Entries from Austinist tagged with 'austinpolicedepartment'
June 25, 2008
Corsha Beasley might want to look into some anger management courses real soon. And maybe visit a local Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. On Monday, a drunken Corsha thought it was a good idea to start throwing ‘bows with two of Austin’s finest – a nightly occurrence on 6th street, right? In this case, Ms. Beasley chose to take out her drunken aggression on a four-legged officer of the law – stoic yet graceful Dusty the Police Horse. ...
Continue Reading "Don't Mess With Dusty"February 25, 2008
I wonder: why wouldn’t the APD drug cop and the data miner want the world to know what they’re up to? They’re heroes, after all! Cleansing our streets of the dreaded indoor weed farmer. They should be proud. They're like The Punisher and Microchip....
Continue Reading "The Accidental Gentrifist: Winning the Lungs & Synapses"January 7, 2008
Former Austin mayor Gus Garcia struck and killed a pedestrian with his car in an accident Sunday evening on North Lamar Boulevard....
Continue Reading "Former Austin Mayor Involved in Traffic Fatality"December 11, 2007
Artist sketch courtesy UTPDThe University of Texas Police Department would appreciate your help in finding a man linked with a certain "terroristic threat" that occurred last Wednesday. The University of Texas at Austin Police Department needs assistance with identifying an individual who is a person of interest or witness in an investigation into a Terroristic Threat. The incident occurred on December 5, 2007 at The University Teaching Center (UTC). We are asking that anyone with......
Continue Reading "Man Wanted in "Terroristic Threat" on UT Campus"October 24, 2007
This fall, you may begin noticing our local law enforcement looking a bit more, well, stylish. Austin Police Department is revamping its uniforms and vehicles, in the hopes of "creating a new version" of the organization, says Police Chief Art Acevedo. Part of the changes include larger badges, which will feature the Star of Texas above the Capitol. Gone are any traces of red on the uniforms themselves—in some cases, they'll be replaced with a......
Continue Reading "APD's Sartorial Sensibilities"October 15, 2007
August 22, 2007
Austin police nab the asshole who (allegedly) pretended to sublet several campus-area apartments to unsuspecting folks, who'd later discover they'd been dupedHaving temporarily lost their brand new skate park, kids in Round Rock promise to behave A Fort Worth cop who slapped a girl's ass after catching her fooling around with her boyfriend in a parked car gets arrested Two con artists in North Texas are convicted for scamming would-be vacationers out of over......
Continue Reading "Extra Extra"July 24, 2007
In observation of July's "Watch Your Car" month, Austin Police Department is offering free vehicle identification number (VIN) etching services this week. It's a minor deterrant for would-be car thieves, and could possibly lower your auto insurance payments. Not too shabby. From APD:All vehicles have a federally assigned vehicle identification numbers (VIN). The etching of a VIN on the windows of a vehicle deters thieves because it is more difficult to dispose of property that......
Continue Reading "APD Wants to Tap That Glass"July 5, 2007
After an intensive manhunt to find the perpetrators of the Juneteenth murder of David Rivas Morales, Austin Police announced on Tuesday that they've arrested the man believed to have delivered the fatal blow that left Morales unconscious. Kurtiss Colvin, a 20-year-old former high school athlete, has been charged with manslaughter—a second-degree felony—as well as several lesser charges. His bail has been set at $215,000. Morales was leaving a Juneteenth celebration when the Ford Taurus he......
Continue Reading "Arrest Made in Juneteenth Murder"June 11, 2007
Police officers at the University of Texas have responded to an undisclosed "low-level threat" on campus. The following email was sent out earlier this morning: At about 9 a.m. The University of Texas at Austin Police Department (UTPD) received a report of a low-level threat to the University Teaching Center (UTC) near the intersection of 21st Street and Speedway. Police are investigating and sweeping the building with officers and their dogs in accordance with their......
Continue Reading "Two Buildings at UT Evacuated After "Low-Level Threat" Received"June 5, 2007
Following up on this weekend's announcement that the Austin Police Department has come under invesigation by the Justice Department, a two-part documentary was posted to YouTube today. Created as a student film class project at UT, the short film casts a critical eye on APD's recent accountability and use of force problems. (from Grits for Breakfast......
