* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:04] ORDER. [CALL TO ORDER] UM, IT IS SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2025. IT IS 2 0 4. THIS MEETING, UM, UH, WE ARE MEETING AT CITY HALL, LOCATED AT 3 0 1 WEST SECOND STREET, AUSTIN, TEXAS, AND WE HAVE A QUORUM PRESENT. UM, PRESENT IS, UH, MAYOR WATSON, UH, VICE CHAIR LANE, AND MYSELF. UH, AND WE WILL NOW GO TO PUBLIC COMMUNICATION. WE DO NOT HAVE ANY SPEAKERS TODAY. PERFECT. UM, COLLEAGUES, ITEM TWO, FIVE AND SIX ARE RELATED, AND TWO OF THESE REQUIRE US TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION. FOR THIS REASON, I WILL BE, UH, CHANGING THE ORDER AS LONG AS THERE'S NO OBJECTIONS, STARTING WITH ITEMS 1, 3, 4, AND SEVEN, LEAVING ITEMS TWO, FIVE, AND SIX TO THE END. AND I WILL RETURN TO THE DAAS AFTER EXECUTIVE SESSION TO CLOSE OUT THE MEETING. IS THERE ANY OBJECTION? ALL RIGHTY. UH, THE FIRST ACTION WILL BE TO, TO [Approval of Minutes (Part 1 of 2)] APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE SPECIAL CALL PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING ON JUNE 2ND, 2025. I WILL ACCEPT A MOTION TO APPROVE THESE MINUTES, UH, MADE BY THE MAYOR, SECONDED BY VICE CHAIR LANE. UM, UH, WITHOUT OBJECTION, MEETING MINUTES ARE APPROVED. THE COMMITTEE WILL NOW [3. Briefing on the Austin FIRST pilot program for first response to high acuity calls using a multi-disciplinary team. [Dr. Mark Escott, Chief Medical Officer; Chief Rob Luckritz, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Service; Chief Lisa Davis, Austin Police Department; Dawn Handley, Integral Care]] TAKE UP ITEM THREE, A BRIEFING ON AUSTIN, ON AUSTIN FIRST PILOT PROGRAM FOR, UH, RESPONSE TO HIGH ACUITY CALLS USING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM. THANK Y'ALL FOR JOINING US. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. MADAM VICE CHAIR MAYOR WATSON. I'M DR. MARK S. SCOTT, SERVE AS THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, AND IT'S OUR PLEASURE TO PRESENT TO YOU OUR AUSTIN FIELD INTEGRATED RESPONSE SUPPORT TEAM, OUR AUSTIN FIRST, UH, TEAM, WHICH IS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE, UH, MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESPONSE TO HIGH ACUITY MENTAL HEALTH CRISES. BUT BEFORE I BEGIN, I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE OUR COLLABORATORS, OUR, UH, OUR TEAM, WHO'S BEEN WORKING HARD ON THIS, STARTING WITH CHIEF LUCAS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, DR. ESCOT. AND THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN AARON, COUNCIL MEMBER. UM, IT'S, IT'S AN HONOR AND A PLEASURE TO BE HERE, UM, AND TO, TO BE ABLE TO JOIN MY COLLEAGUES HERE PRESENTING TO YOU WHAT A AMAZING PROGRAM THAT, UH, EVERYONE HAS COME TOGETHER TO, TO BUILD. UM, YOU KNOW, JUST A FEW COMMENTS FROM MY PERSPECTIVE. AND, YOU KNOW, THIS PROGRAM, UM, IS REALLY THE, THE, THE PINNACLE OF A LOT OF WORK THAT'S COME TOGETHER FROM TRULY SOME AMAZING COLLEAGUES THAT ARE ALL SITTING BEHIND US HERE THAT ARE THE TRUE WORKHORSES BEHIND, UH, WHAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO PUT TOGETHER HERE. IT REALLY BUILDS OFF OF EXISTING PARTNERSHIPS. UM, ALL OF THESE ENTITIES HAVE WORKED TOGETHER IN SOME CAPACITY OR ANOTHER OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, UM, AND REALLY HAD SOME AMAZING SUCCESSES IN THE DIFFERENT WORK THAT WE'VE DONE. UM, IT, THIS PROGRAM FOCUSES ON THE STRENGTHS OF EACH OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS AND BRINGS THEM TOGETHER AND ALLOWS US TO REALLY, UH, USE THOSE STRENGTHS AND CAPITALIZE ON THOSE THINGS THAT MAKE EACH OF US VERY UNIQUE. UM, SINCE, UH, SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE PAST FEW YEARS IN THE DIRECTIVE THAT I HAVE HEARD IS REALLY FOCUSING IN ON THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH AND REALLY FIGURING OUT HOW WE CAN GET TO THE ROOT CAUSE OF SOME OF THE PROBLEMS THAT WE HAVE, UM, BOTH IN EMS AND OUR PUBLIC SAFETY PARTNERS HERE. UH, AND THIS REALLY IS THE LOGICAL NEXT STEP, UH, AND SO, AND I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE SEEING THIS PROGRAM MOVE FORWARD AND, UH, THE PARTNERSHIPS THAT WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO GROW, UM, OVER THE COMING MONTHS. UM, WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO DON HANLEY FROM INTEGRAL CARE. GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR WATSON. THANK YOU FOR HAVING COUNCIL MEMBERS. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. I'M THE CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER AND VICE PRESIDENT FOR INTEGRAL CARE. WE'RE THE LOCAL MENTAL HEALTH AUTHORITY HERE IN AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY. UM, AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR ONGOING FUNDING OF, OF OUR EXPANDED MOBILE CRISIS OUTREACH TEAM. IN MY MIND, THIS IS AN ITERATION OF THAT WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING TOGETHER, UM, WITH OUR FIRST RESPONDER PARTNERS WITH EMS AND A PD SINCE 2013. UM, AND IN THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT, WE'RE ABLE TO FOCUS ON A SPECIFIC POPULATION WHERE I THINK WE BRING ALL OF OUR EXPERTISE TOGETHER, UM, AROUND SOME HIGH INTENSITY, UH, CALLS, AND, UM, WE'LL TALK MORE IN DETAIL ABOUT THAT. BUT WE'RE JUST GRATEFUL TO BE AT THE TABLE. I'M HAPPY TO WORK ALONGSIDE MY, MY COLLEAGUES AND OUR EXPERTS IN THE FIELD, AND REALLY PUTTING MENTAL HEALTH, UH, FIRST WITH A CARE AND COMPASSION COMPASSIONATE RESPONSE. AND I WILL HAND IT OVER TO, UM, OUR CHIEF. THANK YOU, DAWN, COMMITTEE, CHAIR, MAYOR, COUNCIL MEMBER. UM, PLEASURE TO BE HERE. UH, LOOK FORWARD TO THIS PILOT. AS YOU KNOW, THE CITY'S ALWAYS LOOKING FOR HOLISTIC APPROACHES TO, UM, EITHER DEAL WITH MENTAL HEALTH, DEAL WITH THE, UM, UNHOUSED CRISIS, ALL OF THOSE THINGS. AND THIS IS IT. THIS IS A TEAM THAT, UM, I'M REALLY EXCITED TO SEE THE DATA AT THE END OF THIS PILOT AND SEE WHERE WE GO FROM HERE. IS THIS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE INTEGRATED? CAN WE MAKE IT BIGGER? CAN WE MAKE IT, UM, YOU KNOW, SUSTAINABLE WHERE WE'RE DOING GOOD WORK? AND I'LL TELL YOU, WE GOT A GREAT TEAM HERE. IT'S, IT'S FANTASTIC TO WORK WITH, UH, ALL OF THESE PEOPLE HERE. I FEEL VERY PROUD, AND AGAIN, TO THE WORKERS IN THE BACK, THANK ALL OF YOU. YOU GUYS HAVE DONE ALL THE HEAVY LIFTING, AND I APPRECIATE IT. SO I'M REALLY EXCITED ONCE THIS PILOT GETS STARTED. AND WE'RE BACK HERE IN FRONT OF YOU TALKING ABOUT OUR SUCCESSES AND MAYBE OUR LOSSES AND WHAT WE LEARNED. NOW, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO DR. ESCOTT. [00:05:01] THANK YOU, CHIEF. UH, AND I'M GONNA MOVE FORWARD WITH OUR SLIDES HERE TO INTRO OUR PROGRAM. SO, I THINK EVERYONE'S AWARE OF BOTH THE LOCAL AND NATIONAL CHALLENGES THAT HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCED IN DEALING WITH INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE EXPERIENCING A CRISIS. UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH, UH, LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE, BUT ALSO, UH, WITH EMS RESPONSE. AND OUR GOAL HERE IS TO DEVELOP A PLAN TO DEPLOY A TEAM TO MINIMIZE THE RISK OF THOSE ADVERSE EVENTS ACROSS OUR COMMUNITY. UH, IT'S ALSO NOT SURPRISING THAT LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, EMS AGENCIES, PHYSICIANS, PSYCHOLOGISTS, PSYCHIATRISTS AROUND THE COUNTRY, HAVE MADE STATEMENTS LIKE THIS, THAT OUR MENTAL HEALTH CRISES NEEDS TO BE FOCUSED ON PATIENT-CENTERED, PERSON-CENTERED RESPONSES, AND ENSURE THAT IT'S INDIVIDUALIZED, AND THAT WE, UH, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE THAT MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESPONSE TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE MEETING ALL THE, THE VARIOUS NEEDS. SO, FIRST, SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE, UH, WE, WE ALL KNOW THAT WHEN YOU CALL 9 1 1 IN THIS COMMUNITY AND MANY OTHER COMMUNITIES, NOW, UH, YOU HAVE CHOICES. SO THE INITIAL TRIAGE IS THE PERSON WHO'S MAKING THE CALL. THE QUESTION IS, DO YOU NEED POLICE, FIRE, EMS OR MENTAL HEALTH? AND THESE ARE THE VARIOUS OUTCOMES OR THE VARIOUS, UH, PATHS THAT INDIVIDUALS MAY TAKE THAT ULTIMATELY ARE EXPERIENCING MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS. SOME OF THOSE WILL, YOU KNOW, GO FOR THE, WITH THE, FOR FOURTH OPTION AND GO STRAIGHT TO THE MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIAN AT C3 MAY GO TO EMS, UH, BECAUSE THE COMPLAINT IS SOMETHING WHICH SOUNDS LIKE IT'S A MEDICAL IN NATURE, OR THE PERSON SAYS THAT THEY, UH, WANT EMS THAT MAY RESULT IN EMS RESPONDING ALONE, EMS PLUS FIRE, EMS PLUS FIRE PLUS POLICE, OR THROUGH OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH, UH, RESPONSES THROUGH OUR C FOUR PROGRAM. UH, AND SIMILARLY, CALLS MAY GO TO A PD AND THEN BE DETERMINED THAT, UH, THERE'S SOME MENTAL HEALTH COMPONENT EITHER PRIOR TO DISPATCHING OR AFTER OFFICERS ARRIVE. AND THEN, UH, OTHER COMPONENTS ARE ADDED. UH, SO THIS IS PART OF THE CHALLENGE THAT WE HAVE, AND PART OF OUR GOAL, PART OF THIS, THIS MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM, IS REGARDLESS OF HOW IT COMES IN, THERE'S A REPRESENTATIVE ON THIS TEAM, UH, FROM EACH OF THOSE PATHS. SO, AS YOU ALL RECALL, IN 2019, UH, THE CITY, UH, RECEIVED A REPORT FROM THE MEADOWS INSTITUTE, UH, REGARDING OUR RESPONSES TO MENTAL HEALTH CRISES. UH, THE GOAL OF THAT REPORT WAS TO ENSURE THAT WE HAVE RAPID RESPONSES, UH, AND IMPROVE BOTH THE SAFETY OF, OF OUR PATIENTS AND THE SAFETY OF THE COMMUNITY, UH, THROUGH ENHANCEMENTS IN THAT RESPONSE EFFORT. SO, SOME OF THE THINGS WHICH HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED SINCE THE MEADOWS REPORT, THE A PD CHIEF'S MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM, UH, AND RESPONSE ADVISORY FUNCTION, UH, MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING FOR OUR CALL TAKERS AND DISPATCHERS, UH, MENTAL HEALTH INTEGRATED DISPATCH, UH, SUSTAINABILITY OF MO. SO EXPANSION OF OTT, UH, COLLABORATION WITH THE A PD CRISIS INTERVENTION TEAM, AND OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDIC PROGRAM THROUGH A-T-C-E-M-S, AS WELL AS THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH, UH, IN COLLABORATION WITH NAMING AS A RESULT OF SOME OF THESE INTERVENTIONS, IN PARTICULAR, THE, UH, ADDITION OF, UH, CALL CENTER CLINICIANS OR C3, AND THIS DATA REPRESENTS, UH, JANUARY, 2019 THROUGH, UH, FEBRUARY OF 2025. UH, WE HAD A DECREASE IN EMERGENCY DETENTIONS, 44 TO 62% DECREASE IN ARRESTS, 37 TO 58% AN AVERAGE ON SCENE TIME OF OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS BY 51 TO 66%. SO, SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS, UH, SINCE THE, THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SOME OF THE ELEMENTS OF THE MEADOWS INSTITUTE REPORT. UH, ALSO, IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM, THAT THE TEAM THAT WE HAVE, THE TEAM THAT WE SEE UP HERE, IS ALREADY PART OF THE RESPONSE. SO, YOU KNOW, PART OF WHAT THEY DO, YOU KNOW, MY OFFICE, MY TEAM, UH, DOES THE CLINICAL GUIDELINES AND CREDENTIALING AND PROVIDES THE OVERSIGHT OVER THE CLINICAL SERVICE, AS WELL AS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT. UH, EMS HAS THE COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDICS LONG-TERM CASE MANAGEMENT, OUR CHIP RESPONDERS, WHICH IS OUR MENTAL HEALTH, UH, COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDICS, UH, AND OUR C FOUR PROGRAM, WHICH TRIAGES THOSE LOWER ACUITY CALLS. INTEGRAL CARE OBVIOUSLY HAS THE OTT PROGRAM, THE C3 PROGRAMS OR DISPATCH, UH, THE 9 8 8 CRISIS, UH, HELPLINE, AS WELL AS THE CO RESPONSE WITH, UH, WITH A PD, UH, AND NOW A PD. ALL OFFICERS, UH, RECEIVE 56 HOURS OF MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING AND DEESCALATION. THEY ALSO RUN THE CRISIS INTERVENTION TEAM AND THE CARES TEAM. SO, HERE'S, UH, SOME OF THE DATA THAT, UH, HAS BEEN COLLECTED BETWEEN 2022 AND 2024. THIS IS AFTER THE MEADOWS INSTITUTE REPORT. [00:10:01] SO DURING THAT TIME PERIOD, UH, A PD, WHICH, WHICH STAFFS THE, THE PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINT, UH, WHICH IS WHERE ALL THE CALLS COME INTO 9 1 1, UH, PROCESS, 867,430 CALLS. OF THOSE, 11% OF THOSE WERE IDENTIFIED AS MENTAL HEALTH RELATED. SO THIS MAY BE MENTAL HEALTH RELATED BECAUSE THE PERSON SAID IT WAS MENTAL HEALTH RELATED. THE CALL TAKER, UH, IDENTIFIED A MENTAL HEALTH, UH, INCIDENT, OR IT ENDED UP BEING A MENTAL HEALTH INCIDENT AT SOME TIME DURING THE CALL, UH, OF THAT 97,171 CALLS, 15,310 OR 16% WENT DIRECTLY TO INTEGRAL CARE, UH, AND THAT C3 PROGRAM OF THOSE THAT, UH, WERE RECEIVED, UH, 86% WERE RESOLVED WITHOUT POLICE INVOLVEMENT AT ALL. UM, 7,039 OF THOSE WERE OTT WERE DEPLOYED. UH, 85% OF THOSE RESPONSES RESOLVED WITHOUT AN ARREST OR A TRANSPORT TO THE ER. SO IT WAS SUCCESSFUL DIVERSION AWAY FROM, FROM THOSE TWO PLACES. A-A-T-C-M-S HANDLED AT LEAST 19,000 OF THOSE CALLS. UM, THERE MAY BE, THERE ARE LIKELY ADDITIONAL CALLS, UM, AND OF THE ONES THAT WENT TO A PD 11,226 RESULTED IN A-P-O-E-D OR A, A PEACE OFFICER EMERGENCY DETENTION. SO, ULTIMATELY, WHY ARE WE DOING THIS PILOT? WELL, THE, OUR RESPONSES TO LOW AND MODERATE ACUITY, UH, INDIVIDUALS IN CRISIS HAS WORKED QUITE WELL IN TERMS OF THE SUCCESSFUL DIVERSION, UH, THE, UH, AVOIDING OF THE ER TRANSPORTS, AVOIDING OF ARRESTS. BUT WHERE THIS TEAM IDENTIFIED THE GAP IS OUR HIGH ACUITY INCIDENTS. SO THESE ARE INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE A SEVERE, UH, OR EXPERIENCING A SEVERE CRISIS. UH, THERE MAY BE A HIGH RISK OF HARM AND, YOU KNOW, SOME SORT OF IMMINENT DANGER. NOW, I'LL BE CLEAR THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS TEAM, THIS THREE PERSON TEAM IS NOT GOING TO GO IN WHEN THERE'S A GUN. THEY MAY PLAY A ROLE IN THAT SCENE, BUT WE'LL HAVE OTHER PRIMARY RESPONSE. BUT THESE ARE, UH, THIS TEAM IS DESIGNED TO RESPOND TO THOSE WHERE THERE IS, UH, CONCERN FOR VIOLENCE, OR THERE'S ACTIVE AGITATION, UH, THAT INDICATES A SIGNIFICANT RISK FOR HARM OR, OR ESCALATION. SO WE BROUGHT TOGETHER THIS MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM AND ALL THESE PEOPLE BEHIND US, UH, TO IDENTIFY, UH, DATA SOURCES, TO PROCESS THE DATA, ANALYZE THE DATA, AND COME UP WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HOW WE SHOULD PROCEED TO ADDRESS THIS GAP. SO THAT TEAM HAS RECOMMENDED THAT WE HAVE A MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM THAT INVOLVES A PARAMEDIC, A A, UH, MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIAN FROM INTEGRAL CARE, AND AN OFFICER FROM A PD, THAT ALL THREE OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS RESPOND TOGETHER IN A SINGLE VEHICLE. UH, THEY RECOMMENDED PILOT DATES, UH, AND TIMES AS WELL AS LOCATION, UH, THAT WE CONDUCT CONTINUOUS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AS WE, UH, UH, HISTORICALLY DO IN OUR EMS SYSTEM. AND THAT THE RESPONSES ARE BOTH IDENTIFIED BY THE CALL TAKER THROUGH DISPATCH, EITHER A PD OR EMS OR THE TEAM THEMSELVES IDENTIFY CALLS TO EITHER BE ADDED ON, OR WHEN THEY ENCOUNTER INDIVIDUALS WHO MEET THE, UH, DESCRIPTIONS OF HIGH ACUITY, THEY CAN SELF-INITIATE CALLS. SO, AFTER PROCESSING THE DATA, IT WAS CLEAR THAT OUR, OUR CLUSTER OF HIGH ACUITY INCIDENTS WAS LOCATED IN THE GEORGE SECTOR, THE DOWNTOWN SECTOR, UH, WHICH IS BOUNDED BY MOPAC LADY BIRD LAKE, I 35, WE TO THE WEST, OR SORRY, I 35 WEST, MLK, AND INFIELD ROAD. UH, HERE'S A MAP OF THAT. UH, SO IT'S, IT'S THE DOWNTOWN AREA. UM, SO OUR PLAN, OUR PLAN IS TO LAUNCH THIS TEAM IN MID-OCTOBER. UH, IT'LL BE ONE UNIT MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, AND THE INITIAL HOURS OF 8:00 AM TO 6:00 PM. NOW, THESE MAY SEEM LIKE UNUSUAL DAYS AND TIMES, BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT THE INTEGRAL CARE DATA, AS WELL AS THE A PD DATA, THESE ARE WHERE THE HIGHEST NUMBERS ARE IN TERMS OF, UH, UH, PEDS, AS WELL AS CALLS FOR MENTAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES. UH, WE WILL DO THIS AT, IN A SIX MONTH DURATION FOR THE PILOT PHASE, WE WILL PROCESS THE DATA AND PRESENT THE RESULTS TO, UH, TO COUNCIL, UH, AND TO CITY MANAGEMENT. SO THIS TEAM HAS IDENTIFIED CORE VALUES OF SAFETY, COLLABORATION, DIGNITY, COMPASSION. AGAIN, WE, THIS IS PATIENT OR INDIVIDUAL FOCUSED, AND A HOLISTIC APPROACH. BY BRINGING TOGETHER THIS MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM, THE IMPACTS, UH, OR TO ENHANCE ARE BUILT ON THIS COLLABORATIVE, UH, APPROACH THAT WE'VE HAD, UH, TO HAVE AN IN THIS INTEGRATED MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM, UH, WHICH SHOULD HELP US TO INCREASE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR DEESCALATION [00:15:01] BY ADDING, UH, THE COMPONENT OF OUR MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIAN AS WELL AS PARAMEDIC ALL RESPONDING TOGETHER. UH, WE ALSO INTEND TO OPTIMIZE THE CARE PATHWAYS. SO PART OF THE BEAUTY OF OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH INTEGRAL CARE IS IT ALLOWS US FOR ROBUST ABILITY TO DO THE FOLLOW UP TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE TRACKING INDIVIDUALS THAT WE ENCOUNTER, AND THAT WE'RE, UH, INTERVENING AND PREVENTING THE REVOLVING DOOR THAT WE'VE SEEN, UH, YEAR AFTER YEAR IN TERMS OF MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS. UH, WE ALSO WANT TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE EFFICIENTLY UTILIZING RESOURCES, IMPROVING PUBLIC TRUST, AND AGAIN, DECREASING ADVERSE OUTCOMES, UH, OF THESE INTERACTIONS. SO OUR GOALS, AGAIN, MINIMIZE THE USE OF FORCE, ENSURE, UH, PATIENT SAFETY, REDUCING THOSE REPEAT CALLS, UH, IMPROVING THE CARE LINKAGES ACROSS THE CONTINUUM OF CARE, UM, AND ENSURE THAT WE'RE PROVIDING THAT WHOLE PERSON CARE. SO THE WRAPAROUND SERVICES THAT WE KNOW ARE IMPORTANT FACTORS, UH, IN THESE CRISES. OUR ROADMAP, AGAIN, UH, WE'VE CREATED THIS TEAM. WE HAVE INITIATED THE TRAINING PROCESS. WE'VE GOT SOME ADDITIONAL TRAINING COMING UP, UH, IN OCTOBER. WE WILL LAUNCH THE PILOT IN THE GEORGE SECTOR. WE'LL EVALUATE THE DATA AS IT COMES IN, AND THEN WE'LL RECOMMEND A REPORT BACK TO COUNCIL REGARDING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE, UH, EXPANSION. SO, SOME INFORMATION BRIEFLY ON THE TRAINING THAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR. UH, SO FIRST OFF, OUR PILOT TEAM, UH, OUR INDIVIDUALS FROM A-P-D-A-T-C-M-S, AS WELL AS INTEGRAL CARE, ARE EXPERTS. THESE ARE EXPERIENCED INDIVIDUALS, UH, WHO HAVE BEEN RESPONDING IN, UH, AND WORKING IN THIS, UH, MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS SPACE. UH, WE HAD OUR INITIAL TRAINING ON SEPTEMBER THE FOURTH OF 2025, UH, SIX INDIVIDUALS FROM A PD. SO THIS REPRESENTS PEOPLE ASSIGNED TO THE TEAM AS WELL AS BACKUPS, UH, IN CASE THEY'RE UNABLE TO PARTICIPATE, UH, IN THE TEAM AT ANY STAGE. THEY'RE ON VACATION OR, UH, OUT SICK OR SOMETHING. UH, FIVE FROM A-T-C-M-S TWO FROM INTEGRAL CARE, AS WELL AS, UH, A NUMBER OF SUPERVISORS FROM EACH OF THE ENTITIES INVOLVED. SO, SOME OF THE TOPICS THAT WERE COVERED, UH, LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS, WE, UH, TALKED ABOUT, UH, CAPACITY AND CONSENT FOR TREATMENT. UH, WE TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE UPDATES, UH, FROM THE LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION ASSOCIATED WITH THE PEACE OFFICERS EMERGENCY DETENTION. UH, WE REVIEWED A-T-C-M-S AND A PD POLICIES IN THIS SPACE. UH, COVERED DEESCALATION, TRAUMA INFORMED CARE SCENE SAFETY, UH, INFORMATION ABOUT SEDATION, UH, IF THAT'S NECESSARY. AND THEN THIS TEAM WENT THROUGH A SERIES OF SCENARIOS OF, OF DIFFERENT, UH, CIRCUMSTANCES THAT THEY MAY ENCOUNTER, UH, AND THEN HELD DEBRIEFING SESSION. SOME OF THE PRESENTERS, UH, MY STAFF, MY PHYSICIANS, AND MYSELF, UH, A PD OFFICERS FROM, UH, NEGOTIATIONS, UH, HOSTAGE NEGOTIATIONS AND CRISIS INTERVENTION TEAM, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE INTEGRAL CARES, UH, TRAINERS AND CLINICIANS. UH, ADDITIONAL TRAINING OCTOBER 2ND AND 16TH. THESE WILL COVER SOPS, DISPATCH, PROCEDURES, AND AUTO DISPATCH, UH, SOME DECISION MAKING, HOW ERRORS HAPPEN, AND HOW TO PREVENT ERRORS IN DECISION MAKING, AS WELL AS SOME ADDITIONAL SCENARIOS AND CASE REVIEWS. WE WILL HAVE AN ONGOING TRAINING PLAN, UH, WHICH INCLUDE CASE REVIEWS OF, OF, UH, CASES THAT THIS TEAM IS RESPONDING TO, UH, SOME ADDITIONAL SCENARIO BASED TRAINING, UH, QUALITY IMPROVEMENT BASED TRAINING, AS WELL AS, UH, WELLNESS AND DEBRIEFING, COLLABORATIVE COMMUNICATION AND TRAUMA INFORMED CARE. IN ADDITION TO THE RESPONSE TEAM ITSELF, UH, OUR A PD AND EMS TEAMS ARE, UH, WORKING ON REFINING THE, UH, THE CALL TAKING AND TRIAGE PROCESSES. UH, THEY'RE WORKING ON HOW TO TAG THESE CALLS THAT INDIVIDUALS ARE RESPONDING TO SO THAT WE CAN BETTER, UH, TRY TO IDENTIFY THOSE MENTAL HEALTH RELATED CALLS EARLY ON, UH, IN THE FUTURE. SO THESE COMMUNICATION WORK PERSONNEL WILL OBVIOUSLY BE TRAINED ON, UH, THOSE, THOSE NEW PROCEDURES, UH, WHEN IT IS COMPLETE. SOME THINGS THAT WE'RE TRACKING, UH, OUR RESPONSE TIMES, OUR SEEN TIMES, THE STAFFING REQUIREMENTS, UH, REPEAT INTERACTIONS. SO IF WE, UH, UH, HAVE FREQUENT UTILIZERS, UH, OBVIOUSLY WANNA TRACK