Austin and Travis County
May 2005: Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley is fighting to keep Texas' probation system weak and ineffective. See the blog for more details.
Austin police were nearly three times as likely to search black people after a traffic stop, and more than twice as likely to search Latinos, according to a report delivered to the Austin City Council by Chief Stan Knee. APD officers performed so-called "consent" searches 5.3 times as often on black people as they on whites in 2002, and 4.5 times as often in 2003, compared with 2.5 times for Latinos. But police were twice as likely to find contraband when they searched white drivers. See the analysis of 2003 Austin data.
An ACLU open records request revealed recently that the Austin Police Department has been conducting undercover surveillance of anti-war activists. An APD assistant chief told the Daily Texan that the only reason APD doesn't constantly surveil activists covertly is that activists don't regularly plan events.
See the comprehensive investigative report on Austin PD's Use of Force by the Austin American Statesman. It includes summaries of killings of civilians by APD officers over the last several years.
Over the objections of dozens of speakers from various groups and walks of life, the Austin City Council voted March 25, 2004 to gut Austin civilian oversight and provide police with new tools to avoid accountability for misconduct. See the summary of changes to Austin's civilian oversight system. The council's action locks in these bad changes, along with mountainous pay hikes to the police union, over the next five years.
Archives
Blacks bear the brunt of APD Use of Force
Two cops accused of sex crimes back on force
Jimmy Castro: Dangerous cop finally gone
Sophia King shot dead by APD
IAD investigator: APD brass won't discipline senior cops
Austin Council rejects oversight
APD sex crimes chief fired for allegedly molesting brain injury victim
Making APD disciplinary records open
Authorities agree: Austin can open police records
Creating an independent Police Monitor and oversight panel
Statewide report on police/sheriff racial
profiling policies
Unarmed
teen shot in Austin drug raid (off-site link)
ACLU letter to Austin city council on Police Monitor
Open letter to Texas Chiefs and Sheriffs
on racial profiling
ACLU letter to chiefs on Ashcroft dragnet
Letter on dragnet to Austin Mayor Gus Garcia
Racial
Profiling in Texas: A guide to local implementation
ACLU/NAACP/LULAC Standards for Implementing
Texas' Racial Profiling Statute
POFG
Monitor Down to Two Bad Candidates
Analysis of APD racial profiling policy
New APD racial profiling policy.
Officer once fired for spousal assault now accused of
beating handcuffed prisoner
Officer fired for racial profiling
Travis County jails worst in state, says jail
standards commission
APD Recruiting Bad Cops, Officers Say
Feds say Austin cops dealt drugs
LBJ School Study: 87 percent of Austinites want civilian
oversight
It Does Happen Here!
Johnny Cornell: Mathematics of a Killing (7-26-00
-- in Adobe PDF)
Johnny Cornell: Eyewitness testimony contradicts shooter
cop
Photo -- Detective Robert Merrill holds gun to the head
of yogurt shop suspect during interrogation.
Austin Police Association caught violating criminal
statutes; leaders whine in response.
Rodney Wickware: Unarmed, Strangled by Five Officers
Analysis:
Police Oversight Focus Group Recommendations
Final Agreement: Austin's Police Monitor and Oversight Board System (off-site)
Background on 'gutted' police oversight passed by
Austin City Council
The original (pre-gutting) police oversight proposal: Pros;
Cons; Additional Proposals
The Samuel Ramirez Story: When is rape a misdemeanor?
Testimony
to Austin's police oversight focus group (11-9-99):
Proposal:
Administrative Hearing Model for Civilian Review Board
Civilian Review Board: Public or closed?
A side-by-side analysis of options for choosing a
civilian review board
A comment on the Pleasanton
shootings
Abuse at Travis County Jail
More on abuse in Texas prisons
A Comment on the LA Corruption Probe
City of Austin police accountability iniatives
Op-ed Response to the A.W. Dean Consultant's Report
Lacresha Murray Update
Examples of the "Code of Silence" at APD
Partial List of APD Officers Disciplined for Excessive
Force
Misogyny and Sexism
Complaint Trends and Internal Affairs
Aggregate Complaint Statistics
Gregory Steen: Shot in the Back
Brain Injury Patient Shot
Six Cops Beat Drug Suspect
The Killing of William Potter
Cedar Avenue Valentines Police Riot
Internal Affairs Chief had Recent Excessive Force Charge
Police Get Pay Hike but No Accountability
