City Manager names Brian Manley his pick for Austin Police Chief
Brian Manley has been with the Austin Police Department for nearly 3 decades. Since his appointment as interim chief, he was thrust into the national spotlight —receiving accolades for his leadership during Austin’s bombing crisis.
“I strongly believe that there is not a better candidate to serve our community and lead our police force,” said City Manager Spencer Cronk in a press conference appointing Manley to the job.
Council still has to confirm the appointment.
Read As public input for Manley ends, some are hoping for nationwide APD Chief search
“I would not be standing here today with the opportunity that I have...this being the first time in almost 4 decades that we have appointed a chief within the department, if it weren’t for the excellent work of the men and women and the civilian staff that support us every single day,” Manley said.
Friday morning Cronk sent a memo to the Mayor and Council saying he heard overwhelmingly positive feedback from the community about Manley but there were some concerns from citizens about whether he could be an agent of cultural change since he’s coming from within the department.
“I provided my expectations on 5 areas of improvements for the department. They include safety, community policing and transparency, staffing, training and equity and inclusion,” Cronk said.
Part of that is making sure officers are “guardians” not “warriors.
Read Manley honors bomb squad, SWAT officers for courage during bombing crisis
“It’s that delicate balance. Making sure that we are training our officers with the ‘guardian’ heart but with the skills to use the appropriate responses when they’re called in to situations that are dangerous,” said Manley.
Chas Moore, executive director and Co-founder of the Austin Justice Coalition says he’s trusting Cronk on this one.
“He thinks Manley is the guy for the job which if that’s the case then we support Brian Manley. I think Manley still has a way to go but I think Cronk is also going to hold him accountable to some of the things that he expects to see and I know our organization will,” Moore said.
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Gus Pena is the president of Veterans for Progress. He was hoping for a nationwide search for a chief. Pena is not happy with Cronk’s decision. He’s hoping Council will think about something before making the final decision on Manley.
“I want the City Council to really look into what occurred without a process. It doesn’t mean anything good for our community. Anglos, even the African Americans told me they wanted a process of the candidates and also Hispanics who were hurt also,” Pena said.
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Ken Casaday, President is the Austin Police Association says:
"We look forward to working with Chief Manley. He's always had an open door and he listens. Chief Manley is starting off his new position with one hand tied behind his back. It will be extremely difficult to move the department forward without a labor contract that allows the department to hire more officers and pay them fairly."
Read Interim APD Chief Manley lone candidate to become permanent chief
Again, now it’s in councils hands. Cronk is bringing forth an item on next Thursday’s agenda to ask council to confirm his appointment per state law.