THOSE AND IDENTIFY HOW BETTER TO INTERVENE TO PREVENT THAT, THAT, UH, REPEAT INTERACTION, UH, TRACKING DISPOSITIONS AND OUTCOMES, UH, INJURIES TO PERSONNEL, ANY ADVERSE EVENTS, AS WELL AS DIVERSIONS FROM ARREST OR JAIL, EMERGENCY DETENTION AND EMERGENCY ROOM VISITS. UH, IN ADDITION TO THOSE THINGS, WE HAVE, UH, UH, ASSEMBLED A COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP, WHICH WILL CONSIST OF, UH, DOWNTOWN AUSTIN COMMUNITY COURT, DOWNTOWN AUSTIN ALLIANCE, THE HOMELESS STRATEGY OFFICE, THE SOBERING CENTER, AND INDIVIDUALS WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE. UH, THIS, THIS GROUP WILL ADVISE US ON STRATEGIC PLANNING, IDENTIFY ANY BLIND SPOTS IN OUR, UH, OUR RESPONSE PLAN, UH, ENSURE THAT WE [00:20:01] MAINTAIN THAT CONNECTION WITH THE COMMUNITY, THAT WE MAINTAIN TRANSPARENCY, AND ULTIMATELY THAT WE HAVE FEEDBACK, POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE. OUR NEXT STEPS OF THIS PROJECT IS TO EVALUATE THIS PILOT PHASE, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'LL CONTINUE TO RECEIVE THAT, THAT FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP, UH, AND THEN DISCUSS SCALING. THAT SCALING MAY BE SCALING INTO DIFFERENT SECTORS. IT MAY BE SCALING INTO, UH, ADDITIONAL HOURS OF THE DAY OR ADDITIONAL DAYS OF THE WEEK, BUT THAT'S GONNA BE BASED ON THE DATA, UH, ANALYTICS, UH, SO THAT WE CAN ENSURE THAT WE'RE SCALING APPROPRIATELY. AND AGAIN, ONGOING OUTCOME IMPROVEMENT, UH, SORRY, ONGOING QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AND TRAINING. WITH THAT, UH, I'LL PASS IT TO OVER TO YOU, UH, MR. CHAIRMAN, UH, AGAIN, THIS IS AUSTIN FIRST, AND OUR, OUR GOAL IS TO TURN CRISIS INTO CARE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION. COLLEAGUES. WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? YEAH, I, I MIGHT, YEAH, LET, LET ME, I'M NOT SURE IT'S A QUESTION. IT'S MORE JUST A ASKING FOR A DESCRIPTION. THAT'S A, A GREAT PRESENTATION. AND, AND, AND I'M VERY PLEASED WITH THE MOVEMENT ON ALL THAT. HAVING SAID THAT, TELL ME HOW YOU SEE A TYPICAL DAY WORKING ON SOMETHING LIKE THIS. AND WHEN IT'S ALL SAID AND DONE, WHAT DO YOU THINK WE'RE GOING TO, WHAT'S THE DATA? WHAT'S THE OUTCOME WE EXPECT? LET ME ASK IT THAT WAY, INSTEAD OF STUTTERING AROUND IT. THANK YOU, BARRY. I'LL, I'LL GIVE YOU A RESPONSE AND, AND THEN ASK MY COLLEAGUES HERE IF, IF THEY HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD. THE TYPICAL DAY IS THIS TEAM COME TOGETHER, UH, CHECKING IN AND, AND GOING OUT ON THE STREETS, UH, TOGETHER, TOGETHER, THIS IS A THREE PERSON TEAM IN A SINGLE VEHICLE. THEY WILL HAVE ACCESS TO THE A PD, UH, COMPUTER SYSTEM, UH, AND TO THE EMS COMPUTER SYSTEM. UM, THEY MAY BE SENT ON A CALL. IF THEY'RE NOT SENT ON A CALL, THEY'RE GOING TO BE ACTIVELY REVIEWING BOTH THE A PD COMPUTER AIDED DISPATCH SYSTEM, AS WELL AS THE EMS TO IDENTIFY, IS THERE A CALL THAT MAY BENEFIT FROM US EITHER TAKING OVER AS THE PRIMARY OR AT LEAST, UH, PROVIDING MENTORSHIP AND DIRECTION TO, TO FOLKS THAT MAY HAVE LESS EXPERTISE IN THIS AREA. UH, IN ADDITION TO THAT, UH, THEY'RE GONNA BE DRIVING AROUND THIS SECTOR. UH, THEY'RE GONNA BE LOOKING FOR, UH, INDIVIDUALS WHO MAY BE EXPERIENCING A MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS THAT, YOU KNOW, MAY BE AGITATED SO THEY CAN INTERVENE, DEESCALATE THINGS BEFORE IT EVEN BECOMES A CALL ITSELF. OKAY. YES, PLEASE, CHIEF MAYOR. I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW, TOO, ONE OF THE THINGS AS PUBLIC SAFETY PARTNERS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IS THIS SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT ARE, ARE HIGH, UM, UTILIZERS. AND SO AS THEY'RE LOOKING AND, AND NOT JUST BEING DISPATCHED, BUT BEING PROACTIVE IN THE WORK AND IDENTIFYING AND, YOU KNOW, THREE PEOPLE FROM AROUND MAIN HEADQUARTERS COMES TO MY MIND. YEAH. UM, HOW CAN WE REACH OUT AND SEE WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE FOR THIS PERSON? NOT WAITING FOR A CALL TO COME IN, NOT WAITING FOR THEM TO BE LYING ON THE STREET. UM, HOW CAN WE DO THAT? AND I THINK THIS IS A GREAT TEAM WHERE WE CAN START LOOKING AT THOSE HIGH UTILIZERS. AGAIN, WE TALK ABOUT THAT 80 20 PRINCIPLE. IT IS A VERY SMALL NUMBER. AND SO I THINK THIS IS A GOOD GROUP THAT CAN START LOOKING AT THAT, AND WE CAN REALLY START MAKING SOME MOVEMENT ON SOME CARE FOR THESE PEOPLE. THAT'S GREAT. YES, CHIEF, I THINK ONE OF THE OTHER THINGS FOR US THAT WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT IS THAT THIS IS, THIS IS A PILOT. AND AS WE'VE SEEN IN SO MANY OTHER THINGS WE'VE DONE, I, I, I REFERENCED BACK TO WHAT WE DISCUSSED DURING BUDGET, SOME OF THE CHANGES WE MADE IN THE EMS DEPARTMENT, UM, LAST YEAR WITH HOW WE RESPOND WITH SINGLE UNITS, AND RECOGNIZED SOME SYNERGIES AND SOME CHANGES THAT WE WANTED TO DO, AND HOW WE IDENTIFIED THEM. AND I THINK THAT THIS PROJECT, OR THIS PROGRAM, THIS PILOT, UM, WILL HAVE A LOT OF THOSE THINGS. SAME THINGS HAPPEN, WHERE, UM, AS WE EVOLVE OVER THE COMING MONTHS, WE WILL CONTINUE TO REFINE THE INDIVIDUAL STRENGTHS OF THE DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS AND SEE WHERE THOSE TRUE SYNERGIES ARE. UM, AND IDENTIFYING WHAT, UH, HOW BEST TO UTILIZE THIS, THIS TEAM AND WHAT WE PROPOSE HERE TODAY MAY NOT BE THE FINAL OUTCOME THAT WE PROPOSE IN SIX MONTHS, RIGHT. UH, DEPENDING ON HOW IT IS THAT, UH, THAT THIS EVOLVES, IT'S, IT'S GONNA BE A LEARNING EXPERIENCE, BUT IT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE CONFIDENT IN WHAT THE OUTCOMES ARE GONNA BE. ALONG THOSE LINES. DO YOU WANNA SAY SOMETHING? YES. I WAS JUST GONNA ADD THAT ON ONE OF YOUR EARLIER SLIDES, I THINK IT WAS SLIDE SEVEN, IT REALLY SHOWS THE, UM, EXISTING OUTCOMES OF OUR, OF THE, OF THE C3 WORK BEING FULLY INTEGRATED WITH OUR FIRST RESPONDERS. UM, MORE THAN 50%, OR RIGHT ABOUT 50%. YEAH. YOU KNOW, THE DIVERSION. SO THAT'S KIND OF LOOKING ACROSS THE, THE KIND OF GLOBALLY, WHAT WE'RE SERVING NOW WITH THIS PARTICULAR TEAM, IT'S A LITTLE, IT'S MORE FOCUSED. SO WHAT WE WOULD HOPE TO SEE IS SIMILAR OUTCOMES WITH THIS GROUP THAT DOESN'T TYPICALLY, UM, RESPOND, RIGHT? SO IT'S A MORE INTENSE SERVICE. WE'RE HAVING THAT FOLLOW UP. WE HAVE THE EXPERTS THERE ON THE SCENE. SO IT'S NOT WAITING, IT'S NOT, WHERE'S THE FOLLOW UP? IT'S ALL IN REAL TIME KIND OF HAPPENING. UM, AND GETTING PEOPLE CONNECTED. HOPEFULLY WE'RE GONNA STILL CONTINUE TO REDUCE THOSE INPATIENT ADMISSIONS, BUT GET THEM INTO THAT OUTPATIENT ONGOING CARE, WHICH [00:25:01] IS WHAT'S GONNA HELP STABILIZE, AND THEN THROUGH OUR CHIP AND THROUGH THE EXISTING WRAP SERVICES THAT WE ALREADY HAVE KIND OF PULLING THOSE SERVICES IN. SO THIS IS KIND OF NOT THE GROUP THAT'S GONNA CARRY THEM FOR CARE, BUT IT'S THE GROUP THAT'S GONNA INTERVENE, STABILIZE, AND THEN MAKE THAT HANDOFF. THAT'S HELPFUL. AND, AND SO I WANNA FOLLOW UP AND, AND, 'CAUSE I THINK I HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING. I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE AS YOU'RE, AS YOU'RE GOING ALONG, YOU'RE ANTICIPATING ALREADY BECAUSE OF THE HISTORY THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH, AND, AND YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT WE HOPE THIS BRINGS US. SO YOU'RE ANTICIPATING CERTAIN TYPES OF OUTCOMES. UM, AND IS THAT PART OF THE ANALYSIS THAT YOU INDICATED, IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE GONNA DO IS ON A ROUTINE BASIS, SAY, LET'S TRY THIS, OR LET'S TRY THAT SO THAT WHEN THE TIME, WHEN WE GET THE SIX MONTHS DOWN THE ROAD, WE WILL HAVE ACTUALLY PILOTED, THIS IS A PILOT, BUT WE WILL HAVE PILOT PILOTED A NUMBER OF, OF, OF APPROACHES. YES, SIR. AND I, I SHOULD SAY, THERE IS NO ROADMAP FOR RIGHT. THIS PARTICULAR THING, BECAUSE IT'S NOT BEEN DONE BEFORE. THERE'S PLENTY OF, UH, JURISDICTIONS AROUND THE US THAT HAS CO RESPONSE, BUT THEY DON'T RESPOND TO THESE KIND OF INCIDENTS BECAUSE THEY'RE HIGH ACUITY. UH, SO PART OF WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE ARE GENERATING AN INITIAL PLAN, AND PART OF THE REASON FOR THE A HUNDRED PERCENT REVIEW OF CASES IS SO THAT WE LEARN LESSONS EARLY. I GOT IT. AND WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO TWEAK THINGS TO MAKE IT BETTER AS WE GO, SO THAT BY THE END OF THE SIX MONTHS, HOPEFULLY IT, YOU, YOU, YOU FIGURED OUT A WHOLE YEAH. YES, SIR. SO, SO, BUT I, MAYBE I MISSED SOMETHING AND JUST DIDN'T, OR I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHEN YOU SAY OTHER JURISDICTIONS HAVE DONE THINGS, BUT THIS IS DIFFERENT BECAUSE IT'S, BECAUSE IT'S HIGH ACCU ACUITY. I, I THINK I UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS, BUT TELL ME, MAKE SURE I DO. SO THERE ARE OTHER, UH, JURISDICTIONS THAT RESPOND WITH THE THREE GROUPS THAT WE HAVE WITH A MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIAN, A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, AND A PARAMEDIC. GENERALLY THOSE RESPOND TO LOW ACUITY OKAY. AND MODERATE ACUITY CASES, BECAUSE THE HIGH ACUITY IS, ARE, ARE, THEY'RE DANGEROUS, RIGHT? YEAH. SO PART OF WHAT OUR TEAM HAS DONE IS THEY'VE TRAINED EACH OTHER, RIGHT? WE'VE ENSURED THAT OUR PARAMEDICS AND OUR MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIANS, UH, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTAND RISK, THAT THEY'RE APPROPRIATELY TRAINED, THAT THEY, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR GOAL IS THAT THE PARAMEDIC AND OR MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIAN ARE GONNA TAKE THE PRIMARY, THEY'RE GONNA BE UPFRONT. THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE TIME. IF THERE IS, UH, EVIDENCE THAT THINGS ARE ESCALATING AND THERE'S A SAFETY ISSUE, THAT'S WHEN THE A PD OFFICER MAY TAKE THE LEAD. UH, BUT IT'S TO ENSURE THAT WE HAVE THAT BALANCE. AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE SOME OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE THE OTHER JURISDICTIONS DON'T RESPOND TO THOSE. IT'S GENERALLY A TRADITIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE. GOT IT. WELL, THANK Y'ALL. THANKS. EVERYBODY THAT'S BEEN INVOLVED IN THIS, IT, IT, UH, IT'S, UH, IT'S WELCOME. AND I, I APPRECIATE THE LEVEL OF THOUGHT THAT'S GONE INTO IT, AND I'M EXCITED ABOUT WHAT IT ENDS UP TEACHING US. SO, THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN. BYE, SHIRLEY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS PRESENTATION. I, I REALLY LOVE SEEING THE COLLABORATION. I ALSO, I'M GLAD THAT WE'RE SEEING A PILOT ON HIGH ACUITY CASES. I THINK NOT ONLY WILL THAT IMPROVE OUR RESPONSE FOR THOSE CASES, BUT WE'LL LEARN LESSONS BY