIDN'T REVIEW THE TEST MATERIAL FOR CADETS THAT DID WELL ON TESTS, BUT THEY WERE ASKING US, HEY, CAN WE REVIEW OUR TEST TOO? WE WANT TO KNOW WHERE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE FELL SHORT OR, UM, WHERE WE WERE SUBSTANDARD.
AND SO WE'RE DOING THAT OFFERING THAT NOW AS WELL.
AND SO I THINK WE'VE ADDRESSED A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT THE, THE CADETS THAT THAT, THAT ARE STILL THERE WE'RE CONCERNED WITH AND WORRIED ABOUT.
AND AS FAR AS, AND, AND IF SOMEBODY HAS A QUESTION, I'M, I'M, I'M JUST, I HAVE A LONG LIST OF QUESTIONS, BUT I'M JUST FILLING AIR HERE UNTIL SOMEBODY ELSE DECIDES TO CHIME IN.
UM, AS FAR AS CONTINUITY, LIKE, AND I'VE, I'VE HEARD CHIEF GREENWALT MAKE A MENTION OF THIS.
I'VE, I'VE HEARD BOTH OF YOU MENTION THAT YOU GUYS ARE KIND OF LEARNING EVERYTHING ALL OVER AGAIN WITH REGARDS TO HOW, HOW TO GET THIS MOVING FORWARD, RIGHT? AND THAT, THAT'S WHAT I KEEP ASKING ABOUT WITH REGARDS TO CONTINUITY.
WHAT KINDS, UH, AGAIN, I'M SOMEONE THAT HAS AN OPERATIONS BACKGROUND, RIGHT? AND YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU DO IS YOU CREATE DOCUMENTATION SO THAT WHEN YOU EVENTUALLY PROMOTE OUT OF YOUR JOB, THE PERSON THAT IS COMING AND SITTING IN YOUR CHAIR NEXT KNOWS EVERYTHING THAT YOU KNOW THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING, HAS HISTORICAL INFORMATION, HAS, YOU KNOW, HAS SOMETHING TO GET GOING WITH.
AND I FEEL LIKE, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT, I MEAN, I CAN SEE
AND SO HOW, WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING PROACTIVELY TO ADDRESS THIS KIND OF DOCUMENTATION AND CREATE MORE CONTINUITY SO THAT EVERYBODY DOESN'T HAVE TO LEARN EVERYTHING ALL OVER AGAIN EVERY TIME? UM, SO, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS I WAS WORKING ON BEFORE I WENT OUT TO THE TRAINING ACADEMY IS SUCCESSION PLANNING GUIDES FOR THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT.
AND I'VE BEEN DOING THAT FOR A WHILE WITH THE UNITS I'VE BEEN IN.
AND IT'S GOT A FORMULA FOR, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THE DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY, QUARTERLY, ET CETERA, THINGS THAT YOU DO.
HOW DO YOU DO THOSE THINGS? WHO IS THE BACKUP PERSON THAT YOU CAN ASK IF THAT PERSON'S NOT THERE? WHERE ARE THESE THINGS FOUND HYPERLINKS TO ALL THOSE THINGS.
UM, AND WE ARE, EVERYONE AT THE ACADEMY IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON THE SUCCESSION PLANNING GUIDE.
I'VE ALREADY RECEIVED A FEW OF THEM BACK SO THAT PEOPLE DO KNOW.
UM, IN FACT, UH, MY ADVANCED EDUCATION LIEUTENANT WAS JUST, JUST STARTED YESTERDAY, THE NEW ONE.
UM, BUT BEFORE THE, UH, ONE THAT WAS LEAVING, UM, LEFT, THEY FINALIZED THAT SUCCESSION PLANNING GUIDE THAT I ASKED FOR WHEN I FIRST GOT THERE.
AND SO IT WAS AN, AN AWESOME GUIDE FOR THE NEW LIEUTENANT THAT COULD COME IN AND LOOK AT AND SAY, THIS IS EVERYTHING THAT I'M DOING, UM, OUTSIDE OF JUST A JOB DESCRIPTION RESPONSIBILITIES TYPE DOCUMENT, BUT ARE REALLY LIKE IN THE WEEDS.
LIKE, IF YOU NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING YOU'RE GONNA DO, HERE IT IS.
HERE'S THE PERSON THAT'S THE BACKUP THAT I'VE TRAINED TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, AND ALL OF THAT.
SO, UM, WE ARE STILL WORKING ON SOME OF THOSE SUCCESSION PLANNING GUIDES.
UH, SOME OF THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE NEVER KIND OF CREATED OR WORKED ON THOSE, THEY TAKE TIME.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, I I KICK 'EM BACK AND TELL 'EM, HEY, THIS NEEDS A LITTLE MORE DETAIL HERE.
IT NEEDS A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION HERE.
SECONDARY NEEDS TRAINED UP APPEAR, BUT WE'RE WORKING ON THAT TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS CONTINUITY THERE.
UM, WE UNDERSTAND THAT THAT'S BEEN A PROBLEM.
AND IS THAT STUFF BEING MEMORIALIZED IN THIS LARGE OVER OVERALL WORKING PLAN DOCUMENT THAT WE, YOU KNOW, THE ATTACHMENT, LIKE IS, ARE THOSE KINDS OF PROCESSES BEING MEMOR? LIKE IS THIS A LIVING BREATHING DOCUMENT? ARE YOU GUYS WRITING THIS THING ONCE AND SETTING IT ASIDE? LIKE, IS THAT STUFF GETTING
[01:25:01]
MEMORIALIZED IN A CENTRALIZED WAY? YES, THIS IS, YES.THEY'RE GONNA BE TWO SEPARATE DOCUMENTS FOR THOSE.
THE, THE INTERNAL, UM, STANDARDIZED, STANDARDIZED OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR EACH OF THE EVERY UNIT AND HOW EVERY UNIT IS SUPPOSED TO OPERATE IS GONNA BE, IS GONNA BE MAINTAINED AS WELL AS THE OPERATIONS MANUAL.
THEY'RE GONNA BE TWO DIFFERENT DOCUMENTS, BUT WE CAN PROVIDE BOTH OF THEM AT ANY POINT IN TIME ONCE THEY'RE, ONCE THEY'RE CREATED, THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM.
AND JUST TO TOUCH UP ON THE FRUSTRATION THAT HERE EVERYONE HERE HAS ON HOW LONG THIS HAS TAKEN FOR EVERYONE, I, I'VE SAID THIS TO, TO, TO PRETTY MUCH EVERYBODY THAT I CAN, THAT WE'RE IN A POSITION NOW, AND I'M IN A POSITION NOW THAT I'VE BEEN, ACTUALLY, I'VE BEEN GIVEN MORE RESOURCES THAN ANY OTHER PERSON IN MY POSITION TO MAKE THESE THINGS HAPPEN.
