City closer to civilian oversight of police plan
Official: Ideas will make way back to City Council in Oct.
Austin police, city and community leaders are closer to creating a plan for civilian oversight of Austin police that is independent of the police union’s pending contract with the city.
Austin’s Police Monitor Farah Muscadin, who spent several months researchi ng oversight bodies at police departments across the country and consulting with a local advisory group, on Wednesday night presented her recommendations at the first of three public input meetings to help shape whatever new oversight body comes to Austin.
Muscadin told a group of about 10 people who attended the meeting that she would take their ideas back to the City Council in October. Conversations at the meeting surrounded accountability and complaints, and the importance of an oversight entity that is independent from police.
Community members will have two more opportunities to voice their concerns over police oversight through next week. The next meet- ing is set for 11 a.m. to noon on Saturday at the Gus Garcia Recreation Center, 1201 E. Rundberg Lane. The third and final meeting will be Sept. 25 at Greater Mount Zion Church, 4301 Tanne- hill Lane.
Austin police have been operating without a con- tract since the end of 2017, when council members voted down an agreement that had been drawn up after roughly nine months of negotiation. Key issues with the contract revolved around its price tag and civilian oversight of the department. Hundreds of activists showed up to the final City Council meeting on the contract to urge council members to vote it down.
Since then, Austin’s Citi- zen Review Panel, a civilian board charged with examin- ing cases of police misconduct and complaints, was suspended early in 2018. The Office of the Police Monitor, a city-funded position, remained. Meanwhile, police lost some special pay bumps they received for additional skills and training, or work- ing particular shifts.
Police and city leaders have been sparring over provisions in a new labor contract but the police union’s president, Ken Cas- aday, said he hopes to have something ready to take back to his membership, and even for a City Council vote, by November.
“I think we’ve come to an agreement with a lot of people in the activist community that probably the best way to handle it is having civilian oversight out of the contract,” Casaday said. “I think we’ve already agreed to most of what we agreed to in the last contract that got voted down. So, hopefully in October we’ll get back to bargaining with the city and be able to hammer things out.”
‘Hopefully in October we’ll get back to bargaining with the city and be able to hammer things out.’ Ken Casaday police union’s president