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Austin police in contact with FBI to investigate possible officer involvement in Capitol riots
21 January
(Shutterstock)
The Austin Police Department is collaborating with an FBI agent and the Major Cities Chiefs Association to determine if any of its officers were present during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
<p>The association, which represents police chiefs in the nation's largest cities, wrote a letter to members of Congress and recommended that city agencies evaluate tips and leads to find any officers who participated in the riots at the Capitol. </p><p>The letter also suggested using facial recognition technology to identify insurrectionists, citing the technology as key to "preventing and disrupting terrorist attacks and addressing violent crime." </p><p>The MCCA said that several current and former local law enforcement members were involved in the riots and condemned those who participated, encouraging local agencies to terminate those officers involved. </p><p>Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said he has spoken with the FBI agent associated with the investigation and is willing to provide information, including photos of officers for facial recognition technology, if needed. No APD officers have been suspected of involvement as of yet. On Tuesday, it was reported a <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/19/tam-pham-houston-police-capitol-riot/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Houston police officer</a> was involved in the riots and has since been charged.</p><p>Local officials have expressed concern regarding police officers' participation in the riots as well. Emails between Manley and Austin City Council Member Alison Alter were made public on Jan. 14, showing a disagreement between the two on investigating APD staff. In the emails, Alter said that more needed to be done to determine police officers' whereabouts on Jan. 6 and that Manley should use the riots to discourage certain behavior. </p><p>Manley was unsupportive of the suggestion and replied that the exercise would take resources away from real tips in the investigation.</p><p>"The amount of resources it would take to conduct an investigation into the hundreds, if not over a thousand officers who were not on duty that day would be overwhelming," Manley said. "(It) would pull investigators and others away from investigating actual complaints of misconduct we have received through our normal course of business."</p><p>While Manley did not want to conduct the investigation within the department, he was still willing to participate and assist in the FBI investigation. In a department-wide statement on Jan. 15, Manley further responded by condemning rioters and compared the insurrection to the 9/11 terrorist attack.</p><p>"For me, the visual of those rioters illegally entering the Capitol, committing acts of violence and vandalism against one of the greatest symbols of democracy, attacking law enforcement officials, and threatening the safety and security of our elected officials rivals the images of the terrorist acts committed on 9/11 that took so many lives and will forever stand as a stain on our society," Manley said.</p><p>The MCCA also compared the riots to terrorism and implored Congress to update the domestic terrorism statute so that acts of domestic terrorism can be more easily prosecuted. </p><p>When addressing the future, the association said that "every MCCA member is concerned about the potential for violence in the upcoming days and beyond."</p><p>To mitigate these concerns, the letter recommended that agencies should conduct training against implicit bias and the use of force; and emphasize deescalation; and racial, religious and cultural sensitivity.</p>
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A sampling of Austin crime reports since noon Saturday:
7:25 a.m.: Carjacking, person assaulted and robbed of vehicle. 8801 McCann Dr.
2:09 a.m.: A white Lexus hits a police car and leads police on a 100 mph chase until the driver crashes and is arrested at gunpoint. E. Oltorf St. & Pleasant Valley Rd.
11:17 p.m.: Man falls from cliff into Lake Austin, in Tarrytown. A kayaker rescues the man and takes him to a nearby dock, where first responders found him and transported to local hospital. 2200 Scenic Dr.
<p data-children-count="0">10:48 p.m.: <strong>Man brandishing weapon in Mueller H-E-B parking lot.</strong> 1801 E. 51st St.</p><p data-children-count="0">10:01 p.m.: <strong>Person injured in West Campus assault.</strong> 2313 Rio Grande St.</p><p data-children-count="0">12:17 p.m.: <strong>Woman assaults Citgo employee, flees on foot.</strong> 2700 E. 7th St.</p><p data-children-count="0">11:48 a.m: <strong>Man waving knife at cars driving by.</strong> 4500 E. William Cannon Dr.</p><div class="redactor-editor" data-children-count="0" dir="ltr" placeholder="Start writing..."></div>
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50,000 Austin users are getting in on a new app that tracks crime, COVID updates and protests
20 October 2020
(Pexels)
About 50,000 Austin-area users have already downloaded Citizen, a smartphone app that reports real-time police and emergency medical threats. Austin is already one of Citizen's most popular cities since the company soft-launched here late last year.
