Austin Justice Coalition

GOAL 1: Initiate a policing model that ends the criminalization of black and brown bodies

The goal of achieving safer policing is well underway at the AJC. The organization has made huge inroads with Austin Police Department, including getting their approval for a customer service policing model that will dramatically change interactions between the police and the public. AJC pushes its local policy priorities, including modernization of APD's policy manual, public participation in meet-and-confer, passing of a resolution to eliminate arrests for non-jailable traffic offenses, and the removal of mental health first response out of APD. AJC plans to have each of these policy priorities enacted by 2021 through rigorous civic engagement.

GOAL 2: Generate a strong and sustainable network of like-minded or related organizations in order to have widespread impact on equity

Another goal that has strong momentum. AJC does not take the term “coalition" lightly, and has, from its onset, sought to create and maintain partnerships with other organizations. This has resulted in many multi-faceted programs to come to fruition, that was both complex and widespread. This has also resulted in the same or similar organizations experiencing growth in awareness and prestige in the community as they gain members, deliver on their goals, and prove to be working and worthwhile organizations. AJC's goal is to continue to build this network so that it is equipped to offer organizations to City Council as viable options for budget spending, if and when council is looking to resolve an issue that is already being tackled by an under-budgeted organization. Also, the expansion of this network will enable AJC to continue to serve in civic engagement, policing, community building, and education while working alongside and sponsoring other organizations, thereby offering a wide swath of engagement across Austin.

GOAL 3: Create and enact a legacy model for up and coming activists in AJC that equips them with best practices, resources, and networks

AJC is organizing its structure, proven successes and failures, resources, and affiliations into a tangible product to hand down to future organizers and activists. It is crucial to supply the knowledge that led the organization's success and the lessons learned that will ensure its ability to last. AJC's stance has been to bring new eyes to the issues and outlook for POC in Austin, which means AJC also has had to discern and develop new tactics to maneuver.

GOAL 4: Build bridges between AJC and key institutions (business, local government, philanthropy, etc.) to increase partnership and cooperation

AJC wants to have ties with Austin's top brass to ensure its programs and initiatives have fast buy-in and implementation. AJC will continue to forge relationships with council members, city leaders, prominent businesses, and philanthropic individuals and organizations.

AJC’s organizational competencies are:

- Provide timely, relevant and accessible services to the community. AJC gathers support for the community and community members in times of crisis or need, whether environmental, economical, or other circumstances that require fast solutions. For instance, AJC is involved in food and clothing drives for areas impacted by severe weather. AJC also responds when Black and Brown people are killed or assaulted by police, whether locally or nationally. The group organizes vigils, demonstrations, town hall meetings, and peace retreats for families of victims.

- Build the capacity for people of color to be their own best voice. AJC – a Black- and Brown-led group – builds the capacity of Black and Brown people to be confident and competent voices on issues that impact their livelihoods and neighborhoods. AJC increases the ability to be involved in civic engagement with information and resources targeted to public policy and addressing city hall, offers the stage at demonstrations and town hall meetings to ensure POC voices are heard, and provides a blog for POC and allies to express pro-black and brown articles.

- Extend access to educational opportunities. AJC is hard at work with its Saturday school, community legal clinics, Black Male Summit, Black Female Summit, Latino Summit, State of Black Austin, and Black Empowerment Week. AJC is driven to enrich the lives of POC through education and information.

- Build a strong and sustainable network of cohorts and resources. By doing so, AJC ensures that all avenues to equity are accessible and easy to travel. AJC has created a Black business directory and promotes a black business of the month. AJC also partners with a myriad of groups in order to engage in community problem solving and deliver on a larger scale.

- Foster a presence for Black and Brown people in decision-making for the city. AJC is a huge proponent for voting in Black and Brown communities, with all of its leaders serving as Volunteer Deputy registrars, regular voter registration drives, and programs to get voters to the polls. AJC founders and leaders are often requested for interviews, to sit on small and big media panels, to vet persons seeking public office (such as Chief Equity Officer), and to serve as a point of contact for major events/occurrences that impact Black and Brown communities. AJC leaders are heralded by civic leaders who effect policy and the future of Black and Brown Austin.

