May 19, 2025 Special Audit and Finance Committee

GO TO, UH, AGENDA ITEM NUMBER ONE, WHICH IS APPROVAL OF POTENTIAL APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE OF APRIL 16TH, 2025, AND THE SPECIAL CALL TO AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETINGS OF APRIL 28TH, 2025, AND MAY 6TH, 2025.

THANKS FOR BEING HERE AS I UNDERSTAND IT, AND I'LL CONFIRM THOSE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE SIGNED UP TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC COMMENT.

GREAT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

MEMBERS, WE WILL NOW

[1. Approve the minutes of the Audit and Finance Committee meeting of April 16, 2025, and the Special Called Audit and Finance Committee meetings of April 28, 2025, and May 6, 2025.]

COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER MOVES, APPROVAL OF THOSE MINUTES.

IT'S SECONDED BY THE MAYOR PRO TEM.

IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION WITHOUT OBJECTION? THE MINUTES OF THOSE THREE MEETINGS ARE APPROVED.

THE NEXT ITEM ON

[2. Selection of the recruitment firm for the City Auditor recruitment process.]

THE AGENDA IS, UH, DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE SELECTION OF THE RECRUITMENT FIRM, UH, OF A RECRUITMENT FIRM FOR THE CITY AUDITOR RECRUITMENT PROCESS MEMBERS.

YOU'LL RECALL THAT I POSTED ON THE MESSAGE BOARD FOR THE ENTIRE COUNCIL, BUT IT, UH, OBVIOUSLY FOR THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE AS WELL, A, A PROCESS, UH, WITH SOME DETAIL IN TERMS OF TIMES AND THAT KIND OF THING.

AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS BROUGHT UP WAS THE, UH, IDEA THAT WE WOULD TURN TO OUR, UH, PROFESSIONAL STAFF, INCLUDING HR WITH REGARD TO RECOMMENDATIONS OF, UH, SEARCH FIRMS THAT WERE ALREADY UNDER CONTRACT WITH, WITH THE CITY.

UH, WERE PART OF, UH, THE CITY'S PROCESSES, UH, THAT HAD EXPERTISE IN THE AREA THAT WE WOULD NEED.

AS I UNDERSTAND IT, ALL OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE HAVE RECEIVED THE PACKETS FOR TWO POTENTIAL SEARCH FIRMS. UH, ONE IS RALPH ANDERSON AND ASSOCIATES, AND THE OTHER IS MGT.

AND SO I THINK THE, THE COMMITTEE PROBABLY WITH THAT, WITH THAT IS IN, IN, IN POSITION TO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT MOVING FORWARD ON A SEARCH FIRM TO HELP US DO THE SEARCH FOR, UH, A, A CITY AUDITOR.

BUT I WANNA MAKE SURE, AND I ALSO, UH, WANNA MAKE SURE THAT IF ANY MEMBER OF THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE HAS QUESTIONS, UH, OF OUR PROFESSIONAL STAFF, YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASK THOSE QUESTIONS.

SO FIRST, YES.

COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER, I HAVE MORE PROCESS QUESTION.

DO WE, IS THIS ALL DONE HERE OR IS ANY OF THIS, I DIDN'T KNOW IF ANY OF THIS IS, THIS WILL BE RECOMMENDED TO THE FULL COUNSEL.

WE, WE WILL, WE WILL RECOMMEND THE, THIS IS US MAKING A RECOMMENDATION TO THE FULL COUNSEL OF WHO WILL, UH, BE THE SEARCH FIRM BECAUSE THAT WAY THE COUNSEL CAN, CAN ACT AND, AND THE MANAGER CAN MOVE FORWARD ON THE CONTRACT.

DO YOU WANT TO ADD SOMETHING? YOU LOOK LIKE YOU DO? I DO.

THANK YOU, MAYOR.

UH, REBECCA KENNEDY WITH THE HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT, BECAUSE THESE VENDORS ARE ON OUR MASTER AGREEMENT, WE'VE ALREADY GONE TO COUNCIL WITH APPROVAL TO CONTRACT WITH THESE INDIVIDUALS.

SO AS THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE TODAY, YOU CAN GIVE US DIRECTION AND THEN WE WILL ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH THE SELECTED VENDOR.

THAT IS, I, I SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT.

ONE OF THE INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT THIS SELECTION PROCESS THAT'S DIFFERENT THAN OTHER SELECTION PROCESSES IS THAT THE CHARTER AND, AND CHARTER AND CODE, WHICH I HAVE, UH, IN THE MESSAGE BOARD POSTS THAT I PUT UP, I REFERENCED BOTH OF THE, UH, KEY, THERE ARE TWO REALLY KEY PROVISIONS, INCLUDING THE KEY PROVISION IN THE CHARTER, WHICH NAMES THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE AS THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE, WHICH GIVES US THE ABILITY TO DO A COUPLE OF THINGS.

SO THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME OF THAT.

I'LL LET KNOW THAT YOU HAVE PRESENTATION.

PLEASE GO AHEAD.

SHE'S GOT MORE .

AND THEN I HAVE A, I HAVE A SHORT PRESENTATION, UM, ABOUT THE PROCESS.

IF WE WANNA GO OVER THAT AS WELL, WE MAY, MAY WANT TO DO THAT.

YES, MAYOR PRO TEM.

YOU WANNA DO THAT? THAT WAS LAST.

GOOD.

WHY DON'T YOU DO THAT? OKAY.

AND I, OKAY.

I MIGHT HAVE TO TELL YOU NEXT SLIDE.

'CAUSE THIS, THIS DOESN'T SEEM TO BE

[00:10:05]

UM, SO AS, AS THE MAYOR WAS SAYING, UM, AS MEMBERS OF THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, YOU SERVE AS THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE FOR THIS POSITION.

UM, YOU WILL, AFTER WE DO THE SELECTION TODAY OF THE, UH, UH, RECRUITMENT FIRM, YOU'LL THEN RECOMMEND THREE CANDIDATES THROUGH THE CITY COUNCIL.

AND THEN THE CITY COUNCIL SHALL SELECT THE AUDITOR FROM THE RECOMMENDED CANDIDATES.

AND IF I, AND IF I MIGHT INTERRUPT AND IT EXPRESSLY STATES WE HAVE TO RECOMMEND THREE.

SO, SO THIS IS OUR TIMELINE.

SO YOU'LL SEE TODAY, UH, MAY 19TH, WE'RE REVIEWING THE PROCESS AND PROVIDING THE, THE, UH, POTENTIAL VENDORS FOR THE RECRUITMENT, UH, CONSULTANT.

UM, ONCE WE HAVE THAT, UH, DIRECTION FROM YOU, WE WILL GO BACK AND ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH THAT RECRUITMENT CONSULTANT, AND THEN WORK TO MEET WITH Y'ALL OVER THE NEXT MONTH TO DRAFT THE PROFILE AND GET IT POSTED ONCE IT GETS POSTED.

AND I WON'T GO INTO THE FULL DETAIL OF THIS TIMELINE, BUT THAT'LL BE POSTED FOR FOUR WEEKS.

AND THEN WE'LL COME BACK TO YOU AND WE'LL START TO EVALUATE WHO THE CANDIDATES WOULD BE FOR THE POSITION.

SO, AS THE MAYOR WAS SAYING, WE RECEIVED TWO PROPOSALS.

ONE WAS FROM MGT.

UM, WE LOOKED AT A COUPLE OF THINGS TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE YOU SIMILAR HIRES, THEIR TIMELINE AND THEIR PROCESS.

UM, THEY HAVE PLACED SOME FINANCIAL AND BUDGET BUDGET PLACEMENTS, UM, FROM 2014 TO PRESENT.

IT LOOKS LIKE AS SOON AS THEY ANNOUNCE THE POSITION, IT'LL TAKE ABOUT 14 WEEKS, WHICH IS IN LINE WITH OUR TIMELINE THAT WE JUST LOOKED AT.

AND THEY HAVE ABOUT SIX DIFFERENT PHASES THAT THEY'RE LOOKING AT FROM CREATING THE BROCHURE TO THE ADVERTISING PRES, PRESENTING THE CANDIDATES, THE INTERVIEW, AND THEN THE APPOINTMENT.

AND THEN RALPH ANDERSON, THEY HAD, UH, SOME MORE RELEVANT, SIMILAR HIRES IT LOOKS LIKE THAT THEY'VE PLACED RECENTLY.

UH, THE SAN ANTONIO CITY AUDITOR IN 2024, THE CITY AUDITOR FOR MODESTO, CALIFORNIA IN 2023.

AND THEN THIS SHOULD SAY 2019, WE ARE NOT WORKING IN THE FUTURE.

I RECOGNIZE IT SAYS 2029 FOR THE SAN DIEGO ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS, BUT, UM, THE TIMELINE IS 16 WEEKS, AND THAT'S FROM THE SELECTION TO THE START DATE.

SO ALMOST THE SAME 'CAUSE I THINK THE OTHER ONE WENT FROM A POSTING DATE.

UM, SEVERAL TASKS THERE THAT ARE IN LINE WITH WHAT WE WOULD EXPECT TO SEE IN AN EXECUTIVE RECRUITMENT.

UM, AND SO WHAT WE'RE HOPING TODAY IS TO GET THE DIRECTION FOR THAT RECRUITMENT CONSULTANT TO BE SELECTED.

WE'LL COMPLETE THE PAPERWORK TO, UM, TO ENTER INTO THE CONTRACT.

AND THEN THE NOMINATION COMMITTEE WILL BE WORKING WITH Y'ALL TO TRY TO MEET IN JUNE TO GET THAT PROFILE DRAFTED, UM, AND THEN GET THE POSITION POSTED.

SO THAT'S WHERE WE ARE TODAY.

ANY QUESTIONS, MEMBERS? THANK YOU.

UH, THANKS FOR RUNNING US THROUGH THAT AGAIN.

YES.

UM, MEMBERS, WHAT I'M GONNA DO IS JUST OPEN IT UP FOR SOME DISCUSSION TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT, UH, WE WANT TO GO AHEAD AND MAKE, UH, THE SELECTION AND GIVE STAFF THE DIRECTION TO GO FORWARD.

THERE ARE 2, 2, 2 NAMES, UH, RALPH ANDERSON ASSOCIATES AND THE MGT.

AND SO I'LL OPEN IT UP FOR DISCUSSION OR A MOTION IF SOMEONE HAS A MOTION.

COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER, I'M, UH, THE SECOND ONE, RALPH ANDERSON.

I AS THE ONE THAT STOOD OUT TO ME JUST SINCE THEY'VE DONE KIND OF SIMILAR CITY AUDITOR OF HIRE.

SO I WOULD JUST MOVE THAT WE USE THEM.

MOTIONS MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER AND SECONDED BY THE MAYOR PRO TIM, THAT WE GO FORWARD WITH THE, WITH THE USE OF RALPH ANDERSON AS AND ASSOCIATES.

IS THERE A DISCUSSION ON THAT? YES.

COUNCIL MEMBER UCHIN.

I'M JUST CURIOUS IF WE'VE GOT ANY OTHER CRITERIA BEYOND, UH, WHAT'S LISTED IN THESE TWO SLIDES FOR SELECTING THE VENDORS.

UH, I DON'T KNOW IF REBECCA CAN EXPAND ON OTHER PLACEMENTS THAT MGT DID THAT MIGHT BE ABLE TO GIVE US A BIT MORE CONTEXT BEFORE MOVING, MOVING FORWARD ON THIS.

SO, WHEN WE WERE LOOKING AT THE PROPOSALS FROM MGT, ONE OF THE THINGS I WILL SAY IS I DID NOT SEE A PLACEMENT OF A, OF CITY AUDITOR.

THEY DID HAVE OTHER, UM, HIGH LEVEL, UH, FINANCE STAFF, UH, FINANCE DIRECTORS, UM, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICERS, BUT NOT IN THE, IN THE SPECIFIC, UH, AUDITOR TITLE.

WHICH ARE PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN, FINANCIAL POLICIES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2026.

ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION IN THAT CASE? UH, HEARING NONE WITHOUT OBJECTION, THE MOTION TO GO FORWARD WITH RALPH ANDERSON AND ASSOCIATES AS THE SEARCH FIRM, UH, UH, IS ADOPTED.

AND GOOD LUCK, .

I APPRECIATE.

NOW, I, I, I, I SHOULDN'T BE JOKING BECAUSE I WILL SAY THAT, UM, UH, STAFF HAS BEEN REALLY GREAT AND THAT WE WORK CLOSELY.

UH, MY OFFICE WORKED CLOSELY WITH THEM ON THE MESSAGE BOARD POST THAT WENT UP.

UM, AND WHAT WE'LL DO MEMBERS IS AS, AS IT'S APPROPRIATE, I'LL, I'LL MAKE MESSAGE BOARD POSTS SO THAT THE ENTIRE COUNCIL'S UP TO SPEED AND THE PUBLIC'S UP TO SPEED

[00:15:01]

AS WELL.

SO THANK YOU ALL FOR, FOR YOUR HELP ON THAT.

THAT'LL TAKE US TO ITEM NUMBER THREE,

[3. Proposed changes to the City of Austin Financial Policies for Fiscal Year 2026]

AND I WILL CALL ON MS. LANG.

WELCOME.

GOOD MORNING, UH, MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS.

UM, CARRIE LANG, DIRECTOR OF THE BUDGET AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE OFFICE.

AND TODAY WE'RE HERE TO TALK ABOUT SOME RECOMMENDED FINANCIAL POLICY CHANGES EACH YEAR AS PART OF THE, UH, PREPARATION FOR THE BUDGET PROCESS DEPARTMENTS LOOK AT THEIR FINANCIAL POLICIES AS, UM, AND, AND RE RECOMMEND UPDATES BASED ON INDUSTRY STANDARDS OR PROFESSIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS.

EXCUSE ME.

UM, WE BRING THE CHANGES TO THIS COMMITTEE FOR CONSIDERATION BEFORE WE INCLUDE IT IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET.

AND THIS YEAR WE HAVE ONE POLICY CHANGE RECOMMENDATION, THEN A FEW OF, UM, ADMINISTRATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS OR ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES.

THE HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT IS RECOMMENDING AN UPDATE TO THE, UH, POLICY FOR THE EMPLOYEE BENEFITS FUND.

THIS WILL CHANGE OR INCREASE THE FUNDS RESERVES FROM THE CURRENT 10% TO 20%.

THIS UPDATE IS REQUESTED BECAUSE THEY'VE HAD SEVERAL CONVERSATIONS WITH THEIR ACTUARIAL WHO IS MAKING, UH, WHO RECOMMENDED A RESERVES THAT IS BETWEEN TWO TO THREE MONTHS OF, UH, CLAIMS OR PAYMENTS.

AND SO THAT'S HOW WE GOT TO THE 20%.

THIS INCREASE WILL ALLOW FOR THE FUND TO REALLY BE, UM, AS WE BUDGET EACH YEAR, IT'LL ALLOW FOR US TO HAVE, MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE FUNDS NEEDED IN CASE A LARGE CLAIM COMES IN, BUT ALSO ALLOWS FOR BALANCING THE BUDGET GOING YEAR OVER YEAR AND MAKING SURE IT IS KIND OF STREAMLINED AND DON'T HAVE A LOT OF EBBS AND FLOWS OR BIG INCREASES TO MAINTAIN THAT BALANCE.

AND THEN THE, THE REMAINDER OF THE CHANGES THAT ARE RECOMMENDED OR ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES, MOSTLY WORDING CHANGES.

AND SO AUSTIN ENERGY HAS FOUR CHANGES ACROSS THEIR FINANCIAL POLICIES.

UM, THE FIRST IS CHANGING THE ACRONYM FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT TO THE ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL REPORT.

THIS ALIGNS WITH GASB, UH, STANDARDS CHANGING IN 2021.

SO THIS IS JUST UPDATING THE LANGUAGE.

AND THEN, UM, IN, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY'S 11 AND 16, THEY ARE CHANGING THE WORDING FROM POWER SUPPLY TO POWER SUPPLY ADJUSTMENT, JUST PROVIDING MORE CLARIFICATION IN THAT.

UM, AND THEN WHEN YOU LOOK DOWN AT THE GENERAL TOPICS RESERVES, THIS IS REALLY JUST A LANGUAGE CHANGE.

THE 25% IS WHAT HAS BEEN IN THE FINANCIAL POLICY FOR THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS.

IT IS JUST CLEANING UP THE LANGUAGE TO MAKE IT MORE CLEAR THAT THE CITY'S MAINTAINING THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION FUND, UM, RESERVE BALANCE.

THOSE ARE ALL OF THE CHANGES, AND I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.

I HAVE A QUESTION ON THE, UM, CHANGING OF THE POLICY, THE FINANCIAL POLICY FROM 10% TO 20% ON RESERVES, UH, FOR THE EMPLOYEE BENEFITS FUND.

DESCRIBE THE TECHNICAL PROCESS OF HOW THAT WILL BE DONE.

THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT, I I'M ANTICIPATING THAT BEING A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MONEY BECAUSE WE WANT IT TO BE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MONEY.

BUT TELL ME FROM A TECHNICAL STANDPOINT HOW THAT IS DONE.

IS IT DONE? WOULD IT BE DONE IN ONE FELL SWOOP? WOULD IT BE DONE? WOULD THE RECOMMENDATION BE BE DONE OVER TIME? AND WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM? SO THE FUND ARE CURRENTLY HAS ENOUGH ENDING BALANCE TO COVER THAT, SO IT'S NOT GONNA BE A CHANGE I SEE TECHNICALLY.

UM, AND WE'LL JUST MAKE SURE WE, AS WE BUDGET YEAR OVER YEAR AND ADJUST THAT, WE MAINTAIN THAT 20%, BUT THEY HAVE ENOUGH IN THE CURRENT FUND BALANCE.

THAT'S THE BEST ANSWER I COULD HAVE ANTICIPATED.

IN FACT, I DID NOT ANTICIPATE IT.

SO THANK YOU.

YES, COUNCILMAN WALTER? THAT WAS GONNA BE MY QUESTION, BUT IF IT EVER DIPS BELOW 20, THEN IT WOULD BE A GENERAL FUND.

THAT'S WHAT FUNDS IT.

IT'S JUST FROM THE GENERAL FUND.

IT'S NOT JUST FROM THE GENERAL FUND.

IT'S ACROSS THE CITY DEPARTMENTS.

RIGHT.

'CAUSE EVERYONE CHARGES HR.

YES.

AND WHAT HAPPENS IF IT'S OVER? DO THEY JUST BANK IT OR IS THERE A REVERSE FLOW? THERE'S NOT A REVERSE.

WHAT WE DO IS WE LOOK AT THE CLAIMS AND ANTICIPATE CLAIMS FOR THE NEXT YEAR, AND WE'LL ADJUST THE CITY'S CONTRIBUTION TO KE HELP US GET TO THE, THE 20%.

SO IF THEY'RE A LITTLE BIT OVER IN A YEAR, WE'LL JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS IN THE NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET SO THAT WE CAN, UM, KEEP IT AT THE CLOSE TO THE 20%.

ALRIGHT, THANK YOU.

OTHER QUESTIONS? SO, UM, ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE COMMITTEE TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO THE, THE COUNCIL AND THEN TAKE IT TO COUNCIL AT, AT AN UPCOMING MEETING? WE, OR DO IT THROUGH THE FINANCIAL POLICY AS PART OF THE BUDGET.

WE DO IT THROUGH THE BUDGET.

AND SO IF THERE'S NO OBJECTIONS, THEN WE'LL JUST INCLUDE THAT IN THE BUDGET.

THE CHANGES IN THE BUDGET DOCUMENT.

UM, OBJECTION.

