AUSTIN, Texas — The two finalists vying to become the next permanent chief of the Austin Police Department (APD) were in town on Tuesday to attend a meet-and-greet with community members.
City Manager T.C. Broadnax named Lisa Davis, assistant police chief at the Cincinnati Police Department, and Jeffrey B. Norman, police chief at the Milwaukee Police Department, as the two finalists on July 19.
One of them will replace APD Interim Chief Robin Henderson, who has served in that role since September 2023. Henderson chose not to apply for the permanent role and will retire instead.
Davis and Norman both spoke to the media on Tuesday at City Hall during their first appearance since being named finalists. Both candidates addressed what their first 100 days on the job would look like.
“The first thing I have to do is start building trust,” Davis said. “That’s done by listening, being on the ground. I’m not someone that sits in an office.”
“I am committed to being out in the community, being out there and showing the way to the rest of the department and also the rest of our community, in regards to what we need to do more of,” Norman said.
KVUE has heard from many Austinites frustrated at APD for not showing up after certain crimes – something department officials blame on short staffing. Both finalists shared their thoughts on the issue and ideas to fix it.
“I think it’s just about where people are located, how they’re dispatched and what those calls for service are and prioritizing,” Davis said.
“I will have to look into what is those opportunities, get up to speed on what is the particular expectations,” Norman said. “Each community has a different way of dealing with what response and having a level of tolerance.”
KVUE also asked the finalists if there were any successful practices in their current cities that they think could work in Austin.
“Putting cars in [high crime] locations for 10 to 16 minutes of officers either sitting there or out walking,” Davis said. “That gets the biggest deterrence, hours of deterrence in those locations, versus sitting there for hours on end.”
“The only interchangeable strategies I can think of is engaging,” Norman said. “No two communities are the same. No two problems are the same, but with the tools that we have, can be the same in regards to that something that may have worked could be of use. Or maybe you have to dig a little deeper and figure out something else.”
The finalists’ news conferences covered many more topics, including a new union contract, improving training in the police academy and working with the district attorney.
Community meets with finalists
After Tuesday night's meet-and-greet with the community at the Palmer Events Center, KVUE spoke with community members about their thoughts on the candidates. Their reaction was mixed.
Lucas Swenson, an eight-year Austinite, and Nicholas Briggs, a 12-year Austinite, agreed that both were quality candidates. But 13-year Austinite Dewi Smith felt the opposite.
"The issue is I did not necessarily hear anything that made me immediately say, 'That's the one for us,'" Smith said.
Briggs said if he had to choose, it would be Davis.
"I think since 2020, it's kind of been rudderless," Briggs said. "So I think that someone who wants to come in and reform things and really make a change to APD is the right candidate at this point in time. So I was definitely more impressed with Ms. Davis."
Swenson said it will be a tough decision for Broadnax, as both finalists have strong philosophies and seem built for police work.
"It seemed like Lisa Davis was very into building trust with the community," Swenson said. "Then it seemed like the other candidate was very, strong – strong in terms of his background, in terms of his ability to lead a police department. It just seemed like he had a lot of experience."
On the other hand, Smith said she wants to hear more from the candidates on issues like the stalemate between police and some citizens wanting more oversight, as well as innovative policing.
"I would have loved to heard to hear them talk about innovation and policing, or when they were talking about the importance of community engagement, specify for Austin," Smith said. "So we know we have a large unhoused community, what does engaging with that specific subsection of community mean? What does it mean for – they touched on immigrants, but tell me a story about how you have and how you will."
During the meet-and-greet, Broadnax said it's going to be a tough decision and he looks forward to going through the community input given on Tuesday night. He plans to pick a sole finalist for the city council’s approval on July 30.