AND SO WHILE THE PREVIOUS, UH, INCUMBENTS IN MY POSITION, THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE SAME RESOURCES, I'M GETTING SO MANY MORE PERSONS ON A TEAM AND BEING ABLE TO DEVELOP TEAMS TO DELEGATE WORK TO, INSTEAD OF ALL OF THIS WORK COMING ONTO THE SHOULDERS OF ONE OR TWO INDIVIDUALS, IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S AN A AN EXTRAORDINARY, AN EXTRAORDINARILY HEAVY LIFT TO MOVE ALL OF THESE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE DIRECTION THAT WE'RE TRYING TO, AND WE HAVE NEEDED THE RESOURCES AND, AND CITY COUNCIL WAS FANTASTIC ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO GIVE US THOSE AND GRANT THOSE.
AND WE'VE THANKED THEM FOR THAT.
UM, YEAH, AND, AND IT HAS TO BE A QUICK QUESTION 'CAUSE WE NEED, WE DO HAVE ANOTHER AGENDA ITEM.
AND I JUST WANNA SAY OUT LOUD, WE DIDN'T EVEN GET TO CURRICULUM REVIEW COMMITTEE, WHICH I WOULD LIKE TO DO A STANDALONE ITEM ON AS A FOLLOW UP.
UM, BECAUSE THAT'S THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM.
WELL, AND, AND THAT'S MY QUESTION IS IT SOUNDS LIKE Y'ALL ARE WORKING ON A, A PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE THAT'S GOING TO BE, UM, ALL INSIDERS.
AT LEAST THAT'S MY IMPRESSION OF IT.
MOSTLY FOLKS WHO ALREADY WORK FOR THE CITY OR A PD UM, UH,
AND UH, YOU KNOW, THE LAST TIME WE ASKED Y'ALL TO LIKE, LOOK AT YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, YOU WENT TO LIKE THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY GUY TO, TO LIKE REWRITE YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL LAW BOOK SO YOU CAN FIND AN EXPERT WHO IS NOT HELPFUL AT ALL IN TERMS OF HEADING IN THE DIRECTION WE WANT TO.
HOW DO WE PREVENT THAT? WELL, THIS IS, THIS IS ACTUALLY THE TOPIC OF CONVERSATION FOR TOMORROW'S MEETING OF, WE HAVE NOT YET HIRED THE THREE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS.
AND THAT IS THE, UM, THAT IS THE MAIN PURPOSE OF TOMORROW'S MEETING IS IDENTIFYING THE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS FOR THE PARTICULAR MODULES AS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BEGINNING WITH, WHICH ARE OUTLINED IN THE KROLL, UH, IN THE FINAL CROW REPORT.
COULD COULD WE GET THOSE NAMES IN A FUTURE ANSWER? COMMISSIONER SMITH HAS SOME ANSWERS AS WELL.
COMMISSIONER SMITH? NO, CONTINUE.
I JUST, I JUST WOULD LIKE IN A FOLLOW UP QUESTION THOSE NAMES ONCE THEY'RE PICKED.
UM, DO WE HAVE COMMISSIONER SMITH? I WILL, I'M SURE YOU NOTHING, WE, I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO DO THIS WITH DILIGENCE AND HONOR, SO MAYBE THERE SHOULD BE A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM TO AGREED.
UM, BUT I AM PARTICULARLY INTERESTED THE PRESENTATION GREAT.
BUT I, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE AN EXCEL GOING BACK TO YOUR OPERATIONALIZATION OF PROGRESSION.
I'D LOVE TO SEE A SPREADSHEET OF ALL THE RECOMMENDATIONS YOU HAVE HEARD FROM KROLL FROM, UM, THE GROUP, THE REVIEW GROUP, KATHY MITCHELL, UM, DISCUSSED.
I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT ALL, YOU KNOW, COORDINATED AS FAR AS WHO MADE IT WHEN, WHAT, UH, DOCUMENT IT'S REFERENCING.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THAT NEXT COLUMN BEING, WHERE ARE YOU IN THE PROGRESSION OF, UM, SUCCEEDING IN THAT GOAL POST WITH FOLLOW-UP DOCUMENTATION OF WHY IT ISN'T IN PROGRESS OR WHY IT'S STALLING, OR WHY YOU DEEM IT TO HAVE BEEN, UM, SUCCESSFULLY, SUCCESSFULLY EXECUTED.
JUST SO THAT WE CAN 30,000 FOOT PICTURE.
WHETHER ALL OF THE THINGS
[01:30:01]
THE THINGS? I THINK THAT WILL ALSO HELP WITH EXITING AND TRANSIT, UM, UH, SUCCESSION PLANNING AS WELL.THE MODEL THAT THE C-S-C-R-M WORKING GROUP HAS, UM, HAS EMBRACED IN ORDER OF LIKE, SORT OF PUTTING TOGETHER A LIST OF PROJECT SCOPE AND DELIVERABLES AND, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE ARE.
THAT KIND OF, THAT KIND OF GRANULARITY IS, IS WHAT WE NEED TO SEE.
UM, UM, CAN JUST, I MEAN, AND, AND WE, WE HAVE TO MOVE ON.
I KNOW WE HAVE TO, WE, WE HAVE, UM, DIRECTOR SNIPES THAT'S BEEN VERY PATIENT.
UM, HE IS SITTING BACK THERE AND WE'VE BEEN WANTING, BUT THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT AND WE'VE BEEN DOING IT FOR YEARS.
AND I JUST WANNA SAY THE OTHER REASON C-S-C-R-M IS WORKING IS BECAUSE IT'S NOT ALL A PD, IT'S OUTSIDE PEOPLE AGREED.
AND IT'S BEING MONITORED BY SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT WHO ARE VESTED IN MAKING THAT SYSTEM NOT AS MESSED UP AS IT'S BEEN FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS.
AND YOU GUYS FIRED THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY PANEL 'CAUSE YOU WOULDN'T EVEN TALK TO THEM.
SO, I MEAN, I DON'T THINK, I THINK WE CAN GET ALL THE EXCEL SPREADSHEETS WE WANT.
WE ARE NEVER GONNA GET ANYWHERE UNLESS WE'RE HONEST ABOUT THE FACT OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT DOES NOT WANNA TALK TO THE CITIZENS.
UH, COMM COMMISSIONER, WE BACK COMM TOPIC COMM, PLEASE.
THANK, WE REALLY DO NEED TO, WE REALLY DO NEED TO MOVE ON.
AND I THANK YOU CLERK'S OFFICE.
