Grace Reader retweetledi
In March, Chief of Police Lisa Davis revised the Austin Police Department’s General Orders to address the more than 700,000 noncriminal, administrative warrants put into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database in 2025.
The Orders were also to provide clarity for our police officers. Austin acted in compliance with state requirements. The Chief’s General Orders were a common sense, practical, and rational approach for policing that maximized our limited resources to adequately address Austin’s public safety needs.
We must do the job of policing in a practical and reasonable way. We do not have the time or resources to engage in activities that pull officers away from needed work and create inefficiencies. That is how we keep Austin safe. We also rely on funding from sources such as state grants to be able to keep Austin safe.
On April 16, the Governor notified me on behalf of the City of Austin that he believed the City was in breach of state grant requirements and threatened to terminate public safety grants awarded to the City. These taxpayer funded grants include:
➡️Sexual Assault Evidence Testing, which would help the City process hundreds of pieces of sexual assault evidence to identify perpetrators;
➡️General Victims Assistance, which helps victims of violent crime by providing trauma-informed support advocates throughout the legal process. It is expected to serve approximately 200 victims;
➡️Violence Against Women Act, which helps process digital evidence quicker, eliminating backlogs;
➡️Violence Against Women Justice and Training Program, which funds a coordinated Sexual Assault Response Team;
➡️Youth Diversion Program, which funds the GO ATX Youth Project, a city-led evidence-based truancy prevention program for students across AISD;
➡️Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, which gives specialized training for our APD SWAT and Bomb Squad members;
➡️Peace Officer Mental Health program, which funds our First Responder Mental Health Project to help officers who have experienced direct and indirect trauma on the job.
I believe the City was following state requirements and I feel strongly that too often politics overwhelms good policy. The threatened loss of these grants would have meant the loss of important public safety services for people we want protected. We have an obligation to them.
The City and State have come to an agreement that the Chief and I believe is practical for our day-to-day policing, will not create undue harm for residents who are the subject of noncriminal, administrative warrants, and preserves important public safety funding. The newly amended General Orders take into account the practicality and reality of policing in Austin while also satisfying some of the concerns raised by the Governor’s office.
We will continue to provide quality public safety services to everyone. We will continue to support our officers. We will continue to support survivors. We will continue to protect people who ask for help. That is our duty. That is how we keep Austin safe.
I thank Chief Davis for her leadership and efforts in keeping our community safe, holding up Austin’s values, and ensuring that we are providing the needed resources for our officers and community.
English