TACKLING THAT THAT WILL HELP OUR RESPONSE TO LOW AND MEDIUM ACUITY AS WELL. SO I REALLY APPRECIATE Y'ALL, UH, WORKING ON THIS IN THIS WAY. UM, HAVE WE PREVIOUSLY, I KNOW THERE WAS INFORMATION IN THE PRESENTATION, UH, ABOUT THE SUCCESSES OF MANAGING LOW AND MODERATE ACUITY MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS CRISES. HAVE WE PREVIOUSLY HAD A PRESENTATION OR ACCESS TO DATA THAT WOULD HELP US TO SEE IN GREATER DEPTH THE SUCCESSES? AND ALSO, I AM ALWAYS INTERESTED IN THE EXTENT TO WHICH THESE, THIS DATA HAS BEEN DISAGGREGATED. UM, AND ONE, ONE OF MY KEY CONCERNS IS MAKING SURE THAT OUR SERVICES ARE REACHING OUR ENTIRE CITY. AND THAT DOESN'T START WITH THE PILOT PROGRAM THAT STARTS, BUT IT DOES MEAN CONTINUING TO ANALYZE THE SUCCESSES OF THE THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON AND WHERE THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT. UM, THANK YOU. THANK YOU. VICE CHAIR. UH, WE, WE ARE WORKING ON A RESPONSE TO THE COUNCIL RESOLUTION FROM LAST YEAR MM-HMM . UH, WHICH SHOULD BE COMING SOON. PART OF THE CHALLENGE THAT WE HAVE WITH THE DATA IS THAT PART OF THE DATA IS AN INTEGRAL CARE. PART OF THE DATA IS AN A PD PART OF THE DATA'S AN EMS. SO THE BEAUTY OF THIS COLLABORATION, [00:30:01] ALL THESE PEOPLE BEHIND ME, IS TO HELP SORT OUT HOW DO WE GET THAT DATA TOGETHER SO THAT WE CAN MORE ACCURATELY TRACK CASES, WE CAN IDENTIFY AND, YOU KNOW, DISAGGREGATE DATA APPROPRIATELY SO THAT WE CAN PROVIDE BETTER PUBLIC POLICY BASED ON BETTER DATA. DO YOU HAVE A FEEL FOR WHEN THAT MIGHT BE AVAILABLE? I'M NOT LOOKING TO RUSH ANYTHING. I JUST, THAT THE RESPONSE OR THE DATA INTEGRATION THE ABILITY TO LOOK AT THE DATA SUCH AS WE CURRENTLY HAVE ON THOSE LOW AND MODERATE ACUITY CASES. I MEAN, IF, IF, IF IT REQUIRES ADDITIONAL TIME, I'M TOTALLY FINE. I JUST, IT WILL REQUIRE SOME ADDITIONAL TIME. THE FULL INTEGRATION WILL MM-HMM . REQUIRE MUCH MORE TIME. UM, BUT MY HOPE, I THINK OUR HOPE IS THAT BY THE END OF THIS PILOT PHASE, THAT WE'VE GOT THOSE DATA STREAMS TOGETHER. OKAY. SO AT THAT POINT, WE WOULD GET A REPORT ON THE RESULTS OF THIS PILOT AND ALSO THE LOW AND MODERATE ACUITY RESULTS. DR. ESCO, IF I MAY, SO WE HAVE DONE SOME PRESENTATIONS ON THE MOBILE CRISIS OUTREACH TEAM. MM-HMM . UM, OUR INTEGRATED WORK, OUR SEED, UM, IN 9 1 1 OR THE C3. AND I THINK JUST, UM, NOT TOO LONG AGO, UH, HERE AT A PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING, WE WERE DOING, UH, AN UPDATE ON THAT, UH, PROJECT. WE CAN CERTAINLY BRING THAT BACK. AND WE DO, UH, QUARTERLY REPORTS 'CAUSE UH, ARE TURNED INTO THE CITY, UM, ON THAT DATA AND HOW WE'RE DOING IN THAT AREA. AND I THINK THAT MIGHT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION THERE. SO YOU CAN SEE KIND OF WHAT WE'RE DOING, BUT WHAT WE'RE PRESENTING TODAY IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT THAN THAT. AND SO THAT DATA WILL COME FOLLOWING. OKAY. IF WE COULD JUST CHAT AT THE END FOR A FEW MINUTES, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. UM, I AM ALSO WONDERING, IS INTEGRAL CARE, UM, OUR ONLY MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDER PARTNER, ARE THERE OTHER PARTNERS FOR THE OTHER PART? OTHER COUNTIES THAT ARE PART OF AUSTIN? SO, UM, INTEGRAL CARE IS THE LOCAL MENTAL HEALTH AUTHORITY FOR AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY. SO WE ARE SERVING THE CITY AND THE COUNTY, AND THIS IS OUR ONLY AREA. OKAY. SO ALL OF AUSTIN AND ALL OF TRAVIS? CORRECT. OKAY, GREAT. UM, I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THIS. I THINK IT WAS PAGE NINE. UH, SLIDE NINE, THE ONE THAT LOOKS LIKE THIS AND IT HAS SOME DATA. YES. NUMBERS. UM, SO I SEE AT THE FAR RIGHT, 13,143 CALLS RESOLVED WITHOUT POLICE INVOLVEMENT. 7,039 EM GOT RESPONSES. IF I ADD THAT UP, IT'S ABOUT 20,000 AND IT COMES OUT OF A BOX THAT HAS 15,000. CAN YOU HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHERE THOSE NUMBERS AT THE FAR RIGHT? YES. HOW THEY RELATE TO THE OTHER NUMBERS. WELL, I CAN START IF YOU WANT. SO THE, THE TOTAL THAT REFERRED TO C3 IS THE 15 3 10. UH, OF THE 15 3 10 80 6% OF THOSE WERE RESOLVED WITHOUT POLICE INCIDENT, WHICH MAY INCLUDE THE 7,039 MCO RESPONSES. DID I SAY THAT RIGHT, DON? YOU DID. SO SOME OF A LOT OF THOSE CALLS ARE ACTUALLY RESOLVED ON THE PHONE. SO WE'RE, WE DON'T HAVE TO DISPATCH A TEAM. SO THESE ARE ONLY THE CALLS. SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE, THE FIRST BOX, YOU'LL SEE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CALLS COMING IN. THEN YOU SEE THE NUMBER OF CALLS THAT, THAT THEY THINK ARE RELATED TO MENTAL HEALTH. AND THEN THE PORTION THAT ACTUALLY, UM, IS DIVERTED OVER TO THE C3 CLINICIAN. IT'S NOT ALL OF THE CALLS IN THE UNIVERSE. IT'S A SUBSET. AND, UH, WE WAIT FOR DISPATCH TO GO THROUGH A SCREENING, DETERMINE WHICH CALLS THEY WANT C3 TO TAKE C3, PICKS 'EM UP. SO THIS IS A SUBSET OF THAT DATA. AND, UM, THE MAJORITY OF THEM ARE, LIKE I SAID EARLIER, WERE ARE RESOLVED ON THE, ON THE PHONE WITH THE INDIVIDUAL. AND THEN WE DO FOLLOW-UPS, OR WE CAN DISPATCH OUR OWN, UH, MOBILE CRISIS OUTREACH TEAM, UH, TO RESPOND IN THE FIELD, WHICH IS WHY THE 24 7 FUNDING TO TAKE THAT FIELD RESPONSE 24 7 IS SO IMPORTANT, UM, THAT WILL ALLOW US TO EVEN GROW THAT NUMBER LARGER. SO 13,000 PLUS 7,000 BEING 20,000 AND BEING 5,000 MORE THAN THE 15 THREE TON THAT WE SEE ON THE OTHER BOX. IS THAT BECAUSE THE 15 3 10 IS ONLY CALLS THAT REQUIRED DISPATCH, BUT THEN THE ONES TO THE RIGHT NO. INCLUDE BOTH WITH THEM, WITH ALL DISPATCH? IT'S BOTH. SO THEY COULD HAVE TAKEN THE, THEY'LL TAKE THE CALL, UM, AND THEN THEY'RE GONNA DISPATCH THE FIELD TEAM. SO IT'S COUNTING IN BOTH BOXES. OKAY. IT'S JUST SURPRISING TO ME THAT 20,000 BEING MORE THAN 15,000. ARE YOU IT CAN BE, YEAH, IT CAN BE IN BOTH. IT'S A DUPLICATION. OKAY. ALRIGHT. OKAY. YEAH. ALRIGHT. THANK YOU . THANK YOU. UM, YOU ALSO MENTIONED STILL WORKING ON SOME OF THE TRIAGE AND DISPATCH PROCEDURES, UH, WHICH I THINK IS GREAT. OBVIOUSLY THEY'LL NEED TO BE CONTINUALLY REFINED FOR SOME TIME. BUT, UM, HOW FAR OUT OUT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE UNTIL YOU'VE KIND OF ARRIVED AT A SET THAT IS 90% HOW YOU WANT IT OR SOME SORT OF SUBSTANTIALLY [00:35:01] COMPLETE LEVEL? WELL, THANKS FOR THE QUESTION. PART OF THE, THE CHALLENGE THAT, THAT WE HAVE IS THAT ON THE EMS SIDE, THERE'S A SCRIPTED TRIAGE PROCESS. SO IT'S EASIER FOR US TO TELL, YOU KNOW, LOW, MODERATE, UH, HIGH ACUITY ON THAT. THE CHALLENGE WE HAVE IS, IS TRIAGING IN THE OTHER PIECES. SO PART OF IDENTIFYING, UH, A KEY, THEY, THEY CALL IT A KEYSTROKE, I THINK, UH, WHERE THEY DIS OR THE CALL TAKERS CAN PRESS A BUTTON AND MARK IT AS A MENTAL HEALTH CALL THAT THE TEAM IS RESPONDING TO. PART OF DOING THAT IS TO PIECE BACK TOGETHER WHAT ARE THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT LED TO THIS TEAM RESPONDING, RIGHT? SO THAT WE CAN BETTER MAP WHAT'S LIKELY TO LEAD TO, UH, A MENTAL HEALTH CALL. UH, I'LL, I'LL TELL YOU FROM THE A PD DATA THAT ONE OF THE, THE HIGHEST RATES OF MENTAL HEALTH CALL IS A PD CALL FOR TRESPASS, RIGHT? MM-HMM . SO IT'S NOT ALWAYS INTUITIVE THAT THIS IS A MENTAL HEALTH CALL UNTIL YOU IDENTIFY THE PATTERN. OKAY. THAT'S HELPFUL. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ANSWERS TO ALL OF MY QUESTIONS. OKAY. UH, COUNCIL MEMBER UCHIN. THANK YOU. CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME OKAY? YES, SIR. PERFECT. UH, SO I JUST HAD TWO QUESTIONS KIND OF FOLLOWING UP. ONE WAS ABOUT THE DATA, AND GOING BACK TO THAT SAME SLIDE. SO IT LOOKS LIKE ROUGHLY ABOUT HALF OF CALLS DON'T GET A DISPATCH TO EMS TO INTEGRAL CARE TO A PD. ARE THOSE CONSIDERED TO BE LOW ACUITY CALLS? IS THERE EVEN A CATEGORY LOWER THAN LOW ACUITY CALLS THAT WE'RE MEASURING FOR CALLS THAT CAN BE SORT OF JUST, UM, ADDRESSED OVER THE PHONE IF THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING? SO AGAIN, PART OF THE CHALLENGE THAT WE HAVE IS THAT THE DATA LIVES IN DIFFERENT SILOS AT THE MOMENT, RIGHT? SO WE KNOW THAT EMS GETS AT LEAST 19,000 CALLS THAT WERE CODED AS MENTAL HEALTH. SOME OF THE CALLS, BECAUSE THE MENTAL HEALTH RELATED CALLS MAY INCLUDE INDIVIDUALS THAT HAD EFFECTIVELY A DIAGNOSIS OF MENTAL HEALTH, THAT'S A DIFFERENT DATA SET, RIGHT? SO IT'S LIKELY TO BE MORE THAN THE NUMBER THAT WERE IDENTIFIED BY THE TRIAGE PROCESS AS MENTAL HEALTH. UH, IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE DON'T CURRENTLY HAVE A WAY TO, UH, IDENTIFY REDUNDANT COUNTS BETWEEN A PD AND EMS IF BOTH OF THEM RESPONDED. SO THIS IS PART OF THE, THE DIRTINESS OF THE DATA AT THIS STAGE THAT WE'RE HOPING TO RESOLVE, UH, WITH THIS COLLABORATIVE TEAM BEHIND ME SO THAT WE CAN PROVIDE YOU A BETTER FLOWCHART IN THE FUTURE. THAT'S VERY CLEAR. THIS NUMBER WENT TO, YOU KNOW, SECONDARY TRIAGE TO INTEGRAL CARE EMS OR A PD, AND THEN THIS IS ALL THE INTERACTIONS THAT HAPPEN AFTER THAT. OKAY. THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING THAT AND I'LL, I'LL LOOK FORWARD TO THE FUTURE DATA SET THAT YOU GUYS WILL BE ABLE TO PRODUCE. THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD, AND, AND I MAY HAVE MISSED IT IN THE VERY BEGINNING PART OF THE BRIEFING, UH, AND I COULDN'T QUITE TELL FROM THE PRESENTATION, BUT HOW DID Y'ALL ARRIVE AT THIS CONCLUSION THAT THERE IS THIS GAP EITHER BY THE DATA THAT YOU'VE GOT, EVEN THOUGH IT'S IMPERFECT OR THROUGH ANECDOTAL REPORTS FROM YOUR DIFFERENT, UH, SILOS THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT? HOW DO WE FIGURE OUT THAT THAT'S WHERE THE GAP LIES IN THE HIGH ACUITY CALLS? SO PART OF THAT I IS, IS BASED ON, UH, WHAT'S BEEN IDENTIFIED AS BEST PRACTICE FOR RESPONSES, UH, WHICH IS A, A THREE PERSON TEAM. BUT WHEN WE LOOK THROUGH OUR DATA AND OUR RESULTS, WHEN WE HAVE A TWO PERSON TEAM, UH, YOU KNOW, WITH, WITH EMS AND OTT RESPONDING TO A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THESE CALLS, OR OTT ALONE, IN SOME CIRCUMSTANCES, WERE DOING VERY WELL IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES. UH, IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIGH ACUITY, WHICH IS MORE LIKELY TO GET AN A PD ONLY RESPONSE, AT LEAST INITIALLY, THAT'S WHERE WE FELT THE THE GAP WAS BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT BENEFITING BECAUSE OF THE, THE RISK NATURE. THEY'RE NOT BENEFITING FROM HAVING THE EMS COMPONENT AND THE, UH, MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIAN COMPONENT. YOU KNOW, IN SOME CIRCUMSTANCES IT'S, IT'S DIFFICULT TO TELL WHO, WHICH ONE OF THOSE THREE IS NEEDED, RIGHT? BECAUSE WHAT MAY BE A APPEAR TO BE A MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS MAY BE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, UH, OR IT MAY BE A COMBINATION OF THOSE THINGS. IT MAY BE A, UH, INDIVIDUAL WITH SUBSTANCE USE IN ADDITION TO MENTAL HEALTH. SO HAVING THAT THREE PERSON TEAM IN THOSE HIGH ACUITY CIRCUMSTANCES CUTS OUT THE, UH, THE, THE CHALLENGE THAT WE HAVE WITH RESPONSE IN NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, WHICH IS A PD OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY SHOWS UP, [00:40:01] THEY MAKE CONTACT, THEY MAKE A DETERMINATION IF AND WHEN THE SCENE IS STABLE, AND THAT'S WHEN THE OTHER RESPONDERS ARE INVITED INTO THE SCENE. THIS HELPS TO ELIMINATE THAT BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL TRAVELING TOGETHER, BOTH TO THE COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNCIL MEMBER LANE'S POINT EARLIER, UM, REGARDING, UH, THE DISPATCH. AND TO YOUR POINT AS WELL, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE REAL STRENGTHS OF THIS THAT WE HADN'T HAD IN THE PAST IS, IS BRINGING ALL OF THESE ENTITY TOGETHER IN ONE VEHICLE WITH CO-OPTS ON EVERYTHING, YOU KNOW, HISTORICALLY, YOU KNOW, EMS KNOWS WHAT EMS GETS AND A PD KNOWS WHAT A PD GETS AND ET, YOU KNOW, AND SO ON. AND SO BOTH AS WE THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW WE MODEL THIS IN THE FUTURE AS WELL AS HOW IT IS THAT WE'RE GONNA DETERMINE HOW DISPATCHING WORKS, YOU NOW HAVE THREE PEOPLE IN A VEHICLE THAT HAVE OPTICS ON EVERYTHING AND CAN PROVIDE FEEDBACK INTERNALLY IN REAL TIME TO WHAT THEY'RE GONNA RESPOND TO, BUT ALSO FEEDBACK TO THE PILOT TO SAY, WE'RE NOT GETTING DISPATCHED TO THIS TYPE OF CALL, OR WE'RE NOT GETTING DISPATCHED TO THAT TYPE OF CALL, OR, WE DID GET DISPATCHED TO THIS TYPE OF CALL AND IT WAS NOT THE TYPE OF THING, UH, THAT'S NECESSARY. AND SO, SO IT REALLY DOES HELP US, UH, MOVE FORWARD BOTH, UH, YOU KNOW, FROM A DATA COLLECTION, FROM UNDERSTANDING, UH, AND PROTECTING ALL THREE ENTITIES, FOCUSING ON THEIR STRENGTHS, UH, YOU KNOW, PROTECTING THE OFFICERS, PROTECTING THE, THE PARAMEDICS AND SO ON. UM, AS WELL AS HELPING US REALLY FRAME WHAT THE FUTURE LOOKS LIKE FOR MENTAL HEALTH RESPONSE. ONE THING I'D LIKE TO ADD THAT MAKES SENSE. SORRY, GO AHEAD. I'M SORRY. I WAS GONNA SAY ONE THING I'D LIKE TO ADD IS MAYBE, MAYBE A STARTING POINT FOR THE TRACKING IS NOT ALL THE CALLS THAT WE TAKE AT C3 CAN WE DISPATCH OR HANDLE, WE GO THROUGH AND DO AN ASSESSMENT. SOME OF THOSE LOOK LIKE THEY'RE MORE INTENSE AND THEY NEED LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE, OR MAYBE WE DO SUSPECT THERE'S SOME MEDICAL. SO THIS TEAM, THIS WOULD BE THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO HAND THAT TO THIS TEAM WHERE THEY GET THAT, THAT IN-PERSON RESPONSE FROM ALL THE EXPERTS AROUND ALL THE ISSUES. OKAY. THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE TO ME, AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THE RESULTS, AND I APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN. IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS IS A VERY THOUGHTFUL APPROACH. YOU'VE LOOKED AT THE GAPS IN THE A PD DATA AND RESPONSES AND ARE TRYING TO, UM, FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET BETTER EYES AND DATA AS WELL AS BETTER RESPONSES. SO I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO WHAT YOU COME BACK WITH IN SIX MONTHS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. ANY MORE QUESTIONS? CAN YOU DO, CAN YOU GET US DATA SIX MONTH DATA FASTER THAN SIX MONTHS? WELL, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE GONNA BE ASKED FOR THAT AT SOME POINT. YES, SIR. AND WE'LL BE COMMUNICATING WITH CITY, CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, UH, ALONG THE WAY TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE TRACKING IT. GREAT. ABSOLUTELY. THANK YOU. AND OH, I JUST HAVE ONE MORE THING. I JUST ALSO WANTED TO REALLY THANK YOU. UM, THIS IS SO HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND THE PICTURE ACROSS ALL OF THEM, AND ALSO THIS WORK IS SO VALUABLE. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU ALL, AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. THANK YOU. UH, COLLEAGUES. WITHOUT [Approval of Minutes (Part 2 of 2)] OBJECTION. COUNCIL MEMBER KARI ASKED THAT WE, UH, BRING BACK UP ITEM NUMBER ONE. HE'D LIKE TO VOTE ON THOSE MINUTES. I MOVE, I MOVE, I MOVE, I MOVE THE COUNCIL MEMBER CADRY, TO BE SHOWN VOTING IN FAVOR OF ITEM NUMBER ONE, AS IT WILL NOT CHANGE THE OUTCOME OF THE VOTE. I WAS GONE TOO. CAN YOU HAVE ME REFLECT? CAN YOU PLEASE HAVE ME REFLECT THAT ALSO? UH, I, WELL, LET'S DO A SEPARATE MOTION THEN, SINCE I'VE ALREADY DONE CADRE. UM, SO MOVE AND I, AND THEN I'LL, I'LL MAKE A SEPARATE MOTION FOR COUNCIL MEMBER UCHIN AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME. OKAY. UH, AND SO, YEAH. UH, WE'LL, WE WILL SHOW COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE IS VOTING YES ON THE MINUTES. THANK YOU CHAIR. AND THANK YOU MAYOR. COUNCIL, UH, MAYOR MR. CHAIRMAN. I WOULD ALSO MOVE THE COUNCIL MEMBER UCHIN BE SHOWN IN VOTING IN FAVOR OF ITEM NUMBER ONE. IT WILL NOT CHANGE THE OUTCOME OF THE VOTE. SECOND, AND, AND, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER UCHIN IS SHOWN AS APPROVING THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING. UH, COLLEAGUES NOW, THANK YOU, MAYOR AND CHAIR, UH, COLLEAGUES. NOW WE WILL GO INTO ITEM [4. Briefing on reexamining Austin Police use of force, including follow up from the May 19, 2025, Public Safety Committee briefing on the same topic. [Dr. Robin Engel - John Glenn College of Public Affairs].] FOUR, UH, THE BRIEFING ON REEXAMINING AUSTIN'S POLICE USE OF FORCE, INCLUDING FOLLOW UP FROM OUR MAY 19TH, 2025 PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE BRIEFING ON THE SAME TOPIC. UH, WELCOME DR. ENGLE. GOOD AFTERNOON. GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE THERE. YOU'RE, I'M GONNA SIT NEXT TO YOU. THANK YOU, CHIEF. GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS. IT IS SUCH A PRIVILEGE AND A PLEASURE TO BE BACK HERE IN YOUR BEAUTIFUL CITY. UM, I'M ROBIN ENGEL, UH, THE CLICKER'S CURRENTLY RIGHT BEHIND YOU. OH, THANK YOU. AND THEY'RE DIRECTING ME ON HOW TO BE ABLE TO RUN THE SHOW HERE. UM, I'M ROBIN ENGEL. I'M WITH, UM, THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. UH, YOU MIGHT'VE HEARD WE HAVE A FOOTBALL TEAM. OH, [00:45:01] I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO SAY THAT HERE. . OH, I WAS JUST KIDDING. WOW. I'VE JUST KIDDING. IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE SEEN A WITNESS LOSE CREDIBILITY SO FAST. . WELL, IN FAIRNESS, I AM NEW. THERE'S NOTHING FAIR YOU CAN DO AT THIS POINT. I'M TO OHIO STAY. NO, YOU'RE DONE. YOU'RE DONE. AND I THEY HAVE A LONGHORNS HAT. WELL, YEAH. WELL, YOU, NO, YOU STARTED WRONG. I'M OFF. IT'S GONNA TAKE YOU A WHILE NOW. NO DOCTOR TOO SOON. I SEE. THAT WAS TOO SOON. DR. ENG. THE ONLY WAY YOU COULD HAVE MADE THAT WORSE IS IF YOU WERE GONNA TALK ABOUT THE COWBOYS. RIGHT. . AS LONG AS WE CAN REFRAIN FROM THAT, WE'LL BE ALL RIGHT. WELL, I THINK IT MIGHT MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER THAN I'M A BENGALS FAN, AND SO I HAD A ROUGH WEEK AS WELL. YEAH, YOU HAVE. WE'LL TAKE IT. YOU'LL, YOU'LL TAKE THAT. YOU FEEL A LITTLE BETTER NOW. OKAY. VERY GOOD. WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME. UM, BACK, UM, TODAY AND CHIEF, UM, FOR YOU AS WELL, I DID WANNA COME BACK, UM, TO THE COMMITTEE AND GIVE YOU AN UPDATE. YOU MAY RECALL THE LAST I LEFT OFF, I HAD SPOKEN TO THIS COMMITTEE, I BELIEVE IT WAS MAY 19TH, AND GAVE YOU AN UPDATE ON WHAT WE HAD DONE AS A PART OF A USE OF FORCE REVIEW. SO WHAT I HAVE PLANNED FOR YOU TODAY IS AN UPDATE ON WHERE WE ARE ON A SERIES OF RECOMMENDATIONS THAT I MADE AT THAT TIME. SO, UM, MY PRESENTATION WILL BE RELATIVELY BRIEF. UM, THESE ARE, ARE LITERALLY THE TOPICS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO COVER, UM, HERE TODAY. SO, JUST VERY BRIEFLY, THAT SUMMARY OF THE BRIEFING, WE'LL GO INTO THE STATUS OF OUR USE OF FORCE TASK, UH, FORCE THAT WAS CREATED AS A PART OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS. UM, SOME POLICY CHANGE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE USE OF FORCE THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON, UH, AND UPDATE ON WHERE WE ARE WITH TRAINING, ACCOUNTABILITY AND OVERSIGHT MECHANISMS, DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING. AND THEN OVERALL, OUR PROCESS AND TIMING MOVING FORWARD. SO WITH THAT, I'M GONNA TRY TO REESTABLISH MY CREDIBILITY MOVING FORWARD. , GIVE IT YOUR BEST SHOT. I'LL, I WILL DO MY BE I KNOW I'M DIGGING OUT OF A HOLE, MAYOR, SO I'M GONNA WOW YOU RIGHT NOW. UM, JUST, UM, AS A REMINDER, A SUMMARY, UH, OF WHAT WE BROUGHT, UM, FORTH TO THIS, UH, TO CITY COUNCIL. BEFORE I HAD DONE A SERIES OF INTERVIEWS, MEETINGS WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE OFFICE OF, UH, POLICE OVERSIGHT. I SPENT SOME TIME OBSERVING OFFICERS OUT IN THE FIELD, DID A THOROUGH DOCUMENT REVIEW OF USE OF FORCE, POLICIES, TRAINING, UH, ET CETERA, FROM UH, A PD, UH, AND THEN ALSO A DATA REVIEW. THAT DATA REVIEW ACTUALLY CAUSED ME, UM, SOME CONCERN. I WROTE, UH, A MEMO AND SENT TO THE CHIEF WITH A SERIES OF SUMMARIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS, THOSE SUMMARIES. YOU MAY RECALL, I NOTED THAT THERE WERE SOME INCONSISTENCIES ACROSS A PD AND ALL ASPECTS OF USE OF FORCE REPORTING, ACCOUNTABILITY, OVERSIGHT AND TRAINING. UH, WHILE THESE THINGS OBVIOUSLY WERE THERE AND WERE PRESENT AND ISSUES, BUT WE DEVELOPED A PLAN FOR MOVING FORWARD. SO HOW WE WOULD ADDRESS, UH, THOSE INCONSISTENCIES. IN PARTICULAR, THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT ISSUES WITH THE DATA REPORTING, THE RELIABILITY AND VAL VALIDITY OF THAT DATA AND THE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS THAT HAD BEEN DONE TO DATE, UH, AND POTENTIALLY A LIKELY OVER-REPORTING OF USE OF FORCE, WHICH WAS AN INTERESTING PROSPECT, BUT RELATED TO, TO THE DATA. AND I, AS I EXPLAINED TO THE COUNCIL AT THAT TIME, SO, UH, FOR CHIEF DAVIS, I PROVIDED HER WITH 11 RECOMMENDATIONS. UH, THE FIRST OF WHICH WAS TO CREATE, UH, A, A USE OF FORCE TASK FORCE FROM MEMBERS WITHIN, UH, AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT, BUT ALSO A MEMBER FROM OPO SO THAT WE COULD TAKE A DEEP DIVE INTO THESE ISSUES COLLECTIVELY. UH, THAT COMMITTEE WAS PUT TOGETHER, THAT TASK FORCE. WE PUT THAT TOGETHER IN THE SPRING. AND WHEN I WAS HERE IN MAY, THAT COMMITTEE MEMBERS HAD ALREADY BEEN NAMED. THAT TASK FORCE, UH, HAS 12 MEMBERS. THERE ARE THREE CO-CHAIRS, MYSELF, ASSISTANT CHIEF, MIKE ROGERS, OR I'M SORRY, MIKE CHANCELLOR AND ASSISTANT CHIEF LEE ROGERS, UH, CHAIR THAT COMMITTEE. WE HAVE 12 MEMBERS REPRESENTING TRAINING FORCE, REVIEW UNIT, INTERNAL AFFAIRS, UH, GEORGE SECTOR. WE HAVE PATROL OFFICERS THAT ALSO SERVE ON THIS ALL RANKS, UH, SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT. UM, SOME FOLKS FROM PLANNING AND RESEARCH, AND THEN OF COURSE, REPRESENTATIVE FROM OPO THAT TASK FORCE, UH, MET THROUGH THE SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER. AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE STARTED TO WORK ON IMMEDIATELY WAS A RECOMMENDATION OF, UH, SOME SERIES OF POLICY CHANGES RELATED TO USE OF FORCE. AND SO THAT'S WHERE I'LL SPEND A LITTLE BIT OF MY TIME TODAY, UM, WITH YOU FOLKS TALKING ABOUT WHAT SOME OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE. UM, JUST TO, JUST TO TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, THAT USE OF FORCE POLICY AND CHANGES TO IT ARE STILL IN DRAFT FORM. THEY'VE BEEN CIRCULATED TO A NUMBER OF, OF INFLUENTIAL STA STAKEHOLDERS TO GIVE US FEEDBACK ON THAT DRAFT AND WILL BE MOVING FORWARD WITH IT RELATIVELY SOON IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. CHIEF, ANY COMMENTS ON THAT? [00:50:01] NO, YOU'RE DOING JUST FINE, ROBERT. OKAY. TERRIFIC. YEP. UM, WHAT, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THAT WE DID, IF YOU, UH, TAKE A LOOK AT THIS POWERPOINT, YOU'LL SEE THE CURRENT GENERAL ORDERS. THERE ARE, UH, GENERAL ORDERS. 