I KNOW YOU REALLY HATE DEMOCRACY, SO WE'LL JUST KEEP THIS GOING
AND WITH THAT, BUT ARE WE GONNA, ARE WE GONNA BRING THIS BACK UP FOR A FUTURE? YES, WE WILL.
'CAUSE WE NEED TO DISCUSS THE, THE CURRICULUM REVIEW COMMITTEE IN MORE, IN MORE DETAIL.
WE HAVE OTHER ITEMS THAT ARE RELATED TO THIS.
I DO, UM, WANNA FOLLOW CHIEF GREENWALD'S MODEL THAT WE SHOULD MAYBE TAKE CER SPECIFIC PARTS OF THE REPORT SO THAT WE CAN HAVE, UM, CONVERSATIONS, UM, THAT ARE MORE, UM, I'M SORRY.
I REALLY WISH WE HAD MORE TIME.
UM, THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS WITH THIS, THIS ITEM.
UM, AND I THINK JUST, IS THERE
BECAUSE I THINK WE CAN COME UP WITH A PLAN TO DEAL WITH THIS BETTER.
UM, THANK YOU FOR SITTING HERE.
UM, AND WE'LL HAVE YOU GUYS BACK.
[4. Weather Preparedness and Inclement Weather Procedures with Public Safety Departments and the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM).]
IS, UM, COMMISSIONER SNIPES IS MEETING US TO TALK TO US ABOUT, UM, OUR WEATHER PREPAREDNESS AND INCLEMENT WEATHER PROCEDURES.I KNOW WE'VE WANTED YOU GUYS OUT HERE FOR A WHILE, SO I'M GLAD THAT YOU ARE HERE.
UM, JUST SO IF YOU CAN JUST, YOU CAN GET GOING.
GOOD AFTERNOON, COMMISSIONERS.
UH, THANK YOU ALL FOR SERVING.
MY NAME IS KEN SNIP, DIRECTOR OF AUSTIN'S HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICE, AND I AM HERE TODAY TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON THE WEATHER.
UH, A WEATHER PREPAREDNESS UPDATE, AND TO SHARE A LITTLE BIT OF, UM, INFORMATION REGARDING WHAT WE'VE DONE OVER THE LAST, UH, FEW MONTHS HERE.
UH, WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT, UH, AN ALL HAZARDS APPROACH WAS AN, WHICH IS AN APPROACH THAT WE'RE SHIFTING TO, UH, WITH REGARD TO HOW WE MANAGE, UH, EMERGENCIES.
TALK A BIT ABOUT COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE DONE, SOME OF THE CHANGES THAT WE'VE MADE, UH, SOME OF OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS, UH, AND SOME OF THE ENGAGEMENT THAT WE'VE HAD WITH THEM, UH, PREPAREDNESS AND THEN HOW WE ARE ASKING PEOPLE TO STAY INFORMED.
UM, AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE CENTRAL TEXAS AREA IS A HOTBED FOR MANY TYPES OF ISSUES.
UH, MOST OF THEM, UH, SURROUND, UH, WEATHER AND WEATHER RELATED ISSUES.
THE MOST COMMON, UH, THAT WE TALK ABOUT OR THAT WE HEAR ABOUT ANYWAY, ARE IN REGARD TO FLOODING AND WILDFIRE.
UH, NEXT ON THE LIST THOUGH, UH, AS WE'RE STARTING TO HEAR MORE AND MORE, UH, ABOUT THE CHANGES IN THE WEATHER AND, UM, AND CLIMATE CHANGE, WE'RE STARTING TO HEAR MORE ABOUT, UH, EXTREME HEAT AND ALSO, UH, WHEN THE WEATHER HERE, UM, THE EXTREME HEAT IS A BIG ISSUE FOR US.
WE'RE STARTING TO, UH, TRACK SOME OF THE TRENDS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
UM, OVER THE PAST YEAR, YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED OR READ THAT THE, UM, TEMPERATURE, UH, FOR 2023 WAS THE HIGHEST ON RECORD.
UH, AND SO, UH, WE'RE STARTING TO, UM, THINK ABOUT HOW WE PREPARE FOR THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
THE ALL HAZARDS APPROACH IS A SHIFT FROM WHAT I LIKE TO CALL A HAZARD SILOS APPROACH, WHERE WE FOCUSED ON EACH ONE OF THE HAZARDS THAT WE WOULD FACE IN A COMPLETELY ISOLATED FASHION.
AND WE'RE STARTING TO SHIFT TO AN ALL HAZARD APPROACH THAT ALLOWS US TO INCREASE OUR SPEED OF RESPONSE.
UM, WE THINK THAT IS A MUCH BETTER, UH, WAY FOR US TO MOVE FORWARD.
UM, AND WITH THAT, UNDERSTANDING THE HAZARDS IS ESSENTIAL FOR BUILDING A RE RESILIENT CENTRAL TEXAS.
THE ALL HAZARDS APPROACH PREPARES US FOR VARIOUS
[01:35:01]
SITUATIONS FROM THE FAMILIAR, SOME OF WHICH THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, AS WELL AS THE UNEXPECTED.UH, AND SOME OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE'RE ALSO PREPARING FOR INCLUDE BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL, AND TERRORIST THREATS AS WELL.
ALL THOSE THINGS ARE ALWAYS ON OUR, ON OUR RADAR.
UH, AND TO TOUCH A FEW MORE, UH, ON A FEW MORE OF THOSE THINGS.
UM, WITH RESPECT TO FLOODING, WE'RE CONSTANTLY LOOKING AT, AS WE MOVE INTO FLOODING SEASON WITH THE MONTH OF MAY HERE, UH, IN AUSTIN, LOOKING AT MAKING SURE THAT OUR PLANS ARE READY, GETTING MESSAGING OUT TO OUR COMMUNITY TO MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY NEED TO DO.
ANOTHER HUGE FOCUS FOR US RIGHT NOW IS WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS.
UH, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH OUR AUSTIN, UH, FIRE DEPARTMENT PROFESSIONALS TO, UM, TO, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE GETTING INFORMATION OUT REGARDING WHAT WE CAN DO TO PREPARE FOR WILDFIRE.
UH, IN FACT, UH, HERE RECENTLY WE HAD A GROUP, UH, FROM THE MARSHALL FIRE IN COLORADO.
UH, WE BROUGHT IN A, UH, A MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM THAT INCLUDED, UH, BOTH THE, UH, FIRE CHIEF AND SHERIFF, UH, THE FORMER CITY MANAGER AND, UH, PUBLIC WORKS MANAGER, AS WELL AS THEIR OPERATIONS, UH, OPERATION, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, UH, MANAGER FROM THAT, UH, GROUP AS WELL.