IS THERE ANY OBJECTION WITHOUT OBJECTION? UH, THAT, THAT YOU HAVE GO FORWARD THAT WAY? GOOD.

PROCESS AND THE FINANCIAL POLICIES THAT GO ALONG WITH THAT, SHOULD WE ANTICIPATE THAT THESE ARE ALL OF THE FINANCIAL POLICY CHANGES THAT WE WILL SEE? YES, SIR.

AND, AND IS THIS FOR CLARIFICATION PURPOSES, AS WE GO THROUGH FINANCIAL, AS WE GO THROUGH THE BUDGETING

[00:20:01]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

WHICH IS A, UH, REPORT FROM THE CITY AUDITOR REGARDING DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT, AND RETALIATION INVESTIGATIONS.

THAT'LL TAKE US TO ITEM NUMBER FOUR,

[4. Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation (DHR) investigations audit]

WELCOME.

ALARMING FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS, NOT LEAST OF WHICH IS ACCORDING TO THE GUIDELINES, UH, THE INVESTIGATION SHOULD INTERVIEW ALL RELEVANT WITNESSES.

MY NAME IS MARIELLE DEMPSTER.

I WAS THE LEAD AUDITOR ON THIS PROJECT.

UH, I JUST WANNA START BY THANKING MY TEAM AS WELL AS EVERYONE AT HRD AND HR STAFF ACROSS THE CITY THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THIS PROJECT.

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE AUDIT WAS TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE CITY IS EFFECTIVELY AND EQUITABLY ADDRESSING DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT, AND RETALIATION.

AND WITH THIS AUDIT, WE REALLY WANTED TO ENSURE THAT EMPLOYEES AND DEPARTMENTS ACROSS THE CITY HAD ALL OF THEIR CONCERNS TAKEN SERIOUSLY AND ADDRESSED APPROPRIATELY.

TO START, I'LL JUST GO OVER SOME DEFINITIONS ABOUT WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TODAY.

SO, DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT ARE BEHAVIORS AS OUTLINED IN PERSONNEL POLICIES THAT OCCUR BASED ON SOMEONE'S PROTECTED CLASS.

PROTECTED CLASS, AS YOU MIGHT KNOW, INCLUDES THINGS LIKE RACE, GENDER, AGE, RELIGION, AND MORE.

UM, RETALIATION IS AN ACTION OR INACTION TAKEN IN RESPONSE TO AN EMPLOYEE'S USE OF THEIR RIGHTS OR BENEFITS UNDER PERSONNEL POLICIES, WHICH ADVERSELY AFFECT THE TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT.

THAT'S A MOUTHFUL, BUT ADVERSELY EFFECT INCLUDES THINGS LIKE DEMOTION OR DENIAL OF PROMOTION.

THE ALSO OUTLINED AS PROHIBITED IN PERSONNEL POLICIES ARE EMPLOYEE CONDUCT ISSUES.

OFTENTIMES, THESE CAN LOOK VERY SIMILAR TO DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT, OR RETALIATION, BUT THEY'RE DISTINCT.

AND THIS AUDIT FOCUSES ON THE ITEMS ON THE LEFT HERE.

WE LOOKED AT THIS AREA BECAUSE OF THE SERIOUS IMPACTS THAT DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT OR RETALIATION MAY HAVE ON AN EMPLOYEE'S OVERALL WELLBEING.

IT ALSO CAN HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE CITY'S REPUTATION AS AN EMPLOYER.

WE HAVE SEEN SOME LAWSUITS IN THIS AREA IN THE PAST.

ONE FROM 2016 PROMPTED THE COUNCIL AT THAT TIME TO REQUEST AN AUDIT.

THAT AUDIT WAS COMPLETED IN 2017 BY A THIRD PARTY AUDITOR THAT, UH, AUDIT HAD FIVE FINDINGS AND SEVEN RECOMMENDATIONS.

WE HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING UP ON THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AND HAVE DETERMINED THAT SO FAR, FOUR OUT OF THE SEVEN HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED SINCE 2017.

SOME IMPROVEMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE SINCE THAT TIME INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF, UH, INVESTIGATIVE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.

UH, TRAINING HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED FOR EMPLOYEES.

UH, SOME OUTSTANDING ITEMS THAT ARE STILL WAITING TO BE IMPLEMENTED INCLUDE THE, IM THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND PERIODIC REPORTS ON STATISTICS FROM THIS AREA.

IN THIS CURRENT AUDIT, WE HAD THREE FINDINGS, ONE ADDITIONAL OBSERVATION, AND FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS.

UH, AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL, THE CITY ADDRESSES DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT, OR RETALIATION BY TRAINING EMPLOYEES ON WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE AND WHAT THE POLICIES ARE AROUND IT.

AND THEN SHOULD COMPLAINTS OCCUR, INVESTIGATING THEM, AND APP APPLYING DISCIPLINE WHEN APPROPRIATE.

DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT AND RETALIATION TRAINING IS, UH, ADMINISTERED AND CREATED BY THE CENTRAL HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT, AND, UH, ENFORCED BY DEPARTMENT MANAGEMENT.

AND COMPLAINTS ARE INVESTIGATED BY BOTH CENTRAL HRD AND HR STAFF THROUGHOUT THE CITY.

OUR FIRST FINDING WAS THAT THE CITY ADDRESSES COMPLAINTS OF DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT, AND RETALIATION THROUGH INVESTIGATIONS.

HOWEVER, SOME INVESTIGATIONS MISS ESSENTIAL STEPS FROM THE CITY'S GUIDELINES ARE NOT WELL DOCUMENTED OR TAKE TOO LONG.

BECAUSE OF THIS, EMPLOYEES CANNOT TRUST THAT THEIR CONCERNS WILL BE PROPERLY HANDLED.

OH, WE MADE THIS FINDING BASED ON A NUMBER OF OBSERVATIONS.

WHEN WE REVIEWED INVESTIGATION REPORTS, WE FOUND THAT, UH, MANY WERE THOROUGH AND FOLLOWED GUIDELINES.

HOWEVER, SOME SKIPPED CRITICAL STEPS LIKE INTERVIEWING PEOPLE NAMED IN THE COMPLAINTS.

I'LL SHARE ONE EXAMPLE THAT WE OUTLINED IN OUR REPORT OF THIS.

IT WAS THE MOST ALARMING EXAMPLE THAT WE SAW OF THIS.

UM, WE FOUND, UH, AN ANONYMOUS ALLEGATION WAS MADE THAT A DEPARTMENT EXECUTIVE HAD SEXUALLY HARASSED TWO EMPLOYEES.

THE COMPLAINT ITSELF NAMED THE TWO POTENTIAL VICTIMS. IT NAMED THE POTENTIAL RESPONDENT, AND IT NAMED THE THE RESPONDENT'S POTENTIAL SUPERVISOR.

DESPITE HAVING ALL FOUR OF THESE NAMES, THE INVESTIGATOR DID NOT SPEAK WITH ANY OF THE INDIVIDUALS AND ONLY SPOKE WITH THE DEPARTMENT'S HR MANAGER BEFORE DETERMINING THAT THERE WASN'T ENOUGH INFORMATION TO CARRY THIS INVESTIGATION FORWARD.

THIS IS

[00:25:01]

THE WORK WAS CLEARLY INADEQUATE IN THIS CASE, AND THE FACT THAT THERE WERE AT LEAST THREE NAMES, PEOPLE, AND THE VERY SERIOUS NATURE OF THE COMPLAINT, ADDITIONAL WORK SHOULD HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED IN THIS CASE.

AND I WANNA CLARIFY, IT WAS NOT OUR INTENT WITH THIS AUDIT TO REINVESTIGATE ISSUES OR TO DETERMINE WHETHER ALLEGATIONS WERE TRUE OR NOT.

WE WERE TRYING TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE COMPLAINTS THAT ARE MADE BY, UH, EMPLOYEES ARE INVESTIGATED THOROUGHLY AND FOLLOW GUIDELINES.

THIS EXAMPLE SHOWS THAT THAT DOES NOT ALWAYS HAPPEN.

WE ALSO FOUND THAT SOME INVESTIGATIONS HAD UNNECESSARY DELAYS.

THE CITY'S GUIDELINES STATE THAT INVESTIGATIONS SHOULD BE COMPLETED IN ROUGHLY 120 DAYS.

WE FOUND THAT LESS THAN 40% WERE COMPLETED IN THIS TIMELINE.

WE ALSO SAW SOME EXAMPLES OF DELAYS THAT COULDN'T NECESSARILY BE EXPLAINED, THAT INCLUDED A SIX MONTH GAP BETWEEN INTERVIEWING A COMPLAINANT AND INTERVIEWING A RESPONDENT IN ONE CASE.

THERE WAS ANOTHER EXAMPLE IN WHICH WE SAW IT TOOK TWO MONTHS TO EVEN ASSIGN AN INVESTIGATOR.

TIMING IS CRITICAL IN THESE CASES BECAUSE OF THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT IT HAS ON THE EVIDENCE THAT CAN BE COLLECTED.

MEMORIES FADE AND RECORDS CAN BE LOST IN SOME CASES.

ALSO DRAWN OUT PROCESSES SIMPLY EX UH, EX CAUSE SIGNIFICANT STRESS AND CAN EXACERBATE THAT FOR ALL THE EMPLOYEES INVOLVED.

ONE UH, ELEMENT POSSIBLY CONTRIBUTING TO THESE, UH, ISSUES IS THE POSSIBLE INEQUITABLE RESOURCES, UH, ALLOCATED ACROSS THE CITY.

SO, AS A REMINDER, SOME INVESTIGATIONS ARE CONDUCTED BY HRD AND SOME ARE CONDUCTED BY HR STAFF IN DEPARTMENTS.

UH, AND WHILE SOME DEPARTMENTS HAVE A DEDICATED HR STAFF AND SOME EVEN HAVE DEDICATED EMPLOYEE RELATIONS STAFF, OTHERS MAY NOT HAVE HR STAFF AT ALL.

YOU CAN SEE THE RATIO OF HR STAFF TO EMPLOYEES MORE THAN DOUBLES IN THIS CHART HERE.

IF YOU LOOK AT THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS, SO DEPENDING ON WHAT DEPARTMENT YOU'RE IN, YOU COULD HAVE YOUR COMPLAINT HANDLED BY SOMEONE WHOSE SOLE JOB IS EMPLOYEE RELATIONS, OR SOMEONE WHO HAS NUMEROUS HR RESPONSIBILITIES.

THESE CONDITIONS CREATE A SIGNIFICANT RISK FOR INEQUITY IN HOW THESE ISSUES ARE HANDLED.

WE ALSO FOUND THAT INVESTIGATORS MAY NOT RECEIVE ENOUGH TRAINING.

UH, THE EEOC FOR COMPARISON REQUIRES THEIR INVESTIGATORS TO COMPLETE AN INITIAL 32 HOURS OF TRAINING AND THEN EIGHT ANNUAL HOURS TO MAINTAIN THAT.

AND OUR, UH, CITY INVESTIGATORS ARE ONLY REQUIRED TO COMPLETE ONE EIGHT HOUR TRAINING.

THIS TRAINING WAS DEVELOPED IN RESPONSE TO THE LAST AUDIT.

THAT HAS NOT HAPPENED YET.

HOWEVER, INVESTIGATORS MAY TAKE THIS ONE EIGHT HOUR TRAINING AS MANY TIMES AS THEY'D LIKE.

MOVING TO OUR SECOND FINDING, THE CITY DOES NOT CONSISTENTLY TRACK COMPLAINTS OR ACCURATELY TRACK INVESTIGATIONS.

AS A RESULT, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW HOW THE CITY ADDRESSED ALL CURRENT AND PAST COMPLAINTS AND HAVE IDENTIFIED TRENDS.

INCONSISTENT DOCUMENTATION MAY UNDERMINE EMPLOYEE AND PUBLIC TRUST.

THE PRIOR AUDIT RECOMMENDED IMPROVING HOW THE CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WAS USED OR REPLACING IT.

HOWEVER, WE FOUND THAT THE SAME CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IS STILL USED AND IT'S STILL NOT BEING USED CONSISTENTLY ACROSS THE CITY.

WE FOUND THAT DEPARTMENTS MAY USE ADDITIONAL METHODS TO SUPPLEMENT THIS SYSTEM, LIKE, UH, SHAREPOINT SITES OR EXCEL SPREADSHEETS.

AND AT LEAST ONE REPORTED NOT USING THIS SYSTEM AT ALL.

THIS MAKES IT INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE, TO UNDERSTAND THE FULL SCALE OF ISSUES ACROSS THE CITY AND HOW THEY'RE BEING HANDLED.

WE ALSO SAW INSTANCES WHERE THE INFORMATION THAT WAS RECORDED IN THE SYSTEM WAS INACCURATE.

AND GENERALLY THAT SYSTEM IS QUITE CHALLENGING TO WORK WITH THE DATA FROM THAT.

DESPITE THAT, WE DID FIND SOME STATISTICS FROM THIS SYSTEM.

WE GATHERED SOME INFORMATION FROM IT.

WE LOOKED AT THE PERIOD FROM 2018 TO 2024.

THAT'S FISCAL YEARS, AND THAT'S THE PERIOD AFTER THE LAST AUDIT WAS CONDUCTED.

AND DURING THAT PERIOD, 287 INVESTIGATIONS WERE CONDUCTED.

THE MOST COMMON TYPE OF ALLEGATION WAS DISCRIMINATION, AND APPROXIMATELY 77% OF ALL ALLEGATIONS WERE UNSUBSTANTIATED.

I ALSO WANNA CAVEAT THIS INFORMATION WITH THE, ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL GUIDELINES, ONLY INVESTIGATIONS ARE REQUIRED TO BE RECORDED IN THIS CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, NOT THE COMPLAINTS OR ALLEGATIONS THEMSELVES.

SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THESE STATISTICS, THIS MAY IN FACT BE AN UNDER COUNT OF THE ALL OVERALL ALLEGATIONS DURING THIS TIME PERIOD.

TO LOOK AT THAT, UH, A LITTLE BIT MORE CLOSELY, WE TOOK A SAMPLE OF 10 COMPLAINTS REFERRED TO HRD.

THAT SAMPLE CAME FROM, UH, COMPLAINTS THAT WERE REFERRED THROUGH OUR OFFICE.

SO OUR INTEGRITY UNIT OFTEN, UH, GETS COMPLAINTS OF DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT, OR RETALIATION, UH, OR GENERAL HR COMPLAINTS.

AND THOSE ARE OUTSIDE OF OUR JURISDICTION.

[00:30:01]

WHEN WE RECEIVE THEM, WE DOCUMENT THEM AND FORWARD THEM ON TO HRD.

WE LOOKED AT THAT, THE TAM UH, SAMPLE OF 10 FROM THAT GROUP, UH, BECAUSE WE HAD THE EXACT DETAILS OF WHEN WHAT WAS ALLEGED AND WHEN THEY WERE SENT.

OF THOSE 10 COMPLAINTS WE REFERRED, WE ONLY IDENTIFIED THREE IN THE CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

I'LL SHARE ONE EXAMPLE FROM THIS THAT, UH, ILLUSTRATES WHY THAT'S AN ISSUE.

ONE COMPLAINT WE WERE LOOKING FOR IN THE SYSTEM WAS, UH, ALLEGING INAPPROPRIATE TEXTING BY A SUPERVISOR.

WHEN WE LOOKED FOR THAT COMPLAINT IN THE SYSTEM, WE COULDN'T FIND IT, BUT WE DID FIND A VERY SIMILAR COMPLAINT AGAINST THE SAME PERSON.

THIS COMPLAINT WAS CLEARLY DIFFERENT.

IT HAD BEEN SUBMITTED AT A DIFFERENT TIME BY A DIFFERENT PERSON.

HOWEVER, ONE HAD BEEN DOCUMENTED AND ONE HAD NOT.

AND, YOU KNOW, TAKEN TOGETHER THESE TWO COMPLAINTS SHOW A POTENTIAL PATTERN OF INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR, BUT NOT TRACKING THEM IN THE SAME MANNER MAKES IT EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY RECURRING ISSUES.

AGAIN, I WANNA STRESS THAT WE WEREN'T TRYING TO DETERMINE WHETHER IT DID OR DID NOT HAPPEN.

UH, WE JUST WANTED TO SEE THAT THE ISSUES WERE ADDRESSED CONSISTENTLY AND FAIRLY ACROSS THE BOARD.

IT ALSO MEANS THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE COMPLAINT THAT WASN'T RECORDED WAS NOT ADDRESSED IN SOME WAY, SIMPLY THAT IT WASN'T DOCUMENTED.

ADDITIONALLY, NOT RECORDING THESE ISSUES CONSISTENTLY MAKES IT REALLY CHALLENGING TO PULL INFORMATION.

IF AN EMPLOYEE REQUESTS INFORMATION ON WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR COMPLAINT, WHAT THE OUTCOME WAS, IT MAY BE, UH, VERY CHALLENGING TO DO THAT AND FURTHER UNDERMINE TRUST.

OUR THIRD FINDING WAS IN REGARDS TO PREVENTATIVE PROCESSES THAT OCCUR AT THE CITY.

WE FOUND THAT CITY EMPLOYEES RECEIVE INSUFFICIENT TRAINING ON DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT, AND RETALIATION.

AND MANY DO NOT RECEIVE TRAINING AT ALL.

BROADLY, JUST TWO UH, TRAINING COURSES ARE REQUIRED FOR MOST EMPLOYEES.

THE PERMANENT, UH, CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES, THEY ARE A, UH, SEXUAL HARASSMENT AWARENESS TRAINING AND A PERSONNEL POLICIES TRAINING THAT OCCURS AT NEW EMPLOYEE ORIENTATION.

THEY ARE CREATED AND ADMINISTERED BY HRD AND, UH, ENFORCED BY DEPARTMENT MANAGEMENT.

THESE TRAININGS ARE REQUIRED JUST ONE TIME AT THE BEGINNING OF AN EMPLOYEE'S CAREER.

UH, IN THE FIRST 60 DAYS.

BEST PRACTICES STATE THAT THESE TYPES OF TRAININGS SHOULD BE, SHOULD OCCUR ANNUALLY OR BI-ANNUALLY.

THE PRIOR AUDIT ALSO RECOMMENDED I IMPLEMENTING PERIODIC TRAINING DESPITE THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINING OCCURRING, UH, JUST ONE TIME.

IT'S A 20 MINUTE TRAINING, IT, YOU CAN TAKE IT ONLINE.

WE FOUND THAT 44% OF EMPLOYEES WHO SHOULD HAVE A RECORD OF COMPLETING THIS TRAINING DO NOT.

GIVEN THESE CONDITIONS, EMPLOYEES MAY NOT KNOW WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR, AND EVEN IF THEY DO, THEY MAY NOT KNOW ALL THE WAYS THE CITY HAS TO ADDRESS IT.

WE ISSUED ONE ADDITIONAL OBSERVATION FROM THIS AUDIT.

LIKE I, UH, SPOKE ABOUT EARLIER.

OUR SCOPE WAS FOCUSED SPECIFICALLY ON DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT, AND RETALIATIONS.

BUT OUR FINDINGS MAY APPLY TO OTHER EMPLOYEE, UH, COMPLAINTS AND PERSONNEL POLICY VIOLATIONS.

EMPLOYEES MAY COME TO HR WITH UH, COM ISSUES THAT THEY FEEL ARE DISCRIMINATORY, HARASSING, OR RETALIATORY, BUT IT MAY MORE ACCURATELY BE AN EMPLOYEE CONDUCT ISSUE.

THEY ARE STILL VERY SERIOUS.

THEY SHOULD STILL BE ADDRESSED AND INVESTIGATED.

HOWEVER, THEY WEREN'T INCLUDED SPECIFICALLY IN THIS, UH, DATA ANALYSIS.

