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Is Austin Bicycle Theft On The Rise?

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There were more bike thefts reported in the heart of downtown Austin during the first five months of 2011, compared to 2010, according to city police records I compiled. However, reports are down in the South Congress area.

I know this because I decided to do my best Council Member Chris Riley impression — sans silver hair — and work on reducing my car usage in favor of pedal power to commute to the Capitol area. I bought a bike over the weekend, did some research and promptly shelled out another $200 for accessories, aimed mostly at anti-theft.

[Read more…] about Is Austin Bicycle Theft On The Rise?

panhandling is not the real issue

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I learned something interesting this week.  The anti-panhandling ordinance is only enforceable if the ‘victim’ or another witness requests that the ‘offender’ be cited.  Otherwise, the police are not obliged to intervene.  I’ve come to a conclusion regarding the perceived safety of downtown Austin: panhandling is a red herring issue.

The real issue is the ARCH doesn’t have the capacity to service the thousands of homeless people in Austin.  They try, but can’t, and those under served are relegated to the streets of the Entertainment District.  These people are easy prey for drug dealers.  Over the past six months I’ve seen a surge in drug dealers and gangs staking their turf.  Ask any resident that has a view of East 5th street if they’ve recently seen some hooded guy loitering in the middle of a sidewalk for hours on end.  What are they doing?

The convention center, hotels, retailers, and residents are becoming more vigilant and zero tolerance on Downtown Austin crime is becoming the battle cry.  Downtown stakeholders seem to have reached an unofficial consensus that the police must begin to: 1) shift to a beat system of patrol 2) spread out on weekend nights 3) be more effectual in responding to 911.   As a participant in many of the Downtown Austin stakeholder groups, I tell you that the Police force is given plenty of slack.  Judging by the frustrated voices at recent meetings, I don’t know how much longer that will continue.

Day four, becoming a model urban neighborhood: what does Downtown Austin need?

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Each day this week I am serving up one item, with non-politically correct candor, that Downtown Austin needs to become a model of re-urbanization, as I see it.

Politicians love to talk, form task forces, and spend time doing everything except for making decisions as they are needed.  So, this is an appeal to Downtown Austin stakeholders that know how to get things done:  the residents, developers, retailers, and land owners.

ARCH and related social services should be moved away from Sixth Street while remaining in Downtown

This month we’ve read about two measures being discussed to cut down on crime in Downtown Austin: 1) installing cameras, 2) installing lights in front of Caritas.  These efforts will not work because they don’t address the real problem. The ARCH, Salvation Army, and Caritas are the hub for Downtown Austin’s increasingly frequent and violent crime.  The crime comes from drug dealers praying on the homeless and the mentally ill.  Prostitution lives around these places.  Drugs are used as a form of payment.  According to the police, Forty-two percent of all drug arrests in downtown happen within a block of these buildings.  That is an amazing statistic.

During a midnight to 3am observation tour for 6ixth Street Austin, myself and a few other Downtown stakeholders stopped and talked with homeless people outside of the ARCH.  Some were under the influence of something, but generally not hostile.  If anything, they were very chatty and candid about their problems, and the problems surrounding the ARCH.  Below are some of the more interesting things we were told.

  • Drug dealers arrive from other parts of town to sell to the mentally ill and homeless
  • The southeast corner of 7th and Trinity (Caritas) is a big drug corner
  • Crack house at 8th and Neches (pic)
  • Crack house on Neches btw 8th and 9th (pic)

Why on earth did they place the ARCH across from a major liquor store and a block from Austin’s biggest weekend party?  Downtown Austin stakeholders must work with the city to make a politically volatile decision: move the ARCH away from Sixth Street to significantly affect positive change.

Impostors?

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Capitalism is alive and well in downtown Austin.

KVUE is reporting on “parking lot impostors” that pretend to work for the parking company and take your money.   I prefer to call these people disenfranchised capitalistic carnival barkers.  According to KVUE.com “Parking lot impostors in downtown Austin are costing customers and parking lot owners money. Police say the issue generates more complaints downtown than any other. KVUE’s Jim Bergamo reports.”   In addition to being scammed for your cash, you’re likely to be towed, too.  This video is not news to anyone that spends time downtown, but it’s nice to see some coverage in the mass media.