UM, AND THE REASON THAT WE ARE BRINGING TOGETHER, UH, THAT WIDE VARIETY OF, UH, TEAMS, OR A WIDE VARIETY OF DISCIPLINES IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO BOTH PREPARE AS A COMMUNITY AND THEN TO RESPOND AND RECOVER AS A COMMUNITY.
UH, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT JUST JUMP OUT AT ME THAT, UM, FROM THAT, UM, EVENT WAS JUST THE, UH, AFTER EFFECTS OF HAVING A WILDFIRE EVENT GO THROUGH, UH, THE DAMAGE TO THE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, THE DAMAGE TO THE POWER SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, DAMAGE TO THE ROAD NETWORKS WHERE THEY ENDED UP HAVING TO REPLACE QUITE A BIT OF THEIR ASPHALT, UH, UH, PAVING AS WELL AS CONCRETE, UH, STRUCTURES THROUGHOUT THE, UM, REGION THERE THAT EXPERIENCED THAT EVENT.
AS IT RELATES TO THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH, WE HAVE MADE A AND RELEASED A NUMBER OF PROGRAMS. ONE OF THEM IS OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PREPAREDNESS GUIDE.
IT HAS BEEN VERY, VERY WELL RECEIVED BY THE COMMUNITY.
UH, IT DETAILS WAYS THAT PEOPLE CAN, UM, YOU KNOW, PREPARE IN THEIR HOMES.
THE REASON WE WANT TO REALLY FOCUS ON THIS IS, UH, IT GIVES PEOPLE AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, UH, BETTER PROTECT THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES.
WHEN THAT HAPPENS, UH, THERE'S A LESS LIKELIHOOD THAT OUR FIRST RESPONDERS HAVE TO DEAL WITH THOSE PEOPLE, WHICH FREES THEM UP TO DEAL WITH THE MOST VULNERABLE MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY.
WE ALSO HAVE A NUMBER OF COMMUNITY, UH, MONTHLY POPUPS.
WE ARE, UH, ROTATING THOSE AROUND TO VARIOUS COMMUNITIES.
UH, WE TYPICALLY MEET IN RE IN, UH, UH, LOCATIONS THAT ARE WELL KNOWN TO THE COMMUNITY IN VARIOUS LIBRARIES, UH, OR RECREATION CENTERS.
UH, AND IN THOSE MEETINGS, WE GIVE PEOPLE A CHANCE TO COME OUT AND HEAR FROM US, UM, UH, ABOUT THINGS THAT THEY CAN DO TO PREPARE.
THEY ALSO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO PICK UP A FEW THINGS TO HELP BUILD THEIR, UH, EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS KITS.
ANOTHER MAJOR, UH, PROGRAM IS OUR GET READY CENTRAL TEXAS EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS FAIR.
THIS IS A REALLY LARGE, UH, EVENT.
UH, WE HAVE, UH, PARTNERS FROM, UH, AROUND THE CITY AND THE REGION, UH, EXPERTS FROM ACROSS THE SPACE OF, UH, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
THEY HAVE A, AN OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC.
UH, AGAIN, ANOTHER, UH, UH, EVENT THAT'S BEEN WELL RECEIVED BY THE COMMUNITY.
UH, THIS PAST YEAR, IT WAS HOSTED AT, UH, AUSTIN COMMUNITY, UM, COLLEGE, UH, EAST BRANCH.
UH, AND OVER 200 PEOPLE ATTENDED THAT EVENT.
READY TOGETHER IS A TRAINING THAT WE'VE ROLLED OUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
UH, WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF, UH, I THINK WE'VE HAD OUR FIRST TWO SESSIONS FOR THAT.
THIS IS A, A, A BRAND NEW PROGRAM.
UH, UH, IT IS AGAIN, ANOTHER PROGRAM THAT HELPS PEOPLE UNDERSTAND, UH, WHEN WE ASK THEM TO BUILD A PREPAREDNESS KIT.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO HAVE IN YOUR KIT? HOW CAN WE HELP YOU BUILD A KIT? UM, WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANT THINGS THAT YOU NEED TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU, UH, NEED TO LEAVE YOUR HOME, FOR EXAMPLE.
UH, AND THEN ALSO WE ASK THEM TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY, UM, THEY PRACTICE WITH THEIR KITS AS WELL.
WE EXTENDED THE TRAINING TO OUR SENIOR LEVEL OFFICIALS AND DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS.
THIS WAS A REGIONAL TRAINING, UH, THAT WE DID.
UH, UP AT COLLEGE STATION, WE TOOK ABOUT 90, UH, SENIOR OFFICIALS FROM AROUND THE, THE REGION THAT INCLUDED ALSO SOME OF OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS, DEPARTMENT HEADS FROM, UM, THE CITY OF AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY, WILLIAMSON COUNTY, THE CITY OF ROUND ROCK AS WELL.
UH, ALL WENT THERE AND WE WORKED AS A TEAM.
WE WORKED THROUGH VARIOUS SCENARIOS, UH, AND WE, UH, WORKED ON ONE, UM,
[01:40:01]
LEARNING HOW TO BETTER RESPOND, UH, TO INDIVIDUAL INCIDENTS IN OUR CITIES OR IN OUR, UH, RESPECTIVE JURISDICTIONS, BUT ALSO ACROSS JURISDICTIONS AS WELL.SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, UH, IS NEW THAT WE, UM, THAT WE DID THIS TIME.
UH, YOU MAY, IN THIS PICTURE HERE, NOTICE, UH, JUDGE ANDY BROWN.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER, UH, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, STEPHANIE HAYDEN HOWARD AND COMMISSIONER ANN HOWARD, UH, FROM THE, UH, COUNTY AS WELL.
WE ARE WORKING TO BETTER ENGAGE WITH OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS.
SOME OF THE MAIN REASONS THAT WE DO THAT IS THEY HAVE A LENS AND A CONNECTION INTO THE, UH, COMMUNITY THAT WE SOMETIMES DON'T HAVE.
SO THEY ARE ABLE TO GIVE US FEEDBACK THAT WE MIGHT NOT OTHERWISE GET.
UH, WHETHER IT BE BECAUSE, UH, CERTAIN COMMUNITIES DON'T WANT TO ENGAGE WITH THE GOVERNMENT, OR JUST THAT, UH, THEY DON'T HAVE TIME, OR WE ARE MISSING EACH OTHER, THEY CAN'T ATTEND SOME OF OUR EVENTS.
SO THIS IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO WORK, UH, WITH OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS TO GET THAT INFORMATION.
IT HELPS US BUILD OUR PROGRAMS. IT HELPS US KNOW WHERE OUR GAPS ARE AS WELL.
