PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING Monday, March 2, 2020 @ 4:00pm City Hall Boards and Commissions Room 301 W. 2nd Street Austin, Texas 78701 AGENDA CALL TO ORDER (4:00pm) CITIZENS COMMUNICATION (4:05pm-4:20pm) The first five speakers signed up prior to the Call to Order will each be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (4:20pm-4:25pm) Items for Presentations, Discussion, and Possible Action: 2. Quarterly Stats from Public Safety Departments authorized strength, vacancies, overtime hours, call volume, response times (4:25pm-4:30pm) Sponsored by Commissioners Hollis, Hausenfluck, and Bernhardt Speakers: 3. Presentation on Critical Incident Video Release Policy (4:30pm-4:50pm) Sponsored by Commissioners Hollis and Harris 4. Briefing on COPAC Project (Critical Observation Patrol and Community) (4:50pm-5:15pm) Sponsored by Commissioners Hollis and Harris Speaker: -Troy Gay, Chief of Staff, Austin Police Department -Rob Vires, Chief of Staff, Austin Fire Department -Jasper Brown, Chief of Staff, Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services - Office of Police Oversight - Austin Police Department - Robert Miljenovich, Austin Police Department - Taber White, Austin Police Department 5. Briefing on Initial Budget Priorities from All Agencies (5:15 pm – 5:35pm) Sponsored by Commissioners Hollis and Bernhardt Jasper Brown, Chief of Staff, Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services - - Rob Vires, Chief of Staff, Austin Fire Department - Troy Gay, Chief of Staff, Austin Police Department - Robert (Bob) Nicks, President of Austin Firefighters Association 1 6. Austin EmergencyMedical Services(EMS) workload allocation and equipment distribution - Request for Council Action vote (5:35pm – 5:45 pm) Sponsored by Commissioners Hollis and Bernhardt 7. Briefing Update from the Public Safety Commission ATCEMS/AFD Dispatch Equity Study Scope-of-Work Working Group (5:45pm-5:55pm) Sponsored by Commissioners Hollis and Webber 8. Future Agenda Items (5:55pm – 6:00pm) 9. Adjournment The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call Janet Jackson at Austin Police Department, at (512-974-5747), for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. For more information on the Public Safety Commission, please contact Austin Police Department Assistant Chief, Troy Gay at 512-974-5030 2
` PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Monday, February 3, 2020 The Public Safety Commission convened a meeting Monday, February 3, 2020 at City Hall 301 W. 2nd Street in Austin, Texas. Commissioner Rebecca Webber called the Board Meeting to order at 4:00p.m., and announced the resignation of Commissioner Ed Scruggs. Board Members in Attendance: Daniela Nunez Rebeca Bernhardt Preston Tyree Rebecca Webber Chris Harris Board Members Absent: Staff in Attendance: Troy Gay, Chief of Staff, Austin Police Department Brandon Wade, Assistant Chief, Austin Fire Department Jasper Brown, Chief of Staff, Austin Travis County Emergency Medical Services Citizen Communications Kathleen Hausenfluck Selena Alvarenga Meghan Hollis Rebecca Gonzales Carlos León, Citizen – Free speech access and equal protection rights safeguarded Paul Robbins, Citizen, Environmental Activist – Toxic building materials used in by constitutional law new homes and apartment 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Commissioner Webber asked for discussion/edits of the January 6, 2020 minutes; hearing no comments, the January 2020 minutes were deemed approved. 2. Introduction of APD Assistant Chief Robin Henderson - Chief Manley introduced Robin Henderson as the new assistant chief with APD and shared how pleased he is to have worked with her in different capacities over her 22 years with her latest role being the Executive Lieutenant. In that role, Robin accompanied him on the majority of his meetings with City Manager and with Mayor and Council. She is very informed on the current and important topics affecting APD. 1 Robin shared briefly about her personal life and 22yr career here at APD. She expressed it was a pleasure to serve the Austin Community. 3. Election of Public Safety Commission Chair – Rebecca Webber nominated Meghan Hollis and Commissioner Tyree seconded the motion. Commissioner Webber asked if there were any other nominations from the board and there were none. Vote- Unanimous Against- 0 Absent - 0 Abstain- 0 4. Lessons Learned Last Summer: Debrief of Commissioners’ participation in City process for hiring an outside consultant to audit APD’s sexual assault investigations Webber introduced this item and invited Patricia Bourenane, Executive Assistant to Assistant City Manager Rey Arellano. Patricia elaborated on the two study groups the request to add two representatives from the PSC to join the working groups. Commissioner Webber invited Amanda Lewis from the Commission for Women to speak on her experience serving on a previous working group. Amanda Lewis, shared her expectations on …