Austin Justice Coalition (AJC) is a community organization that focuses on improving the quality of life for people who are Black, Brown, and poor. Since 2015, AJC has served as a catalyst for positive change towards economic and racial equity for Austin’s people of color by developing, organizing, and providing robust programs and events. AJC’s big four areas of advocacy are education, policing, civic engagement, and community building.

The need for change in Austin’s racial and economic climate is unquestionable. Austin is one of the fastest growing major cities in the country – experiencing a 20.4% population growth between 2000 and 2010 – yet it is the only major city to experience a decline in the Black community – experiencing a -5.4% in the same decade.

Blacks/African Americans make up 8% of the voting age population within the City of Austin but filed 31% of the External Formal complaints in 2014. This translates to a difference of 23% (almost four times) between their representation in the population and the percentage of External Formal complaints filed.

Blacks/African Americans accounted for 12% of the stops and 24% of the searches.

Blacks/African Americans had a 1 in 6 chance of being searched if stopped, also the same as 2012 and 2013. The probability of Caucasians being searched once stopped was 1 in 22 in 2014 and 1 in 20 in 2013.

In looking at arrest numbers from the 2014 APD Response to Resistance report and comparing these numbers to the voting age population of the City of Austin, AJC can see that Blacks/African Americans were arrested at a rate 17% (three times) higher than their representation in the voting age population of Austin.

Fortunately, Austin Justice Coalition and other community organizations have already begun to shift Austin’s racial and economic landscape. AJC is at the forefront of a movement that increasingly draws attention to issues facing communities of color, devises solutions to uplift and empower those communities, and implements them through engagement.

AJC understands that in today’s racially charged environment that Black and Brown citizens are under great stress across most factors of their lives. AJC is focused on providing these communities with resources for housing, scholarships, business startup, legal assistance, and more that go underused or untapped, as well as offering opportunities to enrich Black and Brown communities through frequent educational programs and engagement activities to promote blackness and brownness. AJC is now widely regarded as one of the leading advocacy organizations in the city by activists in its rapidly growing membership, community residents, civic leaders, and counterparts.

Activities - Policy team meetings on a weekly basis to research best or better practices regarding police response to “mental health” calls.

Resulting Change - City Council woman took our suggestions and directed city council conduct a study on mental health and best practices. Austin, potentially, will become the second city in Texas to not have law enforcement personnel as first-responders to mental health calls that come thru 911. (Still in progress)

Activities - Freedom City Workgroup. Monthly meetings that involved stakeholders from different organizations around the community

Resulting Change - Freedom City work group resulted in APD taking our Class C policy recommendations, nearly all of them. The policy went in effect Nov. 1 2018, and numbers reported back this year show that Class-C Misdemeanor arrests are down: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190419/freedom-city-policies-yield-drop-in-misdemeanor-arrests-austin-police-say


Activities: It’s been a two-year process. Back in 2016 during the budget session, the Austin Police Department (APD) asked for $13 million for new cops. We asked for a process for the community to be involved in the police union contract. The city agreed and attached our proposal for “Better Before More” as a budget rider. They said, in a year we’ll come back and see what APD has done.

It was clear there was going to be no process to facilitate us getting involved in negotiations. We started a massive public education and outreach campaign. We went to the key districts of swing votes and no votes, had forums, and educated the public. We reached out to key influential leaders around the city. In 2017, the city council unanimously voted no on the contract, and sent it back.

The police association decided that they didn’t want to come back to the negotiating table and for almost a year we had no contract. Then finally, we began to have a real seat at the table. This was the first time that a liberal, Black-led group got the city to say to no to a contract and insert our reforms.

Resulting Change:
-In November 2018, we won an independent police oversight office that reports to the city manager, as well as the ability to make complaints against the police department anonymously (and online) as a part of the Police Union Contract that was voted by the Austin City Council.
- The oversight body can make its findings public and tell people what has happened with their complaints. If the police chief disagrees with the recommendations of the oversight office, he must respond publicly. Also, suspensions of police officers will no longer be reduced to a written reprimand.
- Also have the opportunity to create a much better civilian oversight board. Currently in the process of rolling this plan out.
- We are able to take complaints online through our site, and will go through training to help people do them in person with the current Office of Police Oversight director.