Austin Police Department (APD) officers may receive discipline when an investigation reveals that they violated policy. APD can issue discipline the following levels:
- Indefinite Suspension: An officer's employment with APD is terminated.
- Temporary Suspension: An officer is placed on leave for a specified number of days.
- Written Reprimand: An officer is disciplined in writing.
- Oral Reprimand: An officer is disciplined orally.
- Education-Based Discipline: An officer is instructed to attend training as a part of the disciplinary action.
OPO publishes all publicly releasable APD discipline information on our website. In 2021, 86 individual Austin Police Department officers received discipline. There were 72 forms of official discipline issued. Of the 86 officers who were disciplined, 67 were the subject of internal complaints, and 19 were the subject of external complaints. The chart below shows all discipline APD issued to officers in 2021.
Chart 5: Discipline administered by APD in 2021
During 2021, officers were disciplined most often for policy violations related to:
Department Vehicles – Chapter 804 of APD General Orders
- This was the most cited policy violation for sustained complaints. This policy refers to the general operation of department vehicles.
General Conduct and Responsibilities – Chapter 900 of APD General Orders
- This was the next most common policy violation. This policy category includes acts bringing discredit upon the department and responsibility to co-workers.
Responsibility to the Community – Chapter 3 of APD General Orders
- This policy category includes impartial attitude and courtesy and the required use of body-worn camera.
Incident Reporting and Documentation – Chapter 4 of APD General Orders
- This policy category includes incident reporting and documentation and arrest requirements for assaultive offenses.
Upon review, OPO noted a decrease in discipline issued to officers compared to previous years. See the comparative chart below for data related to 2019, 2020, and 2021.
In 2019, 200 individual Austin Police Department officers received discipline. An officer will be disciplined for more than one policy violation in some instances. During this period, officers were disciplined most often for violations of equipment policies, field operations and custody, response to resistance and pursuit, and field response and investigations and personnel policies.
In 2020, 159 individual Austin Police Department officers received discipline. During this period, officers were most often disciplined for violating field operations and custody policies, equipment policies, personnel policies, response to resistance, pursuit policies, field response, investigations, and reporting policies.
In 2021, 86 individual Austin Police Department officers received discipline. There were 72 forms of official discipline issued.
Chart 6: Discipline administered by APD in 2019 - 2021