2 0 2 WAS CALLED RESPONSE TO RESISTANCE FO FOLLOWED BY FIREARMS, LEG RESTRAINTS, CONTROL DEVICES, TASER, UH, INQUIRY REPORTING AND REVIEW, AND THEN FINALLY AN R TWO R AUDIT GROUP, UH, FOR GENERAL ORDER TWO 12. SO ALL OF THESE POLICIES WERE SEPARATE, ALTHOUGH THEY SAT IN THE SUITE OF GENERAL ORDERS 200, UH, BUT THEY WERE SEPARATE POLICIES. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE DONE IS WE'VE CONSOLIDATED THESE NOW ALL UNDER ONE POLICY. NOW, WHILE IT'S OBVIOUSLY, UH, HEAVY AND THICK POLICY, IF YOU WILL, UH, THE REASON FOR CONSOLIDATION WAS SO THAT WE COULD REALLY FOCUS AND RECENTER THE ENTIRE SUITE OF POLICIES ON THE MOST CRITICAL PIECES FOR USE OF FORCE. AND THAT IS NON ESCALATION AND DEESCALATION TACTICS. AND THAT WAY THIS COMES ACROSS IN EVERY SINGLE ASPECT OF, OF THIS NEW USE OF FORCE POLICY. WE DID MAKE ALSO MINOR CHANGES IN LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT. I WAS PLEASED TO SEE THAT THE BULK OF THESE POLICIES INDIVIDUALLY, THE CORE COMPONENTS THAT MEET BEST PRACTICE WERE ALREADY THERE. IT WAS REALLY JUST A MATTER OF BRINGING THEM TOGETHER, STREAMLINING THEM, AND AS I SAID, MAKING THESE UPDATES, UM, TO THE LANGUAGE. BUT THAT RECENTER ON DEESCALATION, UH, AND NON DEESCALATION IN MANY CASES, UH, GOES BEYOND THE POLICY ITSELF. AND THIS IS THE CORE AND CRITICAL COMPONENT OF IT. WE WANNA REINFORCE IN POLICY, BUT THESE ARE ACTIVITIES THAT NEED TO BE REINFORCED ON THE STREETS BY OUR FIRST LINE SUPERVISORS REINFORCE ACROSS TRAINING, NOT JUST A SINGLE DEESCALATION TRAINING, BUT ACROSS ALL TRAININGS. IT NEEDS TO BE LITERALLY TOP DOWN AND THROUGHOUT THE AGENCY. AND I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT HOW WE PLAN TO DO THAT AS WELL. THERE'S ALSO A NEW CONCEPTUALIZATION AND A RECATEGORIZE ON THE USE OF FORCE. I HAD MENTIONED TO YOU FOLKS PREVIOUSLY THAT YOU HAD FOUR DIFFERENT LEVELS OF FORCE. AND THAT FORCE, WHEN IT WAS A LEVEL OF FORCE, WHAT IT MEANT WAS THAT IT WAS JUST TRIGGERING THE ACCOUNTABILITY AND OVERSIGHT MECHANISMS WITHIN THE POLICE AGENCY. AND SO, DEPENDING ON WHICH LEVEL IT WAS, THERE WAS A DIFFERENT ACCOUNTABILITY FLOW AND OVERSIGHT FUNCTION. WE LOOKED VERY SPECIFICALLY AT EACH LEVEL TO MAKE SURE THAT THE ACCOUNTABILITY AND OVERSIGHT FUNCTION WAS APPROPRIATE FOR THAT LEVEL OF FORCE. AND WE FOCUSED VERY SPECIFICALLY ON OUR LEAST SEVERE USES OF FORCE, INCLUDING EMPTY HAND CONTROL TECHNIQUES THAT DO NOT INVOLVE INJURY OR CONTINUED COMPLAINT OF PAIN. AND WE HAVE NOW RECONCEPTUALIZED AND REORGANIZED, UM, THESE SPECIFIC DIFFERENT TYPES OF FORCE SO THAT WE CAN PUT THE, UM, THE IMPETUS BACK TO THAT FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR, OUR SERGEANTS SPECIFICALLY, SO THAT THEY HAVE OVERSIGHT AS WELL. AND IT DOESN'T JUST GO TO THE FORCE REVIEW UNIT. UM, AND I'LL EXPLAIN THE, THE REASONING BEHIND, UM, SOME OF THESE CHANGES AS WE MOVE FORWARD. AND THEN FINALLY, THAT FOCUS ON OVERSIGHT, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND TRANSPARENCY IS, IS THROUGHOUT. SO LET ME GIVE YOU, UM, JUST A THOUGHT HERE ON THE DEESCALATION PIECE SPECIFICALLY. THIS IS THE ICA TRAINING. ICA STANDS FOR INTEGRATING COMMUNICATIONS ASSESSMENT AND TACTICS. IT WAS TRAINING THAT WAS PRODUCED BY THE POLICE EXECUTIVE RESEARCH FORUM, UH, ORIGINALLY INTRODUCED IN, IN 2016 AND 2016 WHEN THEY FIRST CAME OUT WITH THIS, THERE WAS ACTUALLY NO RESEARCH TO SUPPORT WHETHER OR NOT THIS WAS AN EFFECTIVE CHANGE IN THE WAYS THAT WE TRAINED OFFICERS. MANY AGENCIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY MOVED FORWARD WITH DEESCALATION TACTICS, UH, AND STRATEGIES, NOT REALLY KNOWING WHAT THE IMPACT MIGHT BE. BUT WE WERE HOPEFUL. WELL, SINCE THAT TIME, UH, MY RESEARCH TEAM ACTUALLY, AND I WAS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI THEN. DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER OR NOT? STILL NOT. OKAY. I'M TRYING. DO YOU KNOW ANYONE DOWN HERE IN TEXAS? I'LL MOVE, I'LL GET YOU. UM, SO, BUT OUR RESEARCH TEAM ACTUALLY STUDIED THIS SPECIFICALLY. WHAT YOU SEE ON YOUR SCREEN HERE IS CALLED THE CRITICAL DECISION MAKING MODEL. AND THE MOST IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE WATCHING AT HOME OR FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS SPECIFICALLY, IS THAT IT USED TO BE ACROSS THE COUNTRY THAT USE OF FORCE WAS ON A CONTINUUM. SO A HIERARCHY. SO IF YOU HAD A LEVEL OF RESISTANCE SHOWN TO YOU, YOU COULD USE A LEVEL OF FORCE ABOVE THAT RESISTANCE, AND IT WENT UP, UP, UP, UM, AS A RESULT OF THE RESISTANCE THAT WAS SHOWN. THE DIFFERENCE HERE IS THAT THIS IS A CIRCULAR MODEL. SO IT'S NOT, THE PROBLEM WITH, UH, USE [00:55:01] OF FORCE CONTINUUMS IS IT'S VERY EASY TO GO UP THE CONTINUUM. IT'S HARDER TO COME DOWN THE CONTINUUM TO DEESCALATE. SO WITH DEESCALATION MODELS AND THINKING ABOUT IT A DIFFERENT WAY, WE'RE TEACHING OFFICERS AND THEY TALK ABOUT SPINNING THE MODEL, MEANING YOU COLLECT INFORMATION, YOU'RE ASSESSING THAT SITUATION, YOUR THREATS AND YOUR RISKS. YOU CONSIDER YOUR POLICE POWERS AND AGENCY POLICY IDENTIFY OPTIONS AND DETERMINE THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION. YOU ACT, YOU REVIEW, YOU STEP BACK AND REASSESS. AND THESE ARE HOW NOW, UM, OFFICERS ARE TRAINED AND THEY HAVE BEEN TRAINED IN ICAT TRAINING, UH, OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS. BUT WE'RE REALLY DOUBLING DOWN ON THIS PARTICULAR TRAINING BECAUSE WE KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THAT AT THE CORE OF THIS USE OF FORCE TRAINING IS THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE. THAT EVERYONE GOES HOME SAFE. THIS IS ABOUT, UH, POLICE ETHICS, IT'S ABOUT APDS VALUES, PROPORTIONALITY OF USE OF FORCE. AND WE'RE CONTINUING TO REINFORCE THIS THROUGH TRAINING POLICY. NOW, THIS PARTICULAR, UH, THE, THE GRAPHIC THAT YOU ACTUALLY SEE IS EMBEDDED. IT IS INSIDE THE POLICY. THE EXPECTATION IS THAT OFFICERS WILL DEESCALATE SITUATIONS WHERE FEASIBLE. UM, AND SO WE'RE REALLY WORKING ON THIS SPECIFICALLY WITH OUR LANGUAGE AS WELL. UH, THE REASON I'M SO PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS, AND I KNOW THAT THE CHIEF IS AS WELL, IS THE, IS I MENTIONED THE FIRST STUDY, UM, THAT WE DID WAS WITH THE LOUISVILLE METRO POLICE DEPARTMENT. THIS WAS BACK LOOKING AT THEIR ICAT IMPLEMENTATION OF ICAT TRAINING IN 2019 THROUGH 2020. THIS WAS, UH, WHAT WE CALLED A STEPPED WEDGE, RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL DESIGN. SO IN ESSENCE, THE AGENCY HAD DIFFERENT DIVISIONS OF OFFICERS. THOSE DIVISIONS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO BE TRAINED. FIRST. WE LOOKED AT THAT TRAINING AND COMPARED THOSE OFFICERS THAT HAD BEEN TRAINED TO THOSE THAT HAD NOT YET BEEN TRAINED. AND WE DID THIS FOR EACH STEP ALONG THE WAY UNTIL ALL OFFICERS WERE TRAINED. AND WHAT WE FOUND IN THAT STUDY WAS A 28% REDUCTION IN USE OF FORCE INCIDENTS, A 26% REDUCTION IN CITIZEN INJURIES, AND A 36% REDUCTION IN OFFICER INJURIES AS A RESULT OF THIS PARTICULAR TRAINING. NOW, SOME PEOPLE WILL SAY, WELL, THAT WAS ONE AGENCY, AND IT WAS SOME TIME AGO. POLICING HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY SINCE 2020. WHERE ARE WE NOW? AND I'M SO PLEASED TO SAY THAT WE HAVE JUST, UH, COMPLETED A NEW STUDY WITH THE INDIANAPOLIS METRO POLICE DEPARTMENT AND WITH THIS STUDY, UH, THAT WAS JUST RELEASED, UH, JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO, WE IMPLEMENTED THE SAME RESEARCH DESIGN, A RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL DESIGN WITH A VERY LARGE AGENCY, AND LOOKED AT THE IMPACT OF ICAT TRAINING. THIS ICAT TRAINING HAD BEEN SLIGHTLY MODIFIED, UH, BUT THERE WAS A HOLISTIC APPROACH BY THIS AGENCY FOCUSED VERY SPECIFICALLY ON FIRST LINE SUPERVISION. UH, AND IN ADDITION TO THE TRAINING AND EMBEDDING THIS IN POLICY, AND WE SEE A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION, AGAIN, IN SUBJECTS THAT HAD FORCE USED AGAINST HIM, A 20% REDUCTION IN THE FIRST 12 MONTHS, AND THEN STAYING CONSISTENT, THAT 18 MONTH FOLLOW UP PERIOD AT 18% REDUCTION. AND THE SAME THING WITH SUBJECT INJURY AS WELL. 25% REDUCTION IN SUBJECT INJURY, UH, THAT WAS SUSTAINED OVER TIME. WHY WE THINK THIS IS SO IMPORTANT AND HOW IT RELATES TO THE WORK OF THE TASK FORCE. YOU SAY, OKAY, THESE STUDIES ARE GREAT, BUT LET'S BRING THIS BACK DIRECTLY TO WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH, WITH, UH, AUSTIN PD. