Item 6 - Public Safety Rec. 20250908-006 (APO Responds) 11.21.2025 — original pdf

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1520 Rutherford Lane Austin, TX 78754 Austin Police Oversight Public Safety Commission Recommendation 20250908-006 Response to recommendations: An immediate presentation of the last completed Annual Report to a publicly posted Austin City Council meeting as mandated by the ordinance; and On April 23, 2025, the 2023 report was presented to the Mayor and Council via Memo from the CMO. https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/pio/document.cfm?id=450217 On May 19, 2025, the Office of Police Oversight’s 2023 Annual Report memo was included on the Public Safety Committee agenda for information only, not discussion. https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=451734 The 2024 Annual Report was presented to the Mayor and Council via memo on October 13, 2025, and published on APO’s website on October 14, 2025. APO will present the 2024 Annual Report to Council on December 9, 2025. A documented and published plan for compliance with the Austin Police Oversight Act; and Austin Police Oversight (APO) complies with the Austin Police Oversight Act and therefore does not require a separate, documented plan for compliance. The Act requires, among other provisions, that the office provide at least once per year both a written and an oral report to the City Council during an open session regarding the results of office activities. Austin Police Oversight has fulfilled the written reporting requirement and will present the oral report to City Council in its December meeting, covering activities from 2023 and 2024. A searchable database of complaint documentation in an accessible format that can be used in translation and accessibility software by the general public; and The complaint documentation is searchable and publicly accessible on the Austin Police Oversight website, though its current layout can be challenging to navigate. As part of an ongoing platform rebuild, the next phase will introduce a more intuitive and user-friendly design to further improve the experience Assignment of a staff liaison from the City Clerk’s office to the Community Police Review Commission to help alleviate strain on Office of Police Oversight staff resources while providing a level of consistency and expertise for open meetings that is consistent with city standards. Austin Police Oversight (APO) has not articulated any strain on staff resources related to its support of the Community Police Review Commission (CPRC). Should any challenges arise in support of the Commission, APO will work collaboratively with the City Manager’s Office and the City Clerk’s Office to address or mitigate any impacts on staff capacity. 512-974-2000 | austintexas.gov Responses to questions read on the record at the September 8, 2025 Regular Called Meeting of the Public Safety Commission be made publicly available. (see below for responses) ANNUAL REPORT 1. When will the OPO be presenting at a publicly held City Council meeting as directed in the city ordinance? December 9, 2025 2. When will the 2024 Annual Report be published? The 2024 Annual report was published on October 15, 2025 3. What is the schedule for annual reports going forward for 2025 and onwards, and what will be the accountability mechanism to ensure these are done in a timely manner? Beginning in January 2025, all Department Annual Reports will be released subsequent to the publication of the City Manager’s Year in Review. APO’s goal is to issue its Annual Report anytime thereafter, but no later than the fourth quarter of the calendar year. 4. What departments are given edit and approval access to the OPO’s annual report? All Department Year End Reviews or Annual Reports require review and edit by the Corporate Public Information Office, and review, edit, and approval by the City Manager’s Office. COMPLIANCE 5. Have all anonymous complaints to date been published to the OPO website? All complaints are published on the APO website through June of 2025. APO does not separate complaint documents by type. Work is underway to finalize and post the last two quarters of 2025 to the APO website by end of year. 6. Are complaints that have received oral or written reprimands been posted to OPO website? Aggregate numbers of oral and written reprimands are published on our website as part of the Annual Report. Austin Police Oversight (APO) fulfills its mandates by publicly releasing all information required under the Austin Police Oversight Act. 7. Complaints posted to the OPO website are not searchable. What can be done to improve searchability? The complaint documentation is searchable and publicly accessible on the Austin Police Oversight website, though its current layout can be challenging to navigate. As part of an ongoing platform rebuild, the next phase will introduce a more intuitive and user-friendly design to further improve the experience 8. Are there technical and/or infrastructure improvements needed for the database to more adequately meet the reporting requirements of the ordinance and Resolution 99 and be easily accessible and searchable for the general public? 512-974-2000 | austintexas.gov Austin Police Oversight is collaborating with Austin Police to identify a case management system with the functionality necessary to address data gaps related to the reporting requirements of Resolution 99. 