The Austin Police Department and its partners told the Public Safety Commission on Nov. 3 that reported sexual-assault cases rose in 2025 partly because of internal data-integrity work and are taking multiple steps to improve investigation, prosecution and survivor services.

"That [elevated line] is because of the data-integrity project that we've been working on," Assistant Chief Angie Jones said, explaining a sharp increase in cases after an October 2024 audit of how incidents were titled in APDs records. Jones said APD is auditing records back to 2019, consolidating multiple title codes into a single "sexual assault" title and expects that the cleaned data will align historical counts.

APD also told the commission it has standardized report-writing procedures, adjusted response-time expectations for sexual-assault calls and plans to launch a public data dashboard by the end of the year to make the cleaned data accessible.

Jones described a field intervention program called SARP that worked with bar owners and plainclothes officers to reduce assaults reported from the Domain entertainment district. She said prosecutors staffing of case staffings rose from 70 in Q2 to 86 in Q3.

SAFE Alliance, which provides forensic-nursing and advocacy services, reported a return to pre-pandemic exam volumes: "We are seeing ourselves back at the same census that we had before the pandemic in 2020," Holly Bowles, director of sexual-assault victim advocacy at SAFE Alliance, said. SAFEs forensic nursing team reported 126 evidence-collection exams in both Q2 and Q3 2025 and said it conducted dozens of in-person and phone consults.

SAFE leaders also reported service gaps and operational pressures. Two accompaniment requests in Q3 went unmet because advocates were already responding to other calls; SAFE said one July exam lacked available advocates and another September exam occurred in Hays/Caldwell where SAFE could not provide accompaniment. The organization also said it currently does not have an advocate on staff who can provide services in Spanish for on-scene accompaniments, though forensic nursing does have a Spanish-speaking nurse. SAFE cited loss of a major private donor and continuing hospital credentialing hurdles as funding and operational risks.

The Travis County District Attorneys Office said it has embedded prosecutors with APDs Special Victims unit to improve case continuity and communication with victims, and that the office is funding an embedded prosecutor in the child-abuse unit. "We are in many meetings," First Assistant Britta Strassburger said, praising APDs work and noting the shift has increased prosecutions and continuity for victims.

Commissioners asked whether staffing or other operational risks were creating triage problems for victims. APD acknowledged that patrol staffing pressures can affect initial on-scene responses and said the department is reprioritizing calls and using victim services to make early outreach when officers are delayed.

What happens next: APD will continue the title-code consolidation and data audits, aims to deploy the public dashboard by year-end and will expand case-tracking work so detectives can see prosecutorial progress. SAFE said it will continue contract renewals with area hospitals and pursue funding to address interpreter and advocacy capacity.

Sources: Presentation to the Public Safety Commission by Angie Jones, Austin Police Department; SAFE Alliance presenters Holly Bowles, Paula Marks and Allison Cole; Britta Strassburger, Travis County District Attorneys Office (Nov. 3, 2025).