AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Police Department (APD) is looking for feedback on how it respond to calls.
The department shared a survey on Thursday that asks residents their thoughts on APD's current Calls For Service (CFS) model, including if they would be OK with an APD staff member who is not an officer responding to calls when an incident is not still in progress and there isn't any danger.
The survey is broken into two primary parts. Section 1 examines certain criminal incidents that "could be diverted internally" within APD to either a telephone response unit (TRCU), which takes various reports over the phone, or to an online crime reporting portal. The survey says some of these CFS types could also be diverted to staff members who are not officers who would respond to the scene to take a report.
Section 2 examines certain "service-related incidents" that could also involve diversion to a TRU or online reporting and/or response by a non-sworn staff member. However, these CFS types might also involve diversion to "external resources and/or service providers; they could also include a joint response with the Police Department."
Some scenarios listed in the survey include delayed reports of aggravated assault, auto theft without a known suspect, non-violent family disturbance, disorderly conduct and property damage, among other crimes.
Right now, APD may not respond to the scene of a reported crime if there is no immediate threat to life or property, if a crime is no longer in progress or if the suspects have left the scene. Callers may also be asked to make a report online.
When the department first enacted this policy a few years ago, leadership blamed police staffing shortages. Since then, KVUE has reported on numerous situations where Austinites have said they are frustrated when they call 911 and don't receive the response from police that they think they should.
The survey does note that, "The Police Department will continue to send a sworn officer to in-progress or otherwise dangerous incidents and those requiring substantial evidence collection."
Background on this call for feedback
Over the past few years, APD has not been fully staffed. Last month, the department said it still has around 350 vacancies and has lost 80 officers this year, but it has also added 92 new officers.
At the beginning of the year, then-Interim City Manager Jesús Garza launched a number of programs, aiming to better support APD. Reviewing how the department handles calls for service was one of them.
BerryDunn, the consulting firm that's helping APD put out this survey, is also working on a number of other issues with the department, like patrol staffing, optimizing policing given the department's current resources, restoring special assignments and evaluating the Public Information Request (PIR) process.
