AUSTIN (KXAN) — Inside Austin City Council chambers on Monday, the Office of Police Oversight (OPO) randomly selected 11 positions from a pool of 31 applicants to serve on the revamped Community Police Review Commission.
“They can oversee pretty much anything the Austin Police Department does, policies, practices, complaints against officers,” said Sara Peralta, the communications director for the OPO. “They can look at materials related to a critical incident and they can also see the office of police oversight itself.”
This is a new system for selecting these commissioners. Previously, Peralta said, it would be more like a job interview, and APD would play a bigger role in choosing the people who served on it.
The new selection process was born from the May 2023 ballot box, where voters pushed through the Austin Police Oversight Act. Choosing the commission this way was one of the provisions.
Peralta explained the scope of influence these individuals have.
“They provide recommendations,” she said. “They oversee and have the authority to ask for briefings and oversee OPO and APD, but you know, their authority is related to recommendations.”