In January 2020, the Office of Police Oversight (OPO) published its first report analyzing APD's racial profiling data.
OPO partnered with the City of Austin's Office of Innovation and the Equity Office to analyze data from 2015 to 2018. The purpose of this report was to examine how racial and ethnic groups in Austin experience motor vehicle stops. Data from this report revealed that police disproportionately stop Black/African American individuals and Hispanic/Latinx individuals. Additionally, APD vehicle stop data from 2018 revealed geographic disparities. Specifically, arrests were most concentrated on the east side of the city. In addition to highlighting disparities, this report offered recommendations to address areas of concern. Click here for the full report. In June 2020, Austin City Council called for this report to serve as a baseline for measuring the success of citywide efforts to eliminate racial disparities in motor vehicle stops, arrests, and searches. Click here for more information.
In February 2020, OPO, the Office of Innovation, and the Equity Office hosted an event to listen to and gather community feedback about the findings of the January 2020 report. At this event, 56 community members, 20 City of Austin employees, and 10 APD commanders and executive staff met to discuss the report. Community members shared their lived experiences of policing in Austin, perspectives on the data, and ideas to enhance accountability. Notetakers collected information shared during the event. Click here to view this information.
Between February and April 2020, OPO, the Office of Innovation, and the Equity Office synthesized community feedback from the event to draw out themes and offer recommendations based on new insights. In April 2020, the three offices shared these findings and recommendations with the City Manager’s Office. Click here (PDF, 937 KB) to view the full report and memorandum to the City Manager.
In April 2020, OPO, the Office of Innovation, and the Equity Office also published a supplement providing additional analysis of the reasons for the motor vehicle stops in 2018. The analysis revealed that most motor vehicle stops conducted in 2018 were due to moving traffic violations. The least number of stops was due to pre-existing knowledge, such as warrants. Notably, Black/African American individuals and Hispanic/Latinx individuals remained disproportionately overrepresented across the board.
In November 2020, OPO, the Office of Innovation, and the Equity Office released the second joint report analyzing APD's racial profiling data. This report examined data from 2015-2019 and revealed that racial disparity persisted and, in many cases, worsened. Additionally, as with the 2018 data, APD’s 2019 data revealed geographic inequality. Specifically, warnings and field observations were most concentrated on the city's west side, while arrests were most concentrated on the city's east side. The analysis was accompanied by recommendations to address concerning trends and improve data collection and reporting. Click here for the full report. As with the January 2020 report, this report will serve as a baseline for measuring the success of citywide efforts to eliminate racial disparities in motor vehicle stops. Click here for more information.