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Crime Report

For the second time in two years, the City of Austin exercised its option to independently investigate police conduct. It hired a local attorney last month to review the circumstances leading to the deaths of an Austin Police Department (APD) commander and her husband, a retired officer. Back in November 2002, a Dallas lawyer was asked to inquire into the police shooting of a mentally disturbed woman.

  The current Meet and Confer contract and the Standard Operating Procedures for Independent Investigations authorizes the City Manager and the Chief of Police to order an independent investigation of alleged police misconduct. The City Manager and Chief can also concur with the recommendation of the Police Monitor or the Citizen Review Panel to conduct one.

  Unlike the 2002 inquiry, certain portions of this investigation will be made public. Chief Knee hopes to dispel any concerns that could be raised if the current investigation were to be conducted by detectives within the department.

  Releasing the report to the public is an option the Office of the Police Monitor didn't have when the Dallas attorney submitted his 2002 report. As the Monitor's Office prepared to publicly release the findings, it learned that the City's contract with the police union prevented it from doing so. This frustrated many, including the Monitor's Office, because the report couldn't be shared with the decedent's family. The current contract, which allows the release of portions of the report, should shed some light on what could have been a very closed process.

  The Chief of Police only has 180 days from the date of the incident to discipline for any sustained acts of misconduct...

As for law enforcement concerns in the neighborhood, the past 30 days witnessed a few disturbances that do not regularly appear in this column. At around 8:30 p.m. on December 16, an Assault by Threat Family/Dating Violation was reported somewhere in the street in the 4400 block of Avenue F. It is unclear if the persons involved were married,