9. What solutions have been discussed to bridge the gap between data collected during the complaints process and reporting requirements? APO reclassified a position within the department to strengthen its capacity for data collection and reporting. However, the position was subsequently eliminated following the failure of Proposition Q. 10. Have all compliments been published to the OPO website? APO does not publish compliments; they are forwarded to the officer’s chain of command to be included in the officer’s personnel file. However, each quarter APO reports the total number of compliments received for officers during our quarterly working group meetings, and this information is on APO’s website. COMPLAINTS PROCESS & OUTCOMES 11. What training are complaints officers being provided with to ensure impartiality in the complaints process? APO Complaint staff receive ongoing training to ensure impartiality, including series of professional development training covering topics such as: Strengthening your ability to empathize, Unconscious Bias, Emotional Intelligence, Staying Positive while performing difficult client service work, to name a few. In addition, APO maintains membership in the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) and staff attend its annual training conferences to remain informed of national best practices in police oversight. 12. How are complainants being informed of their options? Complainants are informed of the available options: Community Concern (CC), Supervisor Referral (SR), or Notice of Formal Complaint (NFC) during the preliminary review with a Complaint Specialist. 13. How sustainable are “Supervisory Referral” dispositions given APD’s return to patrol initiative and the changes being made to the Force Review Unit? Recent changes have not impacted the Supervisor Referral (SR) process or APD’s ability to effectively facilitate an SR request from a complainant. 14. What follow up does the Office of Police Oversight do for Supervisory Referrals? When a Complainant requests a Supervisor Referral (SR), the Complaint Specialist explains the Supervisor Referral process and follows up after the Officer’s Supervisor contacts the Complainant. Once the Internal Affairs Department provides documentation of the interaction, APO reviews it and confirms completion with the complainant. 15. What documentation and/or reporting does OPO track on Supervisory Referrals to assess effectiveness of that classification? 512-974-2000 | austintexas.gov APO reviews all Supervisor Referral (SR) reports that result from external complaints to ensure that meaningful dialogue occurred between the complainant and the responding supervisor, and that the chain of command is aware of the incident and has reviewed the allegations. 16. What automatic triggers are in place to flag full investigations when the Supervisory Referral option is preferred by the complainant? If a complainant requests a Supervisory Referral but APO determines the incident may involve a serious policy violation, APO notifies IAD and recommends a formal investigation. IAD often agrees and reclassifies the case, and APO updates the complainant accordingly. 17. Does the OPO track repeat complaints and outcomes such as repeated Supervisory Referrals for individual officers or certain areas that are outside of the average for APD as a whole? Yes, the APO Complaints Supervisor monitors patterns of repeat complaints and identifies trends that may indicate concerns with individual officers or specific areas that deviate from department-wide norms. The monitoring is not limited to SR complaints but includes all external complaints. COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW COMMISSION 18. What outstanding items/obstacles are currently delaying the CPRC’s ability to review cases? CPRC has established working groups for case triage, and case files have been transferred for their review. 19. How will vacant seats on the CPRC be filled, and what is the timeline for filling current vacant seats? Vacancies will be filled by alternates. 20. Will the CPRC case review work similar to the Civil Service Commission where they have closed door sessions or will the process be different? Case briefing regarding the facts of a case will take place in closed session, consistent with Texas Government Code § 551.074, which permits governmental bodies to conduct certain personnel- related deliberations in closed session. These briefings will be led by the Director/designee of APO and/or a representative from the Internal Affairs Division. 21. Is the CPRC being given the ability to review cases that OPO or APD IA have already chosen to not refer for discipline? CPRC may review any investigation of death in custody, serious bodily injury, or other serious misconduct after the completion of any investigation and before the issuance of discipline and/or in response to the request for review by a complainant. 22. What happens with recommendations made by CPRC? Who are they forwarded to and where will that case documentation live? Recommendations approved by CPRC are forwarded to the department for which the recommendation is directed. APO is working with the clerk’s office to determine where these documents will live. MISCELLANEOUS 512-974-2000 | austintexas.gov 23. Please explain OPO's participation in OIS press conferences and reasoning. Having oversight leadership present during a critical incident is a national best practice. The presence of police oversight staff helps build community trust by demonstrating that the process is being monitored in real time and not just reviewed after the fact. It also allows for direct observation of Austin Police procedures and helps identify any potential concerns as they arise. 24. Did the Office of Police Oversight receive any additional funding in the latest budget adoption? No additional funding was provided. 25. What does OPO think is needed if anything to be able to fully implement all its goals in a timely fashion and to continue to do so on a regular basis that it does not currently have? Austin Police Oversight is collaborating with the Austin Police to address data gaps in reporting related to the case management system. The office is also working with the City of Austin to address office-specific needs as it relates to the website and anticipates that many of the current concerns regarding access, search functionality, and translation will be resolved with the launch of the new City website. 26. What qualifications are prioritized for hiring of complaints supervisors/leadership? Austin Police Oversight follows the City of Austin’s Municipal Civil Service Rules regarding the hiring process. 512-974-2000 | austintexas.gov