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE FOUND IN THIS STUDY, WE WOULD SURVEY OFFICERS BEFORE THEY WERE TRAINED AT IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE TRAINING, AND THEN FOUR TO SIX MONTHS LATER AS THEY WERE IN THE FIELD USING THE TRAINING. AND WHAT WE FOUND WAS THAT MOST OFFICERS, AND THIS IS IN BOTH AGENCIES, UH, REGARDLESS OF THEIR DEMOGRAPHICS, THEIR EXPERIENCE, OR THEIR VIEWS, THEY WERE HIGHLY RECEPTIVE TO ICAT TRAINING. BUT THERE WAS STILL, OF COURSE, SOME VARIATION ACROSS OFFICERS IN TERMS OF THEIR RECEPTIVITY. WHY AGAIN, THIS IS SO IMPORTANT IS BECAUSE THE OFFICERS THAT SHOWED THE MOST RECEPTIVITY TO THAT INITIAL TRAINING, WHEN WE ASKED THEM SIX MONTHS LATER ABOUT THEIR USE OF DEESCALATION SKILLS IN THE FIELD WITH A PERSON IN CRISIS, THEY HAD A 50% HIGHER PROBABILITY IF THEY WERE THE MOST RECEPTIVE TO THE TRAINING. THOSE WITH THE LEAST RECEPTIVITY TO THE TRAINING HAD A LESS THAN 5% PROBABILITY OF INDICATING THAT THEY WERE USING DEESCALATION TACTICS, UH, DURING THAT ENCOUNTER WITH A PERSON IN CRISIS. UH, IT'S A 50% PROBABILITY OF USING IT IF YOU HAD HIGH RECEPTIVITY AND A FIVE, LESS THAN 5%, SO 4.5% PROBABILITY IF YOU WERE LEAST RECEPTIVE. NOW, HERE'S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART FOR AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT AS WE MOVE FORWARD FROM THIS SCIENCE, [01:00:01] WHAT PREDICTS WHETHER OR NOT SOMEONE IS RECEPTIVE? NUMBER ONE, AND IT WASN'T THEIR DEMOGRAPHICS, IT WAS ACTUALLY IF THEY BELIEVED THEIR FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR SUPPORTED THE TRAINING AS WELL. SO THE MORE SUPERVISORY SUPPORT THAT THEY PERCEIVED FOR THIS TRAINING, THE MORE POSITIVE THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL ATTITUDES WERE TOWARDS IT, AND THE MORE LIKELY THEY WERE USE IT TO USE IT IN THE FIELD. SO FOR LOUISVILLE, THEY PERCEIVED SUPPORT FOR ICAT FROM THE SUPERVISORS LED TO MORE FAVORABLE ATTITUDES AND THE KEY COMPONENTS OF THE ICAT TRAINING IN INDIANAPOLIS, THAT PERCEIVED SUPERVISOR REINFORCEMENT OF THE TRAINING IN THE FIELD. THEY'RE 1.7 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO THEN SELF-REPORT THAT THEY WERE USING THOSE SKILLS. SO THIS FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR IS SO ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL TO EVERYTHING WE, WE UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE, THE IMPACT OF DEESCALATION TRAINING, BUT WE STILL BELIEVE THERE'S AN UNTAPPED POTENTIAL HERE FOR FIRST LINE SUPERVISORS. AND AGAIN, LOUISVILLE METRO AND INDIANAPOLIS HAVE SHOWN US WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE. WE ASKED THE FIRST LINE SUPERVISORS WHAT THEIR ACTIVITIES WERE. HOW OFTEN DO YOU TALK WITH YOUR SUBORDINATE OFFICER ABOUT THE USE OF ICAT SKILLS? HOW OFTEN DO YOU DO THIS? HOW FREQUENTLY? AND WHAT WE WOULD HOPE TO SEE IN THIS GRAPH IS THAT YOU WOULD SEE A LOT OF YELLOW OFTEN OR FREQUENTLY DOING THESE TYPES OF ACTIVITIES TO REINFORCE, BUT IN FACT, WE FIND THAT THAT'S ACTUALLY MUCH MORE UNLIKELY, LIKE NEVER OR SELDOM. UM, IN PARTICULAR, HOW OFTEN DO YOU COUNSEL YOUR SUBORDINATE OFFICERS ABOUT NOT USING ICAT SKILLS WHEN THEY SHOULD HAVE ONLY IN THE CASE OF LOUISVILLE METRO, ONLY ABOUT 7% SAID THEY OFTEN OR FREQUENTLY DO THAT. WELL, WE THOUGHT THIS WAS LOUISVILLE METRO, AND AGAIN, THIS WAS BACK, UH, 2019 TO 2020. PERHAPS THERE HAVE BEEN CHANGES SINCE THEN. SO WITH THE INDIANAPOLIS STUDY THAT WE JUST RECENTLY CONCLUDED, WE ASKED THE SAME QUESTIONS, AND YOU'LL SEE THERE'S NOT MUCH MOVEMENT HERE. AGAIN, THIS IS UNTAPPED POTENTIAL OF THE FIRST LINE SUPERVISORS. THEY'RE STILL EXPERIENCING THESE SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN OFFICER USE OF FORCE, AND WE KNOW THAT OFFICERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO USE DEESCALATION TACTICS AND SKILLS IF THEIR FIRST LINE SUPERVISORS SUPPORT IT. BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT THERE'S MORE WAYS FOR THOSE FIRST LINE SUPERVISORS TO SUPPORT IT THAT THEY'RE NOT TAPPING INTO. SO THE POTENTIAL HERE IS REALLY DRAMATIC. I THINK, UM, MOVING FORWARD, AND THIS IN AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT IS A GREAT WAY TO TIE ALL OF THESE THINGS TOGETHER. SO IN CONCLUSION, THE ICAT TRAINING, THE A PD OFFICERS ARE ALREADY RECEIVING AND THEY'RE GETTING ENHANCEMENTS IN THIS ICAT TRAINING. THIS CAN BE SHOWN TO REDUCE USE OF FORCE AND SUBJECTS THAT ARE INJURED. WE KNOW THAT THE CONTENT AND THE DELIVERY OF THIS TRAINING REALLY MATTERS, AND THAT TRAINEE RECEPTIVITY IS CRITICAL. WE ALSO KNOW THAT A FOCUS ON FIRST LINE SUPERVISORS COULD HAVE THE GREATEST, BOTH IMMEDIATE AND LONG-TERM IMPACT ON CHANGING THE CULTURE AND THE UNDERSTANDING OF USE OF FORCE. SO HOLISTIC APPROACHES, POLICY, SUPERVISION, MANAGERIAL REINFORCEMENT, ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE GOING TO IMPROVE IMPACT. AND SO WE NEED TO CONTINUALLY BUILD THIS EVIDENCE BASE SO THAT WE CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND THESE THINGS AND MAKE SURE THAT AGENCIES ARE SELF-ASSESSING. WHAT WE'VE DONE, UH, WITH THE PERMISSION OF, OF CHIEF DAVIS IS TO MOVE THIS FORWARD HERE AND REALLY THINK ABOUT THEN BACK TO MY DISCUSSION TOPICS HERE. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO, UH, WITH THAT TRAINING AND HOW CAN WE FURTHER ENHANCE THE ICAT TRAINING, UH, THAT IS CURRENTLY ONGOING, UH, FOR OFFICERS IN A PD, BUT ALSO WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR TRAINING AND A NEW TRAINING IS BEING DEVELOPED RIGHT NOW? UM, CHIEF MIGHT BE ABLE TO, TO SPEAK TO THAT A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THE TRAINING ACADEMY IS UP TO. YES. SO, UM, ALL SERGEANTS WILL COME BACK FOR A ONE WEEK OF TRAINING. AND SO THI THIS IS A WEEK OF, UM, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY THINGS THAT ARE FOR MY GOALS AND FOR THE THINGS THAT WE ARE PUSHING FORWARD. AND THIS IS, IT IS HOW WE MOVE TOWARD, UM, ICA MORE IMPORTANTLY WHAT THEIR ROLE IS. UM, AND I'VE SAID THIS FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, THERE IS, IN A POLICE DEPARTMENT, THERE IS NO GREATER ROLE THAN THAT OF A FRONTLINE SUPERVISOR. EVERYTHING THAT I PUSH FROM THE TOP, IT CANNOT GET DONE IF THEY DON'T HAVE THE BUY-IN THERE. AND SO IT IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT THAT THIS WORK CONTINUES AND THAT WE HAVE THOSE FRONTLINE SUPERVISORS, THEIR BUY-IN, AND NOT JUST THEIR BUY-IN, BUT KNOWING THE WHY, WHY WE'RE DOING WHAT WE'RE DOING, AND TO SEE THOSE REDUCTIONS IN, AGAIN, USE OF FORCE OFFICER INJURY, ALL OF THOSE THINGS MATTER WHEN YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR PEOPLE AND YOU'RE SENDING THEM OUT THERE TO DO A JOB, UM, THAT'S BEST FOR THE COMMUNITY AS WELL. THANK YOU, CHIEF. AND SO THAT IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY IT MAY SEEM COUNTERINTUITIVE [01:05:01] WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT YOU HAVE A FORCE REVIEW UNIT, EVERY USE OF FORCE, UM, EXCEPT FOR THE MOST SERIOUS, WHICH GO, UM, TO A SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT, INTERNAL AFFAIRS, UM, TAKES THOSE ON. BUT THERE'S A FORCE REVIEW UNIT THAT SEES THE VAST MAJORITY OF USE OF FORCE CASES. BUT WHAT WE'VE DONE IS TAKEN THE FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR OUT OF THAT OVERSIGHT INADVERTENTLY WITH THE PROCESS THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE. SO THINKING ABOUT THOSE LEAST, THE LEAST SERIOUS INTERACTIONS THAT ARE CONSIDERED, UH, CURRENTLY AS USES OF FORCE AND THINKING ABOUT THEM AS REPORTABLE INCIDENTS THAT ARE STILL REPORTED, THEY'RE STILL TRACKED, BUT WE GIVE THAT INFORMATION TO THAT FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR AND HAVE THE FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR AS THE INDIVIDUAL THAT IS INITIALLY INVESTIGATING, UM, THAT PARTICULAR INCIDENT, THAT REPORTABLE INCIDENT. UH, AND SO WE'RE REALLY BUILDING BACK THE IMPORTANCE, UM, AND THE POTENTIAL OF THAT FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR. SO ALL OF THESE ARE THINGS TO COME THAT ARE IN PROCESS AT THIS POINT. UH, I'M SO PLEASED TO TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CLEAN UP A LOT OF THE ERRORS AND PROBLEMS THAT WE HAD IN THE, IN THE USE OF FORCE DATA. UH, THERE IS AN ANALYST THAT IS IN YOUR RESEARCH AND PLANNING SECTION, UH, DR. UH, SINA KANG, WHO IS AMAZING. SHE HAS BEEN DOING TREMENDOUS WORK AND I ASKED HER TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE KROLL REPORT, THEIR INITIAL USE OF FORCE ANALYSIS. MY TEAM LED THAT ANALYSIS. I WASN'T ON THE KROLL TEAM, BUT RATHER HAD BEEN HIRED TO DO THAT PART. AND WE HAVE NOW RECREATED THAT FOR THE 2024 DATA. SO YOU'LL HAVE A ROBUST MECHANISM OF ANNUAL REPORTING THAT HAS ALSO BEEN AUTOMATED SO THAT IN 2025, YOU'LL AUTOMATICALLY BE ABLE TO GET THAT RICH INFORMATION THAT THAT GOES BEYOND THE CURRENT REPORTING, UH, AND EXPLAINS ACTUALLY, UH, WHAT THOSE TRENDS AND PATTERNS LOOK LIKE. UH, AND IT'LL GIVE MORE INFORMATION BACK TO BOTH A PD BUT ALSO TO THE COMMUNITY. SO ALL OF THAT IS MOVING FORWARD, I THINK A, A GREAT, GREAT WORK, UM, THAT'S BEING DONE INTERNALLY THAT I'M OVERSEEING AS WE MOVE FORWARD. UH, SO IN TERMS OF PROCESS AND TIMING, WE HAVE A LOT BEFORE US. WE'LL, I'LL BE MEETING AGAIN WITH OUR TASK FORCE TOMORROW MORNING, LAYING OUT THE NEXT SERIES OF PATHS MOVING FORWARD, UM, AND TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN THAT NEW USE OF FORCE POLICY IS IN PLACE, THAT WE HAVE THE APPROPRIATE TRAINING IN PLACE AS WELL. UH, WORKING DIRECTLY AGAIN WITH, UH, WITH OPO AND DIRECTOR MCCANN, UM, HAS BEEN ADVISED ON A LOT OF THIS WORK AS WELL. AND WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP. WE'VE ALSO BRIEFED, UH, CITY LEGAL. I SPENT, I WENT THIS MORNING AND MET WITH TRAVIS COUNTY, UH, DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE. I'VE MET, UH, WITH ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, JOHN FORTUNE, UM, AND NOW OF COURSE BRIEFING WITH YOU FOLKS. SO WITH THAT, I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE. THANK YOU, DR. ENG, UH, COLLEAGUES, I JUST WANNA SAY THANKS AND, AND I PARTICULARLY APPRECIATE THE DATA ABOUT FIRST LINE FRONTLINE AND, AND, UH, SUPERVISORS AND THE ROLE THAT THEY PLAY AND ALL THAT. AND I'LL SAY THAT, THAT MY IMPRESSION IS, UH, A VERY POSITIVE IMPRESSION OF HOW THE CHIEF FROM THE VERY TOP IS REINFORCING THE CONCEPT OF DEESCALATION AND HOW WE APPROACH, UH, EVEN WHAT ARE SOMEWHAT ROUTINE EVENTS WHERE WE HAVE LARGE GROUPS OF PEOPLE TOGETHER. UH, I'VE WATCHED THAT UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL AND, AND I THINK THAT'S JUST PART AND PARCEL OF THIS WHOLE APPROACH. SO I WANNA SAY THANKS FOR WHAT YOU'RE PUTTING TOGETHER, BUT CHIEF, I ALSO JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU TO YOU FOR WHAT I ALREADY SEE AS YOUR LEADERSHIP IN THIS AREA, SO WE CAN STILL BE FRIENDS. I CAN LIKE YOUR WORK . WELL, THANK YOU. I'LL TAKE THAT. YEAH, I CAN LIKE YOUR WORK. I'LL TAKE THAT AND I'LL WALK AWAY QUIETLY. THANK YOU DR. ANGLE. CHIEF. THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR THE PRESIDENT. OH, I'M SORRY. COUNCIL MEMBER DEON. THANK