Annual Crime and Traffic Report: 2010 (Austin: crime rate, neighborhood, zip code)

[CptnRn]

While trying to find where they hid the old annual crime data on the NEW City of Austin website (with no success) I came across this report that is produced each year. It had some interesting stuff. Search | AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin

Background
Each calendar year, the Austin Police Department reports crime statistics to the FBI through the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. After federal review, these “official” statistics are used in tracking year-to-year performance and trends, as well as comparing our crime statistics to other US cities of similar size.

Notable Findings

This year’s crime statistics include the following noteworthy findings:

Austin’s rate of 476 violent crimes per 100,000 residents was lower than the average rate of 830 for US cities of comparable size. (Page 4)

Austin’s property crime rate of 5,755 per 100,000 residents was higher than the average rate of 4,528 for US cities of comparable size. (Page 11)

The number of murders increased from 22 in 2009 to 38 in 2010; Austin’s rate per 100,000 residents was less than half the average of large US cities. (Page 5)

Austin’s number of robberies declined from 1,415 in 2009 to 1,231 in 2010; our rate per 100,000 residents was about half the average of large US cities. (Page 8)

The number of thefts dropped from 37,054 in 2009 to 34,827 in 2010; Austin’s rate per 100,000 residents was double the average of large cities. (Page 12)

Austin's number of auto thefts increased from 2,219 in 2009 to 2,250 in 2010; of all vehicles stolen, 80% were successfully recovered, which was higher than the average recovery rates for both Texas and the US. (Page 13)

Austin’s number of traffic fatalities declined from 62 in 2009 to 49 in 2010; our fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) was lower than the average rates for both Texas and the US. (Page 16)

Total violent crime is down 5.8% and total property crime is down 4.6%.

Burglary of vehicles makes up over 43% of all thefts in Austin.

In Austin 42% of all violent crimes are cleared mostly by arrest. The national average is 40%.

In Austin 10% of property crimes are cleared. The national average is 13%.

The 2010 traffic fatality rate is down, with 1.05 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT), as compared with the rate of 1.31 in 2009. The 2010 rate is slightly less then the national average.

Austin's rate of traffic fatalities involving driver alcohol impairment is .56 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). That rate is significantly higher than the rates for both Texas (.46) and the US (.37).

[iceman11]

Thanks CptnRn, interesting data.

Did you ever come across similar data split by area in a city? I wonder that could be helpful to all who, moving to Austin, often asks about how safe looks a neighborhood they're investigating to move to.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by iceman11

Thanks CptnRn, interesting data.

Did you ever come across similar data split by area in a city? I wonder that could be helpful to all who, moving to Austin, often asks about how safe looks a neighborhood they're investigating to move to.

That is what I was looking for when I found the info above.

See this. //www.city-data.com/forum/membe...#vmessage42397

The old links to crime data broken down by zip code are now broken.

[JudyBlue]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

While trying to find where they hid the old annual crime data on the NEW City of Austin website (with no success) I came across this report that is produced each year. It had some interesting stuff. Search | AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin

Total violent crime is down 5.8% and total property crime is down 4.6%.

Burglary of vehicles makes up over 43% of all thefts in Austin.

In Austin 42% of all violent crimes are cleared mostly by arrest. The national average is 40%.

In Austin 10% of property crimes are cleared. The national average is 13%.

The 2010 traffic fatality rate is down, with 1.05 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT), as compared with the rate of 1.31 in 2009. The 2010 rate is slightly less then the national average.

Austin's rate of traffic fatalities involving driver alcohol impairment is .56 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). That rate is significantly higher than the rates for both Texas (.46) and the US (.37).

Why the comparison to "large" cities? The comparison should be mid to large size cities. I think this puts a spin on it, and makes the Austin police look better than they really are.

[Trainwreck20]

Why the comparison to "large" cities?

Probably because the other cities in the US that are similar in size to Austin are classified as large?

Is this data on the metropolitan area or strictly the city limits of Austin? Austin is listed as the 14th largest city (by population) in the U.S. It is 19th based on land area. Population density, however, is way down the list.

[Nighthawks11]

Originally Posted by JudyBlue

Why the comparison to "large" cities? The comparison should be mid to large size cities. I think this puts a spin on it, and makes the Austin police look better than they really are.

If anything it shows how nice Austin is. Most of any police force is reactionary. They responded to those crimes after they had been committed. The culture and the people here make it a safer place to be than other places. Police have very little to do with crime being high or low or changes in those statistics. What they do is respond to 2,000+ service calls a day, work crashes and try to convince folks to get along. It takes a community to effectively change crime stats.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by JudyBlue

Why the comparison to "large" cities? The comparison should be mid to large size cities. I think this puts a spin on it, and makes the Austin police look better than they really are.

Because the FBI crime data classifies Austin as a large city.

United States cities by crime rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia