Austin’s Search for a Police Chief
Austin’s City Manager, T.C. Broadnax has announced two finalists for the Chief of Police position.
The candidates are Lisa Davis and Jefferey B. Norman.
Broadnax hopes to bring his final candidate to Austin City Council for their consideration and approval on Tuesday, July 30, 2024.
Who is Austin’s current Police Chief?
Interim Chief of Police Robin Henderson was appointed as Interim Chief of Police on August 31, 2023.
The process for selecting Austin’s Police Chief:
The City Manager, who is hired by Austin City Council, selects a candidate for the position of Austin Police Chief.
The first step in this process was candidate screening and evaluation by Austin’s executive search consultant, Mosaic Public Partners. Ultimately, the city manager selected finalists. Then, the city asked, in the form of surveys, for community feedback priorities about and characteristics they wanted in the police chief. The surveys were in English and Spanish. The result was over 1,200 responses. The Austin police department personnel were also sent surveys, resulting in 550 responses.
The candidates then met with a variety of folks, including a panel of representatives of city departments.
On Tuesday, July 23, at the Palmer Event Center, there was a meet-and-greet with the two candidates. The mayor and city council members were there, and it was open to the public. Prior to the event, the public was asked for their questions for the candidates and the event attendees could submit questions while there.
Judy Maggio was the moderator. She is a journalist and broadcaster with over forty years of experience.
It is now up to Broadnax to select his pick for the position. Then, Austin City Council will consider and approve the candidate.
About the candidates (the following information is from the Austin government website) :
Lisa Davis is an Assistant Police Chief with the Cincinnati Police Department.
She is currently the Investigations Bureau Commander which oversees Homicide, Major Offenders, Narcotics and Personal Crimes.
She has held multiple roles throughout her career but specializes in building community relationships and using problem-solving and evidence-based policing to address crime and disorder. She created a city-wide problem-solving unit trained to address crime and disorder in chronically violent locations, reducing overall crime and increasing the quality of life for area residents.
As the commander of Police District One she implemented a crime strategy utilizing focused deterrence and place-based initiatives that dramatically reduced shootings and robberies.
Assistant Chief Davis is passionate about community policing and building police legitimacy through community partnerships. She developed a specialized unit to address at-risk population victimization that includes the LGBTQ community, Latino/Hispanic community, human trafficking victims and homeless youth.
She also developed a police cadet program that provides eight weeks of summer employment for inner city youth. She is also a strong advocate for officer wellness and mental health awareness.
As part of her personal development, she has attended the Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP), the Southern Police Institute (SPI), the Police Executive Leadership Institute (PELI) and the Police Executive Leadership College (PELC). She has received several awards including the Superior Achievement in Law Enforcement and the Award of Valor. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Xavier University.
Lieutenant Colonel Davis grew up in the inner city of Cincinnati and is a proud product of its public schools.
Chief Jeffrey B. Norman was appointed to the Milwaukee Police Department in 1996. As an officer, Chief Norman served in District 1, District 2 and the Technical Communications Division until his promotion to detective in 2002. As a detective, he served in the Robbery Division, Violent Crimes Division and Homicide Division until his promotion to lieutenant in 2010. As a lieutenant, he served in the Property Crimes Division, Metropolitan Division (Robbery Task Force, Homicide Unit and Cold Case Unit) and District 5 as the dayshift commander. Promoted to captain in 2017, he commanded the Inspections Division and District 3. In 2020 he was promoted to Assistant Chief.
Chief Norman was the executive commander of the Criminal Investigation Bureau. The Criminal Investigation Bureau oversees the Homicide, Special Investigation, Violent Crimes, General Crimes, Sensitive Crimes, Fusion and Forensic Divisions. Chief Norman was the former commander of District 3; where he instituted robust community engagement for his team, a mission he still holds today. Chief Norman was also the former commander of the Inspections Division. The Inspections Division operates the Inspection, Accreditation, Audit and CJIS Compliance Units. Chief Norman oversaw the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Accreditation Group (WILEAG) accreditation standards for the department and ensures districts and divisions are regularly audited and inspected for compliance according to departmental policies and procedures, national law enforcement best practices, and federal, state and local law.
On December 23, 2020, he was appointed to serve as the Acting Chief of the Milwaukee Police Department. On November 15, 2021, Chief Norman was sworn in as the Chief of the Milwaukee Police Department.
Chief Norman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Masters of Public Administration degree from Kaplan University and a Juris Doctor degree from Marquette University Law School. Chief Norman is the Central Region representative for the Major Cities Chiefs Association, a graduate of the FBI LEEDA’s Executive and Command Institutes, Southern Police Institute’s Chief Executive Leadership, International Associations of Chiefs of Police’s Leadership in Police Organizations. He has also completed the 68th Session of the Police Executive Research Forum - Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP) in Boston, MA and the 45th Session of the FBI National Executive Institute.
edited: August 5, 2024
Broadnax selected Lisa Davis to be Austin’s new police chief. Mayor Kirk Watson and Council Members will consider Davis on Tuesday, August 6, at a special-called meeting for 1 p.m. It is required that city council appoint Davis.
Resources:
If you want to learn more about the candidates, you can search online for them in their current or recent roles in their communities. Remember, always check your sources for accuracy.
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