Policing & Community Safety

Somewhere deep in the Austin Police Department's computer database sit the personnel files of each of its approximately 1,800 officers. Those files include their disciplinary histories, which may include details about unnecessary violence or unethical conduct, Internal Affairs investigations, and the punishments meted out for misconduct. Most officers won't have much or any disciplinary history. But some, almost certainly, have multiple instances of discipline in their files.

Today is Sandra Bland Day in Austin. The day was proclaimed in 2019 to remember Bland, whose suspicious 2015 death sparked outrage. Bland died in a Waller County, Texas jail cell in 2015 at the age of 28, but her death is still under speculation to this day.

Read the full article from Spectrum News Austin.

Several organizations held an event Saturday in Austin to provide information and resources to people who've been previously incarcerated.

Negotiations between Austin officials and the police were breaking down in part over the city’s attempts to increase police accountability in 2018. The city’s citizen review panel disbanded. Finally, that November, the parties reached an agreement, though tensions remained. A new office was created and staffed by civilians rather than police: The Office of Police Oversight.

Read the rest of this article from Texas Observer.

New research by The Sentencing Project shows a drop in youth crime over the past 20 years, which debunks a so-called "false narrative" of a youth violence movement sweeping the country. Sarah Reyes, policy analyst at the Texas Center for Justice and Equity, said there is little data since the pandemic started, but she suspects the drop in crime, at least in Texas, was an anomaly because kids were isolated due to COVID-19.

This week, the Travis County Commissioners Court will weigh whether to hire a marketing firm for $250,000 to help the Travis County Sheriff’s Office fill current vacancies. That includes 145 corrections officer vacancies, up from only 60 vacancies before the pandemic in May of 2019. Additionally, the jail population has increased by 60 inmates this May compared to that same May of 2019, now up to 2,173.

Read the rest of this article from KXAN.

The Austin Justice Coalition (AJC) invited the community to a press conference at the Austin Energy Headquarters preceding the Austin Police Department's contract negotiation session on Monday.

Drug use and addiction is growing in Texas and getting younger, but current pushes by state leaders to attack the issue by reducing supply will have little effect on the problem, advocates say. Currently, methamphetamine use continues to be the biggest drug threat in Texas, but the prevalence of fentanyl is quickly growing, said Eduardo Chávez, who leads the Drug Enforcement Administration's Dallas Field Division.

Read the rest of this article from CNHI News.

The City of San Antonio will soon launch a pilot program that will send specially-trained police officers, paramedics and licensed clinicians to certain 911 calls that involve mental health. The multidisciplinary team, now called SA Core, for Community Outreach and Resiliency Effort, is aimed at reducing arrests by instead connecting people to the mental health services they need during a crisis. 

Read the rest of this article from San Antonio Report.