Why cops show up to non-police calls

I've got a couple updates on the story from yesterday about Tyree Talley, the deaf man who was unfairly arrested for DUI and is now seeking damages from the city for loss of income and mental anguish.

First, as a number of readers pointed out, this is not Talley's first issue with APD. He sued the city over his treatment by officers during the 2020 protests, when he alleged he was shot with "less-lethal" rounds 12 times. A judge dismissed the suit based on qualified immunity.

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Second, reader Douglas Arnold, a former Austin EMS medic, argues that it is understandable that the city sent a police vehicle, instead of EMS, to respond to the report of Talley sleeping in his car. Here's what he told me:

There are 40 something ambulances serving Travis County and it is an undue burden to send them on every welfare check and sleeping person.

EMS is run ragged responding to nonsense calls. Something like 90% or more of EMS is nonemergent issues. Responding to people sleeping is probably something I did more than anything else in my 12 years with the city. 

I understand the argument that is made that police tend to escalate situations but until the public or the city realizes that they either need to massively increase non-police resources or train officers better then it’s going to fall on the agencies with the highest presence to answer these calls for service. 

Indeed, the city has an authorized force of 1,819 police officers, 1,358 firefighters and 714 EMS medics. (There are vacancies in each department)

When you have more cops than anything else, cops end up getting asked to do a lot of non-cop work.

Transferring development rights?

The Planning Department is evaluating allowing property owners to transfer or sell development rights to other properties.

The idea is particularly attractive to owners of historic properties who are prohibited from taking advantage of the entitlements their property would typically enjoy. Here's a memo from Planning Director Andrea Bates:

It allows property owners to monetize unused air rights, fund maintenance and repairs, and reduce economic pressure to choose between financial profit and preserving a historic landmark. At the same time, TDR encourages smart growth by allowing additional development in receiving zones, where density is encouraged. Meanwhile, cities benefit as built heritage is protected through a market-based system rather than spending public money, allowing communities tosteward their unique history while still accommodating urban development.

The city contracted with a Lionheart Places and Economic & Planning Development to conduct a market study. This chart shows the difference between the square footage of existing landmarks and the total square footage that could be built on those properties if they exercised their full development rights.

Those are some massive deltas, although it's important to remember that landmark status may not be the only thing preventing those parcels from fully developing. If the city actually establishes a TDR program, there will undoubtedly be property owners selling development rights that they would have never used for one reason or another.

It will be interesting to see what happens with this.

Have a good weekend!

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