It’s election season at the Austin Police Association, and two cops are challenging incumbent president Ken Casaday for the union’s helm: Brandon Bullock, a relatively low-profile figure who’s been at APD for seven years, and Aaron Bishop, a 23-year veteran with a more extensive history both within the department and the civil courthouse.
Bishop, for a while, worked as a detective in APD’s organized crime division, first in the alcohol and mid-level narcotics units before graduating to vice and human trafficking, a coveted yet largely white and male unit that fostered a notoriously hostile environment for their women colleagues (“APD’s Sleep Disorder,” Aug. 24, 2012). In 2014, he (and others) were formally accused by Det. Brenda Bermudez of routine sexual harassment since 2010. Allegations insinuated that Bishop and others “made sexually offensive jokes, spoke crudely about women’s bodies and ‘whether they would have sex with the women on the websites’ they monitored … and routinely asked Bermudez, a lesbian, whether she would have sex with any of those women.”
Bishop responded the following August by filing a lawsuit of his own accusing the city of failing to act on claims he made (during an Internal Affairs investigation spurred by Bermudez’s lawsuit) that Bermudez was the one sexually harassing him. His suit was ultimately dismissed. In September, Bermudez settled with the city and received $40,000.
Bishop – who’s also named as a plaintiff in the still-pending lawsuit OCD detectives filed alleging that older and minority officers were being unfairly moved out of the division (“APD Uproar Over OCD,” Sept. 13, 2013) – did not respond to a request for comment on this story, but his ballot biography, distributed to membership, focuses on wages, “consistent and fair discipline,” retirement benefits, and increasing active duty benefits. He suggests that the benefits in the union’s contract shouldn’t be up for discussion every cycle, and proposes an annual basic cost of living increase, phone stipends, and a guaranteed 1,700-hour sick leave buyback policy.
His fellow challenger Bullock was a cop in “the union rich state of Michigan” – where he was a local president for 11 years – before moving to Austin in 2010 and joining the APA board of directors the following year. Through his career he’s been a detective, undercover narcotics officer, and traffic cop, and has worked mostly in motors at APD. He said he’s running because he wasn’t impressed with the last contract the APA agreed to with the city, and thought terms of the new deal – agreed to between the APA and city negotiators and now heading to City Council – represented more of the same.
As Bullock’s platform makes clear, the timing of the recent agreement makes this election somewhat of a referendum on the job Casaday has done in his first term, and the 9.5% pay raise through the next five years he just secured during negotiations may be enough on its own to keep him in the post. Casaday touts his leadership through what he calls “the most tumultuous years in the history of law enforcement, with Ferguson, Missouri, and officers being assassinated all around the country,” and cited his work procuring heavy vests for officers and time-and-a-half pay for those working South by Southwest as other indications of his success. Then there’s his own work helping to push former Chief Art Acevedo off to Houston. With a new permanent chief still to be appointed, APA members may like having a tenured president around to flex their muscle. If re-elected, Casaday said he would pursue sick leave buyback and a work-life program to retain officers. “We’ve had lots of successes,” he said. “There’s always been setbacks, but not too many, and I’m hoping that the officers come out and support me.”
Voting begins Friday, Nov. 3, and continues until 8am on Nov. 10. Candidates must rake in more than 50% in order to avoid a run-off. Sgt. Tim Kresta, the APA’s election chairman, expects to have official results by 9am, Nov. 10.
This article appears in November 3 • 2017.