IT'S REASONABLE TO ASSUME THAT OUR RECOMMENDATIONS AND FINDINGS MAY APPLY TO THOSE CASES AS WELL.

TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES, WE IMPLEMENTED, WE ARE RECOMMENDING, UH, WE'RE MAKING FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS.

THE FIRST IS TO IMPROVE TRAINING FOR HR INVESTIGATORS.

THE SECOND WAS TO UPDATE, UH, QUALITY CONTROL PROCESSES FOR INVESTIGATIONS.

THE THIRD WAS TO RESEARCH AND CONSIDER SOME ALTERNATIVES TO INVESTIGATIONS WHEN A, WHEN APPROPRIATE.

THE FOURTH WAS TO IMPLEMENT AND ENFORCE THE USE OF A NEW CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

AND THE FIFTH WAS TO REQUIRE AN ENFORCED PERIODIC TRAINING FOR ALL EMPLOYEES AT THE CITY ON DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT AND RETALIATION.

I WANNA CLOSE MY PRESENTATION BY SPEAKING DIRECTLY TO ANY OF MY FELLOW CITY EMPLOYEES WHO MAY BE WATCHING.

I KNOW THAT I HAVE JUST HIGHLIGHTED SOME VERY SERIOUS ISSUES THAT, UH, ARE OCCURRING IN THIS PROCESS.

I ALSO WANNA EMPHASIZE THAT IT'S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO STILL REPORT YOUR CONCERNS.

UM, WE ARE REPORTING ON THE HOLES HERE.

WE'RE REPORTING ON THE ISSUES THAT WE SAW.

WE ALSO DID REVIEW SOME, UH, WELL EXECUTED AND DETAILED AND COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATIONS.

HRD HAS ALSO AGREED WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS WE'VE ISSUED, AND WE WILL BE FOLLOWING UP ON THEM TO ENSURE THEY'RE IMPLEMENTED.

SO IF YOU DO EXPERIENCE THESE THINGS, I I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT YOU CAN REPORT IT TO ANYONE IN YOUR CHAIN OF COMMAND, YOUR DEPARTMENT'S HR STAFF, ANYONE AT THE HRD EMPLOYEE RELATIONS DIVISION, AND YOU MAY ALSO REPORT IT THROUGH OUR OFFICE.

UM, AND WE'LL REFER IT ON TO HRD.

WITH THAT, I'LL CLOSE AND, UH, ANSWER ANY

[00:35:01]

QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.

UM, MEMBERS, WHAT I WAS WOULD SUGGEST IS BEFORE WE ASK SPECIFIC QUESTIONS, IF YOU HAVE ANY, I WANT TO ASK MANAGEMENT IF IT WANTS TO SAY ANYTHING, AND THEN WE WILL ASK QUESTIONS FOR EVERYBODY.

IS THAT APPROPRIATE? PLEASE, WOULD YOU COME FORWARD? THANK YOU.

THANKS FOR THE REPORT.

WE'LL, WE'LL GET BACK TO YOU.

THANKS, MARIO.

WELL, GOOD MORNING.

I'M SUSAN SINS, THE HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR HERE AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN.

UM, WE DID PARTNER WITH THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE FOR THIS INVESTIGATION PERIOD.

UM, I JOINED THE CITY IN MAY, 2024, AND THE AUDIT JUST BEGAN AT THAT TIME, UM, IN GETTING EDUCATED AS TO WHERE THE CITY WAS AND THE DEPARTMENT WAS AND HANDLING THESE CLAIMS. I CAME TO UNDERSTAND AND REALIZE THAT THROUGH COVID, WE HAD LOST ABOUT HALF OF OUR INVESTIGATOR STAFF.

AND, UM, WE GOT SOME NEW MANAGEMENT.

IN ABOUT 2022, UH, MAYBE MID-YEAR, WE HAD MR. NATHAN BROWN AND, UM, TINA GRAY HALE, WHO, UH, CAME TO BEGIN THAT HEAVY LIFTING IN THAT TRANSITIONAL PERIOD.

AND THROUGH THEIR WORK, THEY FILLED THOSE VACANCIES.

THEY BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND, AND THEY SAW FROM THAT AUDITOR'S RECOMMENDATION THAT A NEW SYSTEM NEEDED TO BE ESTABLISHED.

THEY'VE BEEN WORKING VERY HARD TO DO THAT VERY THING.

UM, WE FULLY EMBRACE THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND AGREE WITH THE THINGS THAT ARE HERE ON THIS REPORT.

WE KNOW THAT WE NEED THE CENTRALIZATION OF DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT, AND RETALIATION ISSUES IN, IN CENTRAL HRD.

WE, WE NEED TO LOOK AT THOSE ISSUES CENTRALLY, AND WE NEED TO CENTRALIZE THAT FUNCTION.

SO WE FULLY EMBRACE THAT.

ABSOLUTELY.

THE SYSTEMS IMPROVEMENTS ARE SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON, LOOK FORWARD TO IMPLEMENTING.

WE'RE DOING WORKDAY RIGHT NOW.

WE SHOULD HAVE THAT BEGINNING FALL, UM, IMPLEMENTED.

THAT'S BEEN A PROJECT THAT'S LASTED ABOUT 18 FULL MONTHS IN ITS GENERATION AND IN ITS, UH, IMPLEMENTATION, UH, THE TRAINING ELEMENT.

WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO LEVERAGE WORKDAY LEARNING IN AUSTIN ESSENTIALS TO, TO, UM, TRAIN ALL OF OUR EMPLOYEES ON HARASSMENT, DISCRIMINATION, AND ALL THAT TYPE OF TRAINING THEY NEED ON AN ANNUAL BASIS.

AND THE TRAININGS ALREADY BEGUN.

UH, MR. BROWN AND, UH, MS. GRAY HALE HAVE BROUGHT IN THE EEOC TRAINING, OUR INVESTIGATORS, TRAINING OUR, UH, PEOPLE THAT ARE HANDLING THESE CITYWIDE.

BUT THE, THE, UH, RECOMMENDATION TO BRING THIS IN-HOUSE FOR DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT AND RETALIATION IS VERY IMPORTANT TO HAVE THAT UNIFORM APPLICATION OF STANDARD IN THESE COMPLAINTS THAT ABSOLUTELY MARIA WAS DESCRIBING THAT ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO ADDRESS, MAKE SURE EVERYTHING'S HAPPENING FOR THE RIGHT REASONS, AND THEY COME TO, UH, FRUITION AND, AND TO A PROPER RECONCILIATION OF, OF, UH, THOSE ISSUES.

AND THAT'S REALLY WHAT I WANTED.

UH, MAYOR PROTI, THANK YOU.

THANK YOU FOR THIS PRESENTATION, AND I APPRECIATE YOUR, UM, COMM INSTRUCTOR, SIMS SIMS. AND, UH, AND JUST A SIDE NOTE, I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT WE'RE INCLUDING THE PEOPLE WHO ARE PRESENTING THEIR NAMES AND TITLES HERE.

VERY HELPFUL.

WITH THE BRIEFINGS THAT WE'RE RECEIVING, UM, ON THE TOPIC OF DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT, AND RETALIATION, THESE ARE VERY SERIOUS MATTERS AND ONES THAT I THINK WE ALL TAKE VERY SERIOUSLY FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.

UM, PART OF WHAT STOOD OUT TO ME IS THIS PATTERN OF SOME INVESTIGATIONS TAKING TOO LONG, SOME'S NOT, SOME COMPLAINTS NOT GETTING INVESTIGATED.

I KNOW WE'VE LEARNED ALL ABOUT THE RECOMMENDATIONS HERE.

UM, BUT I GUESS, WELL I'LL START WITH IS OF, AND THIS MIGHT BE A QUESTION FOR, UH, MS. DEMPSTER, UH, IS THAT, WERE THERE ANY TRENDS IN TERMS OF FINDING, WHEN YOU DID IDENTIFY THAT THERE WERE SOME COMPLAINTS THAT WERE NOT INVESTIGATED THAT TOOK TOO LONG, OR ONE WAS ENTERED IN THE SYSTEM AND ONE WAS NOT.

WERE THERE ANY TRENDS IN, IN, IN THE SUBJECT MATTER OR DEPARTMENT? IN OTHER WORDS, WERE THEY HAPPENING MORE FREQUENTLY IN A CERTAIN ENTERPRISE DEPARTMENT? WAS IT HAPPENING? DID WE NOTICE THESE GAPS WHEN IT CAME TO EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT? UM, ANY OTHER CONTEXT THAT YOU CAN HIGHLIGHT AS IN, AS IT RELATES TO THE FINDINGS? I CAN TOUCH ON THE, UM, COMPLAINTS I THINK THAT MIRO WAS DISCUSSING WAS COMPLAINTS THAT WERE GOING TO THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE, THEN BEING REFERRED TO HRDI WOULD, UM, I THINK WITH OUR SYSTEM BEING, UM, ONE THAT WE NEEDED TO WORK ON, THE AON TARGET SYSTEM WASN'T SATISFYING WHAT WE NEEDED, I DON'T THINK THERE WAS A PROCESS AND A PROTOCOL TO GET THOSE COMPLAINTS LOGGED INTO AON TARGET.

UM, SO THAT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT SHE DIDN'T FIND ALL OF THE AUDITOR'S COMPLAINTS.

IN THE AIM ON TARGET SYSTEM, OUR SOLUTION TO THAT IS ALL COMPLAINTS ARE GONNA GO INTO OUR NEW

[00:40:01]

SYSTEM.

ANYONE THAT HAS A COMPLAINT, WHETHER IT'S DISCRIMINATION, WHETHER HARASSMENT, RETALIATION, ANY COMPLAINTS SOMEONE HAS, IS GONNA BE LOGGED INTO THE SYSTEM.

SO THERE IS ONE, UM, ONE PLACE WHERE ALL OF THOSE FACTS LIE.

AND SO WE'RE EXCITED TO IMPLEMENT THAT CHANGE, BUT THAT WASN'T A SURPRISING, UH, FINDING FOR US BECAUSE WE KNOW HOW, UM, UH, LACKING AIM ON TARGET WAS OUR, OUR PREVIOUS SYSTEM.

YOUR PREVIOUS AND YOUR NEW CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, IS THAT GOING TO BE INTEGRATED INTO WORKDAY OR IS THAT A NEW SOFTWARE THAT YOU'LL BE IDENTIFYING ONCE Y'ALL ARE ONBOARDED WITH WORKDAY? I WOULD NEED TO ASK MR. NATHAN BROWN TO COME AND ANSWER THAT QUESTION.

I THINK THERE'S AN INTERFACE, BUT I'M, I NEED TO BE, UH, SURE ABOUT THAT.

OH, GREAT.

NATHAN BROWN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR.

SO THAT IS GONNA BE IN OUR HR PORTAL.

SO EVERY EMPLOYEE HAS ACCESS TO THE PORTAL, AND THEY'LL GO IN AND THEY'LL LOG THAT INTO THE PORTAL DIRECTLY.

SO IT'LL BE, UH, EMPLOYEE DRIVEN INSTEAD OF US DEPENDING ON STAFF, BUT THE HR PORTAL THAT'LL BE MANAGED BY WORKDAY, IS THAT RIGHT? SO EVENTUALLY THE GOAL IS TO IMPLEMENT WORKDAY ER MODULE, BUT, UH, THEIR MODULE IS NOT REALLY WHERE WE, WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE.

SO WE'VE BUILT THIS OUT OURSELVES, AND IT'S A CUSTOM SYSTEM FOR US.

THIS IS A NEW CUSTOMIZED SYSTEM TO HANDLE ALL COMPLAINTS.

CORRECT.

THAT'LL ROLL OUT THIS FALL.

THIS FALL IS OUR GOAL.

AND SO, YOU KNOW, AND THAT CAN BE ANYTHING GENERAL GRIEVANCE PROCESSES, DHR EMPLOYEE CONDUCT, EVERYTHING WILL BE LOGGED INTO THAT SYSTEM.

UH, AND THEN MY LAST THING HERE IS THE, THE FACT THAT ONLY 40% OF EMPLOYEES HAVE TAKEN THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINING ONLINE.

I DIDN'T REALIZE IF THAT WAS AN OPTION.

I THOUGHT IT WAS ALREADY A REQUIREMENT.

UM, IS THIS SOMETHING THAT THE CITY MANAGER WILL BE CONSIDERING AS TO FORMALIZE IT AS A REQUIREMENT FOR ALL EMPLOYEES? YEAH, WITH THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION, AND I'M REALLY GLAD YOU ASKED THAT BECAUSE IT GET, LETS US HIGHLIGHT OUR WORKDAY LEARNING MODULE.

WORKDAY LEARNING WILL BE WHERE WE CAN PUT THAT AUSTIN ESSENTIALS IN THERE.

THE HARASSMENT DISCRIMINATION TRAINING CAN BE IN THERE TRACKABLE.

WE CAN FOLLOW UP.

THERE'S MANY DIFFERENT WAYS TO ENSURE THAT EVERYONE GETS THAT TRAINING.

SO MOVING FORWARD, WE HAVE A, I THINK, AN EXCELLENT TOOL TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT HAPPENS.

AND, YOU KNOW, DEPARTMENTS SHOULD BE NOTIFIED IF THEIR DIVISION IS, YOU KNOW, 40% WHERE THERE'S 60 MORE THAN HALF OF EMPLOYEES HAVE NOT TAKEN THE TRAINING, AND THAT SHOULD BE, IT SHOULD BE A HUNDRED PERCENT.

SHOULD BE A HUNDRED PERCENT.

TIM, OTHER QUESTIONS? YES, COUNCILOR VELA ON THE RECOMMENDATION, AND THIS MIGHT BE MORE FOR THE AUDITOR, BUT, UH, UH, POSSIBLY RESEARCH AND CONSIDER ALTERNATIVES TO INVESTIGATIONS TO ADDRESS COMPLAINTS.

WHAT, WHAT'S, WHAT ARE WE THINKING ABOUT THERE? WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? YEAH, IT, I THINK MORE LIKE MEDIATION.

UM, IF IT'S POSSIBLE, IF IT'S A TOOL, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT HOW HARASSMENT, DISCRIMINATION, RETALIATION, JUST AS, UM, PRO TEMP FUENTES STATED, IT'S SERIOUS.

THESE ARE SERIOUS THINGS.

THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE REALLY WANNA GET TO THE BOTTOM OF FULL OF EMOTION, FULL OF PASSION.

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN THAT'S NOT GONNA WORK, BUT MAYBE THERE ARE TIMES WHEN IT CAN MEDIATION AND MAYBE THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO THAT.

SO I THINK THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE WAS JUST HIGHLIGHTING THE FACT THAT THAT COULD BE ANOTHER TOOL THAT WE COULD USE, UM, TO GO AHEAD AND, AND POSSIBLY, UH, MAYBE SPEED UP THE PROCESS OR, UM, MAKE, UH, A MORE EFFICIENT RESOLUTION.

MM.

NO, AND I, AND I UNDERSTAND OBVIOUSLY THERE'S SOME CASES IT WOULD BE MAYBE MORE SERIOUS WHERE THERE'S CLEARLY AN INVESTIGATION IS WARRANTED.

THERE MAY BE OTHERS WHERE THE, THIS IS MAYBE LESS OF SERIOUS WHERE POTENTIALLY JUST, YOU KNOW, BRINGING IT TO THE EMPLOYEE'S ATTENTION AND OR SOME OTHER LESS FORMAL PROCESS AND INVESTIGATION.

I GUESS THAT WOULD KIND OF BE THE FRAMEWORK, IF THAT'S CORRECT.

CORRECT.

THINK THE AUDITOR WOULD WANNA SPEAK TO THAT, UH, AS WELL, BUT ABSOLUTELY.

ALRIGHT, THANK YOU.

COUNCIL MEMBER UCHIN.

THANK YOU FOR, UH, THIS REALLY HELPFUL PRESENTATION.

I HAD A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS EARLY ON.

I, I BELIEVE, UH, IT WAS TOUCHED ON THAT SOMETIMES THE INVESTIGATORS ARE NOT SPEAKING WITH THE NAME PEOPLE IN THE REPORTS.

DO WE HAVE ANY SENSE HOW OFTEN THAT IS HAPPENING? WAS THAT SOMETHING THAT THE, A REPORT WAS ABLE TO CLARIFY? I WOULD HAVE TO REACH OUT TO THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE FOR THAT.

HOWEVER, I THINK CENTRALIZING THE PROCESS WILL ALLOW US TO ENSURE A UNIFORM APPLICATION OF STANDARD.

I KNOW THAT WASN'T HAPPENING IN CENTRALIZED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT, AND OF COURSE WOULD HOPE THAT WOULD, WOULDN'T HAPPEN ANYWHERE.

BUT I THINK INCENT, CENTRALIZING THIS PROCESS IS GOING TO ALLOW US TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT DOESN'T REOCCUR.

MS. DESTER, YOU WANT TO ADD SOMETHING?

[00:45:01]

OH, PLEASE.

I'LL JUST ADD THAT WE, UH, LOOKED, IT'S A LITTLE CHALLENGING TO KNOW EXACTLY HOW MANY TIMES THIS HAPPENED, AND GUIDELINES DO STATE THAT IF THERE IS A REASON, IF IT'S REASONABLE NOT TO INTERVIEW SOMETHING, SOMEONE, THAT'S OKAY.

BUT IT SHOULD BE DOCUMENTED.

IN THE CASES WE LOOKED AT, WHICH WERE 21 OF THOSE 21, WE FOUND SEVEN INSTANCES IN WHICH, UH, WE FELT, OR SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE BEEN INTERVIEWED, THEY WERE NAMED IN THE COMPLAINT, THEY WERE NOT INTERVIEWED.

WE DON'T HAVE A HOLISTIC STATISTIC FOR THAT, BUT THAT GIVES YOU A SENSE OF, OF THAT.

SO JUST TO EXTRAPOLATE THEN, IF THERE WERE 287 INVESTIGATIONS BETWEEN THAT SIX YEAR TIMEFRAME, ONE COULD EXPECT THAT A THIRD OF THEM POTENTIALLY DID NOT HAVE PEOPLE INTERVIEWED, UH, THAT COULD HAVE BEEN INTERVIEWED AS PART OF THAT PROCESS POTENTIALLY, BUT I, I WANNA, YEAH, IT, IT'S POSSIBLE.

BUT THAT SAMPLE SIZE IS NOT NECESSARILY SOMETHING THAT YOU COULD EXTRAPOLATE ABSOLUTELY.

THAT DEGREE, BUT YES.

UH, AND THEN THE NEXT QUESTION I'VE GOT IS, UH, BOTH A SPECIFIC, AND I THINK, UH, FROM MY PURPOSE, A MORE BROAD TECHNOLOGY QUESTION ABOUT, UH, AND I APPRECIATE MAYOR PRO TEM PUENTES, UH, DIRECTION ON THIS, BUT IF WE ARE GOING TO TRANSITION AND, AND WE'RE GONNA RELY ON WORKDAY AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE EMPLOYEES NOW SUBMIT THE REPORTS, WE'RE STILL REQUIRING ON, UH, EMPLOYEE SUBMITTING THEIR REPORTS, AND WE'RE STILL REQUIRING ON PEOPLE IN HR OR AUDIT OR WHOEVER TO GO FOLLOW UP ON THOSE REPORTS.

UM, AND BY THE SAME TOKEN, IF WE'RE REQUIRING TRAINING ALSO, UH, THE, THE ONE THAT, THE 44%, I GUESS MY QUESTION IS REALLY HOW ARE WE ACTUALLY, IT'S GREAT THAT WE'VE GOT A TOOL, A TECHNOLOGY TOOL TO HELP FACILITATE THIS MM-HMM .