UH, ONE OF THE MAIN THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT QUITE A BIT IS, UH, ASKING PEOPLE TO, UM, MAKE SURE THAT THEY TAKE THE TIME TO MAKE A PLAN.
AND ONCE YOU HAVE THE PLAN TO PRACTICE WITH YOUR PLAN, UH, THE ONE THING THAT WE ARE REALLY FOCUSED ON IS EVACUATION THIS YEAR.
AND MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE, UH, A A REALLY KEEN FOCUS ON WORKING WITH ALL OF OUR PUBLIC SAFETY PARTNERS TO BUILD A, UH, PLAN THAT, UH, THAT MAKES SENSE, THAT IS EASY TO FOLLOW, AND THAT IS COORDINATED, STAYING INFORMED.
I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS, THERE WERE SOME CONCERNS AND A LITTLE BIT OF CONFUSION ABOUT, UH, WHEN, UH, THE PUBLIC SHOULD USE CERTAIN NUMBERS.
SO FOR 9 1 1, THAT IS THE UNIVERSAL EMERGENCY NUMBER FOR LIFE THREATENING ISSUES.
IT CONTACTS, IT CONNECTS, UH, CALLERS WITH POLICE, FIRE EMS OR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 3 1 1.
THAT IS THE LOCAL PUBLIC HOTLINE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT SERVICES OR, UM, A FILE REQUEST.
SO, UH, TO FOLLOW UP ON A REQUEST THAT, UH, YOU MAY HAVE SUBMITTED BEFORE 2 1 1 IS THE HOTLINE FOR INFORMATION ON LOCAL HEALTH AND HUMAN SE, HUMAN SERVICES ISSUES OR RESOURCES.
AND 9 8 8 IS THE SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE THAT IS AVAILABLE TO ANYONE WHO MAY BE IN CRISIS OR EMOTIONAL DISTRESS.
WE ALSO ASK THAT, UM, WE ASK THAT, UM, PEOPLE WHO ARE IN NEED OF MORE INFORMATION REACH OUT TO READY CENTRAL TEXAS.ORG, WHICH COVERS EMERGENCIES FOR EVERY SEASON.
IT IS THE CENTRAL HUB FOR ALL YOUR PREPAREDNESS NEEDS.
IT IS EASY TO USE AND IT IS VERY INFORMATIVE FOR THOSE WHO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT.
ANOTHER RESOURCE IS AUSTIN TEXAS.GOV/ALERTS.
AND THIS IS A WEBPAGE TO CHECK FOR EMERGENCY UPDATES.
THE INFORMATION ON THAT PAGE IS TRANSLATED INTO 14 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES.
UH, THAT HAS BEEN A, UH, A REALLY BIG, UM, MOVEMENT FORWARD JUST IN TERMS OF BEING ABLE TO CONNECT MORE PEOPLE WITH OUR INFORMATION.
AND THE LAST IS WARREN CENTRAL TEXAS.ORG THAT ALLOWS YOU TO GET ALERTS THROUGH TEXT, EMAIL, OR PHONE.
UM, AND, UM, IT, IT GIVES YOU A CHANCE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE HAZARDS ARE, UH, AND IT ALLOWS YOU TO CUSTOMIZE ALERTS BASED ON YOUR LOCATION.
ANOTHER QUESTION WAS ABOUT HOW WE CONNECT WITH OUR UNHOUSED COMMUNITY.
UH, WE WORK THROUGH THE HOMELESS SERVICES OFFICE.
UH, THEY TAKE THE LEAD ON USING THEIR HSO TEXT ALERT SYSTEM.
THE SYSTEM SENDS OUT TEXT MESSAGES TO THE UNHOUSED COMMUNITY.
UH, AND THEN THEY ALSO WORK WITH MANY OF THE SERVICE PROVIDERS, UH, AND SUPPORT GROUPS THAT ARE IN THE COMMUNITIES EVERY DAY.
UM, AS WELL AS MANY OF THE, UH, FOLKS IN OUR CITY, UH, NETWORK THAT ARE ALSO OUT, FOR EXAMPLE.
A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THAT WOULD BE IF WE KNOW WE HAVE PEOPLE WHO MAY HAVE MOVED INTO A LOW LINE AREA THAT MAY BE PRONE TO FLOODING.
IF WE HAVE A STORM MOVING IN, UH, PEOPLE WILL GO OUT AND MAKE CONTACT TO WARM PEOPLE THAT WE MAY HAVE WEATHER MOVING IN THAT COULD IMPACT THEM IN THAT SPACE.
WE ALSO ASK THAT PEOPLE WORK TO STAY INFORMED.
UH, ONE OF THE SYSTEMS THAT WE HAVE INVESTED IN AND WORKED THROUGH REGULARLY IS THE AASS OR THE ACCESSIBLE HAZARD ALERT SYSTEM.
THAT IS A SYSTEM THAT, UH, WORKS WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE DEAF, BLIND, DEAF OR BLIND, TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ALSO HAVE THE ABILITY TO GET THE MESSAGING OR EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY MESSAGING THAT WE'RE PUTTING OUT.
UM, THAT SYSTEM HAS BEEN, UH, EXTREMELY POPULAR AS WELL.
UH, AND WE'VE BEEN, UM, WE'VE RECEIVED RECOGNITION FOR ADOPTING THAT TYPE OF, UM, TOOL AS PART OF OUR, UH, INVENTORY STEER IS ANOTHER, UM,
[01:45:01]
OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE TO, UM, ENGAGE AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE, UM, ARE SAFE.WHAT THIS SYSTEM DOES IS IT IDENTIFIES YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO SELF-IDENTIFY IF YOU HAVE DISABILITIES, OR IF YOU'RE MED MEDICALLY FRAGILE.
IF YOU HAVE LIMITED MO MOBILITY OR ANY OTHER ISSUES THAT MAY IMPACT YOUR ABILITY TO EVACUATE FROM YOUR HOME QUICKLY.
THIS IS A REGISTRY THAT YOU CAN GO INTO AND SELF-IDENTIFY.
AND IF THERE IS AN EVENT, UH, THEN FIRST RESPONDERS HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU ARE AND TO, UM, BUILD A PLAN TO GET YOU OUT.
AND THEN FINALLY, UH, WITH RESPECT TO, UM, COMMUNICATIONS, WE ASK THAT PEOPLE ALSO, UH, REMEMBER THAT THEY HAVE THE LOCAL NEWS AS A RESOURCE, AS WELL AS, UH, WEATHER RADIOS.
IF WE CAN GET THE COMMISSIONERS UP.
I BELIEVE THIS WAS COMMISSIONER SMITH.
THIS WAS AN ITEM, UM, THAT YOU HAD BROUGHT UP.
