Dear Neighbor,
Today is the voter registration deadline for the November 3 election. Five Austin City Council seats are on the ballot. Be an informed voter. Find your council district.
Early voting begins October 13.
Election Day is November 3.
The Central Texas Public Safety Commission and a coalition of business and community groups will urge the Austin City Council to make mid-year budget adjustments and:
- Restart police cadet classes.
- Restore police positions.
- Resume police staffing plan implementation.
- Carefully consider additional cuts to police functions and services.
- Promote alternative responses to improve outcomes and reduce police workload (for example, homelessness and mental health calls).
If your business or community group wants to join the Better Safe coalition and schedule a presentation, please call (512-482-8107) or reply to this email.
The new Citizen Police Review Commission meets for the first time today at 6:00 p.m. City Manager Spencer Cronk appointed ten volunteers who will serve staggered one and two-year terms. The group will assess critical incidents, make recommendations regarding discipline and training, and review police misconduct cases. More information is available here.
The City of Houston Mayor’s Task Force on Police Reform issued its report last week. Download or read it here. The report was prepared in ninety days by a forty-five-member task force that included business, community, and faith leaders. It makes 104 recommendations in six areas: community policing, independent oversight, power dynamics, crisis intervention, field readiness, and clear expectations.
Austin’s City-Community Reimagining Public Safety Task Force is tentatively scheduled to meet again on October 20 and November 5. More than a dozen social justice groups and the Central Texas Public Safety Commission are represented on the task force. Future meetings will be broadcast and livestreamed.
Last Friday, the City of Austin released a report analyzing failures at the Austin Police Department DNA Laboratory between 2010 and 2015. The study by the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania is available to download or read here.
Stay safe.
Best,
Corby
P.S. The Central Texas Public Safety Commission held a virtual 19th Annual 9/11 Memorial honoring Central Texas first responders. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, USA (Ret), was the featured speaker. Watch the memorial online here.