Austin’s Public Safety Commission has advised city leaders not to support several police spending requests and instead has suggested the city add $2.3 million to the budget for EMS medics.
As the Austin City Council and city leaders evaluate the proposed Austin Police Department budget, several items have been marked for review, including $1.3 million for a new helicopter to replace a 19-year-old aircraft and $5.5 million for 24 new officers who could respond to weekend violent crime.
The commission on Monday said the City Council should reject most of those items under review.
“A lot has changed in the past two and a half months,” Commissioner Rebecca Webber told the American-Statesman. “Our community needs more medics and more resources to divert people from unnecessarily going to the hospital. What we do not need is a new helicopter for APD.”
Leadership at the Austin police union said these items need to be funded, particularly the new employees.
“We’ve already moved people out of parks and lakes, the organized crime division, and highway enforcement to move them back into patrol because the department does not want to spend the overtime,” union President Ken Casaday said during Monday’s virtual meeting.
Commissioner Chris Harris, who has worked as an Austin criminal justice reform activist for years, said does not think more police will make Austin safer.
“The difference between high- and low-crime areas isn’t the number of police,” Harris said. “It’s the resources available to these communities and the relative health and opportunities available to people.”
Previous city-funded reports have recommended that Austin hire more officers to be put toward community policing initiatives.
“The staffing plan numbers aren’t arbitrary,” said Cary Roberts with the Greater Austin Crime Commission, which supports local law enforcement agencies. “Three separate studies calculated appropriate staffing levels. The city manager developed the current four-year staffing plan in response to those recommendations, and the council has supported it in past budgets.”
As for the helicopter, city budget officials said Monday that the department struggles to obtain parts for it, because of its age.
“What if the parts malfunction, the helicopter crashes and we have two dead bodies?” Casaday said.
Webber said her suggestion would be to ground that particular helicopter.
The commission also suggested the City Council reject a proposal to increase police cadets’ salaries. Commission members were in favor of a $1.5 million records management system replacement and recommended the City Council accept it.
The $2.3 million figure that the commission recommended giving to Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services is based on requests from the EMS union, which includes a request for two new ambulances and 42 new employees.
Commissioners did the math and estimated those requests would cost $2.3 million. Austin-Travis County EMS leaders said the amount would be closer to $4.9 million.
“It’s a lot — I’ve asked for $2.3 million,” Webber said of her amendment. “But I stand behind it. I think every dollar we spend on EMS is saving lives right now and saving all of us money.”
Commission Chairwoman Meghan Hollis agreed.
The additions “are incredibly important, given the COVID-19 challenges we’re having, but also given the challenges that we’re having in our communities of color and our homeless community,” Hollis said during the meeting.
Hollis said she thought it was “an absolutely justifiable ask“ from the EMS union.
Webber said she was surprised the city manager’s office had not amended the proposed EMS budget after the coronavirus began to significantly affect life in Austin.
“I question the leadership at the city manager’s office regarding public safety when they present a proposed ATCEMS budget on May 18 that is not in any way revised from the draft presented on March 2,” Webber told the American-Statesman.
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