<p>"It's one of our top markets after cities like New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago," Citizen spokesperson Lily Gordon told Austonia via email.<br/></p><p>The app relies on hired analysts and user-generated content to track every 911 call and public safety dispatch in the city. Users receive alerts about nearby incidents directly on their cell phone lock screen, and reports are updated live with additional details as well as audio and video recordings as they become available.</p><p>While there are numerous services similar to Citizen, including the city-built <a href="https://austintexas.gov/department/austin-pd-smartphone-app" target="_blank">Austin PD smartphone app</a>, Citizen claims to be the most popular since its launch in 2017. In total, the app has been downloaded by 5 million people across 20-plus metropolitan areas. </p><p>Citizen has already live reported several notable events in Austin. In addition to daily local COVID-19 updates, the app served as an information resource during downtown social unrest in late May and June.</p><p>More recently, Citizen dominated coverage during two September news events: when <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-trump-boat-parade" target="_self">five boats sank</a> during a pro-Donald Trump boat parade rally on Lake Travis (Sept. 4) and again when <a href="https://austonia.com/construction-crane-collision-austin" target="_self">two construction cranes collided</a>, injuring 22 workers in the Mueller neighborhood (Sept. 16). During both news events, the smartphone app scooped some local news outlets with live breaking news updates from analysts and Citizen users.</p><p>"We were proud that we were able to provide real-time updates on this major story to more than 30,000 Austinites and be a resource for local news outlets," Gordon said via email. "As a real-time safety app, this example points to how we are in a unique position to provide up-to-the-minute updates about developing public safety incidents."</p><p>As part of its "official" Austin debut in April, the company hired freelance help to increase activity on the platform. Austin native Brian Smith, who runs <a href="https://twitter.com/txmobilenews?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@txmobilenews</a> on Twitter as a freelance videographer, helped Citizen cover breaking news events in Austin as part of its "Street Team Program." He posted videos of public safety threats directly to the app, getting paid for each scene he documented. </p><p>The street team disbanded after the first month because of COVID-19 health concerns. Smith did similar stringer work while living in New York City. But Austin doesn't have as many breaking news stringers—think Jake Gyllenhaal's character in "Nightcrawler"—as the larger news markets. </p><p>"I'm kind of the only one who does the videos for the television networks," said Smith, who works as head of sales for a technology startup during the day. "This market just doesn't support it."</p><p>Even though Smith is no longer paid by Citizen for his side hustle, he still uses the app to find breaking news events to cover for the highest bidder. He even posts the occasional video clip from a news event as long as it doesn't compete with his freelance work.</p><p>From his experience, the app has proven reliable and accurate, and it's only improving.</p><p>"I do believe the people behind Citizen are committed to doing the best they can to put the best information out there to inform the public," Smith said.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="2048" data-rm-shortcode-id="614b6e2361ab68210306ae3383fc7f09" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUzNTU2Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDY2OTcwMH0.JPAjqSqiMj3SUbE6RPsTteEqibfZQFp_xWrTaRAoBLs/img.jpg?width=980" data-width="2048" id="356b6" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Public safety alerts are blasted to Citizen users each time a 911 call is documented. Users can customize the extent they receive alerts.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Citizen app</small></p><p>Many users on Citizen promote news from the app on other social platforms, including Westlake resident Dennis Lastor, who posts the occasional breaking alert to Twitter. The city has become less safe since he moved here 21 years ago, he said, and Citizen helps document the extent of the issue.<br/></p><p>"I wanted to see what kind of crime was going on and what kind of increase might be going on, and Citizen app was the only direct source showing the reality of what kind of crime was going on," said Lastor, who downloaded the app about three months ago.</p><p>Lastor, an engineer, says Citizen provides data that shows a rising crime trend as well as bizarre anecdotes about public safety risks in Austin. For example, there have been reports of multiple people chased by a machete-wielding man in one neighborhood, he said, and more than a dozen 7-Eleven convenience stores have recently been robbed. </p><p>According to the <a href="http://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/101520_CMR_September_%20EXTERNAL.pdf" target="_blank">latest crime report</a> from the Austin police chief, crimes against persons and property crime are down so far this year. Lastor acknowledges the app has the potential to confirm his own bias, so he also relies on other news sources to balance out Citizen.</p><p>Lastor and Smith also both reject any comparison to Nextdoor—another hyperlocal reporting service—which is sometimes ridiculed for its unsubstantiated "suspicious person" posts. In fact, Lastor just deleted his Nextdoor account. </p><p>"(Citizen) can be hypervigilant, so you may think it's World War III when it's just an average day, but the upside beats the downside," Lastor said.</p>
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On the first day of early voting, Austin Police reports no issues despite long lines
13 October 2020
Assistant Police Chief Joe Chacon briefs reporters Tuesday afternoon about the first day of early voting in Austin and department plans for managing potential election-related unrest in the coming weeks.
The Austin Police Department reports no issues that required their attention during the first day of early voting, Tuesday.
<p>Amid <a href="https://austonia.com/early-voting-travis-county" target="_self">long lines and record voter registration efforts</a>, Austin Assistant Police Chief Joe Chacon told reporters Tuesday afternoon that no patrol officers have been dispatched to polling sites so far. </p>
<p>Police officials and city leaders expressed concern this week <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-protest-election-week" target="_self">about election-related unrest</a>. But so far, Chacon said there have been no specific threats in Austin that raise concern.</p>
<p> "Austin Police Department will be prepared if something comes up," Chacon said. </p>
<p>The department is "adequately staffed" for election patrol efforts, Chacon said, despite no additional staffing made available. </p>
<p>APD will not provide an active role in site security, with no officers assigned or stationed to actively monitor polling sites, Chacon said. Instead, polling judges are located at each site and have been trained when it might be necessary to contact authorities.</p>
<p>Patrol officers have been made aware of polling location sites and will manage long lines that potentially become a safety hazard for voters and passing motorists.</p>
<p>"However, they are not there to take any action other than that," Chacon said.</p>
<p>Early voting runs from Oct. 13-30 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Election Day voting takes place 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 3. </p>
<p><strong>More on voting:</strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/travis-county-early-voting-2020" target="_self">Here's where you can vote early in Travis County</a></h2>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUwNjk0OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNDE0MDkxOX0.LO36rxXIBv6gr3diP978TaghyKYjXPrD216Z4q2xUYg/img.jpg?width=980" id="518b2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7133def5c8ac35112b61935c14476be2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Here's where you can vote early in Travis County(Emma Freer/Austonia)
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