SO I, I, I SEE THE FLOOR TO YOU WITH REGARDS TO QUESTIONS FIRST, IF YOU GOT THEM.
JUST AS SOME CONTEXT FOR YAS, I'VE BEEN WORKING IN THE INCLEMENT WEATHER SPACE VERY CLOSELY WITH HIS SOME, UM, AND, UM, UH, THE, THE, THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT ENGAGE SINCE STORM URI, THE COMMUNICATION IS AN ISSUE.
THE COMMUNICATION INTERNALLY, UM, FOR THE DEPARTMENTS AND THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION AND WHO'S THE POINT AND WHO HAS RESPONSIBILITY OVER COMMUNICATION TO EXTERNALS, THERE IS ALWAYS, THERE IS ALL WAYS OPPORTUNITIES OF GROWTH.
OKAY? SO HOW YOU GUYS ARE COMMUNI, WE NEED A COMMUNICATIONS PLAN INTERNALLY OF HOW YOU GUYS ARE COMMUNICATING WHEN YOU'RE COMMUNICATING, WHO'S THE POINT PERSON IN COMMUNICATIONS, AND THEN WHO'S YOUR LIAISON TOWARD THE EXTERNALS AND BRINGING THOSE EXTERNALS IN EARLIER FROM A SERVICE PROVISION LENS.
'CAUSE I'M ALSO A SERVICE PROVIDER IN THIS SPACE FROM A SERVICE PROVIDER LENS.
I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING AS FAR AS, HEY, WE DO COMMUNICATE WITH THE UNHOUSED COMMUNITY.
YOU TALKING ABOUT TEXT MESSAGES? THESE FOLKS DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO PHONES.
IF THEY HAVE ACCESS TO PHONES, THEY DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO POWER OR INTERNET OR SERVICE.
SO THE TEXT MESSAGES GREAT IDEA, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO LOGISTICS, IT'S NOT MEETING THE MUSTER.
UM, I'M ALSO GETTING YOUR EXTERNALS NOT JUST FROM LAY PEOPLE, BUT SROS, RIGHT? PEOPLE IN DIFFERENT SYSTEMS. THEY ALSO DON'T KNOW WHERE TO TELL PEOPLE TO GO.
I'M GETTING CALLS PERSONALLY OF LAY PEOPLE SAYING, OH, WHERE IS, WHERE, WHERE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DRAW? OR WHERE IS THE INTAKE LOCATION? OR WHERE, EVEN THOUGH IT'S THE SAME EVERY YEAR, THEY SEEM TO BE CONFUSED.
AGAIN, THAT LINE OF COMMUNICATION IN ALL OF THOSE AREAS, THERE ARE HUGE, HUGE OPPORTUNITIES OF GROWTH.
AND I WOULD LOVE TO SEE AN EXPANSION OF THE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN TO ENSURE THAT EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS ALSO, WHEN YOU'RE TELLING 'EM, HEY, I'M, I'M TALKING TO MY SERVICE PROVIDER SO THAT THEY CAN ALERT THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT ARE MOST VULNERABLE.
WE'RE NOT GETTING THOSE COMMUNICATIONS TILL 48 HOURS.
FINGERS CROSSED, SOMETIMES IT'S USUALLY 9:00 AM THE DAY OF THAT CERTAIN ACCESS POINTS ARE OPEN.
SO IT MAKES IT HARDER, HARD FOR YOUR COM UH, YOUR SERVICE PROVIDERS TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT LAYER OF COMMUNICATION TO VULNERABLE POPULATIONS THAT DON'T WANT TO INTERACT WITH THE SYSTEM IN TOTALITY.
UM, I'M GLAD WE'RE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION, BUT I, I AM AGAIN, VERY FEARFUL OF WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN IN A COUPLE WEEKS WHEN PEOPLE ARE HAVING HEAT STROKES AND IT'S UP TO YOUR SERVICE PROVIDERS, SOME OF WHICH ARE UNFUNDED TO GO OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOODS AND MAKE SURE PEOPLE HAVE WATER.
SO, DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? YEP.
AND I THINK WITH THAT, I THINK I'LL JUST WRAP UP A QUESTION AROUND THAT, WHICH IS, WHAT ARE THE PLANS TO IMPROVE THE COMMUNICATIONS WITH OUR IN-HOUSE COMMUNITY AND FOR PROVIDING MORE ADVANCED NOTICE OF WHAT, FOR WHAT? I KNOW THEY'RE, WHEN THEY'RE WEATHER EVENTS, BUT WE KNOW THEY'RE COMING, RIGHT? THEY'RE NOT SURPRISE EVENTS AT LEAST.
I MEAN, THE TIMING OF IT'S SEASON NOT A SURPRISE.
SO IF YOU COULD SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO THAT.
SO I THINK I HEARD TWO THINGS.
ONE IS COMMUNICATION WITH THE, UH, HOMELESS COMMUNITY, THE UNHOUSED COMMUNITY.
AND TWO WAS COMMUNICATIONS ACROSS THE, UM, THE, THE ENTERPRISE OR THE, THE, THE ENTIRE NETWORK.
UM, WHAT, WHAT I WOULD SAY IS I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN, UH, MEETING WITH YOU COMMISSIONER TO HEAR A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL ABOUT WHAT THAT IS BECAUSE, UM, OVER THE LAST, UH, WINTER EVENT, WHAT WE HEARD, UH, UH, OVER THE PAST, UH, 10 MONTHS OR SO, UH, THAT I'VE BEEN IN THIS ROLE IS THAT WE'VE MADE IMPROVEMENTS AND THE COMMUNICATIONS HAS BEEN THE BEST THAT IT'S BEEN IN YEARS.
SO I THINK IF WE COULD HAVE SOME SPECIFICS SO THAT WE CAN FOCUS ON THOSE AND ATTACK THOSE ISSUES DIRECTLY, THAT MIGHT BE MORE HELPFUL.
UM, REGARDING THE COMMUNICATION WITH THE UNHOUSED POPULATION.
I CAN CONNECT WITH THE HOMELESS SERVICES OFFICE TO, UH, UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, HOW WE CAN IMPROVE, UH, IN THAT SPACE, OUR COMMUNICATION TO THE OFFICE AND THE OFFICE TO THE COMMUNITY.
UM, I THINK THAT'S A, A FAIR, UH, CONVERSATION AND A FAIR POINT TO BE MADE, UH, THAT WE CAN, UH, WE CAN WORK ON CLOSING.
[01:50:01]
VALIDATE THAT STATEMENT.DEFINITELY YOU HAVE IMPROVED IN STORM MUY.
UM, WE HAVE DEFINITELY
UM, BUT THERE ARE DEFINITELY SOME OPPORTUNITIES OF GROWTH.