BUT WHAT ACTUAL MECHANISM ARE WE USING TO INCENTIVIZE OR ENCOURAGE OR, UM, ACTUALLY CREATE THE UTILIZATION THAT WE HOPE TO ACHIEVE FROM THIS CHANGE? OKAY.

KIND OF MULTILAYER QUESTION.

I THINK THE FIRST WOULD BE HOW DO WE ENSURE THAT PEOPLE TAKE THE TRAINING EVERY YEAR WE HAVE A CYBERSECURITY TRAINING.

YOU KNOW, I THINK THIS IS, IT'S JUST, UM, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO IN AUSTIN ESSENTIALS IS BUILD THAT PACKAGE THAT HAS MAYBE FIVE CORE TRAININGS THAT WE HAVE TO ACCOMPLISH EVERY YEAR THAT WE ENSURE THAT EVERY EMPLOYEE IS DOING IN FOLLOWING UP AND MAKING SURE WE HAVE A HUNDRED PERCENT COMPLIANCE.

THAT'S THE FIRST, HOW DO WE EDUCATE PEOPLE WHO ARE COMPLAINANTS TO USE THE SYSTEM? AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE GONNA NEED TO EDUCATE.

AND AS THEY'RE MAKING THOSE COMPLAINTS, MAYBE WE NEED TO SIT WITH THEM AS THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, PUTTING IN THEIR, UM, THEIR COMPLAINT.

WE JUST WANNA, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO COME UP WITH A TRAINING SO PEOPLE UNDERSTAND HOW TO USE THE SYSTEM AS WELL.

SO, UM, THAT LITTLE BIT OF A WORK IN PROGRESS, BUT WE KNOW THAT, UH, WE ARE, WE ARE UP FOR THE TASK.

WE, WE WILL BE GETTING THAT DONE.

SO THANK YOU.

AND, AND TO BUILD ON THIS, UH, THIS IS PARTLY MY IGNORANCE FROM BEING NEW, BUT IS THERE A CONSEQUENCE TO NOT COMPLETING THOSE TRAININGS RIGHT NOW? UM, NOT COM, UH, NOT COMPLETING THE CURRENT HARASSMENT DISCRIMINATION TRAINING? I DON'T BELIEVE THERE IS.

NO.

I DON'T BELIEVE THERE'S A NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCE OUT THERE, NO.

SO WE ARE BASICALLY ASKING PEOPLE AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE THEM TO DO POTENTIALLY MORE TRAININGS, BUT THERE'S NO DISINCENTIVE TO NOT DOING THOSE TRAININGS.

UM, UNDERSTOOD.

I THINK IT'S ALSO MOVING FORWARD, UM, IN THE WORKDAY LEARNING MODULE.

IT IS, IT IS MUCH EASIER TO TRACK WHO HAS TAKEN IT AND WHO HASN'T TAKEN IT CENTRALLY.

I KNOW CYBERSECURITY TRAINING NO, BEFORE IS THE VERY SAME WAY.

UM, YOU KNOW, EXACTLY WHO HASN'T, WHO HAS.

AND UM, I THINK WITH WORKDAY LEARNING, WE'LL SEE THAT SAME EFFICIENCY AND WE CAN HANDLE IT CENTRALLY.

SO I THINK THAT'S A, A BIG STEP FORWARD.

AND LAST QUESTION, UM, AND THIS REALLY, I THINK IS JUST ABOUT WORKDAY ITSELF.

SO I'M GETTING A SLIGHTLY OFF TOPIC, BUT IS THIS SORT OF THE FIRST, UM, UH, I GUESS CITYWIDE DEPLOYMENT OF AN HR SYSTEM OR REALLY ANY KIND OF LIKE, UH, UPDATED CRM THAT WE ARE DEPLOYING THAT ALL HR PEOPLE ACROSS ALL DEPARTMENTS WOULD BE TRAINED ON AND USED? WELL, I KNOW THAT WE'RE DOING WORKDAY AND THAT IS A SIGNIFICANT HCM CITYWIDE PLATFORM.

UM, I'M NOT SURE HISTORICALLY, 'CAUSE I JOINED MAY, 2024.

I KNOW THAT THIS, UM, EMPLOYEE RELATIONS MODULE IS ONE WE WILL DO VERY SIGNIFICANT TRAINING ON TO ENSURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THE, THE PROPER MESSAGE AND SKILLS ARE THERE FOR THE HR COMMUNITY AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, ONE MORE TO THE GENERAL EMPLOYEE POPULATION SO THEY UNDERSTAND HOW TO FILE A COMPLAINT.

AND DO WE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHY PEOPLE CURRENTLY AREN'T USING THE SYSTEM? IS IT BECAUSE OF TRAINING? IS IT FOR LACK OF RESOURCES? IS IT BECAUSE THEY'RE UNAWARE OF THE OPTIONS TO REPORT THINGS IN THIS WAY? DO WE HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON THAT? I THINK I WOULD NEED TO ASK OUR,

[00:50:01]

OUR GURU THERE.

YEP, MR. BROWN.

SO THE, THE CURRENT SYSTEM AIM ON TARGET IS NOT FOR EMPLOYEES TO INPUT.

IT'S ONLY FOR HR STAFF ACROSS THE CITY.

SO IT'S, UM, IT'S A CHALLENGING SYSTEM.

IT'S NOT SUPER USER FRIENDLY.

AND SO I DON'T THINK THAT, UM, IT HAS BEEN AS SUCCESSFUL AS I THINK THEY WANTED WHEN THEY FIRST IMPLEMENT IT, BUT THE NEW SYSTEM WILL BE MUCH BETTER.

WELL, I'LL LOOK FORWARD TO THE RESULTS.

COUNCIL MEMBERS.

UM, THANK YOU.

AND I'LL ASK MS. DEMPSTER, UH, UH, IF SHE WANTS TO CLOSE WITH ANYTHING.

THANK YOU FOR THE, THE REPORT AND THANK YOU FOR THE RESPONSE.

THAT'LL TAKE US TO ITEM NUMBER FIVE, WHICH IS

[5. Audit of APD License Plate Reader Program]

AND I'LL, UH, LOOK FOR MR. PERRY.

FOR THE RECORD, LET ME INDICATE THAT, UH, THAT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER SIEGEL HAS ALSO JOINED US, UH, UH, AT THIS AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING.

THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.

APPRECIATE YOU.

CAN EVERYONE HEAR ME OKAY? YES.

MY NAME IS JAKE PERRY AND I'M THE AUDITOR IN CHARGE OF THIS PROJECT.

UM, BEFORE WE GET INTO DISCUSSING OUR WORK, I WANT TO THANK A PD, ESPECIALLY APDS RISK MANAGEMENT UNIT FOR BEING INCREDIBLY HELPFUL AND COOPERATIVE THROUGHOUT THIS PROJECT.

UH, THIS AUDIT WAS COUNSEL REQUESTED TO ASSESS THE SPECIFIED AUDIT ITEMS AND WAS REQUIRED TO BE PRESENTED AT THE END OF THIS PROGRAM'S TRIAL PERIOD.

WHO IS AN EXPERT IN THIS FIELD, SO I FEEL VERY CONFIDENT.

AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READER TECHNOLOGY OR A LPR IS A SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM THAT OPERATES BY SCANNING LICENSE PLATES AND TRAFFIC.

THE SYSTEM COMPARES THOSE SCANS TO IDENTIFIED HOT LISTS AND PUSHES AN ALERT IF ONE OF THE SCANNED PLATES MATCHES A PLATE ATTACHED TO A WARRANT OR ACTIVE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION.

A LPR ALSO TAKES A PHOTO OF THE VEHICLE AND STORES DATA SUCH AS THE VEHICLE MAKE MODEL COLOR, AND THE SCAN LOCATION.

AUSTIN PREVIOUSLY HAD AN A LPR PROGRAM, BUT IT WAS DISCONTINUED IN 2020.

IN SEPTEMBER OF 2022, A COUNCIL RESOLUTION GRANTED A PD PERMISSION TO BEGIN EXPLORING A NEW A LPR PROGRAM, STARTING WITH A ONE YEAR TRIAL PERIOD.

THE PARAMETERS OF THE PROGRAM, INCLUDING A REDUCTION IN THE DATA RETENTION PERIOD, WERE FURTHER DEVELOPED IN COLLABORATION BETWEEN A PD, THE OFFICE OF POLICE OVERSIGHT COUNSEL AND OTHER PARTNERS IN 2023.

EVENTUALLY, A PD PURCHASED A LPR TECHNOLOGY AND BEGAN ITS TRIAL PERIOD IN MARCH, 2024.

A PD INITIALLY PURCHASED 40 FIXED LOCATION CAMERAS IN CONJUNCTION WITH FLOCK SAFETY.

HALFWAY THROUGH THE TRIAL PERIOD, A PD ACTIVATED AN ADDITIONAL 200 PLUS VEHICLE MOUNTED CAMERAS FROM AXON ENTERPRISE.

SCANS FROM BOTH SYSTEMS FLOW INTO FLOCKS DASHBOARD, WHICH IS SEARCHABLE BY OFFICERS.

AS OF THIS REPORT, THERE ARE NOW UP TO AROUND 500 AXON CAMERAS.

CURRENTLY AD'S RISK MANAGEMENT UNIT CONDUCTS QUARTERLY AUDITS OF THE PROGRAM, WHICH ARE INCLUSIVE OF ALL OF OUR RESOLUTION MANDATED AUDIT ITEMS, AS WELL AS SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

THE TRIAL PERIOD OFFICIALLY ENDED IN MARCH OF THIS YEAR, AND COUNSEL WILL SUE DECIDE ON WHETHER OR NOT TO CONTINUE THE PROGRAM.

THIS AUDIT SPECIFICALLY WAS CALLED FOR BY THE SAME RESOLUTION THAT ALLOWED A PD TO, UH, TO BEGIN THEIR TRIAL PERIOD.

THIS PROJECT COVERS THE FIRST THREE QUARTERS OF THE TRIAL PERIOD, RANGING FROM LATE MAY, 2024 TO THE END OF DECEMBER, 2024.

THIS PROJECT HAD THREE PRIMARY OBJECTIVES.

ONE WAS TO RESPOND TO THE EIGHT IDENTIFIED AUDIT ITEMS IN THE COUNCIL RESOLUTION AND TO EVALUATE APDS RISK MANAGEMENT AUDIT PROCESS.

TWO WAS TO COMPARE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CITY'S A LPR PROGRAM WITH PEER POLICE DEPARTMENTS, AND THREE WAS TO MONITOR FOR ANY ADDITIONAL HIGH LEVEL RISKS IN THE PROGRAM.

OUR AUDIT ENDED UP WITH TWO FINDINGS, ONE RECOMMENDATION, AND ONE ADDITIONAL OBSERVATION.

OUR FIRST FINDING WAS THE A PD RISK MANAGEMENT'S QUARTERLY.

A LPR AUDITS GENERALLY COMPLIED WITH POLICY REQUIREMENTS, BUT COULD BE IMPROVED WITH GREATER FORMALIZATION AND SCHEDULING.

UH, THIS TABLE YOU SEE UP THERE HAS SOME OF THE KEY DATA FOR THE RESOLUTION SPECIFIED REQUIREMENTS, AS WELL AS SOME ISSUES WE NOTED IN A, IN APDS AUDIT PROCESS.

SOME OF THE ISSUES WE FOUND WERE THAT THERE WERE ABOUT 75 MILLION LICENSE PLATE SCANS OVER THE COURSE OF THE NINE ASSESSED MONTHS.

UM, WE CANNOT VERIFY THAT EXACT NUMBER BECAUSE THERE WERE GAPS IN APDS METADATA.

THESE GAPS HAPPENED BECAUSE OF STAFF NOT PULLING DATA ON TIME.

ADDITIONALLY, FOR PROGRAM OUTCOMES, WE FOUND THAT THERE WERE APPROXIMATELY 134 UH, PROSECUTIONS IN CONJUNCTION WITH A LPR USE.

UM, BUT THE TRUE NUMBER OF THOSE PROSECUTIONS MAY BE SLIGHTLY LESS DUE TO HOW SLOWLY THE JUSTICE SYSTEM MOVES.

UM, THE INFO INFORMATION REQUESTS THAT WE USE TO ANSWER THIS ITEM ARE SNAPSHOTS IN TIME OF VARIOUS LEGAL PROCEEDINGS, UH, SOME OF WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED BY NOW.

UH, WE ALSO FOUND THAT THERE HAVE BEEN THREE INSTANCES OF DATA SHARING IN THE TRIAL PERIOD.

[00:55:01]

AS THIS PRESENTATION.

THERE HAVE BEEN FIVE MORE IN 2025, BRINGING THE TOTAL TO EIGHT A P D'S.

RISK MANAGEMENT WAS INITIALLY NOT AWARE OF THESE DATA SHARING INSTANCES UNTIL LATE IN OUR OWN AUDIT REPORTING PERIOD.

UH, WE ALSO FOUND THAT THERE WERE ZERO NON-COATING MATCHES.

THIS MEANS THAT THERE WERE NO INSTANCES IN WHICH SOMEONE WAS PULLED OVER OVER A NON RESOLUTION SANCTIONED REASON IN CONJUNCTION WITH A LPR USE.

UM, THAT WAS BASED ON OUR ASSESSMENT OF ALL 286 RELEVANT STOPS.

UM, A PD INITIALLY DID NOT REPORT THIS METRIC UNTIL QUARTER THREE.

UH, IN ADDITION TO REPORTING THE RESOLUTION REQUIRED AUDIT ITEMS, WE EVALUATED A PD RISK MANAGEMENT'S AUDIT PROCESS AND IDENTIFIED SOME KEY AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT.

UH, WE OBSERVED THAT THE PERSONNEL INVOLVED IN AD'S A LPR AUDIT PROCESS DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE CLEARLY DEFINED ROLES OR RESPONSIBILITIES.

UH, LOTS OF THE AUDIT WORK WAS DONE BY NEED OR INTEREST, WHICH COULD LEAD TO CONTINUITY ISSUES IF THERE WERE TO BE ANY SORT OF STAFFING CHANGES.

ADDITIONALLY, A PD RISK MANAGEMENT ALSO CONDUCTED REVIEWS OF OFFICER'S COMPLIANCE WITH A LPR POLICY.

UH, SOMETIMES OFFICERS ENTERED UNCLEAR OR INVALID REASONS FOR USING A LPR, UM, WHICH WERE NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH RESOLUTION AND GENERAL ORDER REQUIREMENTS.

WE FOUND THAT THOSE REVIEWS DONE BY A PD RISK MANAGEMENT DID NOT APPEAR TO FOLLOW A CONSISTENT SCHEDULE OR FREQUENCY THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT.

WE ALSO HEARD THAT A PD WAS IN COMMUNICATION WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS, SUCH AS THE OFFICE OF POLICE OVERSIGHT AND THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION.

UH, BUT REPORTING OUT THEIR AUDITS WAS NOT A REQUIREMENT.

AND AS SUCH, APDS INTERACTIONS WITH THOSE STAKEHOLDERS WAS IRREGULAR.

OUR ONE RECOMMENDATION FOR THIS PROJECT PERTAINS TO AD'S A LPR PROCESS.

UH, WE RECOMMEND THE A PD CONTINUE CONDUCTING REGULAR AUDITS OF THE A LPR PROGRAM WHILE STREAMLINING THEIR AUDIT PROCESS.

AS MENTIONED, A PD RISK MANAGEMENT DID NOT ALWAYS PULL THEIR METADATA IN TIME TO BE COMPLETE.

WE RECOMMEND THE A PD ATTEMPT TO AUTOMATE THEIR DATA PULLS AND REQUESTS AND TO ENSURE THAT THE ANONYMIZATION OF THEIR METADATA IS COMPLETE.

A PD RISK MANAGEMENT SHOULD ESTABLISH AND ADHERE TO A WRITTEN AND CONSISTENT SCHEDULE FOR DOING THIS.

A PD SHOULD ALSO FORMALIZE THEIR REVIEWS OF USER COMPLIANCE TO ENSURE THAT ALL RESOLUTION AND POLICY REQUIREMENTS ARE BEING MET.

LASTLY, WE RECOMMEND THE A PD WORK WITH RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS TO REPORT THEIR AUDIT RESULTS CONSISTENTLY.

AND ON A SPECIFIED TIMELINE FOR FINDING TWO, WE FOUND THAT APDS A LPR PROGRAM IS GENERALLY ALIGNED WITH PEER PROGRAMS. UH, TO LOOK INTO THIS, WE ASSESS THE PROGRAMS OF SIX PEER CITIES, INCLUDING DALLAS, FORT WORTH, HOUSTON, SAN ANTONIO, MINNEAPOLIS, AND SEATTLE.

OVERALL, OUR PROGRAM IS CONSISTENT OR MORE ROBUST THAN PEER PROGRAMS. STRUCTURALLY, OUR PROGRAMS ARE VERY SIMILAR, AND WE HAVE SIMILAR MODES OF A LPR GOVERNANCE.

OUR A LPR TRAININGS AND AUDITS WERE MORE FREQUENT THAN ALL PEERS.

AUSTIN WAS ALSO THE ONLY CITY THAT HAD AN ANNUAL A LPR TRAINING.

AUSTIN ALSO HAD THE MOST FREQUENT AUDITS OF ANY PROGRAM AT A QUARTERLY INTERVAL.

AND WE HAD THE SHORTEST, UH, ASSESSED DATA RETENTION PERIOD AT SEVEN DAYS OF PROGRAMS WE LOOKED INTO.

WE ASSESSED PEER CITIES BASED ON GUIDANCE FROM THE MAJOR CITY CHIEF ASSOCIATION.

ADDITIONALLY, WE REVIEWED THE CITY'S CONTRACT WITH FLOCK SAFETY FOR A LPR.

UH, THE VENDOR WHO DEPLOYED THE MOUNTED CAMERAS AND MANAGES THE CLOUD SERVICE, UH, FOR POSSIBLE DATA SHARING RISKS.

WE FOUND THAT THE CONTRACT INCLUDED LANGUAGE THAT WAS VAGUE AND POSSIBLY EXPANSIVE.

SOME LANGUAGE APPEARS TO ALLOW FLOCK TO RETAIN ANONYMIZED METADATA INDEFINITELY AND SHARE ANONYMIZED METADATA WITH OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT ENTITIES.

THEORETICALLY, IF THE DATA WAS TRULY ANONYMIZED, THERE WOULD BE NO RISK.

UH, BUT THE CONTRACT DOES NOT SPECIFY WHAT COUNTS AS ANONYMIZATION.

UH, THERE IS NO DEFINITION FOR ANONYMIZATION AND EXPLANATION FOR WHAT METADATA WILL BE RETAINED OR A DEFINITION FOR PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.

AS SUCH, FLOCK COULD THEORETICALLY KEEP INFORMATION SUCH AS LICENSE PLATE NUMBERS AND PHOTOS OF VEHICLES IN THEIR LOCATIONS.

THIS DATA COULD THEN BE SHARED WITH FEDERAL, STATE, OR OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IF LEGALLY MANDATED.

AND TO BE CLEAR, WE DIDN'T OBSERVE ANY INSTANCES OF THIS HAPPENING.

HOWEVER, IT IS THEORETICALLY POSSIBLE IF THE CONTRACT LANGUAGE IS NOT ALIGNED WITH THE RESOLUTION.

UH, AS IT STANDS, THE RESOLUTION EXPLICITLY PROTECTS FREE SPEECH ACTIVITIES, ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE CARE AND IMMIGRATION STATUS, UH, FROM BEING DISCLOSED.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME TODAY, AND WE'RE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

MEMBERS, BEFORE WE GO TO SPECIFIC QUESTIONS, I WANTED TO SEE IF, UM, MANAGEMENT HAD ANY RESPONSE THAT THEY WANTED TO GO AHEAD AND DO NOW, AND WE'LL ASK QUESTIONS OF EVERYBODY AT ONE TIME.

