Austin Launches Community Service Officers to Handle Minor Emergency Calls
Finn's Take· TL;DR- Austin deploys two Community Service Officers at $25/hour to handle minor 911 calls, aiming to reduce response times and overtime costs during six-month pilot.
- City addresses critical staffing shortage—average response times jumped from 29 minutes in 2019 to nearly 47 minutes last year with 300+ vacant positions.
- Program targets low-risk calls unlikely to require force or enforcement action; success measured through data analysis and community surveys for potential citywide expansion.
New Alternative Response Program Debuts
Austin is taking a different approach to handling low-level 911 calls with the launch of a new pilot program featuring Community Service Officers. The Austin Police Department has launched a small-scale "alternative response" pilot program that police leaders hope will lower response times to less urgent 911 calls, reduce the department's usage of overtime and even create a new recruiting pipeline to help fill the department's more than 300 empty officer positions.
"I'm sure everyone here has received a phone call about calling APD and waiting for someone to show up on a low-level call when it took some time," Assistant Police Chief Angie Jones told the Austin City Council's Public Safety Committee Monday. "We're hoping that this will be an opportunity for us to get someone there quicker and have a better response and better relations for our community."
For now, the six-month pilot will deploy just two officers hired as temporary employees earning $25 per hour. But, Jones said, the Police Department intends to analyze data around the pilot — including survey responses the department will send to members of the public who interact with the community service officers — to determine if the program has been successful and if it should be expanded to other parts of the city.
Addressing Critical Staffing Challenges
The timing of this initiative reflects Austin's ongoing struggle with police staffing. For years, Austin has had a shortage of patrol officers, leading to longer and longer response times for 911 calls. Austin police officers took on average just over 45 minutes to respond to 911 calls last year, a new study found. The analysis from national crime data expert Jeff Asher found the department's average response times consistently increased over five years, going from 29 minutes in 2019 to nearly 47 minutes last year.
As the Police Department continues to struggle with an officer shortage, police leaders have turned to different strategies to ensure more officers are available to respond to 911 calls. In August, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis moved 70 officers from specialized units back on to patrol. Two months later, the city launched the Austin FIRST pilot, which diverts patrol officers from mental health emergencies by instead sending in a specialized team of experts who are trained to deal with those often volatile and time-consuming calls.
Strategic Call Selection and Geographic Focus
The new employees, known as Community Service Officers, will respond to low-level 911 calls in the Police Department's Edwards sector, which encompasses a portion of the I-35 corridor near U.S. Police leaders identified 911 calls community service officers would be best suited to respond to by looking at calls for service least likely to result in officer injury, end in officers using force or that would not require some kind of law enforcement action.
Jones told Council members the Police Department modeled the pilot after similar programs in Midland, Odessa and San Jose, Calif. This approach represents a calculated effort to optimize resource allocation while maintaining public safety standards. The department's careful analysis ensures these civilian officers handle only the most appropriate calls.
Building Toward Sustainable Solutions
Austin's broader context reveals the urgency behind this initiative. Austin's Emergency Communications Center supports over 1,800 police officers and receives approximately 1 million 911 calls per year. With such volume and APD is still down around 300 officers , innovative approaches become essential for maintaining service levels.
The Community Service Officer program could represent more than just immediate relief. If successful, this pilot might evolve into a permanent fixture of Austin's public safety strategy, potentially inspiring similar programs across Texas and beyond. The department's commitment to data collection and community feedback suggests they're serious about creating a model that works for both residents and law enforcement.