20201117-4c: that the City Council direct the City Manager to retain the Austin Police Department's Office of Community Liaison within Department — original pdf

Recommendation

Commission Recommendation Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission Recommendation Number (20201117-4c): The Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission recommends that the City Council direct the City Manager to retain the Austin Police Department’s Office of Community Liaison within Department. Description of Recommendation to Council WHEREAS, it is the value of the City of Austin to be an inclusive city for all of its citizens including those of diverse racial, ethnic, religious, and national origin backgrounds; WHEREAS, the Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission was created Ordinance No. 20141211-204 to advise the City Council on issues related to the Asian American Resource Center and to provide on-going guidance and support for the City's Asian American quality of life initiatives; WHEREAS, On June 11, 2020, Austin City Council approved RESOLUTION NO. 20200611- 050, which set a goal of zero racial disparity in traffic stops, zero racial disparity in arrests and citations that result from traffic stops, zero use-of-force incidents, and zero deaths at the hands of APD officers; WHEREAS, The Office of Community Liaison works in each of Austin Police Department’s (APD) four regions as dictated by the needs of the department and the community; WHEREAS, The Office of Community Liaison provides outreach programs for vulnerable communities such as the Asian community, represent APD at community events, collaborate with community and APD officers on community concerns; WHEREAS, The Office of Community Liaison Asian Outreach Program provides language access and is a key connector for APD to the Austin Asian American community; WHEREAS, the 2018 Community Policing Advancement in Austin Report included a staffing study that concluded officers in the APD have less than the necessary 35-50% of uncommitted time to support Community Policing, a metric that is also currently not met; WHEREAS, The Office of Community Liaison staff and programs serve a key function of connecting citizens to APD officers in their provision of service to the community; WHEREAS, the 2018 report recommendations indicate that APD should provide funding for their Public Information Office to market its Community Policing efforts; NOW, THEREFORE: 1 of 2 Strongly recommends that the City Council direct the City Manager to retain the Austin The City Manager should investigate resources in other departments that would augment BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE ADVISORY COMMISSION: Police Department’s Office of Community Liaison within Department. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: and expand the scope services the citizens receive from the Office of Community Liaison. RATIONALE: The Office of Community Liaison are an essential extension of the Austin Police Department by providing opportunities to show the positive impact APD can have in the community. They provide a bridge to enhance the image of APD in the community. Date of Approval: November 17, 2020 Record of the Vote: Moved by Commissioner Cobalis. Seconded by Commissioner Patil. Unanimous on a 11-0 Vote. (Commissioners Vince Cobalis, Sarah Chen, Kuo Yang, Kirk Yoshida, Nguyen Stanton, Hanna Huang, Pramod Patil, Shubhada Saxena, Pooja Sethi, Shruti Mangalmurti, and Debasree DasGupta). Attest: 2 of 2