THAT WAY WE'LL HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MAYOR, MAYOR, PRO TEM, COUNCIL MEMBERS.

THANK YOU GUYS FOR THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO COME AND DISCUSS THIS.

UM, THIS IS SCOTT ASKEW, NEWLY PROMOTED ASSISTANT POLICE CHIEF, UM,

[01:00:01]

AND, AND WHO ARE YOU? I AM CHIEF, MR. MR. DAVIS.

THANK YOU, MAYOR.

FOR THAT.

I'D LIKE TO THANK THE CITY AUDIT TEAM.

UH, ONCE AGAIN, I, I APPRECIATE IT AND I VALUE, UM, THE FEEDBACK THAT THE, UM, AUDIT GIVES, AND I THINK, UM, WHAT SCOTT WILL SHARE, WE'LL, UM, HOPEFULLY MAKE EVERYONE FEEL THAT WE ARE ABSOLUTELY ON THE RIGHT TRACK WHERE THIS IS CONCERNED.

AND AGAIN, AUSTIN GOES ABOVE AND BEYOND, UM, ANY OF OUR, UH, PEERS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY WHEN IT COMES TO THE, UM, A LPR.

BEFORE I GET STARTED, I'LL APOLOGIZE, UH, THERE'S QUITE A BIT OF INFORMATION HERE TO UNPACKAGE.

THANKS FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY, MAYOR COUNCIL.

MY NAME IS SHELDON ASKEW AND I AM A NEW ASSISTANT CHIEF WITH THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.

I'LL ALSO THANK THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE AS WELL AS SERGEANT LEE NAUS, WHO WORKS IN THE RISK MANAGEMENT OFFICE, THANKING HIM FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH.

I'M SORRY FOR WORKING WITH, UH, THE AUDITOR HIMSELF TO, UH, TO GET THIS, UM, REPORT COMPLETE.

I'D LIKE TO START BY READING A, A SHORT REPORT OR A SUMMARY, RATHER, OF, UH, THE RESPONSE TO THE OVERALL AUDIT.

A PD IS COMMITTED TO COMPLETE TRANSPARENCY AND PROCEDURAL JUSTICE.

IN LINE WITH THIS COMMITMENT, WE PRESENT THE FOLLOWING SUMMARY IN RESPONSE TO THE AUDIT REPORTS.

IN SEPTEMBER 22, CITY COUNCIL AUTHORIZED THE RESOLUTION, WHICH GRANTED, UH, THE RESUMPTION OF A OPR PROGRAMMING FOR A ONE YEAR TRIAL PERIOD WITH ACTIVATION COMMENCING MARCH OF 24.

THIS RESOLUTION REQUIRED CITY AUDITOR'S OFFICE TO COMPLETE A COMPREHENSIVE AUDIT OF THE SYSTEMS USE.

UH, UPON THE CONCLUSION OF THE ONE YEAR TRIAL, THE AUDIT REPORTS, I'M SORRY, THE AUDIT'S FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS SCHEDULED, UH, TO BE PRESENTED TO THE AUDIT FINDINGS, OF COURSE, TODAY.

WITH THAT BEING SAID, A PD LEADERSHIP REVIEWED THE AUDIT AND BELIEVES THAT THE REPORT DEMONSTRATES OUR OVERALL COMMITMENT AND TO COMPLIANCE, UH, WITH THE RESOLUTION IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS, PROVIDED ACCURACY OF A LPR SYSTEM, DATA INCORPORATED, BEST PRACTICES OBSERVED IN PURE POLICE DEPARTMENTS AND PROPERLY USED A LPR SOFTWARE AND MULTIPLE HOT LISTS LEADING TO ONE 13,122 MATCHES WITH ZERO INCORRECT OR UNJUSTIFIED STOPS ADHERES TO COUNCIL DATA SHARING LIMITATIONS.

DATA SHARED THREE TIMES DURING THE AUDIT PERIOD THAT THE AUDITOR LOOKED AT ADDRESSING, I'M SORRY, YES, ADDRESSING THREE ALLOWABLE CATEGORIES, WHICH WERE TRAFFICK OF PERSONS, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO ALL OF US.

THEFT OF MOTOR VEHICLE AND ARSON, ALL OF WHICH FALL INTO THE PARAMETERS OF THE RESOLUTION COMPLETED.

27 REQUESTS FROM A PD OFFICERS FOR LICENSE PLATE NUMBER TO BE ENTERED INTO APDS.

CUSTOMIZED HOT LIST RESULTING IN 193 HITS WITH ZERO UNJUSTIFIED STOPS.

OBVIOUSLY, AP D ACKNOWLEDGES THE AUDIT REPORT ALSO REVEALED AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT, AND WE APPRECIATE THE TIME AND EXPLAINING EACH OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AND DISCUSSING THE SOLUTIONS IN WHICH WE WILL INCORPORATE INTO PRACTICE AND TRAINING ALONG WITH THE DEPARTMENT, A PD REMAINS COMMITTED TO ADHERING TO THE RESOLUTION AND TO PARAMETERS ESTABLISHED IN THE USE.

THE A LPR TECHNOLOGY, A A PD LEADERSHIP LOOKS FORWARD TO THE ONGOING PROGRAM ASSESSMENT AND RECOGNIZING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF THIS INVESTIGATIVE TOOL.

WHAT I'D LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT, UH, IS JUST THE OVERALL SUCCESS OF THIS PARTICULAR SOFTWARE.

UH, WHAT WE WERE ABLE TO DO IN THIS VERY SHORT ONE YEAR PERIOD OF TIME WAS WE WERE ABLE TO, UH, CAPTURE A NUMBER OF VIOLENT FELONS IN OUR COMMUNITY THAT COMMITTED MURDERS, AGGRAVATED ASSAULTS, ROBBERIES, AND SEXUAL ASSAULTS.

AND EVEN IF IT WAS JUST ONE IN PARTICULAR VICTIM WHO WAS ALLOWED TO GET JUSTICE AS A RESULT OF THOSE HEINOUS CRIMES, I I CAN HONESTLY SAY I BELIEVE THIS PARTICULAR SOFTWARE SYSTEM WAS A SUCCESS.

I'D NOW LIKE TO GO BACK AND I'D LIKE TO ADDRESS THE AUDIT FINDINGS IN PARTICULAR THAT THE AUDIT FOUND, AND THERE WERE FOUR IN TOTAL.

ACTUALLY, I BELIEVE THERE WERE FIVE FOUR IN PARTICULAR.

I'LL, I'LL FOCUS ON IMMEDIATELY.

THE FIRST, OF COURSE, IS THE AUTOMATIC DATA POOLS, AND THE DATA, UH, REQUEST INCLUDED AUTOMATED ANONYMIZATION OF THE DATA FOR AUDIT PURPOSES.

SO THIS PARTICULAR, UH, QUESTION PERTAINED TO THE GAPS IN THE DATA SETS THAT THE AUDITOR JUST SPOKE ABOUT.

SO WHEN WE INITIALLY STOOD UP THE A LPR SYSTEM, WE WORKED WITH SPECIFICALLY THE FLOCK VENDOR.

AND WHAT WE WERE ABLE TO DO THERE IS WE WERE ABLE TO, TO UNDERSTAND THEIR SYSTEMS AND UNDERSTAND WHAT WE WERE ABLE TO PULL DOWN.

NOW, WHAT THEY DID NOT OFFER AT THE TIME WAS AUTOMATED PUSH OF DATA TO US AFTER A CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME.

SO IN THIS CASE, 30 DAYS AS COUNCIL AND, AND MAYOR WILL PROBABLY REMEMBER, UH, THIS A LPR, UH, TECHNOLOGY WENT THROUGH SEVERAL ITERATIONS WITH COUNCIL.

THE, THE INITIAL ITERATION WAS A 30 DAY RETENTION PERIOD, AND THEN IT WAS DIALED BACK TO SEVEN DAYS.

AT SOME POINT DURING THOSE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE A LPR AUDIT, OR I'M SORRY, A LPR PROVIDER FLOCK, WE WERE GIVEN INFORMATION THAT INDICATED THAT WE WERE ABLE TO PULL THAT DATA DOWN FOR EVERY 30 DAYS.

NOW, WITH THAT, THE UNDERSTANDING, WE WENT TO

[01:05:01]

PULL THE DATA DOWN EVERY 30 DAYS AND FOUND THAT IT WAS ONLY BEING RETAINED FOR SEVEN DAYS.

AND THAT HAS TO DO SPECIFICALLY WITH THE FACT THAT WE'RE ONLY RETAINING THE DATA FOR A SEVEN DAY PERIOD.

SO THAT EXPLAINS THE REASONS WHY WE WERE THERE ARE MISSING, UH, DATA GAPS, OR SHOULD I SAY, DATA GAPS IN, IN GENERAL.

UM, TO RECTIFY THIS, WE WORK DIRECTLY WITH THE VENDOR IN ORDER TO GET AN AUTOMATED PUSH OF THE DATA TO AVOID MISSING DATA.

IN THE PAST, WHAT WE DID TO LOOK BACK AND CO RECOVER SOME OF THAT DATA IS WE AVERAGED OUT WHAT OUR USAGE OF THE PARTICULAR SYSTEM WAS DURING THE MISSING PERIOD OF TIME, AND WE WERE ABLE TO ESTIMATE THE DATA THAT WERE, THAT WAS MISSING.

THE OTHER PORTION THAT WAS TALKED ABOUT IS THE REQUIREMENT TO GIVE AUDIT OUTCOMES WITH RESPECT TO WHETHER OR NOT THE A LPR DATA RESULTED IN PROSECUTIONS.

AND UNFORTUNATELY, THAT'S A VERY, UH, A DIFFICULT QUESTION TO ANSWER.

AND THE REASON BEING IS BECAUSE, AS YOU ALL KNOW, ONCE SOMEONE ENTERS INTO THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, A NUMBER OF VARIABLES MIGHT, UH, BE A FACTOR INTO, UH, THE REASONS WHY IT'S DELAYED, UH, IN OVER A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME.

SO OUR AUDIT REPORTS ARE RUN, UH, QUARTERLY, AND THOSE QUARTERLY AUDITS OBVIOUSLY DON'T CAPTURE ACCURATELY EXACTLY WHAT IT IS THAT THE OUTCOME OF THOSE CASES MAY BE.

UH, WE COMPLETELY AGREE WITH THE AUDITOR'S RECOMMENDATION IN THE FIRST AUDIT RECOMMENDATION, AND THAT ONE IS CURRENTLY IMPLEMENTED BECAUSE OF THE ACTIONS THAT WE HAVE TAKEN, UH, TO GET THOSE AUTOMATED PUSHES OF DATA DIRECTLY FROM THE VENDOR, SO THAT ONE HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED COMPLETELY.

THE SECOND ONE IS CLEARLY DESCRIBED ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR STAFF INVOLVED IN THE RISK MANAGEMENT AUDITS, INCLUDING DOCUMENTED AUDIT PROCESSES SO THAT THE AUDIT PROCESS CAN BE REPLICATED FOR FUTURE STAFF.

AGAIN, WE AGREE WITH THIS RECOMMENDATION AND IT IS BEING IMPLEMENTED AND WILL BE FULLY IMPLEMENTED BY JULY 3RD, 31ST OF 2025.

LET ME EXPLAIN THE REASONS THIS HAPPENED.

A LPR, UH, RISK MANAGEMENT CREATED A MANUAL, I'M SORRY, TO ADDRESS THIS.

WE'VE CREATED A MANUAL, UH, PROGRAM OR PROCESS RATHER, THAT WILL, THAT WILL GUIDE SOMEONE A STEP BY STEP ON HOW TO CAPTURE THIS DATA IN THE FUTURE.

AND IT INCLUDES VIDEO GO BYS OF HOW THIS PERSON, UH, THE AUDITOR ON OUR SIDE, OF COURSE, CAN COMPLETE THESE PARTICULAR AUDITS.

IT'S DOCUMENTED, IT'S BEEN GIVEN TO THE CITY AUDITOR THEMSELF TO TAKE A LOOK AT, TO ENSURE THAT THIS, UH, THIS GO BY THE STEP BY STEP PROCESS RATHER, IS COMPREHENSIVE AND, AND WILL AVOID ISSUES MOVING FORWARD.

PRIOR TO STAFF TURNOVER, THE RISK MANAGEMENT SERGEANT, UH, WILL CROSS STRAIN ANYONE THAT MAY TAKE HIS PLACE.

SO, UH, THE AUDITOR BROUGHT UP SPECIFICALLY THE, THE RISK ASSOCIATED WITH STAFF TURNOVER.

THE GO BY THE GUIDE THAT I TALKED ABOUT WILL ALLOW FOR THAT PARTICULAR REPLACEMENT TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT'S NEEDED AND TO MAKE SURE THAT MISSTEPS AREN'T TAKEN.

THE THIRD IS GONNA BE THE REGULAR REVIEWS OF A LPR.

USE COMPLIANCE WITH POLICY REQUIREMENTS, AND WE AGREE WITH THIS ONE AS WELL.

A PD RECOGNIZED THE CITY AUDITOR'S OFFICE NOTED ISSUES WITH USER COMPLIANCE.

A PD REVIEWED THE AUDIT REPORT, AND IN A COMMITMENT TO ENSURE USER COMPLIANCE BY ADDRESSING THESE ISSUES THROUGH TECHNOLOGY CHANGES TO SEARCH INTERFACES, ADDITIONAL REVIEWS OF A LPR USE BY A LP BY A PD SUPERVISORS AND ADJUSTING TRAINING TO ADDRESS DOCUMENTED CONCERNS, A PD RISK MANAGEMENT, UH, RISK MANAGEMENT AUDITS HAS FOUND A HIGH DEGREE OF COMPLIANCE WITH EXISTING, UH, USERS.

ANY ISSUES THAT WE HAVE FOUND ARE GOING TO BE ADDRESSED THROUGH A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT WAYS.

ONE WAY WE'RE GOING TO ADDRESS THIS IS WE ARE GONNA WORK DIRECTLY WITH THE VENDORS, WHICH WE'VE ALREADY STARTED TO DO TO REQUIRE CERTAIN FIELDS REASONS AND CASE NUMBERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SEARCH OF THIS PARTICULAR DATA SET.

THIS IS GOING TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE NOT MISSING ANY DATA MOVING FORWARD INTO THE FUTURE, AND THIS FULL IMPLEMENTATION SHOULD TAKE PLACE BY OCTOBER 1ST, 2025.

THE OTHER THING WE'RE GOING TO DO IS A P D'S RISK MANAGEMENT IS GOING TO REVIEW SEARCH HISTORY AND REACH BACK OUT TO THE INDIVIDUAL OFFICERS SHOULD WE FIND NON-COMPLIANCE TO MAKE SURE WE CLOSE THE GAP ON ANYTHING THAT WE MAY FIND.

THE FOURTH ISSUE THAT THE AUDITOR FOUND IS, AS SUCH A DEFINED TIMELINE FOR REPORTING THE REGULAR RISK MANAGEMENT AUDITS, INCLUDING A LIST OF STAKEHOLDERS TO REGULARLY SHARE AUDIT RESULTS.

WE AGREE, AGAIN WITH THIS PARTICULAR RECOMMENDATION AS WELL, A PD RISK MANAGEMENT AUDITS, UH, ARE CONDUCTED QUARTERLY AND ARE COMPLETED NO LATER THAN 30 DAYS.

AFTER THE AUDIT PERIOD CLOSES, A PD EXECUTIVE STAFF WILL PROVIDE REGULAR UPDATES TO THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION THROUGH QUARTERLY DEPARTMENTAL UH, PRESENTATIONS.

[01:10:01]

A PD WILL ALSO DISSEMINATE THIS INFORMATION TO THE OFFICE OF POLICE OVERSIGHT PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION AND CITY COUNCIL.

ADDITIONALLY, IN NOVEMBER OF 2024, THIS PAST NOVEMBER, A PD ADDED TRANSPARENCY LINKS ON BOTH THE AXON AS WELL AS THE FLOCK UH, SYSTEMS, AND THOSE ARE VISIBLE IN THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT'S OPEN DATA PORTAL, AND THAT IS CURRENTLY IMPLEMENTED AS WELL.

THE NEXT PORTION I'D LIKE TO TALK SPECIFICALLY ABOUT IS GOING TO BE THE SECTION OF THE CONTRACT THAT GAVE PAUSE TO THE AUDITOR WITH RESPECT TO THE ACTUAL, UM, VERBIAGE IN THE CONTRACT.

AND, AND I'M PARAPHRASING HERE, SO BEAR WITH ME.

IT'S SECTION 4.4 OF THE ACTUAL CONTRACT ITSELF THAT EXPLICITLY STATES, AND I'M GONNA READ A PORTION OF IT, THE STATEMENTS OF GRANT'S FLOCK A NON-EXCLUSIVE WORLDWIDE, UH, PERPETUAL ROYALTY FREE RIGHT LICENSE, AND THE, AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN.

SO THE FIRST THING I THINK THAT NEEDS TO BE STATED IS THAT AUSTIN'S DATA IS ONLY RETAINED FOR SEVEN DAYS.

IT IS NOT RETAINED THEREAFTER, THEREFORE, IT CANNOT BE SHARED, USED OR OTHERWISE IN ANY CAPACITY IN THAT.

WITH THAT BEING SAID, THE DATA THAT IS COLLECTED BY FLOCK, AND I'M SPECIFICALLY TALKING ABOUT FLOCK HERE, UM, IS ANONYMIZED.

IN OTHER WORDS, THE, THE DATA DOES NOT SHOW WHERE, UH, THE, I GUESS, PICTURE WAS TAKEN.

ALL IT IS IS SIMPLY A PICTURE THAT IS COMMINGLED WITH, SAY, DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT'S DATA, HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT'S DATA, AND SO ON AND SO FORTH.

SO THERE IS NO CONNECTION BACK TO THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.

IT IS SIMPLY A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE, OF THE, UH, LICENSE PLATE ITSELF.

IT PROVIDES NO INFORMATION WITH RESPECT TO WHO IS THE LICENSED OWNER OR REGISTERED OWNER OF THAT PARTICULAR VEHICLE, AND OBVIOUSLY CAN'T BE USED IN ANY OTHER WAY.

UM, THERE WAS A QUESTION AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THIS WOULD ALLOW, THE LANGUAGE WOULD ALLOW FOR THE DATA TO BE RETAINED FOR GREATER THAN A SEVEN DAY PERIOD.

THE VENDOR HAS ASSURED ME THAT THE DATA FALLS OFF EVERY SEVEN DAYS, AND THERE'S NO POSSIBLE WAY THAT THE DATA IS MAINTAINED IN ANY CAPACITY FOR A SEVEN DAY OR GREATER THAN A SEVEN DAY PERIOD.

THE NEXT THING I'LL TALK ABOUT IS JUST SIMPLY THAT FLOCK DOES NOT MAINTAIN THE DATA.

THEY ONLY MAINTAIN THE DATA, I'M SORRY, AXON.

AXON DOES NOT MAINTAIN THE DATA IN THE EVENT THAT WE, AS THE OWNER OF THAT DATA OPT IN, THEY CAN COLLECT IT, BUT WE HAVE NOT OPTED IN, AND THEREFORE, AS A RE RESULT, THEY DO NOT MAINTAIN IT.

I'LL PAUSE THERE.

I'VE DUMPED A LOT ON YOU ALL, SO IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, LET'S, UM, JUST STEP BACK AND, AND MAKE SURE, UM, THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE AND YOU ARE IN A POSITION TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.

AND I'LL START, UM, BY ASKING MEMBER MEMBERS WE HAVE QUESTIONS.

YES.

OR IN ORDER TO TROUBLESHOOT ISSUES THAT MAY EXIST WITH THIS PARTICULAR TECHNOLOGY.

