Consultant proposes Austin modernize 911 call-taking, advises against standalone civilian department

Austin leaders are continuing to review the creation of a standalone office to handle 911 calls.

City Council narrowly voted to move toward that structure in August, against the advice of city management and public safety officials. A new consultant report also recommends maintaining the current call-taking structure under Austin Police, with updates like added civilian oversight of emergency communications.

The setup

Discussions about moving civilian functions including 911 response out of the police department stretch back years, and were furthered last August when council members formally voted to study creating a Joint Emergency Communications Department, or JEC. As proposed, a civilian-led JEC would handle the city's emergency dispatch needs independently of sworn Austin Police, Austin Fire and Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services personnel.

Officials have since highlighted an emergency call center that has rebounded from a "crisis" point years ago with improved 911 responses and staffing. However, some elected leaders have also suggested a standalone communications center could be an improvement and that internal opposition led the city to stall reporting on those plans.

During this summer's budgeting process, several council members including Krista Laine—who'd sponsored the call to study an independent 911 center—backed a proposal to launch a new civilian-led Office of Joint Emergency Communications in the coming year. The approved plan includes $1.4 million for nine civilian positions and start-up costs, and directs the office to begin transitioning toward a fully independent JEC.

That proposal passed by a slim 6-2-3 margin, with several officials stating they opposed the shift and wanted to wait until the city-commissioned JEC study was complete. After a preliminary update in late July, that report from public safety consultant Mission Critical Partners was released Sept. 15 and council members reviewed the findings Sept. 22.

Zooming in

Mission Critical reported Austin's 911 call-taking system is generally performing well after recent advances, with effective coordination between police, fire, medical and mental health response personnel.

The study also identified room for improvement across city emergency communications, including added civilian involvement. But Mission Critical still recommends keeping 911 call-taking at Austin Police, and advised Austin leaders to maintain the city's communications structure with several specific modernization efforts.

Bonnie Maney, Mission Critical's vice president of emergency communications center operations, said shifting to a standalone public safety call-taking model preferred by some elected officials would carry the highest costs, "unnecessary" risks and limited benefits. She also noted joint emergency communications systems can be highly successful and that Mission Critical has suggested them in some other cities, but that Austin's current model doesn't require such a change.

"We didn’t find any measurably improved operations from doing just that," Maney told council. "It would be more symbolically repositioning, rather than substantial reform.”

Retaining the current 911 call-taking structure would support existing operations, Maney said, while also giving Austin the chance to upgrade some areas of concern across the communications system from oversight to caller relations.

“We find that the current placement does have the stability. It is a low risk. But it doesn’t fully address identified gaps—and there are gaps," she said.

Targeted changes could include the involvement of more professional civilians in 911 call-taking at the police department, formalized coordination between public safety communications staff, new quality benchmarks and reviews, technology and analytics upgrades, and better public engagement. A Mission Critical roadmap suggests that work could be carried out in phases over the next year-plus.

"The assessment finds that Austin’s strongest path forward is to pair professional civilian emergency communications leadership with targeted modernization while retaining civilian 911 call-taking within [Austin Police]," the consultant's report states.

What they're saying

Laine said she appreciated the consideration of civilian functions in Austin's emergency communications system, and hopes to see more review of the concept going forward. Looking ahead, she said more analysis could be needed before city leaders decide whether to keep civilian call-takers reporting to police leadership or move them under city management.

Laine also said Austin should act on Mission Critical's other recommendations with frequent updates to council's Public Safety Committee. And with more time and data, she said officials could still consider a full call-taker transition.

"We’re not really using the taxpayers’ funds effectively or effectively problem-solving by having a foregone conclusion," she said. "It is not a foregone conclusion to me at this point that I would not ultimately want that move to be the next step.”

Council member Mike Siegel, who joined Laine in promoting the new communications office and related funding measure this summer, said Mission Critical's reporting provided valuable insights and validated some officials' desires for adjusting the 911 call-taking process.

"The improvements to 911 identified by this report are because council didn’t just trust that the current structure would yield improvements. We intervened, right? And I think the call for a true civilian leader of 911 is something that all of us seem to agree on," he said.

Assistant City Manager John Fortune also confirmed the city is looking into broadening 911 call alternatives, like mental health-focused responses, but said that work may require more oversight than a single civilian leader.

The council-directed standalone Office of Joint Emergency Communications was funded in Austin's fiscal year 2026-27 budget, which begins in October.