` William (Bill) Kelly Kathleen Hausenfluck PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Monday, March 2, 2020 The Public Safety Commission convened a meeting Monday, March 2, 2020 at City Hall 301 W. 2nd Street in Austin, Texas. Commissioner Meghan Hollis called the Board Meeting to order at 4:00p.m. Board Members in Attendance: Meghan Hollis Daniela Nunez Rebeca Bernhardt Rebecca Gonzales Selena Alvarenga Chris Harris Board Members Absent: Rebecca Webber Preston Tyree Staff in Attendance: Troy Gay, Chief of Staff, Austin Police Department Rob Vires, Chief of Staff, Austin Fire Department Jasper Brown, Chief of Staff, Austin Travis County Emergency Medical Services Citizen Communications Carlos León, Citizen – Commission for Women, Mayor’s Committee for People with Disabilities, and Margaret Moore, District Attorney Julianna Gonzales w/ Safe Alliance - Monthly status from Safe Alliance to Public Safety Commission for the months of January and February 2020 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Commissioner Hollis asked for any discussion/edits of the February 4, 2020 minutes; hearing no comments, Commissioner Bernhardt motioned approval of the minutes and Commissioner Gonzales second the motion. The minutes were approved with a unanimous vote. 1 2. Quarterly Stats from Public Safety Departments authorized strength, vacancies, overtime hours, call volume, response times of Austin Police Department, Austin Fire Department and Austin Travis County Emergency Medical Services Commissioner Hollis introduced this item and COS (Chief of Staff) Troy Gay begin presenting APD’s quarterly stats for October 2019-December 2019. COS Brown and COS Vires followed with presenting their quarterly stats for EMS and AFD. All three agencies presented their department’s current vacancies, responses times, budget nd future cadet classes and recent graduations. There was one person signed up to speak on this item. Carlos Leon – spoke to APD, AFE, and EMS inquiring about their plans to address SXSW 2020 and the threat of COVID-19 being spread during such a large international event held in Austin, Texas. Several commissioners had comments/questions at the end of the presentation: Commissioner Nunez question APD stats of reported uptick of violent crimes in the Edwards sector and APD’s plan/s COS Gay responded, the majority of the crimes reported involve gun violence and currently there is a taskforce in place looking at possible was to reduce gun violence. Commissioner Harris questioned the recent APD graduation of 67 officers and how it is reflected in the number of vacancies reported during this quarter by APD. In …
Austin Police Department Critical Incident Release Policy Overview: This policy reflects APD's commitment to fostering greater public trust by increasing transparency with respect to APD and the community it serves. This policy will establish criteria for when video footage of certain police critical incidents will be released to the public. This policy was developed in partnership with; Office of Police Oversight, Travis County District Attorney's Office, Austin Justice Coalition, ACLU, Just Liberty, Grassroots Leadership, and Texas Fair Defense Project. Purpose: The people of our community have an undeniable interest in being informed, in a timely fashion and based on the most accurate information available about incidents where officers use lethal force, or when the use of force by the police results in the serious bodily injury of a person. What Are Critical Incidents? Officer-involved shootings, including unintentional discharge while in the course of duty or in response to a call, regardless of whether a person was hit by gunfire and even if no allegation of misconduct is made A use of force resulting in death or serious bodily injury as defined by Section 1.07, Texas Penal Code All deaths while an arrestee/detainee is in the custodial care of the Department unless there is no preliminary evidence of any of the following: misconduct, a use of force, or an act committed by an arrestee/detainee that appears intended to cause injury or death; or Any other police encounter where the Chief of Police determines release of video furthers a law enforcement purpose Timeline Release: If the Chief of Police determines that releasing video following a critical incident is appropriate pursuant to this policy, then the Department will post the relevant video imagery on a publicly accessible website within 90 days of the incident. Delayed Release: Under certain circumstances, the release of the video must be delayed to protect the following: Safety of the involved individuals, including officers, witness, bystanders, or other third parties Integrity of an active investigation (including criminal or administrative) or criminal prosecution Confidential sources or investigative techniques Constitutional rights Notifications and Consultations: If the Chief of Police determines that no video will be released following a critical incident, then the Department will post a statement summarizing the reasons within 60 days of the incident. The following will be notified of this decision: Officers depicted in the video and/or significantly involved in the use of force Subject upon whom force …