COUNCIL MEMBER VELA.

YES, BUT I WOULDN'T MIND HEARING ANY KIND OF A RESPONSE OR, OR IF THE, IF TO THE EXTENT THAT THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE HAS ANY COMMENTS ON YEAH, SURE.

DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANNA COMMENT ON, ON THE LAST PRESENTATION BY THE ASSISTANT CHIEF, BUT IF NOT, HAPPY TO JUMP INTO QUESTION AS WELL.

YEAH, YEAH.

I WOULD JUST LIKE TO CLARIFY IN OUR ADDITIONAL OBSERVATION ABOUT THE, UH, ANONYMIZATION IS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVEN'T EXPLICITLY OBSERVED ANY INSTANCES OF ANYTHING NOT HAPPENING ACCORDING TO WHAT WE WANT OUR RESOLUTION TO BE.

UM, BUT SECTION 4.4 OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS DOES SAY AN NON-EXCLUSIVE WORLDWIDE PERPETUAL ROYAL FREE LICENSE TO USE AND DISTRIBUTE AGGREGATED, AGGREGATED DATA TO IMPROVE AND ENHANCE IT SERVICES AND FOR OTHER DEVELOPMENT DIAGNOSTIC AND CORRECTIVE PURPOSES, OTHER FLOCK OFFERINGS AND CRIME PREVENTION EFFORTS, AND TO DISCLOSE AGENCY DATA, BOTH INCLUSIVE OF ANY FOOTAGE TO ENABLE LAW ENFORCEMENT MONITORING AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT HOT LISTS, AS WELL AS PROVIDE FOOTAGE, SEARCH ACCESS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR INVESTIGATIVE PURPOSES ONLY.

SO I GUESS WE'RE KIND OF LOOKING AT THAT LANGUAGE AND WE'RE SEEING THAT THAT COULD POTENTIALLY ALLOW FOR SOMETHING THAT WE DON'T WANT UNDER OUR RESOLUTION.

UM, SO WE'RE JUST KIND OF MAYBE FLAGGING THAT FOR CONSIDERATION AS WE LOOK TO EXTEND POTENTIALLY THIS RESOLUTION TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF THAT LANGUAGE THAT'S IN OUR CONTRACT IS CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE WANT.

SO BOTTOM LINE IS YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ANY USE OR ANYTHING THAT WOULD BE OUTSIDE OF WHAT IT IS YOU'RE WANTING AND WHAT I THINK EVERYBODY'S WANTING, BUT WHAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE WANTING TO SEE, BUT THE LANGUAGE YOU SEE IS BROAD ENOUGH TO CREATE THAT POSSIBILITY? THAT'S CORRECT.

UNDERSTAND.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO SAY IN RESPONSE TO COUNCIL MEMBER BAYLA OR, VERY GOOD.

WELL THEN COUNCIL MEMBER BAYLA, YOU'LL HAVE THE FLOOR.

UH, THANK YOU, UH, MAYOR WITH REGARD TO, AND AGAIN, THIS IS REALLY MORE KIND OF THE, THE, FOR THE VENDOR, BUT, SO THEY'RE KEEPING PHOTOS OF THE INDIVIDUAL LICENSE PLATES.

SO FOR A SEVEN DAY PERIOD, SIR, THE CONTRACT ALLOWS FOR THEM TO MAINTAIN THE PHOTOGRAPHS, AGAIN, ANONYMIZED.

THEY DON'T HAVE LOCATION, THEY DON'T HAVE ANY, ANY OTHER INFORMATION IN ORDER TO MAKE SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS

[01:15:01]

AND SO, AND, AND AGAIN, I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, UH, BECAUSE THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PIECE, THE DATA RETENTION AND YES, OBVIOUSLY THAT'S THE, THE, THE, THE CRITICAL PIECE.

SO THEY, AGAIN, WE, WE HAVE THE DATA AND THE DATA WOULD HAVE BOTH THE LOCATION AND THE, UH, THE, THE IDENTITY OF THE VEHICLE, RIGHT? THE LICENSE PLATE AND, AND THE LOCATION OF, OF THE VEHICLE THAT'S RETAINED FOR SEVEN DAYS.

IS THAT CORRECT? SO WE RETAIN THAT, SIR, BUT THEY DO NOT GET THE LOCATION DATA.

THEY ONLY GET THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE LICENSE PLATE ITSELF.

GOT IT.

THAT'S, UH, HELPFUL.

UH, AND THEY ARE RETAINING THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE LICENSE PLATE ITSELF, UH, BEYOND THAT SEVEN DAY PERIOD, AGAIN, FOR THEIR OWN PURPOSES THAT, THAT YOU JUST READ.

NO, SIR.

THEY, THEY, THE DATA IS COMPLETELY DELETED AFTER SEVEN DAYS.

WE SET THE, THE RETENTION PERIOD, AND IT'S DELETED EVEN ON THEIR SIDE IN SEVEN DAYS.

SO WHAT IS THAT LANGUAGE THEN COVERING WHERE THEY'RE SAYING THAT THEY CAN, YOU KNOW, RETAIN STUFF FOR FUTURE PURPOSES AND, AND, AND, AND WHATNOT? SO I'VE HAD SOME CONVERSATIONS WITH THE VENDOR DIRECTLY ON THIS PARTICULAR TOPIC, AND WHAT THEY'VE EXPLAINED TO ME IS THAT THAT PARTICULAR LANGUAGE ALLOWS FOR THEM TO SHARE THE DATA IN THE EVENT THAT WE AS THE OWNER OF THE DATA AGREE TO SHARE IT.

SO MANY CITIES THROUGHOUT THE STATE WILL SHARE IN FACT, THE DATA AND THAT LANGUAGE PROVIDES THEM WITH, I GUESS, THE PROTECTIONS THEY NEED IN ORDER TO SHARE IT BOILER PLATE COVER.

GOT IT, GOT IT.

SO THIS IS A BOILERPLATE LANGUAGE THAT THEY USE THAT IN, IN OTHER CONTEXTS WITH OTHER POLICE DEPARTMENTS OR OTHER AGENCIES? HONESTLY, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE A POLICE DEPARTMENT, UH, WHERE THEY CAN HAVE SOME FLEXIBILITY, I GUESS, TO USE THE DATA, SELL THE DATA, DO WHATEVER THEY WANT WITH THE DATA FOR THEIR PURPOSES.

BUT BECAUSE WE HAVE SPECIFIC LANGUAGE IN OUR CONTRACT THAT IS, AND AGAIN, UH, UH, UH, THAT'S INOPERABLE, ESSENTIALLY, IS, WOULD THAT BE, I MEAN, IN OTHER WORDS, THAT CONTRACT PROVISION? I, I, AGAIN, I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S DOING.

SURE.

AND SIR, OBVIOUSLY I CAN'T, I CAN'T SPEAK FOR THE VENDOR, BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT THEY'VE ASSURED ME TIME AND AGAIN, THAT OUR DATA IS HELD FOR SEVEN DAYS.

IT'S DEFINITELY MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THIS IS MORE BOILERPLATE LANGUAGE THAT'S INCLUDED IN PROBABLY MOST, IF NOT EVERY ONE OF THEIR CONTRACTS MM-HMM .

UM, BUT, BUT YES, THAT IS THE EXPLANATION THAT HAS BEEN PROVIDED.

OUR DATA IS, IS DELETED AFTER SEVEN DAYS AND ANONYMIZED, INCLUDING THE LOCATION OF WHERE THE PHOTO WAS ACTUALLY TAKEN.

OKAY, GOT IT.

I MEAN, I, I WOULD GENERALLY BE, AGAIN, UH, WHAT IS THE CONTRACT PERIOD FOR WHAT, HOW LONG IS THAT? SO IT WAS A ONE YEAR CONTRACT WITH THE, WITH ADDITIONAL OPTIONAL YEARS ON THE BACK END, SIR.

GOT IT.

I, I MEAN, AGAIN, MY, MY SENSE AND, AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THIS I THINK WITH THE FULL COUNSEL, BUT MY SENSE WOULD BE THAT THAT'S A, A CONTRACT PROVISION THAT PROBABLY NEEDS TO GO.

UH, BUT, UH, UH, WITH REGARD TO THE, UM, I KNOW THAT THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF, IN ADDITION TO THE, THE, THE ARREST, WELL, ACTUALLY, LET'S START WITH THE ARREST RIGHT QUICK.

OF THOSE 170 SOME ODD, UH, DO WE KNOW WHAT THE BREAKDOWN IS IN TERMS OF LIKE, YOU KNOW, FELONY, MISDEMEANOR TYPES OF CRIMES, THAT KIND OF, UH, STUFF LIKE THAT? SIR, I DON'T HAVE THE BREAKDOWNS OF FELONY MISDEMEANORS, BUT WHAT I DO HAVE IS I CAN GIVE YOU A ROUGH PERCENTAGE OF WHAT, UH, THOSE CORRELATE TO MM-HMM .

SO WE WENT BEYOND, WE WENT FOR A 12 MONTH PERIOD.

WHAT I'LL TELL YOU IS THAT OUR DATA SHOWS, OR IS CAPTURED RATHER FROM MARCH 28TH, 2024 THROUGH MARCH 31ST, 2025.

AND ACCORDING TO OUR DATA, WE HAD 228 ARRESTS.

SO A LITTLE, A LITTLE MORE THAN THE 175 ISH THAT THE, THE AUDITOR FOUND.

OF COURSE, THEY'RE MISSING A QUARTER, UM, THAT OURS INCLUDES, BUT OF THOSE, ROUGHLY 31% ARE UN UNAUTHORIZED USE OF A MOTOR VEHICLE, WHICH IS A STOLEN VEHICLE.

LIKE, UH, YOU KNOW, AN AUTO THEFT HAPPENS IN DALLAS, THEY COME TO AUSTIN AND WE INTERCEPT THAT VEHICLE.

UM, 18% ARE GONNA BE REQUESTS TO APPREHEND, SO WARRANTS OF SOME TYPE.

AND THEN BEYOND THAT, IT'S GONNA BE EVADING MOTOR VEHICLE, I'M SORRY, EVADING ARREST WITH A MOTOR VEHICLE.

AND THAT'S GONNA BE ROUGHLY 4%, AND THEN IT SHIFTS INTO AGGRAVATED ROBBERIES AT 4%.

AND THEN I CAN CONTINUE ON IF YOU, IF YOU NEED TO.

NO, NO, THAT, THAT, THAT'S FINE.

I, I, I APPRECIATE THAT.

UH, AND THEN WITH REGARD ALSO, UH, THIS WASN'T IN THE PRESENTATION, BUT I KNOW IT'S IN THE REPORT WITH REGARD TO THE NUMBER OF STOLEN VEHICLES THAT WERE RECOVERED.

AGAIN, I THINK THAT WAS 180 SOME ODD STOLEN VEHICLES RECOVERED.

DO WE KNOW, UH, HOW MANY, IN OTHER WORDS, HOW, WHAT'S THE UNIVERSE OF STOLEN VEHICLES RECOVERED VERSUS THE AMOUNT THAT ARE RECOVERED THROUGH THE, UH, A LPR PROGRAM? SO, I CAN'T GIVE YOU THE EXACT ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION.

WHAT I CAN PROVIDE TO YOU IS THERE WERE 4,664 AUTO THEFT REPORTS TO THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT DURING THE PILOT PERIOD.

UM, AND THERE WERE 245 OF THE, OF RECOVERED VEHICLES USING THE A LPR SYSTEM DURING THAT SAME PERIOD.

NOW, WHAT YOU HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND IS THAT SOME OF THOSE AUTO THEFTS COULD BE FROM NEIGHBORING JURISDICTIONS MM-HMM .

[01:20:01]

UM, THAT WOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE 2 45 THAT I HAD MENTIONED.

GOT IT.

AND IT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL TO JUST, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY VEHICLES DID WE RECOVER TOTAL, AND HOW MANY OF THOSE WERE RECOVERED VIA THE A LPR? AGAIN, I KNOW A LOT OF STOLEN, UH, VEHICLE RECOVERIES ARE JUST ABANDONED VEHICLES WHERE, YOU KNOW, THEY JUST KIND OF ARE PARKED ON AND EVENTUALLY WE FIND THEM.

BUT I, I'M JUST CURIOUS AS TO, AGAIN, HOW MUCH ARE THE LPRS CONTRIBUTING TO THE RECOVERY OF THE STOLEN VEHICLES? YES, SIR.

UM, I I, I KNOW THAT IT, YEAH, I MEAN, IT'S IMPORTANT TO GET THOSE BACK AND TO GET THOSE THROUGH THEIR, THEIR, YOU KNOW, RIFLE OWNERS.

I KNOW FOLKS SOMETIMES ARE STILL PAYING THE NOTE ON A VEHICLE THAT WAS STOLEN.

AND YES, SIR, THAT'S A, A PAINFUL THING TO DO.

UM, FINALLY, MY, AND AGAIN, I'VE HAD MANY CONVERSATIONS ON THIS TOPIC, AND, AND ONE OF THE, THE, THE TRENDS THAT COMES UP IS THAT THERE ARE A LPRS EVERYWHERE, ESSENTIALLY.

UM, THAT, AND AGAIN, I, THIS IS ANECDOTES AND CONVERSATIONS.

I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE SOME, SOME HARD DATA AROUND THIS.

BUT MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT, FOR EXAMPLE, EVERY BANK DRIVE THROUGH IS GONNA HAVE AN LPR, EVERY GASOLINE STATION IS GONNA HAVE AN LPR EVERY, UH, BASICALLY KIND OF FAST FOOD DRIVE THROUGH, UH, IS GONNA HAVE AN A LPR.

ALL THE TOLL ROADS ARE GONNA HAVE AN A LPR.

AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THERE'S VERY, VERY, VERY FEW LIMITS ON, UH, THE DATA RETENTION AND THE USE OF ALL THE, THE PRIVATE, UH, A LPR, UH, DATA GATHERING.

UH, CAN YOU SHED ANY LIGHT ON THAT OR, UH, UH, OR FOR THAT MATTER, THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE ALSO, JUST IN TERMS OF HOW BROAD IS THAT PRIVATE SECTOR, A LPR DATA COLLECTION? AND AGAIN, I THINK ABOUT THIS IN TERMS OF, AGAIN, WHEN OTHER FOLKS ARE LOOKING FOR, UH, DATA.

MY SENSE WOULD BE IN THE CONVERSATIONS THAT I'VE HAD, WOULD BE THAT THEY WOULD JUST GO TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR, THAT THEY'RE GONNA HAVE A MUCH, UH, MORE, UH, ROBUST DATA SET IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR THAN THE POLICE, ESPECIALLY WITH THE SEVEN DAY RETENTION PERIOD.

'CAUSE MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THERE IS NO LIMIT TO A PRIVATE A LPR, UH, DATA RETENTION.

UH, CAN YOU SHED ANY LIGHT ON ON THAT? YEAH, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION, SIR.

AND SOMETHING OBVIOUSLY WE'VE SEEN SINCE STANDING UP OUR A LPR SYSTEM, UM, CERTAINLY PRIVATE BUSINESSES, UM, ACADEMY SPORTS AND OTHER BUSINESSES OBVIOUSLY HAVE A LPR SYSTEMS AND, AND LEVERAGE THOSE SYSTEMS, UM, FOR DIFFERENT REASONS.

THERE IS, TO MY KNOWLEDGE, THERE IS NOT A, A MAXIMUM RETENTION PERIOD THAT CAN BE SET BASED UPON, UM, THE CAPTURE OF A PRIVATE A LPR CAMERA.

UM, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY WE, WE LOOK AT THE SEVEN DAY PERIOD, WE, WE MAINTAIN THE SEVEN DAY PERIOD, BUT I CAN'T SPEAK, UH, CERTAINLY INTELLIGENTLY TO, TO WHAT THOSE DIFFERENT BUSINESSES THAT WE KNOW HAVING A LPR SYSTEMS, UH, RETAIN DATA TO.

THAT THEY COULD PLACE, SAY AT THE SCENE OF A CRIME IN A PARTICULAR PERIOD THAT WAS CLOSE TO, OF COURSE, THE EVENTS THAT WE'RE INVESTIGATING.

AND THEN FINALLY, UH, I HAVE A FEW MORE QUESTIONS, BUT I'LL, I'LL, I'LL, UH, UH, YIELD THE, THE FLOOR, BUT HOW MANY OF THE, THE HITS THAT WE'RE GETTING ARE, UH, INSTANTANEOUS AND, AND HOW MANY DID WE USE THE SYSTEM TO LOOK BACK ON? BECAUSE THAT WAS, UH, JUST TO, YOU KNOW, I WAS A, A SUPPORTER OF THE, THE THREE MINUTE RETENTION PERIOD WHERE WE JUST GOT THE HOT HITS AND, AND USE THEM FOR, AND, AND I KNOW THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WAS LIKE, WE DO WANT TO, TO GET A LITTLE BIT OF A LOOK BACK PERIOD IN CASE WE GET A REPORT OR WE GET A LEAD AND WE WANT A FEW DAYS TO LOOK BACK.

DO WE KNOW, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, HOW MANY OF THE ARRESTS ARE, ARE, YOU KNOW, BOOM, WE GOT THAT HIT, AND, AND, AND THEN WE SEND SOMEBODY AFTER THEM RIGHT AWAY, VERSUS HOW MANY OF THEM WERE INQUIRIES AFTER THE FACT WHERE WE DID NEED THAT KIND OF LOOK BACK PERIOD? SURE.

SO I'LL TALK ABOUT THESE IN TWO DIFFERENT, UH, BUCKETS, IF YOU WILL.

UH, THE FIRST BUCKET WOULD BE, UH, THE IMMEDIATE ACTION.

SO WHEN WE'RE DRIVING AROUND AND WE GET A HIT ON THE A LPR SYSTEM, OBVIOUSLY IF IT'S THE VEHICLE NEAR THE PARTICULAR PATROL CAR, OR IF THE CAMERA, THEN WHAT'LL HAPPEN IS, IS THAT THE PATROL OFFICER WILL BE NOTIFIED, IN WHICH CASE THEY MAY TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION.

UM, OBVIOUSLY THAT THE RESOLUTION REQUIRES SECONDARY VERIFICATION BEFORE ACTION IS TAKEN UNLESS EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES EXIST.

SO THERE IS A BIT OF THAT, THAT YOU HAVE TO FACTOR IN AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THEY TOOK IMMEDIATE ACTION.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THOSE ARE IN, IN IT, FROM MY ESTIMATION, IN MOST CASES, THOSE ARE GONNA BE THE LOWER LEVEL OFFENSES, RIGHT? SO LIKE YOUR LOWER FELONY OFFENSES, MISDEMEANOR, UH, CLASS A MISDEMEANOR OFFENSES, THINGS OF THAT NATURE, THE BIGGER IMPACT IS THE SECOND CATEGORY, WHICH IS THIS LOOKBACK PERIOD, RIGHT? AND SO WHAT WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT A LOOKBACK PERIOD IS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, CASES THAT ARE HISTORICALLY ASSIGNED TO INVESTIGATORS.

SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HOMICIDES AND AGGRAVATED ROBBERIES AND, AND SEXUAL ASSAULTS AND THAT KIND OF STUFF.

AND SO THOSE CASES, UH, DETECTIVES ARE ACTUALLY GOING INTO THE DATA SET AND THEY'RE LOOKING FOR VEHICLES

[01:25:01]

SO I, I THINK THAT THE, I THINK BUCKET ONE IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE MUCH LARGER, BUT BUCKET TWO ARGUABLY IS MUCH MORE IMPACTFUL GIVEN THE SEVERITY OF THOSE PARTICULAR, UH, CRIMES THAT OF COURSE THOSE INVESTIGATORS ARE LOOKING INTO.

