Reporting Words: Assignment 4

 Powell, Austin

Crime is increasing in downtown Austin according to a study between the Downtown Austin Alliance and the Austin Police Department.  The downtown area saw a 36 percent increase from 2010 to 2011, according to a Downtown Crime and Public Order Report compiled by the Downtown Austin Alliance and Krimelabb, a website that compiles reported crimes in the greater Austin area.

Aggravated assault is one of the more prevalent types of crime in the downtown area.  This year alone has seen 78 aggravated assault claims compared to 91 in 2011.  If this trend continues, downtown Austin will have the most cases of aggravated assault cases in its history by the end of the year.

“Crime is up in downtown.  We want downtown to be a safe place because high crime doesn’t bode well for hosting events for the city,” Bill Brice, security and maintenance director of Austin Alliance told the Austin Community Court Advisory Council Friday.

According to Brice, a majority of crime committed downtown takes place in the entertainment district near Sixth St. between midnight and 4 a.m.

A majority of these incidents are occurring near bars with alcohol being the factor in causing the crime he said during the meeting.  Cell phones were cited as one of the main reasons for committing the crime.  Usually this occurred when victims are leaving a bar and walking to their car in dark areas, Brice said.

However, of those arrested, APD identified 32 as being homeless – 25 percent of the total.

But Brice said there is no correlation in rise in crime in the area in proximity to the homeless shelters in downtown.

“A majority of the crime is not committed by those in social centers and shelters because doors close at 6 p.m.  These people are taking the right measures to improve their situation in life,” he said.

To take care of the problem, Downtown Austin Alliance and APD are partnering together to designate crime hotspots via Krimelabb as mentioned earlier.  Once the hotspot has been determined, APD will attempt to fix the situation whether it be through installing more lights to thwart crimes from even occurring or putting in cameras to monitor the location.

The alliance and APD are making this a priority because the city usually tends to follow downtown in trends, he said.  Therefore, if crime increases downtown then it is likely to spread into other pockets of the city.

Downtown is considered to be between Martin Luther King Blvd. to the north and Riverside Dr. to the south, and Interstate 35 to the east and Lamar Blvd. to the west.