Casar Budget Amendments APD/Violence Prevention

[Greg Casar]

Colleagues,

Here is a first batch of three amendments I’d like for us to consider. These three amendments have about a $40M impact, and I will be working on further amendments (and I know other offices will too) as we work toward reallocating $100M in changes to our budget. I will continue to add more amendments to this list if they're related to APD.

GC 1: Remove Internal Affairs from APD - $4.5M

Internal Affairs should be separate from the Police Department to provide independent investigations, build community trust, and therefore improve safety and fairness for everyone.

GC 2a: Reallocate funding for cadet classes this fiscal year toward other forms of public safety – about $20M* or more over the course of 2021 & 2022. (*budget office is finalizing numbers, but the salaries/benefits/costs of new officers coming out of the cadet class by FY 2022 are generally calculated at $100K each)

GC 2b: We should reallocate funding from upcoming classes toward programming that prevents violence and harm in Austin. In committee, we discussed these badly needed forms of preventative public safety such as:

• family violence shelter
• homeless services
• An Office of Violence prevention, including gun violence intervention programs, support to prevent violence and harm surrounding sex work and against sex workers, and other evidence-based violence prevention
• substance use programs
• COVID-19 response, including EMS support

GC 2c: For any of this work to meet our collective goals, we must provide direction to the Manager that reallocated dollars must primarily be targeted to areas of the city that face the most poverty, violence, inequity, and public safety challenges.

GC 3: Remove Forensics from APD - $13M

Over a decade ago, Congress asked the National Academy of Science to provide recommendations on forensics and justice—and it has been over a decade since the National Academy of Science recommended that “forensic scientists should function independently of law enforcement administrators.” Austin is still recovering from the major failure in our own DNA lab. This year, we should separate Forensics from APD.

Furthermore, I hope to work with you all, the community, and City management on a fourth amendment -- a 2020/2021 calendar that we can pass with the budget -- that will describe the further phasing of our police functions to be replaced by more specialized and civilian functions that promote public safety and justice. We can also discuss how this process relates to the City Manager's transforming public safety process.

Thank you
-Greg

[Greg Casar]

Colleagues,

I would like to share a path for us to reach at least $100 million in changes to the APD budget:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

This document is meant for discussion. I look forward to your input and thoughts from the community.

I’ve outlined $93 million through immediate cuts and the decoupling of APD functions, and I also list an additional $30 million in other potential cuts or decoupling.

Many of you have championed increased investments in EMS, family violence shelter, permanent supportive housing, mental health services, Victim Services, violence prevention, services addressing substance use, food access, parks, abortion access, and public health. I’ve included funding for these priorities in the proposal, and I appreciate the leadership from everyone on these priorities. These investments will make us a safer and better place to live.

I also appreciate CM Flannigan for providing leadership on various options for restructuring the department. I believe whatever decisions we make on restructuring can work in tandem with the funding proposals outlined here.

Looking forward to work session tomorrow.

-Greg