DO WE KNOW HOW BIG BUCKET TWO IS THOUGH, IN TERMS OF HOW MANY LOOK BACK SEARCHES WERE PART OF THE, THE, THE SYSTEM THAT, THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO KINDA GET MY HEAD AROUND, IS THAT, HOW OFTEN IS THAT? ARE, ARE WE USING THAT? I DON'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION, SIR, BUT I'LL CERTAINLY LOOK INTO IT AND, AND THAT'S FINE.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

MAYOR PRO TIM, THANK YOU.

UH, THANK YOU COUNCILOR RIVERA FOR YOUR COMMENTS ON THE PREVALENCE OF LPR WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

I THINK THE DIFFERENCE THAT HERE, OR THE DISTINCTION HERE IS THAT WE AS A LOCAL GOVERNMENT WOULD BE COMPELLED AND REQUIRED TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO OUR INFORMATION, UM, IF ASKED, ESPECIALLY FROM THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY.

WE HAVE HERE IN THIS INITIAL AUDIT THAT, UM, BASTROP COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE ALSO ASKED FOR OUR DATA AS WELL AS OUR OWN FIRE DEPARTMENT.

AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, THERE ARE FIVE MORE DATA SHARING REQUESTS THAT CAME IN SINCE MARCH.

IS THAT RIGHT? MA'AM? I DON'T HAVE THAT DATED DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME.

I HAVE NO REASON TO DOUBT WHAT THE AUDITOR'S SAYING IS, IS ACCURATE, BUT I DO KNOW OF THE THREE YOU'RE MENTIONING, UH, OUTSIDE OF THOSE FIVE.

OF THOSE FIVE, IF THE, IF THE AUDITOR COULD SPEAK TO IT, DO WE KNOW WHAT AGENCIES ARE ASKING AND ANY INSIGHTS AS TO THE INCREASE IN VOLUME, BECAUSE WE WENT NINE MONTHS WITHOUT A SINGLE DATA SHARE REQUEST.

AND I DO WANNA ASK WHY IT WAS, THERE WAS NO DATA REQUEST REPORTED IN MARCH, AND THEN COME TO FIND OUT WE HAD THREE, AND THEN NOW WE HAVE FIVE MORE IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS.

SO, UM, TO, TO START WITH THE BREAKDOWN OF THE REQUESTING AGENCIES.

SO OF, I, I CHECKED THIS YESTERDAY OF THE EIGHT THAT WE'VE RECEIVED AND PROCESSED AND SHARED WITH SO FAR, UH, THREE ARE FROM OUR OWN FIRE DEPARTMENT FROM, UH, A FD, UH, ONE IS FROM TEXAS DPS, AND THEN FOUR MORE ARE FROM OTHER LIKE LOCAL AREA LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, GEORGETOWN PD, I THINK HAYES COUNTY SHERIFF, BASTROP COUNTY SHERIFF, AND SOMEONE ELSE, UM, WHO IS LOCAL AS WELL.

UM, AND THEN PART TWO OF THE QUESTION WAS, UM, CAN YOU REMIND ME YES, JUST ANY INSIGHT AS TO WHY THE VOLUME HAS GONE UP SO, SO MUCH IN THIS LAST FEW MONTHS? I THINK THAT IF, IF YOU, UM, WE, WE HAVE A SLIDE WHERE WE SHOW OUR NUMBERS OVER TIME, IT KIND, OUR NUMBERS ARE KIND OF RAMPING UP THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE, UM, AS THE QUARTERS GO, AS I THINK WE HAVE MORE CAMERAS.

UM, AND AS THERE'S MORE ACTIVITY AND AS PEOPLE ARE MORE AWARE, UM, AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT IS ALSO REQUESTING MORE FREQUENTLY.

SO I WOULD GUESS THAT IT'S JUST THE PROGRAM'S KIND OF RAMPING UP AND PEOPLE ARE MORE AWARE OF IT AND WE HAVE MORE CAMERAS.

THAT'S WHAT I WOULD ATTRIBUTE THAT TO.

I DUNNO IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER, AND SURE.

YOU KNOW, WE HAD EXTENDED THE CONTRACT WITH FLOCK TO CONTINUE THE ONE YEAR TRIAL PERIOD, BUT THE AUDIT HERE IS ONLY THREE QUARTERS WORTH OF FINDINGS.

CAN YOU SPEAK TO THAT ISSUE? YEAH, SO, SO WE INITIALLY PLAN TO PRESENT THIS A LITTLE BIT EARLIER, UM, BUT WE ENDED UP HAVING SOME, SOME DELAYS WITH, WITH CORRECTING A FEW THINGS.

UM, AND SO IN ORDER FOR US TO HAVE A VERY HIGH DEGREE OF CONFIDENCE IN OUR PRESENTATION AND TO BE ABLE TO PRESENT IN A TIMELY FASHION, WE STUCK WITH THOSE FIRST THREE QUARTERS, UH, FINISHING ON DECEMBER 31ST.

WELL, YOU KNOW, THAT'S UNFORTUNATE BECAUSE PART OF THE REASON WHY I SUPPORTED THE EXTENSION IS 'CAUSE I WANTED TO GET A FULL REVIEW OF THE YEAR, UH, WORTH OF FINDING.

SO I, YOU KNOW, MADE MY VOTE BASED ON US HAVING A FULL YEAR'S WORTH OF, OF INFORMATION DATA TO HAVE A FULL YEAR PICTURE OF THE, THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS TOOL.

RESPONSE FELL WITHIN, UM, THE RESOLUTION.

UH, SO THE OTHER QUESTION, THE OTHER FINDING THAT YOU, UH, MADE HERE IS AROUND THE CONTRACT LANGUAGE.

AND I STEPPED OUT BRIEFLY, SO I DIDN'T CATCH THE BEGINNING OF THAT QUESTION, BUT CAN YOU TALK US THROUGH IF SOMEONE FROM CITY LEGAL'S OFFICE, WHY WE WOULD HAVE A CONTRACT WITH FLOCK THAT DIDN'T ADHERE TO THE RESOLUTION OR LEFT A GAP OPEN TO INTERPRETATION THAT WASN'T CLEARLY ALIGNED WITH OUR RESOLUTION THAT COUNCIL PASSED? YOU KNOW, AS STATED BY OUR CITY AUDITOR'S OFFICE, DO WE HAVE SOMEONE HERE? ANYBODY HERE? YEAH.

UH, GOOD MORNING, MAYOR COUNCIL, CHRIS KOOLA FROM THE LAW DEPARTMENT.

UM, YOU KNOW, AS TO WHY I, I'M NOT SURE IF I CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION EXACTLY.

I MEAN, WHAT I CAN SAY IS THAT WHEN THE CONTRACT REVIEW PROCESS WAS GOING ON, THAT THE LAW DEPARTMENT, I THINK RAISED, UH, SOME ISSUES ABOUT THIS LANGUAGE IN PARTICULAR, THAT IT CREATED SOME AMBIGUITY.

UH, MY UNDERSTANDING GENERALLY IS THAT WHEN THAT WAS TAKEN TO THE VENDOR, THAT, UH, THE DEPARTMENT WAS SATISFIED WITH HOW THE VENDOR PLANNED TO INTERPRET THAT AND HOW THEY PLAN TO TREAT THE DATA.

AND THE

[01:30:01]

AND SO THE DEPARTMENT WENT AHEAD AND MOVED FORWARD WITH, WITH THE CONTRACT.

AND WHAT I, WHAT I WOULD SAY IS THAT THE LANGUAGE CREATES AN AMBIGUITY.

IT COULD DEFINITELY BE CLEANED UP.

AND, UM, THAT'S CERTAINLY A POSSIBILITY MOVING FORWARD.

AND IF IT'S THE INTENT OF THE VENDOR ANYWAY, WE CAN CLARIFY THE INTENT.

YES, I'D SAY THAT'S ACCURATE.

Y YOU KNOW, AT THE VERY BASE LEVEL, I MEAN, I, I JUST, I JUST WANNA HIGHLIGHT THE HOW IMPORTANT WE JUST, COUNCIL PASSED A RESOLUTION.

CITY LEGAL WORKED ON A CONTRACT WITH A VENDOR, THEN WE HAVE A CITY AUDITOR DO, UH, AN ASSESSMENT OF OUR CONTRACT TO SAY IT IS NOT ALIGNED WITH THE RESOLUTION, IT'S NOT, IT'S OPEN TO INTERPRETATION, IT'S TOO VAGUE.

THAT DOES NOT GIVE ME TRUST AS A POLICYMAKER AND OUR CITY LEGAL DEPARTMENT.

IF WE CAN HAVE AN AUDIT, AN AUDIT COME BACK, THAT LEAVES OR HAS SUCH A TREMENDOUS FINDING.

I UNDERSTAND.

UM, THOSE ARE THE QUESTIONS FOR NOW.

THANK YOU MAYOR PROAM.

UM, COUNCIL MEMBER UCHIN AND COUNCIL MEMBER SIEGEL.

THANK YOU MAYOR.

AND THANK YOU.

UH, IN FACT, I'M PROBABLY GONNA HAVE A MIX OF QUESTIONS FOR BOTH THE AUDITOR AS WELL AS, UM, THE ASSISTANT CHIEF.

UH, I WANNA START WITH JUST GENERALLY UNDERSTANDING TO THE DEGREE THAT WHEN YOU GUYS DID THE AUDIT, YOU LOOKED AT, I KNOW, SIX PEER CITIES, SOME IN TEXAS, SOME OUTSIDE OF THE STATE.

UM, I'M ASSUMING, DID YOU LOOK AT OTHER CITIES BEYOND THAT? LIKE, CAN YOU GIVE US, CAN YOU GIMME A SENSE OF THE SCOPE OF HOW MANY LARGE CITIES YOU KIND OF LOOKED AT YEAH.

TO UNDERSTAND WHERE WE WERE IN THAT MIX? YEAH, SO, SO WE LOOKED AT SIX, UM, WE LOOKED AT DALLAS-FORT WORTH, SAN ANTONIO AND HOUSTON.

AND THOSE ARE OUR SORT OF TYPICAL LARGE TEXAS MAJOR CITY PEERS THAT WE LOOK AT.

UM, AND THEN WE ADDED IN SEATTLE AND MINNEAPOLIS BECAUSE THOSE ARE PEERS THAT WE HAD WORKED RECENTLY WITH, WITH ANOTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT RELATED AUDIT.

UM, AND IN TERMS OF SIZE POPULATION AND HAVING, UH, AN A LPR PROGRAM, WE, WE JUDGED THEM TO BE SIMILAR, SO WE FOLDED THEM IN AS WELL.

WERE YOU ABLE TO LOOK TO UNDERSTAND WHETHER THEY HAD ANY SIMILAR ISSUES AS THE ONES THAT WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING TODAY? NO, WE DIDN'T QUITE LOOK INTO, UM, I GUESS THEIR DISCUSSIONS OR ANY SORT OF NEWS ARTICLES OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT ABOUT, ABOUT THEIR PROGRAMS. WE SORT OF WERE LOOKING AT, UM, KIND OF HIGH LEVEL CHARACTERISTICS TO, TO JUDGE WHERE WE WERE AT AND THE LEVEL SET AGAINST WHAT, WHERE EVERYBODY ELSE WAS.

SO WE DON'T REALLY KNOW AT THIS STAGE WHETHER THEY'VE EXPERIENCED SIMILAR ISSUES WITH CONTRACT LANGUAGE OR THEY'VE EXPERIENCED SIMILAR ISSUES WITH SOME OF THE OTHER CONCERNS THAT WE'VE RAISED TODAY.

NO.

UM, NEXT QUESTION, UH, TO PIGGYBACK ON MAYOR PROM'S QUESTION AGAIN, IS IT POSSIBLE, UH, WITHOUT TOO MUCH ENERGY TO UPDATE YOUR FINDINGS TO ALIGN WITH APDS FINDINGS THAT ARE A YEAR'S WORTH VERSUS THREE, THREE QUARTERS WORTH? UM, I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE IF THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD DO EASILY, BUT, UM, IN TERMS OF LIKE ADDING ADDITIONAL THAT ADDITIONAL QUARTER OF INFORMATION, RIGHT.

UM, I'M NOT SURE IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, COULD WE DO THAT, COREY? I THINK IT'S ABOVE MY PAY GRADE.

I KNOW, I, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN LOOK AT DOING.

IT DOES REQUIRE US, OBVIOUSLY WE'RE NOT GONNA PUT IN AN AUDIT REPORT, UM, UNLESS WE DO, UM, THOROUGH ANALYSIS AND VERIFICATION OF THAT INFORMATION.

SO IT COULD TAKE A MINUTE, BUT IT IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING WE COULD ADD.

UM, I WOULD SAY MAYBE PRODUCE AS A SEPARATE, YOU KNOW, THIS REPORT'S ALREADY OUT THERE PRODUCE AS A SEPARATE DOCUMENT FOR YOU GUYS.

UH, I GUESS I'D BE CURIOUS TO UNDERSTAND HOW DIFFICULT THAT WOULD BE AND IF THAT'S THE COUNSEL'S DIRECTION, IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S IN THE CARDS.

AND, AND AS NEHA JUST POINTED OUT, I THINK, UM, WE DON'T KNOW THE TIMELINE OF WHEN, UM, A-P-D-A-P-D WILL COMPLETE THEIR MONITORING AND RISK MANAGEMENT WORK AROUND QUARTER FOUR.

SO, UM, WE'D HAVE TO TALK ABOUT WHAT THE TIMELINE WOULD BE ON THAT.

I THINK IT MIGHT BE VALUABLE TO GET SYNCED UP REPORTING BETWEEN YOU ALL AND A PD AT SOME POINT, IF THAT'S SOMETHING AGAIN, THAT COUNCIL SUPPORTS.

UM, NEXT QUESTION IS, WE TALKED ABOUT HOW, UH, THERE'S, UH, SOMETIMES A CHALLENGE AND, UH, ONE OF THE SOLUTIONS WAS IMPLEMENTING A WAY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE GONNA REVIEW THE SEARCH HISTORY FOR OFFICERS FOR ANY NON-COMPLIANCE.

ARE THERE CURRENTLY ANY CONSEQUENCES THAT EXIST? UH, AND IS THIS SOMETHING YOU'VE ALREADY FOUND INSTANCES OF THIS HAPPENING? SO IN, IN OUR CONVERSATION WITH A PD RISK MANAGEMENT, OUR UNDERSTANDING IS THAT IF THERE'S AN INSTANCE OF NON-COMPLIANCE, UH, OBSERVED THAT A PD RISK MANAGEMENT WILL REACH OUT TO THAT OFFICER OR THEN TO THAT, UH, OFFICER'S COMMANDING OFFICER, UM, TO GET THEM TO CORRECT IT ESSENTIALLY.

UM, BUT I'M NOT SURE IF THERE'S ANY FURTHER NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES FOR NON-COMPLIANCE.

[01:35:02]

SURE.

OBVIOUSLY, BEING A GENERAL ORDER WITHIN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, WE EXPECT OUR EMPLOYEES TO FOLLOW THOSE POLICIES AND, AND OBVIOUSLY WE LOOK AND EVALUATE, UH, THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING EACH CASE.

AND IN THE EVENT THAT WE FIND THAT SOMEONE, UH, INTENTIONALLY, UH, DID NOT FOLLOW THE POLICY, THEN OBVIOUSLY WE WILL HOLD, UH, FOLKS ACCOUNTABLE IF, IF IT IS APPLICABLE IN THOSE CASES.

UH, CAN YOU, WHILE YOU'RE UP THERE, CAN YOU ALSO SPEAK TO THE DEGREE, WE TALKED ABOUT THE BREAKDOWN BETWEEN, OF THE ARRESTS.

CAN YOU SPEAK TO, UM, WHETHER THEY'RE STOLEN VEHICLES OR EVADING ARREST OR AGGRAVATED ROBBERY, CAN YOU SPEAK TO THE EXTENT THAT THIS PARTICULAR TOOL WAS INSTRUMENTAL TO WHATEVER DEGREE IN SOLVING OR LEADING UP TO THE ARREST OR HELPING WITH THE PROSECUTION? SIR, I'LL BE COMPLETELY HONEST WITH YOU IN SAYING THAT'S, IT'S DIFFICULT TO ASSESS WITH ACCURACY TO WHAT DEGREE A LPR UM, IMPACTED THE OUTCOME, BUT I CAN TELL YOU IS IN SOME CASES, I'M PERSONALLY, I PERSONALLY HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF ONE PARTICULAR CASE THAT WAS A MURDER CASE THAT HAPPENED HERE IN THE CITY, UH, WHERE WE HAD ABSOLUTELY NO LEADS.

UH, THE CASE HAPPENED LATE, UH, LATE NIGHT, EARLY MORNING.

UH, WE HAD A DESCRIPTION OF A VEHICLE, UH, AND OUR PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO GO INTO THE A LPR SYSTEM AND THEY WERE ABLE TO DRILL DOWN ON, ON THAT PARTICULAR TYPE OF VEHICLE, UM, AND THEREBY GET A, OBTAIN A LICENSE PLATE.

AND WE WERE ABLE TO, UH, I GUESS BUILD, IF YOU WILL, UM, WITH DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, ELEMENTS OF THE INVESTIGATION, PROBABLE CAUSE TO BELIEVE THAT TWO INDIVIDUALS WHO, WHO HAD ESSENTIALLY OR HAD THEREAFTER LEFT THE CITY, UH, LINKING THEM BACK TO THAT PARTICULAR MURDER AND, AND WE WERE ABLE TO ARREST, AND THEN THEY'RE BY CHARGE THESE TWO INDIVIDUALS WITH THAT MURDER.

SO THERE ARE CERTAINLY EXAMPLES AND CASES WHERE WE HAD NOTHING, AND HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR A LPR, UH, WE WOULDN'T LIKELY HAVE SOLVED THE CASE.

IT'S HARD TO SAY THAT WE WOULDN'T OUTRIGHT HAVE SOLVED IT.

RIGHT.

THERE ARE OTHER INVESTIGATIVE TOOLS THAT PROBABLY ARE LIKELY WOULD'VE BEEN LEVERAGED.

UH, THE QUESTION IS, IS HOW LONG WOULD IT HAVE TAKEN? THE QUESTION IS, IS WOULD THOSE SUSPECTS, UH, COMMITTED ADDITIONAL CRIMES INCLUDING MURDER? UH, AND OBVIOUSLY WE DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT.

UM, THERE ARE OTHER CASES WHERE THE POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS USED A LPR AS A BUILDING BLOCK, RIGHT? WE HAD A FOUNDATIONAL, UM, WE HAD FOUNDATION FOR PROBABLE CAUSE TO BELIEVE CRIME HAD BEEN COMMITTED.

THESE PARTICULAR FOLKS HAD HAD USED, UH, COMMITTED THE CRIME, AND WE WERE ABLE TO USE THE A LPR SYSTEM TO, TO BUILD A STRONGER CASE, THEREBY ENSURING THAT THE VICTIMS, UH, RECEIVED JUSTICE IN THOSE, IN THOSE CASES.

SO AGAIN, HARD TO, UH, HARD TO PINPOINT, BUT THOSE ARE TWO EXAMPLES THAT I WOULD HIGHLIGHT.

ABSOLUTELY ENGAGED OR WILL BE ENGAGED WITH THE VENDOR TO CLARIFY THOSE PARTICULAR POINTS TO ENSURE THAT, UH, WE, WE'VE PROVIDED, UH, COUNSEL THE, THE COMFORT THAT THEY MAY NEED TO, TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS PARTICULAR TECHNOLOGY.

