Austin Police Department doesn't have effective recruitment plan, audit finds

AUSTIN, Texas - According to a city audit, the Austin Police Department does not have an effective recruitment plan and is struggling to attract enough applicants. 

The audit looked at data from 2020-24. Part of that time, the department was without a contract.

The vacancy rate more than doubled from 7.4 percent to 18 percent between 2020 and 2024.

Audit of the Austin Police Department

Big picture view:

At an Audit and Finance Committee meeting this week, the auditor's office said APD doesn't have an effective recruitment strategy, no measurable objectives, and no action plans. 

"Without a measurable objective, it's very difficult for the department to determine when they've reached their goal to recruit a diverse and skilled workforce," Jasmine Triplett, with the Office of the City Auditor, said.

They added there's a lack of a recruitment pipeline, since youth programs end at age 18, but applicants can't join until they're 20.5 years old. Plus, staff is inconsistent with entering recruitment data. 

Besides the 30x30 initiative, which aims to increase the number of women in the force to 30 percent by 2030, there are no other metrics as to what the department wants to accomplish. 

The audit says there also needs to be a better social media strategy, where the recruiting office and public information office work together to share recruitment messages on their accounts.

"These strategies were ultimately supposed to be turned into action plans as listed in the 2024-29 strategic plan. However, as of March 2025, these have not been turned into specific action plans," Triplett said.

Dig deeper:

As of January 2025, there were 330 vacancies.

Each academy class can have up to 104 cadets, but they've been averaging 56 cadets per class in the past four years.

Chief of staff Robin Henderson says there were limitations when they didn't have a contract, like a pause in a cadet class and not being able to travel out of state for applicant testing. 

"Part of the evaluation process or the audit that was done at the time we were out of contract. Therefore, we were hindered by our recruiting efforts," she said.

She says they can improve on recruitment data, like why some applicants don't advance.

"We also have a data-driven approach. We are collecting and utilizing data to better inform our outreach and our marketing strategy efforts and then also tracking our performances," she said.

Chief Lisa Davis told FOX 7 at a cadet graduation last month, "I think within a year and a half, two years, we should be stabilized on where we are with our numbers. I feel very optimistic about this."

She assured council members at the committee meeting that they're trying.

"Retention is quite obvious that that is occurring. We are keeping people here and the recruitment effort, it's happening. It is a slow process, but it is happening," Davis said. 

The audit recommends publishing a recruiting plan with measurable targets by September.