The Austin Police Department’s Office of Community Liaison (OCL) described on April 7 its outreach programs — including Safe Place training, National Night Out coordination and Operation BlueSanta — and asked for citywide support to increase sworn presence and fill vacant liaison positions.

Foster Rodriguez, an executive lieutenant with APD, described a recent Univision town hall where OCL staff intervened to connect a crime victim with services. "Had it not been for the Office of Community Liaison being present, visible, and engaged…this woman would have never gotten the help that she needed," Rodriguez said.

OCL manager (name not stated in the transcript) told the committee the office’s mission is to foster inclusiveness and accessibility through education and engagement. She said OCL currently has ten neighborhood liaison positions, of which four were filled and six were open, and noted that district representatives and sworn officers have staffing shortages that reduce visible officer presence at community events.

Programs and activity levels

- Operation BlueSanta: the long‑running holiday program serves more than 5,000 families annually and distributes roughly 14,000 gifts.

- Events and engagements: OCL reported 65 events in the first quarter of the year and said it certified five new Safe Place businesses in the same period. OCL plans to train staff at the city’s 26 libraries on the Safe Place program by June.

- Community outreach: OCL partners with internal APD units and external stakeholders including the Mexican Consulate’s Office, North Austin Civic Association, Runberg Alliance, resource centers and other city departments. The unit also supports crime prevention training, neighborhood watch efforts and Coffee with a Cop events.

Operational challenges and data work

OCL said current challenges include limited public accessibility of its office at 4101 Industrial Drive (a warehouse location), warehouse tasks associated with Operation BlueSanta that reduce staff time for outreach and constraints from sworn staffing shortages that limit officers’ availability for community events.

The office is working to centralize engagement across sectors, improve event and outreach calendars, and begin measuring outreach coverage by sector. APD’s public information staff and OCL discussed posting hate‑crime review data and improving data feeds for the We All Belong campaign and the Hate Crimes Committee reports.

Councilmembers raised concerns about consistency of outreach across police sectors and asked how constituents can be connected to the correct liaison. OCL said constituents should email community.liaison@austintexas.gov for assistance and that the office will connect callers to the appropriate liaison.

Ending

Committee members on both sides praised the unit’s outreach work but urged APD to increase sworn staffing and improve coordination with council districts to ensure consistent coverage and better measurement of outreach impact.