City officials back from Formula 1 race

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The police chief is back in Austin after a five-day trip to England.

He and four other city officials, including Mayor Lee Leffingwell and City Manager Marc Ott, flew to London to see the logistics of a Formula One race first-hand.

The fact-finding mission comes four months before Austin's first F1 race at the new Circuit of The America's track being constructed east of the city.

When Chief Art Acevedo stepped off the plane Tuesday, it was no mystery what he had been up to. He has been Tweeting online like crazy since he left Austin -- snapping pictures of everything from his food to the local officials he met.

The chief also shared a video he shot from the stands while watching his first F1 race.

"I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did," said Acevedo. "It was kind of a first for me, but I really felt that -- in the spirit of transparency -- it was really important for us to let you know what we were up to."

The chief was reassured that local preparations for more than 300,000 race fans are on the right track.

"I'm very confident that what we've been planning -- in terms of our shuttle operations, our parking operations, our security operations -- are right on point," said Acevedo.

The group saw bumper-to-bumper traffic for miles as fans tried to get to the track. Shuttles and cars were sharing the same road and drop-off points. In Austin, the two will be separated.

Acevedo said the amount of air traffic was also eye-opening. Helicopters were a popular form of transportation to the track.

"Helicopter after helicopter after helicopter, nonstop," said Acevedo. "It just reminded me of the movie 'Apocalypse Now.' If you remember when they go into the field and land, the troops would get off and then take off again. That's exactly what it was."

The group got to see the problems unexpected weather can cause. Record rainfall created a muddy mess in dirt parking lots around the track, and more than 20,000 fans had to be turned away Sunday.

The medical center on site handled 300- to 400 calls during the race weekend. Austin will have the same set-up that will be able to handle everything from scrapes to burns to life-threatening injuries.

When it comes to police numbers, Acevedo said his department will use the same plan set in motion during South By Southwest. Officers will work 12 hours on,12 hours off.

"I'd rather overstaff and be overprepared than understaffed and be overwhelmed," said Acevedo.

The chief is confident Austin can pull off an event that is not just as good, rather better than anyone else.

"To ensure that while the eyes of the world are on the city of Austin, that the people of Austin put on a show that we can be proud of," said Acevedo.