Continue Reading "YouTube Austin: APD Documentary"June 4, 2007
Austin city leaders announced late Friday afternoon that the U.S. Department of Justice is starting an investigation into the Austin Police Department and its use of force, specifically when dealing with minorities. "We are obliged to determine whether APD is systemically violating the Constitution of the United States," read the letter sent to the city from the Justice Department. In 2004, the Austin American-Statesman analyzed police data from 1998 to 2003, revealing that Austin police......
Continue Reading "APD Under Federal Investigation"May 22, 2007
Attention, super-involved citizens! Yesterday, the City of Austin announced that all of us will have an opportunity to meet the five finalist candidates for the office of Chief of Police for the Austin Police Department next month. Throughout June, three "community forums" will be held at the Palmer Events Center, and these events will be completely open to the general public. According to the City, "feedback from these sessions will be utilized in making......
Continue Reading "Meet the APD Police Chief Candidates Next Month"May 1, 2007
A woman in South Austin was taking out the trash yesterday when she stumbled upon a suspicious-looking device outside her house. This contraption, a metal pipe wrapped in electrical tape, turned out to be what Austin Police are calling an "improvised explosive device," essentially a catch-all term for a homemade bomb. Austin Police Department's Bomb Squad safely detonated the explosive. It's currently believed that yesterday's discovery was unrelated to last week's attempted bombing of the......
Continue Reading "Second Bomb Found In As Many Weeks"March 12, 2007
For those of you brave enough to drive into downtown this week, Austin Police Department wants to warn you about fakester parking attendants: The Downtown Area Command would like to advise the public that there are subjects wearing “safety glow vests” and pretending to be valet parking attendants for the entertainment district. Vehicles are parked on public streets in marked spaces and drivers are being charged a parking fee. Individuals who come to the entertainment......
Continue Reading "Beware of Parking Scammers"January 22, 2007
While the final figures are just now coming out, last week already seems like a distant memory. Estimated amount, in cubic yards, of sanding material used to clear street locations: 1,349 Austin Energy customers who experienced a power outage: 35,000 Water mains repaired by Austin Water Utility: 16 Calls to EMS dispatchers and Austin Fire Department: 2,133 Calls to 311: 11,370 Collisions reported to the Austin Police Department: 599 Estimated number of canceled flights......
Continue Reading "Ice Storm 2007, By the Numbers"January 15, 2007
An man collapsed in a 6th Street bar and later died in a nearby hospital early Sunday morning, according to the Austin Police Department. Officers were investigating a disturbance at The Co-Op Bar, at 6th and Nueces, and talking to individuals involved when one of the men "passed out." After begin rushed to the hospital, the man--who remains anonymous pending notification of family members--was pronounced dead. Authorities are awaiting autopsy results before discussing the......
Continue Reading "Man Dies After Passing Out at Downtown Bar"January 4, 2007
"UT spied on its non comformists and dissident students"Your every move is being watched. Scary thought, right? A thought we like to associate with Orwellian sci-fi or Alex Jones, but in recent years we've seen this idea become a reality. Little black boxes with blinking red lights are at traffic spots, street corners or up in trees making sure you're not up to any funny business. Now, in a democracy sans Habeas Corpus, we......
Continue Reading "The Spies of Texas Are Upon You"December 11, 2006
A Travis High School math teacher was arrested this past weekend after allegedly taking "improper" photographs of his female students. Thirty-eight year-old Page White was nabbed while on a field trip in San Antonio, and has since been placed on administrative leave. AISD and the Austin Police Department have yet to release additional information, as the case is still under investigation. The Statesman reports that the students were unknowingly photographed, clothed, while on campus and......
Continue Reading "Teacher Busted for Taking Dirty Photos"October 25, 2006
And you thought Mr. Holland’s Opus made you cry…listen to Richard Dreyfuss talk Middle Eastern politics at the Texas Union Ballroom on Nov. 2nd, 7 p.m. Get tickets at Student Events Center Tickets Office (Room 4.300 of The Union). Smoking is BAD. You should quit. Attend the four-session Quitters Stop Smoking Class held every Friday starting Oct. 27 at noon. Sign up at SSB 1.106. Or, if you're not into group work pick up......
Continue Reading "Campus News Bits"October 10, 2006
Last week, The Austin Police Department announced the arrest of four of Austin's most noticeable graffiti artists, who were responsible for more than 200 hundred acts of graffiti around Austin, racking up a bill of more than $76,000 in maintenance. Last week's edition of the Chronicle reported that these four teens -- 17, 17, 19 & 16 years old -- damaged 64 private business and 67 City of Austin properties. Their tag names, which......