AND I THINK IF WE, IF WE REALLY ATTACK THOSE COMMUNICATION ISSUES ON THE BACK END WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR TRANSPORT, WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR, UH, FACILITIES, WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR PERSONNEL, WE CAN SEE A BIGGER ROI, AGAIN, WE'RE DOING BETTER THAN WE'VE EVER BEEN, BUT THERE ARE STILL SOME, SOME, SOME GREAT PLACES THAT WE CAN MAXIMIZE COMMUNICATION.
AND ON THE SERVICE PROVIDER SIDE, OUR JOB IS EASIER AND IT CAN GET US SOME BETTER, SOME BETTER OUTPUT TO NOT ONLY OUR UNHOUSED NEIGHBORS, BUT THOSE LOW MF BUYERS.
THOSE LOW MF BUYERS AREN'T JUST, UM, IN UNDER AIR HOUSE NEIGHBORS.
THEY'RE NOT ONLY DEALING WITH THE EMERGENCY AT, AT HAND, RIGHT? THAT FIRST FREEZE OR THAT FIRST HEAT OR THEIR PIPES WHERE THEY'RE DEALING WITH A SECONDARY EMERGENCY.
MM-HMM,
THEY'RE PIPES FIRST, AND IT HAPPENS EVERY SINGLE YEAR.
SO
ONE THING I DIDN'T MENTION, BECAUSE I THOUGHT WE WERE SOMEWHAT PRESSED FOR TIME TO, TO GET THROUGH THE, THE PRESENTATION HERE.
UM, BUT TO YOUR POINT, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS PART OF, UH, ONE OF THE COMMUNITY TRAININGS THAT I MENTIONED WAS THE, UM, WATER, UH, DEPARTMENT GAVE OUT WATER KEYS.
UH, AND THAT WAS TO, UM, ALLOW PEOPLE TO HEAD OFF, UH, ISSUES WHEN THERE ARE FREEZING CONDITIONS SO THAT THEY HAVE THE HOMEOWNERS HAVE THE ABILITY TO TURN OFF THE WATER IF THERE ARE ISSUES IN THEIR HOME OR PRIOR TO.
WE ASK THAT DURING, UH, FREEZING CONDITIONS.
IF YOU'RE GONNA BE GONE AWAY FROM YOUR HOME FOR A NUMBER OF DAYS, THIS IS SOMETHING YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER DOING PREEMPTIVELY SO THAT YOU DON'T COME BACK AND FIND, UH, YOUR HOUSE HAS, UH, A RUPTURED PIPE AND YOU'RE DEALING WITH THE FALLOUT FROM THAT.
SO, UM, WE DO HAVE A NUMBER OF THINGS.
I JUST DIDN'T MENTION SOME OF THOSE HERE.
JUST, YOU KNOW, TO TRY TO EXPEDITE THROUGH THE REPORT.
I CAN GLADLY, UH, REACH OUT TO SHARE SOME OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN, UH, PUSHING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
UM, AND AS WE GO ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, MAKING THOSE IMPROVEMENTS.
UH, ANOTHER ONE THAT COMES TO MIND, I REMEMBER, UH, DURING THE PAST WINTER, WE HAD, UM, I DON'T REMEMBER WHICH EVENT IT WAS, UH, BUT WE HAD SUBFREEZING CONDITIONS, UM, WHEN WE, UH, CREATED A NEW, UH, PROGRAM OR A NEW PROCESS FOR GETTING, UH, PEOPLE WHO, UH, THE UNHOUSED MEMBERS OF THE UNHOUSED COMMUNITY WHO DON'T MAKE IT TO EMBARKATION FOR WHATEVER REASON, UM, THEY DON'T MAKE IT WITHIN THE, UH, WINDOW.
UH, MOST OF THEM HAVE, UM, IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES PREVIOUSLY AS, I DON'T WANNA GO TO THE SHELTER.
UH, BUT SOME, AT SOME POINT DURING THE NIGHT, IT BECOMES EXTREMELY COLD, COLDER THAN THEY WERE ANTICIPATING.
UH, AND UH, WHAT WE'VE DONE NOW IS WE'VE WORKED WITH OUR FLEET SERVICES DEPARTMENT TO MAKE AVAILABLE VANS.
WE USED THOSE VANS THIS PAST YEAR WITH VOLUNTEER DRIVERS TO GO OUT AND PICK THESE PEOPLE UP.
UH, AND I DON'T THINK ANYONE WAS OUT FOR MORE THAN 30 TO 45 MINUTES FROM THE TIME THEY CALLED US TO THE TIME THAT THEY WERE AT A SHELTER OR AT A FACILITY OR AT SOME PLACE, UH, WHERE THEY COULD GO TO GET WARM.
UM, AND IN THE PAST THAT MIGHT HAVE TAKEN SEVERAL HOURS.
AND OFTENTIMES WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IS BY THE TIME WE WOULD MAKE IT TO THE LOCATION, THE PERSON IS GONE.
UH, AND SO THAT WASN'T THE CASE, UH, THIS TIME.
UH, AND ANOTHER THING BY HAVING SO MANY PEOPLE OUT IN THOSE VANS THAT HAPPENED WAS THEY WERE ACTUALLY ABLE TO, UH, SPOT PEOPLE THAT HADN'T CALLED AND SAID, HEY, WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO IN? UH, AND SEVERAL OF THEM, UM, DECIDED TO ACCEPT THAT THAT WAS VERY WELL RECEIVED ON THE SERVICE PROVIDER END.
UM, AND I THINK THAT JUST LIKE THAT INGENUITY, RIGHT, WE, I KNOW WE JUST TALKED ABOUT SPREADSHEETS NOT DOING ANYTHING, BUT WE HAVE DONE
THERE ARE JUST, AGAIN, THESE, THESE GAPS JUST LIKE YOU SOLVED WITH FLEET GOING OUT THERE, THERE ARE SOME RURAL PRACTICAL MANEUVERS WE CAN DO TO ENSURE THAT, AGAIN, WE'RE CONTINUING TO BREAK RECORDS, CONTINUING TO GET BETTER.
AND I APPRECIATE, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN DEFINITELY HAVE A ONE-ON-ONE WITH ME, BUT I'D LOVE TO BRING YOU INTO, UM, A COALITION OF SERVICE PROVIDERS SO THAT YOU CAN, YOU KNOW, REPORT OUT, BUT ALSO JUST GET SOME OF THESE GAPS WE SEE IN A SPACE WHERE YOU CAN HAVE US ALL AT ONE TIME INSTEAD OF HAVING TO DO MULTIPLE MEETINGS.
WELL, THANK YOU COMMISSIONER BURNHART.
