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Austin Police Department cadets at the restart of academy training in June 2021, following an overhaul of the curriculum (APD)
As the Austin Police Department experiences high 911 response times and an officer shortage, a new study conducted reveals what would be needed to meet an ideal response time.
The study, funded by the Greater Austin Crime Commission and conducted by University of New Haven and Texas State University, analyzed six million officers and two million emergency calls. Police Chief Joseph Chacon announced Tuesday the study showed 108 patrol officers, for a total of 882, were needed to meet the six minutes and 30 second or less response time with a 95% degree of certainty.
Currently, APD’s authorized strength on patrol is 774 officers and the actual number of patrol officers fluctuates on a daily basis but according to Chacon, the department is currently operating at “well below” capacity. Plus, accounting for vacancies, the department would need to maintain 730 working officers.
The study looked at APD data from the past five years with the goal of helping the department and community achieve the right balance of patrol officers using two tools: machine learning analysis on how call response times affect public safety outcomes and a resident survey on community perception.
“It’s important that we recruit the right type of folks to be police officers in our community,” Chacon said. “We have a very robust and diverse recruiting unit that is working on doing that very thing for future classes. So it’s kind of a multi-pronged effort.”
At the same time, APDs 911 response times have been on the rise since 2016 and currently hover around eight minutes. There will be a new graduating class of cadets this month, and Chacon said the department will continue to work on reducing attrition and upping training capacity.
From there, Chacon said the next step will be to bring the data to the Austin City Council and community members to get feedback on how to implement changes indicated in the data in real life. Chacon said he will then update the community on plans to move forward.
“We pride ourselves as a police department in using data and evidence to make decisions, especially policy decisions that are going to make sense for our community,” Chacon said. “I will be working on these types of evidence-based efforts to put forward sensible plans that work to keep Austin citizens safe.”
The model, which Greater Austin Crime Commission President Corby Jastrow said is the first to use machine learning for this purpose, can be used continually for the most current findings. A second part of the model, which will look at non-patrol functions within the department, will be completed later this year.
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A University of Texas football player has been accused of violating Oklahoma's "revenge porn" law. (Texas Football/Twitter)
Texas Longhorns defensive back Ishmael Ibraheem has been suspended from the UT football team after Oklahoma State University police accused the freshman of violating Oklahoma's "revenge porn" law.
The freshman, who has played in one UT game this season, will be suspended until the legal process has finished. Ibraheem is being charged with a misdemeanor of nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images following accusations that he sent sexually explicit content of an Oklahoma State University student via social media, according to the Stillwater News Press.
“We were made aware of the allegations involving Ishmael Ibraheem in early September and immediately cooperated with the University and legal processes, which remain ongoing. In light of the new information and his recent charges, he has been suspended from all team activities at this time as we continue to monitor the legal process,” a UT spokesperson said.
Ibraheem had engaged in a sexual relationship with the student before he reportedly sent explicit content of the student via social media. Oklahoma's "revenge porn" law fights to combat sending sexual images of a person without their consent, especially when sent with malicious intent. It can result in up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
According to the bill, which was enacted in 2016, a person can be given the charge if they "disseminate the image with the intent to harass, intimidate or coerce the person, or under circumstances in which a reasonable person would know or understand that dissemination of the image would harass, intimidate or coerce the person."
OSU police claim Ibraheem sent his ex and another student a video of him and the victim engaged in sexual acts, including a TikTok video. The victim initially did not know Ibraheem was recording but later asked him to keep it private. Ibraheem originally said he unsent the message of the video, so the person never saw it.
Ibraheem was charged Friday and has an arrest warrant with a bond of $2,000.
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Austin Police Department cadets at the re-start of academy training in June 2021, following an overhaul of the curriculum (APD)
The defeat of Proposition A in the Nov. 2 election repudiates Save Austin Now's plan for a significantly larger police force while leaving considerable uncertainty around the future sizing of the force.
That outcome thrilled progressives, who led the charge against Prop A, while shocking the largely Republican supporters' coalition led by Save Austin Now. At an election night watch party, Save Austin Now supporters learned of the results with disbelief.
For Prop A opponents, the result signals persistent public support for last year's reallocation of public safety resources, as well as skepticism of both the cost and effectiveness of adding hundreds more police. "We know that the safest cities have more resources, not more police," said No Way on Prop A, the political action committee that spearheaded the opposition.
Read the full story at The Austin Bulldog.
