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1/ Austin City Council members voted to restart cadet classes after a pause to allow the police department to make changes to how it trains new officers. | @AKMcGlinchy https://kutne.ws/3vHIGTy
2/ The next cadet class is set to start by June 7. It will be run as a “pilot,” so the department can test the changes it made, which include 30 additional hours of training for officers on community engagement.
3/ “A lot of work has gone into where we are today,” Council Member Alison Alter ( @ALTERforATX) said before voting. “We are authorizing a pilot. We are not authorizing cadet classes for perpetuity if the reforms are not seriously implemented.”
4/ The vote was 9-1-1, with Council Member @GregCasar voting against and Mayor Pro Tem Natasha Harper-Madison ( @NatashaD1atx) abstaining. They both said they felt the city was greenlighting the restart too quickly.
5/ One of the overarching criticisms of the academy was that it functioned as a “military-style academy,” creating officers who thought of themselves more as “warriors” than “guardians” of the public.
@Chief_Chacon told #ATXcouncil he was committed to changing this.
@Chief_Chacon told #ATXcouncil he was committed to changing this.
6/ The restructured training academy will be two weeks longer than past courses. Cadets will take a new class entitled “The History of Police and Race in America,” which was designed by the Office of Police Oversight and @UTexasLaw.
7/7 Council members say the city will keep a close eye on how the class is going.
The city is paying an additional $375,000 to Kroll Associates, one of the outside consultants hired to review how police are trained, to observe and report on the reinstated class.
The city is paying an additional $375,000 to Kroll Associates, one of the outside consultants hired to review how police are trained, to observe and report on the reinstated class.
We deleted a previous tweet in this thread saying the new cadet class would start by June 21. The city says it will start by June 7. http://kutne.ws/3vHIGTy
