Despite the dissolution of a contract governing its existence, Austin’s Office of the Police Monitor will remain intact for now. The office fields citizen complaints against officers and has access to internal affairs investigations.
Barring some last-minute Christmas miracle, the city's meet-and-confer agreement with the Austin Police Association is dead. Over the weekend, union membership voted overwhelmingly (1,305 to 110) to reject City Council's overtures for a renegotiation.
The Austin Police Association on Tuesday resoundingly rejected the City Council’s request that it continue its current contract for a few months and return to the negotiating table.
Austin police officers have exactly two weeks to decide whether or not they will keep hashing out a new contract with the city.
Activists said the contract would perpetuate a broken system of citizen oversight and shield cops who engage in misconduct.
Members of the Austin Justice Coalition and Grassroots Leadership took a knee as Austin City Council members listened to the invocation before the meeting.
Interim Police Monitor Deven Desai opened negotiations between the city and police last week with a nod to a crowd of activists gathered in one corner of the room. “I’ve sat in these negotiations since '08 and I can’t remember a time we had even one person from the community come in and actually observe the negotiations," he said.
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APD’s refusal to act on recommendations given by a citizen review panel suggests that the city's 16-year experiment in police oversight has failed.
Austin’s Citizen Review Panel (CRP) has special access to certain internal investigations of police officer-involved shootings and other incidents. The Panel reviews the incident and may issue a letter of recommendation calling for policy or procedural changes at the Austin Police Department (APD), even if the officer is found to have violated no rules.
Violent crimes — including murder — jumped up again last year in Texas and across the nation, according to new FBI data. It's the second year violent crime has increased from record low levels in 2014.
