AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Police Department (APD) is doing better on its response times for high-priority calls, but it’s still dealing with hundreds of vacancies.
That’s according to data from the department’s quarterly update, presented to the Public Safety Commission on Monday. The presentation included an update on APD’s Sixth Street traffic plan, highlights of its community engagement efforts and updates on response times, call volumes and staffing.
Austin recently moved to allow traffic on Sixth Street on the weekends after years of preventing cars from driving down the road during its busiest periods. According to APD, comparing data for the Sixth Street Entertainment District in January and February of 2024 to January and February of 2025, arrests were down 40%, use of force was down 32% and officer injuries were down 57%.
Meanwhile, data presented by APD showed that for the first time since August 2023, the department met its target of a 10 minute and 44 seconds or better response time for Priority 0 and Priority 1 calls, which, combined, represent the most serious calls officers respond to. That response time had ballooned to more than 13-14 minutes last summer.
As for department vacancies, sworn staffing sits at about a 19% vacancy rate and has actually increased slightly from last quarter. As of April 7, APD has 340 vacancies among 1,816 authorized full-time equivalent positions.
Since last spring, APD has graduated three cadet classes comprised of a total of 122 graduates. The department’s 154th cadet class, currently comprised of 51 cadets, is set to graduate in August.
The 155th cadet class will begin on April 21, with 65 cadets currently in the hiring process.
