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City council approves Austin police contract
The Austin City Council has approved a new contract for Austin police officers. The vote came after hours of public comments.
AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin City Council has approved a new contract for Austin police officers. The vote came after hours of public comments.
In a 10-1 vote, the city council signed off on the contract. City council member Zo Qadri was the only member to vote against it.
The $217.8 million agreement has a 28 percent increase in raises over five years, plus stipends for officers in various roles.
The agreement must still be approved by the Austin Police Association and will go into effect after that approval.
About $16.5 million would be taken out of the city's general fund for the deal.
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Austin Police Association contract discussions
Austin City Council is expected to vote on a new contract with the police union. Council members have been listening to hours of public comment on the topic.
Austin City Council members heard several hours of public comments about the contract on Thursday. Austinites felt passionate about how their tax dollars were being spent spoke.
"With 300 vacancies in the Austin Police Department, the safety of Austin residents and workforce is jeopardized," said Tasha Mora, who lives in District Four and works in District One.
"I respectfully want to ask why the math is not mathing," said Crystal Tran, UT graduate. "We keep telling y'all over and over again that the $218 million price tag doesn't make sense."
The majority of people who signed up for public comment on Thursday were against putting more money into APD. However, some argued the city needs to support the police force to fill the open positions and attract and retain officers.
"We've called 911 numerous times, over 15 times to be exact," said Jenifer Earnshaw, who stood for the contract. "But the response has been slow or nonexistent. The Austin Police Department wants to help, but they are stretched too thin due to staffing shortages."
RELATED: City Council hears hours of public comment ahead of police contract vote
The majority of people who signed up to speak to the city council are against increasing funding for APD. They feel the money would be better spent on resources supporting mental health or homelessness.
"$218 million price tag for the police department at the expense of assisting formerly incarcerated people with housing and jobs, paying EMS responders their actual worth and funding the EMS alternative mental health response program to actually respond to calls," said Tran.
However, those favoring the contract said safety is priceless and that they are forced to spend personal dollars on private security to protect their business and employees.
"In 2020, when our city council voted to reallocate over $150 million from our police department, many of us knew this was an awful decision," said Blake Thompson, in support of the contract. "We can now unequivocally state the action was very detrimental to our city, and I hope we don't make those same mistakes."
The police department had been without a contract for about a year and a half.
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Group tries to halt vote on APD contract
A Travis County judge has declined an advocacy group's amended lawsuit that was trying to halt the council's vote on the proposed Austin police contract.
"This is a truly momentous day. After a year-and-a-half without a police contract, we have achieved a major milestone. Since joining the City in May, I made it clear that one of my top priorities was to finalize a new contract between the City and the Austin Police Association. I am proud that we have been able to achieve such a significant accomplishment through this five-year agreement today," City Manager T.C. Broadnax said.
"Since becoming mayor, I’ve pushed to get us to a long-term contract with our police. It is critical for us to achieve our staffing goals and our goals to assure Austinites are safe and feel safe," Mayor Kirk Watson said. "This contract will move us in that direction. I’ve also pushed to assure that the will of our voters is met when it comes to police accountability. This contract does that. I’m thankful to the City Council, the City Manager, and the APA for their work to get us here."
According to the city council, key highlights of the contract include:
- Police oversight, including the elimination of confidential police personnel files and an extension of the time frame in which officers can be disciplined.
- Police officer base pay increase of 28% over five years. Base pay will increase by 8% in the first year, 6% in the second year, 5% in the third and fourth years, and 4% in the last year of the agreement.
- Enhancements to the promotion process that include employing an assessment center method of testing that is shown to have a much lower disparate impact against minority applicants. The enhanced promotion process will also include:
- Additional training for assessors.
- Increased diversity opportunities for promotions.
- A pilot program for promotion to Commander that includes a probationary period, leadership training, and a mentorship program, as supported by Kroll Report recommendations.
- Enhancements to hiring, recruitment, and retention to address staffing vacancies, such as Field Training Officer pay increases and stipends for patrol officers. Additionally, the Austin Police Chief will have the authority to set eligibility requirements for police cadet applicants and modify the hiring process to more effectively hire and recruit experienced applicants.