UM, I, I AM CURIOUS, I KNOW THAT THERE WAS AT LEAST ONE FATALITY OF AN UNHOUSED PERSON IN JANUARY DURING A FREEZE.
UM, MY, MY QUESTION IS, DO Y'ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENED OR HAS THERE BEEN ANY UM, UH, POST-MORTEM MEETING LIKE THEY DO IN FAMILY
[01:55:01]
VIOLENCE HOMICIDES TO FIGURE OUT WHAT HAPPENED AND WHAT WENT WRONG? NOT FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE.UM, THAT WORK IS TYPICALLY, UM, THE, THE REALM OR SPACE OF OUR MEDICAL PROVIDERS.
AND SO, UM, WE DON'T NECESSARILY ENGAGE IN THAT SPACE AS HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
UM, I'M SURE THAT INFORMATION IS IS OUT THERE AND WE CAN TRY TO GET THAT FOR YOU, BUT I DON'T HAVE IT.
UM, I'M EXCITED TO CONTINUE THESE CONVERSATIONS.
UM, I, I, I TOO FELT LIKE THINGS WERE WAY BETTER THIS PAST TIME.
THERE'S ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT.
I WAS FRUSTRATED THAT MORE PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW THAT THERE WAS, UM, THIS FLEET GOING AROUND AND PICKING PEOPLE UP THAT DIDN'T GET CAUGHT IN THE FIRST, YOU KNOW, SORT OF NET THAT WENT UP.
SO, UM, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE WE COULD HAVE CAUGHT EVEN MORE PEOPLE IN THAT SORT OF SECOND NET.
UM, BUT YEAH, I'M EXCITED TO GET THIS STUFF EVEN BETTER AND SO THAT WE CAN CREATE SOME SAFER, SOME SAFER, UM, PROTOCOLS, SOME PREDICTABLE PROTOCOLS POTENTIALLY, UM, FOR OUR UNHOUSED COMMUNITY IN PART IN PARTICULAR.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
WE HAVE JUST A FEW MINUTES TO TALK ABOUT, UM, FUTURE ITEMS. I DO WANNA GO AT THIS 'CAUSE I DO FEEL LIKE WE NEED TO GO AT THE POLICE ACADEMY AGAIN, UM, SPECIFICALLY FOR THE CURRICULUM REVIEW COMMITTEE.I DID WRITE DOWN WORKING GROUP HERE.
AND I THINK WHAT I WILL DO IS I WILL PULL TOGETHER AN ITEM FOR NEXT MEETING SO THAT WE CAN GET A WORKING GROUP TOGETHER.
UM, I'M HOPING THAT THERE'S SOME RAISED HANDS FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE POTENTIALLY GAME FOR JOINING THIS WORKING GROUP, UM, ON THE TRAINING ACADEMY IN PARTICULAR, SO THAT WE CAN DIVE DOWN INTO A LOT OF THESE INDIVIDUAL SORT OF PROJECT SCOPE ITEMS AND HAVE SOME MORE, MORE CONVERSATIONS, UM, WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE AT THE TABLE.
UM, DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER AGENDA ITEMS? YES.
UM, AND I DON'T, I DON'T FEEL LIKE THIS IS A HOT POTATO BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT IS MAKING PROGRESS.
BUT AT SOME POINT I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE AN ITEM ON, UM, THE USE OF KNOWN CARCINOGENS.
UM, IN FIREFIGHTER CLOTHING AND OTHER EQUIPMENT.
UM, FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT IN PARTICULAR.
UM, I HAVE A QUICK LIST THAT I JUST WANNA PUT ON THE RECORD.
UM, TALK ABOUT, UM, OUR, UH, WORKERS' COMP PROGRAM, UM, IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE HOPING TO TALK ABOUT NEXT MONTH.
UM, AND THAT'S FOR A FD FOR, FOR ALL, FOR ALL SWORN PERSONNEL, TALK ABOUT WORKERS' COMP.
UM, I ALSO WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THE COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW COMMISSION, WHICH IS PART OF THE OFFICE, THE A POA, UM, PIECE.
AND I'VE REACHED OUT TO THE OFFICE OF POLICE OVERSIGHT ABOUT THAT.
UM, AND IT HAS BEEN A REALLY LONG TIME, I THINK SINCE REBECCA GONZALEZ LEFT THAT WE HAVE DONE A CHECK-IN ON DEPARTMENT DEMOGRAPHICS AND KIND OF, UM, DO A, HOW ARE WE DOING KIND OF ITEM AND I SEE YOU COMMISSIONER SMITH.
WHEN A FD COMES BACK, UH, RELATED TO THE CARTRIDGE GYMS, IT WOULD BE NICE IF I COULD ALSO GET JUST AN UPDATE ON THE, UH, WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS YEP.
THROUGH THE UNHOUSED LENS, SPECIFICALLY THE, UM, THE BEQUEATH OF MATERIALS TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE FIRE SAFE, LIKE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS.
AND NUMBER TWO, I WOULD LIKE HIS SON TO COME BACK IN REGARDS TO EVOLUTION IN COMMUNICATIONS AFTER THEY'VE HAD TIME TO, UM, HAVE SOME MORE MEETINGS AND CONVERSATIONS AND FIGURE OUT A GAME PLAN TO MAKE OUR COMMUNICATIONS INTERNALLY, DEPARTMENT TO DEPARTMENT AND DEPARTMENT TO EXTERNAL, UM, UH, MORE, UH, PROACTIVE.
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE? WE'RE TALKING BUDGET NEXT MONTH.
UM, AND I WILL HAVE THE RECOMMEND LIKE THE, THE ITEM FOR A WORKING GROUP.
UM, AND I WILL WORK WITH CHRISTIE SO THAT WE CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT THE BEST WAY TO STRUCTURE A RECOMMENDATION IS THAT CAN BE POSTED SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY VOTE ON THINGS WE'RE SEEING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THIS, IN THESE PRESENTATIONS.
'CAUSE I DON'T WANT OUR RECOMMENDATION TO GET HUNG UP LIKE IT DID LAST YEAR.
SO, UM, DUE TO POSTING SORT OF REQUIREMENTS.
SO WITH THAT, OH, COMMISSIONER SMITH, JUST BEFORE WE GO, 'CAUSE IT IS 6:00 PM YES.
I JUST WANTED TO THANK EVERYONE.
THIS WAS A DIFFICULT DISCOURSE.
I KNOW EVERYBODY'S TRYING THEIR BEST IN THEIR INDIVIDUAL CAPACITIES.
UM, AND I JUST WANT TO INVITE US TO CONTINUE TO HAVE DIFFICULT DISCOURSE IN, IN ORDER TO GET SOME, SOME EVOLUTIONS.