Austin mayor wants to begin police cadet classes this spring
AUSTIN, Texas - Austin Mayor Steve Adler and several city council members said they hope the city will be prepared to move forward with police cadet classes in Spring 2021.
The Mayor started the discussion during Tuesday's city council work session. "I, for one, would like to see us move forward with a greater sense of urgency than might otherwise exist, to do what it takes in order to initiate a cadet class this spring," Adler said.
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The mayor and council members said they left the option of one or two cadet classes on the table in 2021, as long as the training academy materials were revised and approved prior to the classes beginning. Those materials have yet to come back to council, even though they were originally expected to be reviewed last summer.
However, Adler said it might be possible to move forward with a class while the council looks over new training materials. “It’s my understanding that the APD training begins with several weeks, if not several months, of state-mandated courses that I understand are not currently under review because they're mandatory,” said Adler.
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City Manager Spencer Cronk said starting the classes would mean reducing the cuts made to APD's budget.
“That would also involve coming forward with budget amendments because all of the money that had been allocated for these training classes was reallocated by the council in August. So, we’ll be working on that,” said City Manager Spencer Cronk.
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A typical cadet class runs eight months with another three months of field training. A records request by FOX 7 Austin showed by October 1, 2020, 112 officers had resigned or retired this year alone. If officers continue to leave the department at that same rate, that would leave close to 300 vacancies before the next cadet graduation.
"I think by having this academy class that will keep the chief from having to get rid of our specialized units... But if they don't get a class started by March, I don't see us having any type of highway enforcement or specialized units, because I think the chief will have to move those individuals back to patrol," said Austin Police Association President Ken Casaday.
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In order to fill the vacant positions from this year and next, council would need to approve more than two cadet classes. Casaday suggests a modified class by recruiting transfers from other cities to speed up the process.
Currently, several of the cadets recruited for the class last June are still in Austin waiting for the academy to begin.