Southwest Austin - Community Impact Newspaper

Police
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getting officers to answer calls quickly at
rush hour.”
Regardless, Oliver said property crimes
can be tackled.
“That’s not a good showing. That’s something
we’re working hard on,” Oliver said.
Keeping watch
Sandy Baldridge, president of Oak Hill
Association of Neighborhoods, said aside
from a few BB gun incidences that crop
up every year between Thanksgiving and
Christmas, neighborhood groups have not
seen crime as a major issue.
But neighbors remain vigilant, she said.
“If there becomes a trend of three or
four incidences and if our [groups] notify
everyone, it’s a push directive and not a reactive,”
Baldridge said.
Such caution when replacing complacency
may drive down property crimes,
Jamail said.
“It is Austin and we have a relatively low
crime rate, but the vast number of our crime
rate of vehicles and residences is [without]
forced entry, because people leave their car
unlocked or their house unlocked,” Jamail
said. “On one hand, it’s nice because people
live in this area and they feel like they’re safe,
but don’t put yourself out there to become
a victim.”
Trimming the budget
Meanwhile, the most immediate concern
confronting the Austin Police Department
as a whole is fulfilling its mission
while trimming its budget, said Sean
Mannix, commander of the department’s
Community Outreach and Public Service
Division.
“Right now our biggest challenge, and
probably our major focus, is the economic
state of the city and trying to maintain the
level of service citizens enjoy today with
the resources we have and allocating those
resources in the most intelligent manner,”
Mannix said.
In fiscal year 2009, the department is
budgeted to receive about $233 million in
general revenue funds, $3.4 million from
federal, state and local grants and $620,613
in forfeited funds. That is about a $15 million,
or 7.1 percent, increase in general
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revenue funds from 2008, and $36 million,
or 18.1 percent, from 2007.
After city manager Marc Ott asked departments
to reduce spending by $15 million,
Police Chief Art Acevedo announced
$5 million in potential cuts to his department,
which commands more than onethird
of the city’s 2009 budget.
Some of Acevedo’s cuts came from recommendations
by an audit ordered by the city
council and finished in June 2008. The report
by firm MGT of America gave 123 recommendations
on law enforcement to city
management, which concurred or partially
concurred with 103 of them. The suggestions
ranged from changes in evidence-booking
procedures to abolishment or consolidation
of police units.
The main object of the report was cost
savings, in addition to general improvements,
said MGT senior consultant Suzanne
Bradford, who acted as project manager
on the audit.
“I think they’ve done a lot to address
some of the issues that came up in our report,”
Bradford said. “I wonder, with the
budget shortfalls, if they couldn’t do more
with some of the recommendations they
didn’t agree with.”
Civil rights
While Bradford was performing her
18-month-long audit, the Department of
Justice was conducting its own investigation,
spurred by abuse allegations by the
Texas Civil Rights Project. The DOJ report,
released in December, overlapped on some
points with MGT’s report, but focused
mainly on procedural remedies to ensure
officers follow proper guidelines when using
force and that the officers are held accountable
for their actions. Watchdog groups felt
vindicated.
“There is justice in the Justice Department,”
said Debbie Russell, president of
Austin’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties
Union. “We are grateful for the very
thorough review.”
A letter to the city from DOJ investigators
said Acevedo was already implementing
suggested reforms, even while the audit
was taking place.
“[Acevedo] engages the community, engages
the activist. He doesn’t keep them at
arm’s length or ignore them like his predecessors
did,” Russell said.
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“I think under Acevedo we’ve seen a lot of
progress in trying to meet the findings of the
DOJ, in particular the use of violence against
minorities, which was sustained by the DOJ
complaint,” said Jim Harrington, director of
Austin-based Civil Rights Project.
Public concerns
Still, Russell and Harrington both disagree
with some moves by police, including the use
of red-light cameras, “no-refusal” blood draws
for suspected drunk drivers and perceived
slow implementation of the “cite-and-release”
policy approved by the state legislature for
impactnews.com February 2009 | 15
Where Austin crimes were committed in 2008
Southwest
14%
South
23%
North
31%
Central
32%
Southwest
8%
South
26%
North
18%
Property Violent
Central
48%
Property crimes were up 1 percent from 2007 to 2008 in southwest Austin while violent crimes were
up 5 percent, accounting for 8 percent of violent crimes citywide. The southwest area covers ZIP codes
78704, 78745, 78748, 78749, 78735, 78746, 78736 and parts of 78739.
Source: Austin Police Department
Opinions on “no-refusal” blood draws
The “no-refusal” policy, intended to curb drunk driving, was proposed by Chief Art Acevedo and
first put into practice on Halloween weekend 2008. On choice weekends or holidays, the APD hires
a judge to review and sign search warrants so that officers can transport suspects who refuse a
breathalizer to a phelobotomist — one trained to draw blood — at a central location or hospital. A
sample of the suspect’s blood is then taken and blood-alcohol level is determined. Southwest Area
Command Unit Cmdr. Larry Oliver and Lt. Daryll Jamail discuss the “no-refusal” blood draws.
“I am personally
the victim of
a drunk driver
collision, so I know
what it’s like. When
I work the street,
I enjoy making
the drunk driver
arrest — well, as
much as you can
enjoy something
like this. It’s a lot
of paperwork, the system and the process is
constantly changing, but it’s worth the effort,”
Oliver said.
“In a way, to me, it’s
worse than intentional
murder because this
person is going down
the road. People
use those roads and
we ought to use
those roads. It’s very
preventable; nobody’s
rights are violated.
[The suspect is taken
to a] central location
where blood is drawn by a phlebotomist. We can’t
do it without a search warrant approved by a
judge,” Jamail said.
certain misdemeanor offenses.
Police commander Mannix said the
department will exercise the “cite-andrelease”
policy in the near future within
Travis County.
Mannix defended “no-refusal” blood
draws, saying, “It’s not a new phenomenon.
It’s new to Central Texas. It’s not
arbitrary. It involves an official search
warrant signed by a judge.”
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