APD reports reduced digital‑evidence backlog, improved staffing and targeted event operations

APD Chief of Staff Rogers told the Austin Public Safety Commission on July 6 that the department has seen reductions in most crimes against persons over the past year and five years but continues to track increases in kidnapping/abduction title codes that are primarily unlawful‑restraint incidents tied to family disturbances. Rogers said the department has prioritized clearing a backlog at its digital evidence management unit and reported an aggregate drop from nearly 11,000 outstanding prosecutor requests to just under 1,800.

The chief said targeted enforcement tied to major events drove a local rise in prostitution and solicitation offenses. "This was actually targeted operations, to help reduce that drive … surrounding that two‑week period around South by Southwest," Rogers said, explaining that the increase reflected concentrated operations rather than a broad uptick in trafficking across the city. He added the department is returning narcotics figures to pre‑pandemic levels and that only about 18% of low‑level marijuana seizures resulted in arrest in the period discussed.

Rogers highlighted staffing improvements as a driver of better response times: the department reported roughly 1,505 officers in slots and about 312–314 vacancies — its lowest vacancy rate in some time — and said academy graduations and process streamlining helped reduce overtime pressures. He credited closer coordination with the county attorney and district attorney for cutting turnaround times on evidence requests, and said APD now aims to meet 30‑ and 60‑day targets for county and district attorney discovery, respectively.

Commissioners pressed for additional detail on several points. Vice Chair Ramirez and others asked how the digital evidence requests are closed and how many closures stemmed from case dispositions (including dropped charges); Rogers said requests were prioritized by docket and agreed to provide a breakdown of dispositions. Commissioner Bernhardt and others requested clearer labeling of academy classes (regular vs. modified) in future presentations so retention figures can be interpreted correctly. Rogers also said APD would follow up with data on internships, testing‑system migrations in the academy and other process changes commissioners requested.

The commission’s discussion underscored two operational themes: using targeted, event‑specific enforcement to address concentrated problems and continuing investment in staffing and process changes to reduce backlogs and improve response times. The department committed to providing the commission with more granular counts and procedural detail in follow‑up materials.