The Austin City Council weighed two controversial policing measures this week, and in both of them sided with the Austin Police Department and against the dozens of police reform activists who spent Thursday at City Hall making a case for reining in law enforcement.

In consecutive votes, the council members first opted against approving a citizen-led proposal to add powers to the city's police oversight office. They followed by voting to reinstate an investigative tool that the council had removed from the police department two years ago — camera technology that tracks vehicles through their license plate number.

The votes underscored the challenge for the council in balancing the often competing interests in public safety and police accountability, as they wrestled with proposals that, no matter how they voted, were bound to earn them criticism. Indeed, their discussion was at times interrupted by boos and disapproving comments from the audience members.

That decision came after community organizers last month failed to submit in time a petition to bring the changes before Austin voters by placing it on the November ballot. In disqualifying the petition last month, the city clerk's office said it needed more time to verify the roughly 33,000 submitted signatures. Last week, the clerk's office finished the count and certified the petition. That created two options for the city council: approve the proposal outright, or reject it and put it before voters at the next municipal election, which is scheduled for May.

The council opted for the May election.

Council Member Alison Alter said she supports added police oversight, but said she voted no because she believes certain aspects of the proposal likely are illegal. She appeared to be referencing language that would give the oversight office access to certain privileged documents.

Council Member Chito Vela, who said he signed the citizen-led petition, said he voted no Thursday because he was concerned about how Republicans in the Texas Legislature might respond. He said that if if the council approved the changes, state lawmakers could then pass a statewide bill to undo them at the upcoming Legislative session. But Vela's reasoning fails to consider the potential for the Legislature to preemptively pass a bill that could override the outcome of the May election.

At one point, the vote was tied 4-4 and three council members had yet to weigh in. Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, who favored the changes, invited to the podium Austin activist Chas Moore. In a speech that touched on the city's racist past, Moore pleaded for stronger police oversight. It didn't work. The three remaining council members — Alter, Kathie Tovo and Sabino "Pio" Renteria — all voted no.

The four council members who voted in favor of expanding powers for the oversight office were Harper-Madison, Ann Kitchen, Vanessa Fuentes and Paige Ellis.

The debate over the oversight office's authority might not be over, however. The city's contract with the police union is set to expire in March, and several council members said they will refuse to vote for any agreement that fails to strengthen the oversight office.

Council says yes to license plate readers

On the issue of the license plate readers, the council voted to allow Austin police officers to resume using them, after taking that option away from police in 2020 over privacy concerns. The police department in the past used the cameras to investigative crimes, including an active shooter situation and the rock-throwing incidents on Interstate 35 several years ago.

For months, the council members, following Mackenzie Kelly's lead, signaled their desire to reinstate the program. The biggest consideration was ensuring it would not be used to harass everyday residents who, for instance, have an unpaid parking ticket but are suspected of no other crime.

As approved on a 7-4 vote, police can access the data for up to 30 days.