Last week the City of Austin proposed removing the troubled forensics laboratory from under the control of the Austin Police Department (APD) as part of its City-Community Reimagining Task Force. Yesterday, the city council approved the move, adopting a $4.2 million budget for the fiscal year that will see the APD lose about $150 million.
The recently established Reimagining task force—a response to protests and the pandemic—was asked to explore options for reallocating positions and roles currently assigned to the Austin Police Department that could be managed by other departments, such as public safety. The task force identified 13 departments that have the potential to be “reimagined,” including the forensics lab, 911 call center and police dispatch, police internal affairs and officer training.
The forensic lab is one of six programs that will move out of the APD as early as Quarter 1 of the 2020-2021 budget, which is this fall.
APD’s forensic lab, which has previously been overseen by police or civilians, has a history of problematic behavior. The DNA lab was shuttered in June 2016 after a state audit found numerous problems with the handling and analysis of evidence, including untrained staff and improper testing procedures.
City Council Member Greg Casar told a local NBC-affiliate that creating a new forensics lab run entirely by scientists is a top priority for the city and of the task force.
“We have been talking for years, since 2016, about the failures in our forensics process, and I think really bolstering the forensics lab, having it be independent and getting it done in this budget would be a really important thing for survivors of violence and harm in our community,” Casar said.
The other programs that will move out of the APD in the fall include: administrative and management services; technology services; officer wellness program; municipal/community court security; and protective services.
In a memo, Assistant City Manager Rey Arellano said five additional programs could also be slated for removal in the fall, but due to time and money, would more likely move in 2021. Those divisions include: Chief Medical Officer concept; Strategic Support; Emergency Call Center & Police Dispatch; Internal Affairs; and the Special Investigations Unit.
Altogether, the programs set to move out of APD account for nearly $80 million of the APD's current budget.
Budget reallocation
The City Council meeting on Thursday confirmed the new fiscal year budget of $4.2 billion will cut about $150 million from APD to reinvest. Approximately $20 million will be taken from cadet classes and overtime to be reinvested in permanent housing and services, EMS for COVID-19 response, family violence shelter and protection, violence prevention, workforce development and a range of other programs. Additionally, $50 million will be diverted into a Reimagine Safety Fund, dedicated to providing alternative forms of public safety and community support.
Some of the budget reallocation for the Reimaging task force comes from proposed elimination of 100 officer positions that were left unfilled or scheduled to be filled through three cadet classes that have also since been canceled. Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told the Statesman canceling the cadet classes would not be in the interest of the community, and he was concerned about cutting money from the police budget.
Austin City Council Member Jimmy Flannigan, who chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee, does not agree.
“I think we would be hard pressed to find another example where a department head has been so combative, such a barrier, and ultimately leading a department doing the exact opposite of what a unanimous vote of the council has directed that department to do,” Flannigan told the Statesman.
In fact, City Council has been highly critical of the Austin Police Department and Manley. In the initial referedum that established the Reimagining task force, the Council specifically noted their disappointment with how APD handled protests after the murder of George Floyd.
“Recent police action showed that sworn officers of the Austin Police Department fired rubber bullets, bean bag rounds and tear gas into crowds and sent unarmed protesters to the hospital,” the referendum reads. “The measures that current Austin Police Department leadership have been willing to implement are inadequate, and resemble the same flawed police training and command expectations that have existed in the past.”