IN TERMS OF THE DATA THAT WE'VE GOT BETWEEN THE PROSECUTIONS AND THE ARRESTS, UH, CAN YOU HELP ME UNDERSTAND IF THAT'S KIND OF A TYPICAL PERCENTAGE OF, UH, HOW MANY ARE CONVERTED TO PROSECUTIONS FROM THE ARRESTS? AGAIN, THAT'S A, THAT'S A DIFFICULT ONE TO, TO PINPOINT.

AND THE REASON BEING IS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, ONCE A CASE IS FILED AND CHARGED, IT LANDS WITH EITHER THE, THE TRAVIS COUNTY DA'S OFFICE IN MOST CASES, OR THE, OR THE COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE IN SOME CASES.

UH, IN EITHER CASE IT'S, IT'S UP TO THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE TO MAKE A DETERMINATION AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THAT CASE WILL ACTUALLY MOVE FORWARD TO, TO PROSECUTION OR WHETHER OR NOT IT WILL, IT WILL BE PLED OUT OR, OR OUTRIGHT DISMISSED.

UM, AND THAT'S NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION, OBVIOUSLY, WAVES AND COUNTY AND HAYES COUNTY AREAS, OBVIOUSLY, WHICH THE, THE CITY OF AUSTIN LIES IN AS WELL.

SO AGAIN, A NUMBER OF FACTORS OUTSIDE THE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S VISIBILITY.

UH, LAST QUESTION.

WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THE BOILERPLATE CHALLENGE WITH THE FLOCK TERMS. HAS THERE, HAS ANYONE RAISED ANY SIMILAR ISSUES WITH THE AXON TERMS REGARDING EITHER PUBLIC ID DATA OR, OR TERM CONTRACT LANGUAGE? NO, SIR.

AND I THINK THE REASON BEING IS BECAUSE AS I HIGHLIGHTED EARLIER IN MY PRESENTATION, UM, WE DON'T, EXXON DOESN'T GRAB OUR DATA LIKE FLOCK DOES.

WE, WE CAN OPT INTO ALLOWING THEM TO DO SO, BUT WE'VE NOT OPTED IN AND, AND THEY DON'T, THEY DON'T HAVE IT.

SO, NO, SIR.

AND ARE THERE OTHER VENDORS OUTTA CURIOSITY, UH, BESIDES FLOCK THAT MIGHT BE MORE SIMILAR TO AXON THAT MIGHT BE A BETTER FIT FOR SOME OF THE CONCERNS THAT HAVE BEEN RAISED? UH, SIR, THERE ABSOLUTELY LIKELY IS OTHER VENDORS, I, I CAN'T SPEAK TO WHETHER OR NOT THEY ALIGN MORE CLOSELY WITH, WITH FLOCK AND OR AXONS TERMS. UH, WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IS CONSTANTLY LOOKING ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE EVALUATING TECHNOLOGY TERMS AND CONDITIONS, OBVIOUSLY, UH, CONNECTED TO THAT TECHNOLOGY TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE GETTING, UH, THE ABSOLUTE BEST TECHNOLOGY AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS POSSIBLE.

AND OBVIOUSLY, I THINK IT NEEDS TO BE STATED THAT THE, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IS, IS ABSOLUTELY, UM, UNDERSTANDING, RECOGNIZING THE CONCERNS BY COUNSEL, UH, PRO TIM, UH, FUENTES AS WELL AS YOURSELF WITH RESPECT TO THAT LANGUAGE.

AND, AND WE'RE

[01:40:01]

I APPRECIATE THAT.

THANKS FOR YOUR WORK ON THIS.

COUNCIL MEMBER SIEGEL.

COUNCILMAN DUC.

THANK YOU MAYOR AND THANK YOU COMMITTEE FOR ALLOWING ME TO ATTEND HERE.

UM, GLAD YOU'RE HERE.

APPRECIATE YOU.

UH, CHIEF, ACTUALLY, UH, YOU COULD HAVE A SEAT.

I'M GONNA, UH, ASK MY QUESTIONS TO THE AUDITOR, PLEASE.

AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS REPORT.

UM, I JUST WANTED TO, I GUESS, CLARIFY A FEW THINGS FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW, UM, GIVEN SECTION 4.4 OF THE CONTRACT TERM AND CONDITIONS WHERE IT SAYS THEY CAN USE THIS DATA FOR THEIR OTHER FLOCK OFFERINGS, RIGHT.

UH, THAT BASICALLY MEANS THAT THEY CAN FLOCK, CAN USE THIS DATA FOR ANY PURPOSE RELATED TO THEIR COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE.

IS THAT YOUR UNDERSTANDING? UH, THAT WOULD APPEAR TO BE, YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S CONSISTENT WITH OUR UNDERSTANDING AND FLOCK IS NOT BOUND BY OUR DELETION POLICY, IS THAT RIGHT? UM, SO IN TERMS OF DATA SHARING, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR RESOLUTION IS SUPERSEDED BY STATE AND FEDERAL LAW.

UM, SO YOU KNOW, ANY DATA THAT THEY MAY HAVE, EVEN IF IT'S ANONYMIZED, DEPENDING ON THE DEFINITION OF ANONYMIZED, THAT MIGHT STILL BE RECOVERABLE, UM, BY ANOTHER ENTITY.

AND ARE YOU AWARE THAT THEIR OWN CORPORATE POLICIES, THEY RETAIN DATA FOR AT LEAST 30 DAYS? UH, NO, WE DIDN'T.

I DIDN'T KNOW THAT.

YEAH, IT'S ON THEIR, THEIR WEBSITE.

UM, ARE YOU AWARE OF FLOCK'S POSITION ON WHAT ACTUALLY CONSTITUTES, UH, ANONYMIZED INFORMATION THAT, UM, THEY DON'T BELIEVE THAT THE DATA THEY'RE COLLECTING FOR US IS PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION? WE'VE DEFINITELY HAD HEARD LOTS OF DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS OF WHAT PERSONALLY IDENTIFI IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION IS.

UM, AND THAT'S PART OF WHY WE MADE THIS OBSERVATION IS THAT WE WANT, WE DON'T WANT THIS, LIKE THE FACT THAT THIS EVEN IS LIKE A CONFUSING QUESTION, WE FEEL LIKE IT SHOULD BE SOMETHING THAT IS PERHAPS IS VERY CLEAR, UM, BECAUSE RIGHT NOW THERE IS A LOT OF AMBIGUITY THAT, THAT COULD BE RESOLVED.

MY STAFF PULLED, UM, THEIR PRIVACY POLICY ON THEIR WEBSITE AND THEY BASICALLY SAY, AND THERE'S A, A LAW ENFORCEMENT IDEA OF PUBLIC VIEW OR PLAIN VIEW.

AND SO THEIR POSITION IS THAT BECAUSE ALL OF THIS INFORMATION IS GATHERED IN PUBLIC, THAT NONE OF IT IS PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE, IDENTIFIABLE, VIABLE INFORMATION.

WE, WE, WE'VE HEARD THAT PERSPECTIVE A COUPLE OF TIMES.

I THINK IT'S MAYBE SOMETHING LIKE OPEN WINDOW DOCTRINE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

LIKE, LIKE IT'S OUT IN PUBLIC AND YOU CAN SEE IT.

UM, BUT YOU KNOW, THERE WOULD BE A SITUATION WHERE IF THERE IS AN ENTITY THAT'S LOOKING FOR SOMEONE AND HAS THEIR LICENSE PLATE, THEY THEN COULD FIND THAT PERSON BASED ON THEIR LICENSE PLATE.

SO MAYBE IT'S NOT TECHNICALLY PII UNDER SOME DEFINITIONS, BUT IT COULD BE USED AS SUCH.

BUT IN TERMS OF OUR CONTRACT WITH FLOCK, IF THEY DON'T CONSIDER IT TO BE PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION, NOTHING IN OUR CONTRACT BINDS THEIR USE OF THE INFORMATION.

NO.

AND YOU'RE AWARE THAT FLOCK CAN SELL THIS DATA TO ANYONE? UM, SO I THINK THAT THERE'S SOMETHING IN THEIR CONTRACT THAT SAYS THAT THEY, THAT THEY'RE SPECIFICALLY NOT ALLOWED TO SELL IT.

I THINK THAT THAT IS, IS POINTED OUT IN OUR CONTRACT WITH THEM.

NO, BUT, UH, 4.4 WHICH WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS THEY CAN USE THIS FOR NON-EXCLUSIVE WORLDWIDE PERPETUAL ROYALTY FREE.

RIGHT.

AND LICENSE TO USE FOR OTHER FLOCK OFFERINGS.

I I THINK THAT THAT HAS TO DO WITH THEIR OWN LIKE DEVELOPMENT OF OTHER SERVICES AND PRODUCTS, MAYBE NOT GIVING IT TO OTHER PEOPLE.

UH, THERE'S ANOTHER PART OF THE CONTRACT WHERE I'M, I'M 99% SURE THAT THEY SAY THAT THEY CAN'T SELL IT.

UM, BUT AGAIN, THE WAY IT'S WRITTEN IS RATHER VAGUE.

SO IT'S KIND OF, AGAIN, THE FACT THAT THIS IS A QUESTION IS MAYBE SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE IRONED OUT TO BE VERY CLEAR.

ARE YOU AWARE THAT FLOCK KIND OF ADVERTISES ITSELF IS USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO, UH, BASICALLY TRACK REQUESTS AGAINST THIS DATABASE? YES.

SO THIS KIND OF DATA WOULD THEORETICALLY BE, BE A PART OF THEIR MACHINE LEARNING PROGRAM? IT DEFINITELY COULD BE.

WELL, ON, UH, MARCH 25TH, 2025,

UM, I GUESS I WANNA, YOU KNOW, SWITCH GEARS A LITTLE BIT.

UM, ARE YOU AWARE OF THE APDS INTERNAL AUDIT OF ITS A LPR PROGRAM? YES.

AND ARE YOU AWARE THAT THAT AUDIT FOUND THAT IN Q3 THERE WERE ZERO DATA SHARING REQUESTS? YES.

AND THAT, IN, IN YOUR AUDIT, YOU IDENTIFIED THREE REQUESTS THAT CAME IN? YEAH, THAT, THAT, SO THAT WAS ONE, UM, THERE WERE A FEW DIFFERENT INSTANCES WHERE APDS INITIAL PASS AT THE AUDIT, UM, WOULD HAVE A DISCREPANCY LIKE THAT.

LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, IN QUARTER TWO, I THINK THEY INITIALLY SAID THAT THERE WERE FOUR ENTERED LICENSE PLATES, AND WE LOOKED AT AND WE SAID, OH, THERE WERE FIVE AND A PD LATER CORRECTED IT.

UM, AND LIKE WE MENTIONED IN OUR PRESENTATION SPECIFICALLY FOR THOSE DATA SHARING REQUESTS, UM, THAT'S BECAUSE THE PAPERWORK FOR THOSE REQUESTS HAD NOT BEEN SUBMITTED ON TIME.

SO WHEREAS THOSE REQUESTS HAPPENED, LIKE IN SEPTEMBER, THE PAPERWORK WASN'T OFFICIALLY SUBMITTED AND IT WASN'T, UH, A PD RISK MANAGEMENT WASN'T AWARE OF IT UNTIL, UH, I THINK MID-MARCH.

MID-MARCH, HUH.

ALRIGHT.

[01:45:01]

UH, FORMER ASSISTANT CHIEF GREENWALT TOLD MY OFFICE THAT THERE HAD BEEN ZERO REQUESTS IN 2024.

SO DO YOU KNOW WHEN THEY LEARNED OF THESE REQUESTS? I, I THINK, I THINK IT WAS RIGHT AFTER THAT MEETING.

UM, I THINK THERE, I THINK THERE WERE DISCUSSIONS RIGHT AFTER THAT AND MAYBE A PD HAS MORE SPECIFIC INSIGHT ON HOW THAT HAPPENED, BUT, BUT WE, WE WERE MADE AWARE SHORTLY AFTER THAT MEETING.

UH, I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS FOR THE LAW DEPARTMENT IF THAT'S OKAY.

CHRIS OLA.

MR. OLA, THANK YOU FOR COMING.

UH, I DON'T KNOW IF, DO YOU HAVE THE CONTRACT WITH FLOCK HANDY? I HAVE A COUPLE SECTION REFERENCES HERE.

I I DO HAVE IT IN FRONT OF ME.

UH, THANK YOU.

UH, SECTION 10.4 SAYS THAT THE AGENCY, WHICH WOULD BE THE CITY OF AUSTIN, DOES NOT HAVE ANY AUTHORITY OF ANY KIND TO BIND, FLOCK IN ANY RESPECT WHATSOEVER.

I, I THINK WHAT THAT'S, THAT'S A, UM, INDICATING THAT THERE'S NO JOINT VENTURE, NO PARTNERSHIP, WE DON'T HAVE AUTHORITY TO BIND THE, WE, WE CAN'T ACT ON THEIR BEHALF IS HOW I INTERPRET THAT SECTION.

HMM.

UM, IS IT YOUR UNDERSTANDING THAT FLOCK IS NOT REQUIRED TO DELETE INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR INTERNAL POLICY? WELL, I, SO, YOU KNOW, WE, ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THE AMBIGUITY BETWEEN 4.2 AND 4.4? IS THAT, IS THAT THE PART OF YOUR QUESTION? IS THERE ANYTHING IN THIS CONTRACT THAT WOULD REQUIRE FLOCK TO, UM, DELETE OR NOT RETAIN INFORMATION AFTER SEVEN DAYS? WELL, NO, I, I GUESS I DO UNDERSTAND THAT THE, THE ONLY THING THAT CAN BE KEPT AFTER THE SEVEN DAYS IS WHAT THEY CALL THE AGGREGATED DATA.

AND IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT FLOCK REMOVES, UM, LOCATION DATA AND OTHER INFORMATION TO AGGREGATE IT.

SO THE SEVEN, THE NON AGGREGATED DATA NEEDS TO BE DELETED WITHIN SEVEN DAYS.

I THINK THAT'S, UH, WHAT'S OUTLINED IN 4.2.

AND, UM, WERE YOU AWARE OF THIS POINT I BROUGHT UP EARLIER ABOUT, UH, FLOCK'S VIEW ON WHAT CONSTITUTES PII, UH, I WASN'T SPECIFICALLY AWARE OF WHAT FLOCK'S VIEW IS? NO.

UM, DO YOU THINK THAT OUR PRIVACY POLICY DOES ANYTHING IF, IF FLOCK THINKS ALL THIS DATA IS PUBLIC ANYWAY? I THINK, I THINK FLOCK IS BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT.

SO IF THEY, IF THEY HAVE A POLICY THAT CONFLICTS WITH THIS AGREEMENT, I, I THINK FLOCK NEEDS TO FOLLOW THIS CONTRACT WITH RESPECT TO, UM, AUSTIN DATA.

UM, IS THERE A DEFINITION OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION THERE? THERE IS NOT.

AND THAT IS CERTAINLY A, A WEAKNESS IN THIS, IN THIS AGREEMENT.

SO WE COULDN'T NECESSARILY ENFORCE AGAINST FLOCK IF THEY SAID THIS IS ALL PLAIN VIEW PUBLIC VIEW STUFF.

I MEAN, I, I THINK THAT WOULD CREATE A CHALLENGE.

YOU KNOW, THE, THE AGREEMENT IS CANCELABLE, SO, YOU KNOW, IF WE FOUND THAT FLOCK WAS USING OUR DATA IN A WAY THAT WAS, UH, INAPPROPRIATE OR NOT CONSISTENT WITH OUR POLICY, I CERTAINLY THINK THAT CANCELLATION WOULD BE AN OPTION.

THANK YOU, MR. GOLA.

AND ARE YOU AWARE OF SECTION 6.6, WHICH IS THE SURVIVAL PROVISION, WHICH STATES THAT, UM, ITS RIGHTS UNDER SECTION FOUR SURVIVE THE CANCELLATION OF THE AGREEMENT? I, WELL, LEMME LOOK AT THAT.

6.4 YOU SAID, I'M SORRY, 6.6 IS THE SURVIVAL PROVISION.

UM, I DO SEE THAT, UH, SECTION FOUR IS INCLUDED IN THE SURVIVAL PROVISION.

SO IF, IF WE HAVE DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS OF PII AND A COURT AGREES WITH FLOCK, THEN THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT.

WELL, I, I, AND I THINK, I THINK WHAT YOU SAID EARLIER AS WELL IS THAT EVEN THE AGGREGATED DATA, THEY AGREE THEY WOULD ONLY KEEP FOR 30 DAYS, BUT I MEAN, POTENTIALLY THAT DATA WOULD STILL BE OUT THERE AND THEY'VE, UH, THEY'VE TAUGHT THEIR MACHINES TO, TO USE IT ANYWAY.

WELL, AND I, WELL ANYWAY, I, I GUESS I DON'T, I'M NOT SURE WHAT THAT MEANS EXACTLY IN PRACTICE.

FAIR ENOUGH.

YEAH, THAT'S ALL.

MAYOR MEMBERS, UH, ANYTHING ELSE ON THIS ITEM? THANK YOU.

REGIONAL INTELLIGENCE CENTER IS THE DATA OR THE, THE INGESTION POINT FOR THOSE, THEY WERE BEING COLLECTED AND HELD, BUT THEY WEREN'T BEING SHARED WITH RISK MANAGEMENT.

THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE CHIEF, YOU JUST GOTTA TALK, SIR.

DO YOU JUST HAVE TO TALK? WELL, I GOT TWO POINTS I'D LIKE TO MAKE IF YOU WOULDN'T, IF YOU WOULD GIMME THE UH, SURE.

OPPORTUNITY, SIR.

SO, UH, TO MR. SIEGEL'S QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS RATHER, I WOULD JUST STATE THAT'S CONTRACT IS MORE RESTRICTIVE THAN THE GENERAL LANGUAGE FOUND ON, OF COURSE, FLOCK'S WEBSITE.

AND, AND I LIKE LEGAL BELIEVE THAT, UH, THEY'RE BOUND TO THE VERBIAGE OBVIOUSLY FOUND WITHIN THAT PARTICULAR CONTRACT.

UM, I WOULD ALSO STATE THAT THE OUTSIDE USER REQUESTS THAT CAME IN DURING THE AUDIT PERIOD, THE THREE IN PARTICULAR, UH, WERE BEING COLLECTED.

IN OTHER WORDS, THE AIC UH, THE AUSTIN

[01:50:01]

AND THAT WAS OBVIOUSLY A TRAINING ISSUE THAT WE'VE ADDRESSED AND, AND THEY'RE BEING PUSHED, UH, AT THIS POINT IN TIME.

ANYTHING ELSE MEMBERS? NO.

UM, WELL THANK YOU, UH, TO THE AUDIT STAFF.

THAT WE CAN TAKE CARE OF THAT BEFORE WE, WE GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION.

A PD AND, AND THANK YOU TO THE MEMBERS FOR THE THOROUGH DISCUSSION MEMBERS.

THAT'S GONNA TAKE US TO, UM, ITEMS SIX AND EIGHT, WHICH ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME TWO ITEMS, BUT, UH, BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF THE BRIEFING, WE WILL DO THAT IN AN EXECUTIVE SESSION.

AND, AND I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, BEFORE WE DO THAT, LET ME ASK IF, UH, ON ITEM NUMBER NINE SO

[Future Items]

SO WHEN WE FINISH OUR EXECUTIVE SESSION, WE'LL BE ABLE TO COME OUT, UH, AND, AND ADJOURN IF NEED BE.

IS THERE ANY, UH, ON ITEM NUMBER NINE, WHICH IS TO IDENTIFY ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED AT FUTURE MEETINGS, ANYTHING THAT ANYBODY WANTS TO, UH, PUSH FORWARD? YOU HAVE A A PRETTY COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE DOING AS WE GO ALONG, BUT I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THERE'S NOT SOMETHING THAT ANY OF YOU WANT IN ADDITION.