Let’s talk money

HOW DOES A.P.D. CURRENTLY USE ITS MONEY?

As of Fiscal Year 2018, APD employed around 2,646 personnel, including approximately 1,900 officers.

Driver license plate readers – 1 million dollar contract for 5 years, expires in 2021. From 2016-2017, the program captured over 25 million readings and shared the information with 817 law enforcement agencies.
44% of approved APD contract money is for biometrics/surveillance

Austin Regional Intelligence Center/ Fusion Center (ARIC): Mostly staffed by APD officers. The fusion center includes expensive contracts for private databases to surveil people. Fusion centers were created after 9/11 and are veiled in secrecy and racist practices, especially when it comes to terrorism investigations. Fusion centers regularly spy on protestors and activists as well. In Austin, the ARIC was used to spy on Occupy activists in 2011.
ARIC partners include the Austin ISD PD, Pflugerville ISD PD, Texas State University PD, University of Texas PD, and ACC PD and St. Edwards PD, among many other local Pulice Departments.
Fusion Centers are also particularly dangerous to immigrants as ICE has broad access to data. In Austin, ICE has routinely used the ARIC obtain utility information of undocument immigrants.

The Austin Independent School District Police Department employs 84 full-time police officers, including 43 school resource officers, 20 patrol officers and two mental health officers. Two School Resource Officers (SRO) are assigned to every high school campus and one SRO is assigned to every middle school campus. The department also employs 39 civilian staff, including dispatchers, office support staff, emergency management and life safety systems personnel. There is also a specific joint juvenile gang taskforce.