Continue Reading "Snapshots: Four Local Grafitti Artists Nabbed"September 7, 2006
The Austin Police Department and the party-throwers living in the campus area have always seemed to get along. If you find yourself at a party around campus and a police cruiser stops out front, no one runs--even when that sweet bubbler on the table still has smoke billowing from it--everyone just walks away calmly. APD knows they can't stop every party, arrest every weed smoker and hand out tickets to every minor, so they......
Continue Reading "Party Safety: No Longer An Oxymoron"August 30, 2006
Note: this post has been revised after receiving additional information from the Austin Police Department. According to the Daily Texan, the body of a student from St. Edward's University -- identified by the Austin Police Department as 19-year old James Henry Leonard -- was discovered by officers at a small apartment complex at 22nd and Rio Grande, mere blocks from UT Austin, earlier this morning. Meanwhile, News 8 Austin's article claims that "party noises"......
Continue Reading "University Student Found Dead In Apartment Near UT Campus"August 18, 2006
An 18-wheeler struck a pedestrian at the intersection of East Ben White and the south I-35 northbound service road just over an hour ago. Understandably, traffic at that intersection is extremely congested. From the Statesman's Blotter: A news release by the Austin Police Department: At approximately 2:50 p.m., APD patrol officers responded to a collision at East Ben White Boulevard and the south I-35 northbound service road. It is believed that an 18-wheeler was......
Continue Reading "Breaking News: Accident at I-35 and Ben White"July 24, 2006
Much like their mentor Willie Nelson, the former Saxon Pub regulars Los Lonely Boys can't seem to avoid getting caught with the weed. On Saturday, Austin police responded to complaints at The Omni and arrested Boys' bassist JoJo Garza for marijuana possession... and for allegedly assaulting his fiancee Carina Lyn. While a publicist for the band has called the whole matter "a misunderstanding" and chalked the incident up to noisy partying, the Austin Police......
Continue Reading "Los Weed Lovin' Boys In Trouble Again"July 6, 2006
KVUE reports that the fellow pictured on the right exposed his manly bits to the bargain couture shoppers at Neiman Marcus Last Call back on June 22nd, according to the Austin Police Department: Investigators say the man went into the women's shoe section and then exposed himself. He later walked out of the store and drove off in a black, 1994 Honda Civic. The license plate number was S64-VSJ. He's described as white or Hispanic......
Continue Reading "Austinite Takes Matters Into Own Hands Amidst Discount Manolos"June 29, 2006
We didn't have to read this report from Speed Trap Exchange to know that the Austin Police Department has a serious hard-on for speeding. We live about a block south of the river, where APD sets up shop to pull over speeders and, hopefully, a few drunk drivers. Our parking lot, as well as the hotel and burger joint next door, have become a repository for police who've pulled over said offenders. And while we......
Continue Reading "Speed May Not Kill, But It'll Get Your Balls Busted"May 15, 2006
The Austin Police Department has not been having the best year (or few). They have been under increased public scrutiny for not being effective at self-policing and for their alleged use of excessive force, most recently against Ramon Hernandez. The officer, caught on videotape beating the handcuffed suspect, was acquitted and suspended for 70 days. Well, the APD's public relations took another turn for the worse over the weekend. Maybe you have seen the new......
Continue Reading ""The People" Have Spoken"February 18, 2006
Truecraig had some thoughts on the shot heard round the world in his column. Mr. Hollywood Jason Patric dropped his suit against the ever-aggressive Austin Police Department. Austin ranks as the second-best city outside of Hollywood in which to make a movie. We checked out the Zuraach Collective and took some photos. AM Syndicate, Nina Simone, Talking Heads...take a listen in AV Bits. It was a busy news week in the Kingdom of George.......
Continue Reading "In Case You Missed It: The Week in Review"December 15, 2005
* Photo (c) Austin Police Department The Austin Police Dept released video footage of the two vandals who defaced the Texas Hillel on December 2, painting swastikas on the facility's windows and leaving animal remains at the door. Hate crimes like these are generally shocking and outrageous, but for them to happen in what should be one of the most educated, well-read parts of our admittedly backwards state is simply disgusting. Investigators described the......
Continue Reading "Snapshots: Austin Police Release Surveillance Video of Hillel Vandals"