Robberies and burglaries up in SW Austin 2007 vs 2008 (Center, Shady Hollow: transplants, crime rate)

[CptnRn]

I have started locking the gate to my backyard because of this Feb. issue of Community Impact Newspaper article.

Property crime, budget challenges for police (http://impactnews.com/southwest-austin/news/3403-property-crime-budget-challenges-for-police - broken link)

It indicates that in the last year 2007 to 2008 burglaries have increased 19%, up 183 incidents, from 961 to 1144 incidents.

Also robberies increased 21%, up 19 incidents, from 92 to 111 incidents.

http://impactnews.com/images/stories/SWA/2009/02/01-chart.jpg (broken link)

[HappyTexan]

Well we also have a big increase in population so maybe the ratio isn't that off.
More people usually equals more crime. The current economy doesn't help matters either as small crimes increase as people find ways to supplement their income.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by HappyTexan

Well we also have a big increase in population so maybe the ratio isn't that off.
More people usually equals more crime. The current economy doesn't help matters either as small crimes increase as people find ways to supplement their income.

While I agree in general with your comment, if you look a the chart, other types of crime have increased very little, some have decreased. Also there certainly has NOT been an increase in population of 19-21% in SW Austin.

I'd like to add that I'm not saying crime in SW Austin is worse then other parts of town, it is probably even less given this graph that was in the same article. But I think it is still something to be concerned about since there has been a dramatic increase in burglaries and robberies.

http://impactnews.com/images/stories/SWA/2009/02/15-chart.jpg (broken link)

According to APD’s 2008 crime report released in December, southwest Austin property crimes were up 1 percent while violent crimes in the area increased 5 percent. Under the category of property crime, burglary rose 19 percent, auto theft dropped 3 percent and burglaries of vehicles decreased 9 percent. Violent crimes consist of rape, up 4 percent due to one more incidence reported in 2008 than in 2007; robbery, which increased 21 percent; and aggravated assaults, down 4 percent. Southwest Austin did not see any homicides in 2007 or 2008. In 2008, burglaries also accounted for 19 percent of the reported 6,063 property crimes, forcing officers to deal with rapid growth in the area.

[Raskolnikov]

Crime's up everywhere in Austin, including northwest, central, west, and east austin. Heard of the Hyde Park burglaries? I know at least 3 people who've had their houses robbed in Central/ East Austin in the last few months.

[inthecut]

Until I read these posts on here, I thought Austin had approximately the same crime rate as the Magic Kingdom.....you mean it's a real city, experiencing real problems with infrastructure, roads, schools, and crime? Say it ain't so, Joe!

AWWWW, it was more fun imagining that it was Disney World! Shucks!

[llkltk]

Most of the theft is because people leave their garages open or park their cars in their driveways. It is better to keep your garaged closed and your cars parked inside your garage.

[CptnRn]

Uncomfortable with these statistics I researched this further and I see a huge problem with the way this article identified this as crime in SouthWest Austin. The zip codes included in this report include most of what I think of as South Central Austin (78704, 78745, 78748). Years ago, 1980 or so, I did an architectural programming study of this area for the development of a Public Health Center and found it to be the highest crime area West of I-35 at that time, highest number of unwed mothers who were the head of households, highest incidents of drug abuse, etc., etc. Here is a breakdown for comparison of the burglary and robbery crime stats for all of the zipcodes included in the area they lumped together as SouthWest Austin.

2008
zip code, robbery, burglary, area description
78704, 85 605 S. Central Austin to Ben White
78745, 72 630 S.Central Austin BenWhite to Ditmar Rd
78748, 20 228 S. Central Austin Ditmar Rd. to Manchaca

78735, 3 67 West Oak Hill & Barton Creek Country Club
78736, 0 11 Y in Oak Hill & areas West
78739, 2 34 Circle C & W Shady Hollow
78746, 16 68 West Lake Hills
78749 8 163 West Creek, Convict Hill, Legend Oaks

2007
zip code, robbery, burglary, area description
78704, 72 493 S. Central Austin to Ben White
78745, 74 623 S.Central Austin BenWhite to Ditmar Rd
78748, 15 198 S. Central Austin Ditmar Rd. to Manchaca

78735, 4 73 West Oak Hill & Barton Creek Country Club
78736, 0 13 Y in Oak Hill & areas West
78739, 0 25 Circle C & W Shady Hollow
78746, 6 53 West Lake Hills
78749 4 96 West Creek, Convict Hill, Legend Oaks

Most of these SouthWest Austin areas have had minor increases, the area west of the Y had a small decrease.
The 78749 area has had a 50% increase in robbery and a 59% increase in burglaries

zip code map
The Most Accurate Free USPS Zip Code Map Anywhere!

crime stats listed by zip code
http://malford.ci.austin.tx.us/police/zipcode/zipcode/zip_2008.pdf (broken link)
http://malford.ci.austin.tx.us/police/zipcode/zipcode/ZIP_2007.pdf (broken link)

For comparison the Hyde Park crime states zip code 78751 are a lot lower then I expected.
2008
zip code, robbery, burglary, area description
78751, 24 219 Hyde Park

The worst zip codes in town are
78753 137 686 total incidents 14,186 North I-35 Corridor
78741 241 872 total incidents 14,742 East Riverside Drive
78701 93 128 total incidents 12,790 Downtown Austin
78702 129 474 total incidents 7,808 East Austin
78704 85 605 total incidents 11,357 S. Central Austin to Ben White

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Most of the theft is because people leave their garages open or park their cars in their driveways. It is better to keep your garaged closed and your cars parked inside your garage.

Could be that they have been doing it for years. It's a hard truth to swallow that now you have to keep stuff locked up. Didn't used to be like that.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

I bet it's those transplants.

[future_itisnow]

Originally Posted by oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots

I bet it's those transplants.

it has to be...first they take our jobs...and then they rob us blind. people that don't stay where they are from really upset me....end sarcasm....