Austin City Council passes resolution to increase police oversight, implement Prop A
The Austin City Council passed a measure to ensure that city leaders begin implementing certain aspects of Proposition A, the ballot initiative to increase police oversight that voters overwhelmingly approved in May.
Activists who helped get that proposition on the ballot have said the city is dragging its feet on implementing many of those provisions. City leaders have said they are concerned that some parts of Proposition A are against state law and that others would require a contract with the city and the Austin Police Association, the union that represents its police officers.
The measure passed 10-1, with Council Member Mackenzie Kelly voting against the measure.
More: Grumet: Voting for police oversight was easy. Implementing Prop A is another story.
Council Member Zohaib “Zo” Qadri said he authored the proposal to ensure that the will of the voters is upheld.
“Everything we’re looking to implement is legal,” Qadri said Thursday of concerns that provisions of Prop A are illegal.
What did the council pass?
Prop A gave the Office of Police Oversight the power to access certain police records, such as footage from body-worn cameras, but that hasn't happened.
The measure approved Thursday instructs the city to enroll members of the Office of Police Oversight into the next Criminal Justice Information System certification course by Oct. 1, which would give those members "unfettered" access to body-worn camera footage and other records that would allow the office to conduct investigations.
Another requirement of Prop A is that the Office of Police Oversight serves as a “central depository” of records related to the outcomes of complaints involving police and officer discipline. The American-Statesman previously reported that the city said this requirement would conflict with state law that requires certain information to remain confidential.
The measure approved by the council establishes that the Office of Police Oversight be allowed to create and maintain its own records, while also posting information about the complaints and its outcomes online for the public to see, which is another provision of Prop A.
Other parts of Prop A, such as allowing the office to investigate complaints made by anonymous people and for the office to act as a liaison for people who made complaints, are also addressed in the council's measure.
Council members went into two executive sessions related to legal matters for the measure on Thursday. Mayor Kirk Watson said the second session was due to an opinion from the attorney general's office on a public information request that could change what can be implemented.
Watson said the city requested further clarification on the attorney general's opinion and expects another measure in the future that would allow the city to implement more aspects of Prop A.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin City Council passes measure to increase police oversight
