District 4 Council Member Gregorio Casar asked Manley to confirm his commitment to “being local law enforcement and not federal immigration enforcement.”[/caption]

Austin City Council on Thursday unanimously approved Brian Manley’s appointment as interim chief of the Austin Police Department.

The council voted 8-0 to appoint Manley to the position while Austin conducts its search for a permanent police chief. The approval comes two weeks after interim City Manager Elaine Hart named Manley as her choice to temporarily fill the vacancy left by former Chief Art Acevedo, who resigned after nearly a decade as Austin’s top cop to take a job as Houston’s police chief.

“He has my highest level of confidence in his ability to do the job,” Hart said Thursday.

While Thursday’s vote to confirm Manley was more of a formality, the approval did not occur without discussion and a public interview conducted by some council members.

After questions regarding the city’s spike in violent crime and Manley’s commitment to operating in collaboration with city officials, an interesting moment occurred when District 4 Council Member Gregorio Casar asked if Manley as chief would continue to keep his focus on preventing crime and “not trying to fill the role of the federal immigration enforcement.”

District 6 Council Member Don Zimmerman interrupted with a point of order during which he claimed Casar asked Manley if he would be committed to breaking federal law. City Attorney Anne Morgan said that was not how she understood Casar’s question. Casar then reframed his inquiry.

“I’m not asking anything that is outside the law,” said Casar, who clarified he was asking Manley to reaffirm his commitment to “being local law enforcement and not federal immigration enforcement.”

Manley said the police force, under his watch, will be focused on criminality and will be no different to how it has been conducted in recent years.