YOU, CHAIR. I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION AND IT'S, UH, WELL FIRST OF ALL, LEMME SAY AGREE WITH THE MAYOR'S COMMENTS. UM, VERY ENCOURAGED BY HOW RIGOROUS YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WITH COLLECTING DATA AND TRYING TO ASSESS, UM, HOW TO, HOW TO MOVE FORWARD IN A WAY THAT ENCOURAGES DEESCALATION AND ADDITIONAL TRAINING. THE QUESTION I'VE GOT IS ACTUALLY ABOUT, UH, TECHNOLOGY, AND I'M WONDERING IF IT'S COME UP AS PART OF IT, BECAUSE IT'S COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT, UH, MY UNDERSTANDING IS WE HAVE SWAPPED OUT THE TASERS [01:10:01] FOR SOME OFFICERS WITH A SORT OF, UH, MORE ACCURATE SUPERIOR TASER, UH, DEVICE. I'M CURIOUS IF ANY OF THE RESEARCH THAT YOU'VE COME ACROSS OR, UH, OR AS IT COMES TO OUR DATASET FOR USE OF FORCE INCIDENTS IN THE PAST HAVE IN ANY WAY BEEN, UH, CONNECTED TO HAVING A LESS EFFECTIVE TASER. AND THAT'S MY CLUMSY CHARACTERIZATION. THERE'S PROBABLY A BETTER WAY OF SAYING THAT, BUT IF TECHNOLOGY IS A PIECE OF WHY OFFICERS MAY HAVE ESCALATED BECAUSE THE TASER DIDN'T DO THE WORK THAT WE HOPED IT WOULD DO, AND SO THEN THEY ESCALATED TO THE NEXT STEP, UH, IS THAT SOMETHING Y'ALL HAVE LOOKED AT? AND IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WOULD COME UP AS PART OF, UM, THIS OR OTHER RESEARCH THAT YOU'RE DIGGING INTO? WELL, I CAN SPEAK ABOUT THE RESEARCH BOTH NATIONALLY, UM, AND SOME OF THE WORK HERE AS WELL. AND THEN I'LL TURN IT OVER TO THE CHIEF. UH, I, I BELIEVE WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IS THE CHANGE FROM THE TASER SEVEN TO THE TASER 10. UM, THE TASER 10 IS AN UPDATED MODEL, UM, AND THE CHIEF CAN SPEAK TO THE SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES IN THE MODEL. UM, I ALSO BELIEVE WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO IS SOMETIMES WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU RELY ON THE TASER AND YOU, UM, THEN ARE IN CLOSE, YOU USE THE TASER, AND IF THE TASER'S INEFFECTIVE, YOU'VE NOW CLOSED THAT GAP POTENTIALLY. AND NOW YOU HAVE TO GO HANDS ON, AND IN WHICH CASE YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE INJURED AS AN OFFICER, AND POTENTIALLY THE SUBJECT'S MORE LIKELY TO BE INJURED AS WELL. AND SO WITH THE TASER 10 TECHNOLOGY, YOU CAN BE BOTH FURTHER AWAY. SO YOU, AND IT'S ALSO CONSIDERED MORE EFFECTIVE. I'LL LET THE CHIEF SPEAK TO THAT SPECIFICALLY. SO THERE'D BE LESS LIKELIHOOD OF GETTING INTO CLOSE AND THEN HAVING TO GO HANDS ON AND THEN BE, UH, INJURED. AND IN FACT, THE, SOME OF THE WORK THAT IS COMING OUT ACROSS THE COUNTRY IS FINDING EXACTLY THAT REDUCTIONS IN OFFICER AND, UM, AND SUBJECT INJURIES AS A RESULT. CHIEF NO, ABSOLUTELY, UH, ROBIN, BUT IT, IT'S GOOD TO NOTE TOO THAT, UM, AXON IS PHASING OUT THE SEVENS, SO WE WILL ALL HAVE THE TENS, UH, JUST BECAUSE THE SEVENS ARE BEING PHASED OUT. BUT TO ROBIN'S POINT, IT ABSOLUTELY REDUCES, UM, OFFICER INJURY AND ACTUALLY INJURY TO, TO, TO PEOPLE AS WELL WHEN THEY'RE ABLE TO USE THAT. THANK YOU. IS THERE ANY WAY TO, UH, AND THANKS FOR HELPING ME UNDERSTAND THE, THE DETAILS THERE. IS THERE ANY WAY TO, AS YOU'RE GOING THROUGH THIS, TO TEASE OUT IF THERE WERE INCIDENTS THAT WE HAD THAT ARE, THAT WERE SORT OF CLASSIFIED IN A CERTAIN WAY OR WERE TASER RELATED INCIDENTS THAT, UM, THAT MAY BE GOING FORWARD, THOSE INCIDENTS WOULD'VE BEEN ADDRESSED A DIFFERENT WAY? THIS IS A, IS THERE A WAY TO, TO LOOK AT DATA AND SAY, UH, THIS TECHNOLOGY POTENTIALLY CAUSE AN ESCALATION AS A RESULT OF IT BEING NOT AS EFFECTIVE AS CURRENT TECHNOLOGY? UM, AND I GUESS HOW MUCH OF THAT IS, UH, DRIVING PART OF OUTSIDE OF THE TRAINING, OUTSIDE OF THE REPORTING FROM TODAY IS DRIVING PART OF THE DEESCALATION DISCUSSION? WELL, I CAN SPEAK TO NOT NECESSARILY YOUR DATA SPECIFICALLY, BUT THERE ARE OTHER STUDIES THAT I'VE CONDUCTED, UM, WITH, WITH OTHER AGENCIES WHERE WE'RE ABLE TO LOOK AT THE EFFECTIVENESS. SO YOU COULD HAVE A USE OF FORCE REPORT AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THAT PARTICULAR TACTIC AND WHETHER OR NOT THE OFFICER PERCEIVED THAT TACTIC AS EFFECTIVE IN THOSE CASES, TASER WAS OFTEN CONSIDERED THE LEAST EFFECTIVE MEASURE IN TERMS OF A CONTROL TACTIC OR TOOL, UM, BECAUSE IT HAD A HIGHER FAILURE RATE, PARTICULARLY IN CLIMATES WHERE THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, HEAVY JACKETS, COLDER CLIMATES, RIGHT? YOU'RE NOT GETTING THE, THE PROBES THAT WILL PENETRATE. UM, SO THERE WAS, YOU KNOW, CONCERN ABOUT THAT SPECIFICALLY. I CAN ALSO TELL YOU IN ONE AGENCY WHERE I WORKED, WE FOUND THAT, UM, FEMALE OFFICERS WERE MORE LIKELY TO USE TASERS, TASERS WERE MORE LIKELY TO FAIL, AND THOSE FEMALE OFFICERS HAD A HIGHER INJURY RATE THAN MALE OFFICERS BECAUSE THEY WERE THEN AGAIN, FORCED TO GO HANDS ON WHEN YOU HAVE A FEW OTHER OPTIONS. THE GREAT THING ABOUT THE CRITICAL DECISION MAKING MODEL AS PART OF THE ICAT TRAINING IS THAT YOU'RE CONSTANTLY, IF YOU WILL, SPINNING THE MODEL, THINKING ABOUT TIME, DISTANCE, COVER OTHER OPTIONS, AND THAT'S PART OF THAT DEESCALATION PIECE, UH, INCLUDING A LESS LETHAL OPTION OPTIONS, RIGHT? SO FOR EXAMPLE, THE TASER, BUT OTHER OPTIONS AS WELL. UM, AND SO TRAINING OFFICERS TO THINK THAT THROUGH, UH, I THINK WILL ALSO BENEFIT IN ADDITION TO HAVING BETTER, STRONGER TECHNOLOGY TO USE. YEAH, I AGREE. UM, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE TOO, IS THIS IS WHEN YOU LOOK AT, UM, USING ICAT, IT IS NOT FOR PEOPLE WITH GUNS. AND SO, YOU KNOW, YOU TALK ABOUT DEESCALATION, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WITH KNIVES, WITH BATS, WITH THOSE, WITH, WITH THOSE TYPE OF THINGS. UM, AND SO WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? UM, AGAIN, ICAT AND THIS TRAINING, IT'S ALL GONNA COME DOWN TO THE TRAINING WE'RE GONNA HAVE AT THE ACADEMY. PART OF OUR, UM, OUR, OUR OFFICERS HAVE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH THAT, [01:15:01] BUT AS WE'RE PUSHING IT THROUGH AGAIN AND HAVING THOSE SERGEANTS COME BACK IN FOR THIS ONE WEEK TRAINING, THESE ARE THINGS THAT ARE GOING TO BE REITERATED AND THAT TRAINING IS GONNA BE THROUGH SCENARIOS ON HOW WE MOVE FORWARD. BUT IF YOU CAN SLOW DOWN AND YOU THINK ABOUT A SWAT OFFICER, RIGHT? THAT'S KIND OF THE EPITOME. IF YOU THINK OF, OKAY, THE OFFICER SWAT WHAT THEY DO, THAT IS WHAT THEY DO. THEY SLOW THINGS DOWN, THEY LOOK AROUND, SEE WHAT THEY HAVE. AND IF WE'RE ABLE TO DO THAT AND KIND OF ISOLATE A SITUATION AND JUST GIVE IT THE TIME, YOU KNOW, THAT WE CAN DEESCALATE SOMETHING, THAT'S WHAT WE WANT OFFICERS TO RECOGNIZE IS THERE IS A WAY TO DEESCALATE EVEN SOME SERIOUS, UM, YOU KNOW, A SERIOUS PERPETRATOR IF WE CAN GET TIME AND DISTANCE ARE ON OUR SIDE, AND WE'RE ABLE TO DO THAT. AND SO THAT'S WHERE THIS TRAINING COMES IN. AND THE FINAL THING I'LL JUST NOTE ABOUT TECHNOLOGY, THERE ARE QUITE A FEW AGENCIES THAT ARE MOVING TO, UH, DFR PROGRAMS, DRONES AS FIRST RESPONDER PROGRAMS, AND AS PART OF THAT, SENDING THE DRONE, WHEN THE CALL FOR SERVICE FIRST COMES IN SO THAT YOU CAN GET EYES ON BEFORE OFFICERS ARRIVE, IT GIVES THEM THAT ADDITIONAL TIME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE DYNAMICS ARE SO THAT YOU'RE NOT RUSHING INTO A SITUATION THAT YOU DON'T KNOW OR CAN SEE ALL OF WHAT'S HAPPENING. AND WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE. WELL, WE'RE JUST BEGINNING. WE'RE NOT IN THE MIDDLE. WE'RE JUST IN THE BEGINNING OF A STUDY WITH 10 LARGE AGENCIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO UNDERSTAND IF THAT'S ACTUALLY IMPACTING OFFICER SAFETY. WE KNOW ANECDOTALLY THAT IT IS, THAT IT IS MAKING NOT JUST THE OFFICER SAFER, BUT AGAIN, THE SUBJECT SAFER AS WELL BECAUSE THE OFFICER'S APPROACH WITH MORE INFORMATION READILY AVAILABLE TO THEM. SO WE OFTEN DON'T THINK ABOUT DRONES AS AN OFFICER SAFETY MEASURE, BUT IT MOST CERTAINLY, UM, IS AT LEAST AGAIN, ANECDOTALLY DEMONSTRATING THAT IMPACT. AND WE WILL HAVE NOW MORE INFORMATION MOVING FORWARD OVER THE NEXT YEAR, YEAR AND A HALF OF WHAT THE, WHAT THAT IMPACT LOOKS LIKE IN A MORE SCIENTIFIC WAY. AND I'M VERY MUCH LOOKING FORWARD TO THOSE RESULTS. THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME, UH, BETTER UNDERSTAND THAT AND CLARIFY THAT. GREAT. THANK YOU COLLEAGUES. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. UH, COLLEAGUES, WE, WE'LL NOW TAKE UP ITEM NUMBER SEVEN. UH, AND, UH, THAT IS TO IDENTIFY, UM, IDENTIFY ITEMS TO DISCUSS IN FUTURE MEETINGS. UM, IF ANYBODY HAS ANYTHING, IF Y'ALL WANTED A DAYLIGHT NOW AND OR YOU CAN EMAIL ME AND OR, UH, THE DISTRICT THREE CHIEF OF STAFF, UM, WITHOUT ANY ITEMS. I'M NOT ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, UH, THE COMMITTEE WILL NOW GO INTO A CLOSED [Executive Session] SESSION TO TAKE UP TWO ITEMS, ITEMS FIVE AND SIX, UM, UH, WHICH CONCERN PERSONNEL MATTERS. I WILL, UH, BE BACK OUT TO ADJOURN US AFTER WE'RE DONE. WE ARE NOW IN, UH, WE'RE NOW GOING IN A CLOSED SESSION. THANK YOU. RECOMMEND TO THE CITY COUNCIL THAT THE CITY COUNCIL REAPPOINT THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS AS JUDGES OF THE, OF THE MUNICIPAL COURT AND DOWNTOWN AUSTIN COMMUNITY COURT IN THE FOLLOWING WAY. PRESIDING JUDGE JUDGE SHERRY STATMAN, DOWNTOWN AUSTIN COMMUNITY COURT JUDGE MICHAEL COFFEE. AND IT IS ALSO A RECOMMENDATION OF THE COMMITTEE. THIS AS PART OF MY MOTION THAT JUDGE COFFEY BE REAPPOINTED AS AN ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF THE AUSTIN MUNICIPAL COURT. THE FOLLOWING ASSOCIATE JUDGES WOULD BE OUR RECOMMENDATION, JUDGE BRIAN J GARRA, JUDGE BARBARA GARCIA, JUDGE ALFRED JENKINS, JUDGE PATRICK MCIS, JUDGE GEORGE THOMAS, AND JUDGE STEVEN VITO. SUBSTITUTE JUDGES THAT WE WOULD RECOMMEND ARE JUDGE KELLY EVANS, JUDGE CHRISTINE HARRIS SCHULTZ, JUDGE GORDON ARCHER, JUDGE RANDY ORTEGA, JUDGE OLGA SELIG, JUDGE PAMELA SIGMAN, JUDGE STANLEY KERR. JUDGE SUSANNA MAROLA, JUDGE RON MYON, JUDGE RYAN TURNER AND JUDGE KEN UCCI. I WOULD MOVE THAT THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE, MAKE THOSE FA THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE ENTIRE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL. MOVE BY, UH, THE MAYOR AND SECONDED BY THE VICE-CHAIR WITHOUT ANY OBJECTION. VERY GOOD. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHTY, UH, COLLEAGUES, UM, THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS TO COME BEFORE THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE, THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL WITHOUT OBJECTION, THIS MEETING IS ADJOURNED AT 4 0 2. THANK YOU EVERYONE. THANK YOU MR. CHAIRMAN. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.