The guys waiving you into a public parking space are another breed of bum-preneur.  You know the guys waving their arms along 5th street offering you a public parking space with the additional bonus of them looking after your car if you could spare some change.

link to video

Fire rips through Vice and other Sixth Street venues

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Fire at Vice

We heard the alarms over night, and just woke up to the news of two 3-alarm fires on the 300 block of Sixth Street.  Apparently, the fire was centered at VICE on the North side and Blind Pig on the South side.  Investigators are uncertain if they are related, (though it would seem unlikely to me that they weren’t).  Sixth Street is blocked off from Red River to San Jacinto.  The extent of the damage is still uncertain.  Photos and details to come.

Link

Downtown Crime: the solution is not more light

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Krimelabb.com
Krimelabb.com

KVUE and FOX 7 news are reporting that the Public Safety Task Force is proposing to cut down on Downtown crime by… get ready for it… adding more light. 🙁

This is a misguided effort to thwart a much bigger problem.

There is a BIG elephant in the room, and it’s called the ARCH.  Drug dealers come from all over the city and prey on those with addiction and/or have mental illness.

According to the article, “Austin police call the area bordered by 8th, 6th, Red River and Trinity, a hotspot for crime.  Forty-two percent of all drug arrests in downtown happen here.” Adding more street lamps is only going to disperse the problem, and will make the understaffed police force’s job more difficult!

As I’ve said before, the ARCH doesn’t belong across from a major liquor store and a block from Austin’s biggest party – Sixth Street.    The way to cut down on crime in Downtown Austin is to: 1) expand the day-time uses of the historic Sixth street buildings, east of Neches St. 2) move the ARCH and its support services away from Sixth Street – though, NOT out of Downtown 3) Revitalize Waller Creek, because right now drug dealing and drug use is hidden from view below the banks of the creek.

Yes, the ARCH should remain Downtown.  Doing so relegates to ‘bunk’ status the argument which demands the ARCH remain centrally located, and the NIMBY-ism arguments against moving the ARCH at all.   Downtown Austin is a big place with plenty of under-utilized land and buildings.

Club FUZE – citizen stakeholders want it gone

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Club FUZE is the next venue on the Downtown stakeholders’ list of night clubs identified as hosting recurring criminal activity.  A letter was sent on behalf of several Downtown stakeholders (including DANA, Capital Metro, and multiple residential buildings) to Don Garner, the owner of 505 Neches where Club FUZE is located.  According to the letter:

“In the past year the criminal activity inside and surrounding Club Fuze has escalated considerably. Reports obtained from the Austin Police Department data base reveal a serious escalation of violence, public drunkenness, prostitution, and illegal drug activity both in the club and on the adjoining street.”

The letter goes on to state,

“The club’s dangerous and illegal activities have reached the point that visitors are now being warned to not walk down Neches during peak club hours, hotel guests are being encouraged to avoid the area, and local residents have been forced to avoid the area and to warn their friends to not park near the club.”

Part of the challenge for the Police is coping with venues that have recurring problems.  According to data found at Krimelabb.com you might want to avoid club FUZE and the area around it.  Below is a list of criminal activity inside or in front of FUZE in December.

  1. 2008-3432326      2008-12-08      POSS OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA
  2. 2008-3360157      2008-12-01      AGG ASSAULT
  3. 2008-3360157      2008-12-01      CUSTODY ARREST TRAFFIC WARR
  4. 2008-3500238      2008-12-15      DISTURBANCE/OTHER
  5. 2008-3360157      2008-12-01      ASSAULT W/INJURY-FAM/DATE VIOL
  6. 2008-3371894      2008-12-02      POSS OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA
  7. 2008-3550403      2008-12-20      UIPP
  8. 2008-3382492      2008-12-03      PEDESTRIAN ON ROADWAY
  9. 2008-3360157      2008-12-01      POSS MARIJUANA
  10. 2008-3360157      2008-12-01      FAILURE TO IDENTIFY
  11. 2008-3360157      2008-12-01      VIOL OF EMERG PROTECTIVE ORDER
  12. 2008-3361590      2008-12-01      PUBLIC INTOXICATION
  13. 2008-3361590      2008-12-01      REQUEST TO APPREHEND

Citizen stakeholders have recently been successful in purging the neighborhood of offending night clubs.  Last month, Tim Finley, the owner of the building housing Club Paradox and Club Planeta, was urged to clean up his tenant’s act after discussions with residents, police, hotels, and the convention center. After years of increasing crime and violence in and around clubs Paradox and Planeta, it was clear to Tim Finley that change was needed. He terminated their lease.