2022 Annual Report
Office of Police Oversight presents the inaugural annual report about our work from January to December 2022. The report highlights the work of the policy, complaints, communications, and community engagement division.
Below are some highlights from our 2022 report.
- In 2022, OPO received 1,876 contacts from the community and requested that the Austin Police Department (APD) investigate 689 external complaints from community members.
- The Austin Police Department investigated only 6.8% of the external complaints submitted for investigation from OPO.
- An arbitration decision in December 2021 modified OPO’s complaint process in 2022. Despite these process changes, external complaints submitted to OPO had the highest percentage of sustained policy violations since 2020. Seventeen investigations resulted in sustained policy violations in 2022.
- In 2022, 132 APD officers received discipline. Of the 132 officers disciplined, 113 were the subject of internal complaints. Only 19 were the subject of external complaints.
- OPO’s expanded policy and research division made 140 recommendations to improve APD’s body-worn and dashboard camera policies. OPO also made 17 broader recommendations to change APD’s policy development practices.
- In 2022, OPO hosted four events to gather feedback from community members and attended 41 public events.