Austin 911 operators effectively field calls, but audit finds gaps in dispat... https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2020/02/austin-911-operators-effe... Thursday, February 27, 2020 by Andrew Weber (https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/author/andrew-weber/) Operators field roughly a million calls for emergency services in Austin a year. A new city report says those operators do a serviceable job of answering that glut of calls, but found a disconnect between those calls and the delivery of crucial services. There are a lot of reasons for that, according to the Office of the City Auditor’s analysis of six years of call data from October 2013 to July 2019. That audit (https://www.austintexas.gov/edims /document.cfm?id=336386) was discussed Wednesday at a meeting of the city’s Audit and Finance Committee. For one, the three departments using call centers – the Austin Police Department, Austin Fire Department and Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services – don’t uniformly measure their quality assurance, making an audit comparing response and dispatch times difficult. Part of that divergence is intrinsic: An operator fielding a 911 call intended for AFD won’t be asking a caller for a suspect description or the medical condition of a possible patient, for example. But the departments measure response time in seconds or minutes or even a rate when it comes to answering the most urgent calls for services. The audit shows AFD and EMS response times didn’t accurately reflect wait times from a caller’s perspective, because they didn’t properly account for the transfer time it took to transfer a caller to an operator. The audit also shows the three departments didn’t always meet their dispatch goals in terms of timeliness. While the departments met the national benchmark for answering emergency calls, all told, APD, AFD and EMS met 14 of their 24 total performance targets in 2018 for dispatch timeliness. Andrew Keegan with the city auditor’s office says a lot of that lag between call and dispatch has to do with time and geography. 1 of 2 2/27/2020, 12:44 PM Austin 911 operators effectively field calls, but audit finds gaps in dispat... https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2020/02/austin-911-operators-effe... “If the call comes in at 5:30 p.m. on a Friday, and they have to go to South Austin … or travel on 35 or any of the highways, that’s necessarily going to take longer than if they have to respond to a call at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday, just because of traffic and people on the roads.” Still, District 6 Council Member Jimmy Flannigan said the …
Public Safety FY2020-21 Budget Forecast March 2, 2020 City of Austin, TX Austin Police FY2020-21 Budget Forecast March 2, 2020 City of Austin, TX Police Department Budget Overview FY2020 Totals at a Glance FY2020 Approved Budget $434.5 Million FY2020 Positions 1,959 Sworn 737 Civilian FY2020 Budget by Program FY2020 Budget Highlights Year 2 Sworn Staffing Plan: 30 Sworn FTEs Outsource DNA Contracts Body Worn Camera Program Cloud Storage 6 Civilian FTEs Police Department Budget Overview FY2021 Forecast FY2021 Forecast Budget $463.3 Million* FY2021 Positions 2,014 Sworn 741 Civilian Police FY2021 Forecast Highlights Personnel Cost Drivers Interfund Transfers Capital & Non-Capital Replacement Items Contract & Operating Increases $20.8M $3.9M $3.4M $841K Total $28.9M* or 6.6% *Estimate: The FY2021 Budget Forecast is still under development, pending CM review and City Council approval. Council Initiatives & Other Budget Items Under Review Year 3 Sworn Staffing Plan: 30 Sworn FTEs $2.3M Addressing Violent Crime in Austin Cadet Salary Increase 4 Civilian FTEs Market Study – Forensics Positions Records Management System Replacement $1.5M Helicopter Replacement Total $5.6M $1.5M $406K $894K $1.3M $13.5M Austin Fire FY2020-21 Budget Forecast March 2, 2020 City of Austin, TX Fire Department Budget Overview FY2020 Totals at a Glance FY2020 Approved Budget $200.7 Million FY2020 Positions 1,220 Sworn 131 Civilian & 60 Cadet FY2020 Budget by Program FY2020 Budget Highlights $1.2M for staffing of temporary fire station in Del Valle $586K for partial year staffing & equipment at new Del Valle fire station $277K for 3 civilian positions in Wildfire Division Division $600K for fuels mitigation in the Wildfire Fire Department Budget Overview FY2021 Forecast FY2021 Forecast Budget $217.8 Million* FY2021 Positions 1,252 Sworn 144 Civilian & 60 Cadets Fire FY2021 Forecast Highlights Personnel Cost Drivers Interfund Transfers Del Valle Ladder and Travis Country Station Personnel & Operating Contract Increases Non-Capital Replacement & Supply Items $7.7M $2M $3.6M $100K $600K $14M Total *Estimate: The FY2021 Budget is still under development, pending City Council approval. Council Initiatives & Other Budget Items Under Review 1. Maintenance for Records Management Software $225K 2. Highland Development Center & One Texas Center 3. WUI code implementation: one-time costs 4. WUI code personnel costs rent TOTAL $742K $512K $1.5M $3M Emergency Medical Services Department Review March 2, 2020 City of …
