AUSTIN, Texas — The Office of Police Oversight (OPO) has released a new report including community feedback on proposed changes to the Austin Police Department's use-of-force policies. The policies are related to banning chokeholds and strangleholds, de-escalation, duty to intervene, exhausting all alternatives before using deadly force, restricting shooting at moving vehicles and warning before shooting.
The OPO implemented a community engagement campaign to get feedback on the police department's current use-of-force policies. More than 1,400 responses were gathered through a survey and a series of virtual meetings. That community feedback was then compiled and analyzed by the OPO to develop the insights included in the report.
"Far too many of APD's policies are unclear and unaligned with national best practices in policing," OPO Director Farah Muscadin said. "Our goal was to provide an opportunity for community members to share their concerns about APD's use-of-force policies and better align policies with community expectations and best practices."
Among other things, the report shows that
- 52% of respondents believe police should exhaust all available alternatives before using deadly force
- 61% of respondents said that police should acknowledge or address factors that could affect someone's ability to follow an officer's orders (like a mental health condition or disability)
- 80% of respondents said any officers who witness improper or excessive use of force by another officer and don't interfere should be required to report the full circumstances of the incident
- 53% of respondents believe chokeholds and strangleholds should be banned outright
In June 2020, the Austin City Council passed a series of resolutions aimed at restricting police officers' use of force. As part of those resolutions, the city manager directed the OPO to facilitate a rewrite of APD's policy manual, or "General Orders." According to the OPO, the rewrite will cover all policies, including those surrounding issues like bias, body-worn cameras, courtesy, dashboard cameras, discipline, language, mental health response and search and seizure. The OPO was also directed by the city manager to issue recommendations on APD's use-of-force policies.
The OPO said that APD – with support from the city manager's office – will review the final recommendations before incorporating them into the General Orders. The department will bring changes to the General Orders to the city council for feedback before they are implemented.
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