Austin Police Supervisors Can be Fired on First Offense for Failing to Report Complaints

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo on Wednesday announced that he will now suspend and possibly fire any police supervisor who fails to report all complaints against officers to internal affairs.

Acevedo made the announcement in the wake of  an audit of police complaints that found several supervisors violated Austin Police Department policy by not forwarding all complaints made against officers to the department’s Internal Affairs unit for further investigation.

“We have instituted a change to our disciplinary matrix that has placed our supervisors on notice,” Acevedo said at an Austin City Council committee meeting.

Acevedo has been calling on command staff and supervisors to be arbiters of change in a department that continues to experience fallout from controversial use-of-force incidents, including fatal shootings, the Austin American-Statesman reports.