[Update on Partnership with Austin Police and Texas Department of Public Safety]
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THANK YOU FOR JOINING US THIS MORNING.
UM, JOINING ME THIS MORNING IS INTERIM ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER BRUCE MILLS, AS WELL AS DR.
JONATHAN CORGAN, WHO IS APDS CHIEF DATA OFFICER.
TWO WEEKS AGO, THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT LAUNCHED A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DE, UH, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY WITH A GOAL OF IMPROVING SAFETY, DECREASING TRAFFIC FATALITIES, IMPROVING RESPONSE TIMES, AND REDUCING VIOLENT CRIME IN AUSTIN.
I'M HAPPY TO REPORT THAT IN THESE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF THE OPERATION, THIS PARTNERSHIP HAS YIELDED MEANINGFUL IMPACT.
WE'RE COMMITTED TO PROVIDING REGULAR UPDATES ON WHAT THAT IMPACT LOOKS LIKE AND SHARING IMPORTANT DATA WITH THE PUBLIC.
A P D AND DPS ARE COLLABORATING VERY CLOSELY.
I, MYSELF SPEAK EVERY DAY WITH DPS REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR CENTRAL TEXAS, VINCENT LUCIANO.
WHILE EACH OF OUR AGENCIES HAS JURISDICTION OVER OUR RESPECTIVE DEPARTMENTS, WE ARE IN ALIGNMENT ON HOW TO CARRY OUT THIS OPERATION TO ENSURE PUBLIC SAFETY.
I WANNA FIRST GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF HOW THE PARTNERSHIP LOOKS IN ACTION.
DPS OFFICERS ARE ASSISTING DAILY WITH BOTH TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT AND DEPLOYING TO AREAS WHERE THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF CALLS FOR SERVICE INVOLVING VIOLENCE ORIGINATE TROOPERS PATROL MAJOR ROADWAYS THAT TRAFFIC ANALYSIS HAS IDENTIFIED AS LOCATIONS WHERE SPEEDING, RECKLESS DRIVING DWIS INJURY CRASHES, AND TRAFFIC FATALITIES ARE MOST PREVALENT.
THESE AREAS INCLUDE US HIGHWAY 180 3, MOPAC AND, UH, INTERSTATE 35 NEAR DOWNTOWN.
FOR THOSE DRIVING THESE ROADWAYS DAILY, I AM SURE THAT YOU HAVE SEEN THEM OUT THERE, AND THEY'RE HERE TO HELP KEEP THIS COMMUNITY SAFE.
THIS IS A SPECIFIC AREA POLICING THAT HAS BEEN UNDERSTAFFED, AND WE EXPECT THIS PART OF THE JOINT OPERATION TO REDUCE BOTH TRAFFIC RELATED INJURIES AND TRAFFIC RELATED DEATHS.
SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE JOINT OPERATION, DPS HAS CONDUCTED 4,016 TRAFFIC STOPS WITH A FOCUS ON INTERVENTIONS AND WARNINGS, RIDING TICKETS IN ONLY ABOUT 25% OF THESE INCIDENTS.
WE'VE ALSO SEEN A DECREASE IN VIOLENT CRIME, BOTH IN SPECIFIC AREAS OF THE CITY WHERE EMERGENCY CALLS FOR ASSISTANCE ARE HIGHEST, AS WELL AS CITYWIDE DETERMINING AREAS OF THE CITY IN REAL TIME THAT ARE EXPERIENCING THE HIGHEST RATES OF CALL FOR ASSISTANCE.
INVOLVING VIOLENCE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE DATA-DRIVEN TACTICS EMPLOYED BY THIS PARTNERSHIP.
DPS TROOPERS PROVIDE TRAFFIC PATROL IN THESE AREAS, BUT ALSO SERVE AS A CRIME DETERRENT AND ARE AVAILABLE TO RESPOND QUICKLY WHEN A CRIME IS COMMITTED.
THE INITIAL RESULTS ARE VERY ENCOURAGING AND DR.
KRING AND WILL BE SHARING SOME NUMBERS WITH YOU IN JUST A MOMENT.
BUT FIRST I WANT TO ADDRESS SOME QUESTIONS WE'VE RECEIVED RELATED TO A P D POLICING PRACTICES AND HOW DPSS IS IN ALIGNMENT WITH THOSE PRACTICES.
I WANNA BE CLEAR, DPS DOES NOT FOLLOW A APD POLICY.
HOWEVER, IN MANY INSTANCES, THOSE ARE IN CLOSE ALIGNMENT IN CASES OF MISDEMEANOR OFFENSES OR A P D TYPICALLY ISSUES A CITATION RATHER THAN MAKING AN ARREST.
DPS IS, UH, IS LARGELY DOING THE SAME THING AGAIN, IN SPEAKING WITH DPS LEADERSHIP, THE DEPARTMENT'S NORMAL PROCEDURE IS TO DEFER TO THE LOCAL DISTRICT OR COUNTY ATTORNEYS PROSECUTORIAL PRACTICES WITH REGARD TO MARIJUANA POSSESSION.
D PS MOST OFTEN DOES NOT MAKE CUSTODIAL ARRESTS FOR LOW LEVEL AMOUNTS, BUT RATHER IS ISSUING A CITATION.
A P D POLICY HAS OFFICERS TAKING ENFORCEMENT ACTION ONLY IF IT'S RELATED TO A MORE SERIOUS CRIME.
ALSO, DPS IS NOT FOCUSED ON IMMIGRATION ISSUES, ONLY CRIMINAL AND TRAFFIC ISSUES.
A P D WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE LEAD AGENCY FOR CALLS THAT ARE MAJOR INVESTIGATIONS.
THESE INCLUDE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, TRAFFIC FATALITIES, SEXUAL ASSAULTS, HOMICIDES, AND OTHER MAJOR CRIMES.
IF FIRST ON SCENE, TEXAS D P S WILL HELP SECURE THAT SCENE UNTIL A P D ARRIVES.
A P D WILL THEN MAINTAIN OVERALL CONTROL AND HANDLE THE INVESTIGATION.
A P D WILL REMAIN THE LEAD AGENCY ON MENTAL HEALTH CALLS USING A P D CRISIS INTERVENTION OFFICERS.
AMONG OTHER RESOURCES, A P D HAS PROVIDED D P S AND AUSTIN RESOURCE GUIDE TO ASSIST THEM ON THE CALLS THAT
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THEY MIGHT, UH, BE FIRST ON SCENE.THE RESOURCE GUIDE INCLUDES INFORMATION ON THINGS LIKE AUSTIN SOBERING CENTER, AUSTIN'S RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE HOMELESS, UH,
THIS HAS BEEN AND CONTINUES TO BE A VALUABLE PARTNERSHIP, AND I WANT TO EXTEND MY SINCERE GRATITUDE AND APPRECIATION TO THE DPS OFFICERS WHO ARE HELPING KEEP OUR CITY SAFE AS WE CONTINUE TO WORK TO FILL VACANCIES, A CHALLENGE THAT DEPARTMENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE FACING.
JONATHAN KREGAN TO PROVIDE SOME SPECIFIC INFORMATION THAT WILL DEMONSTRATE THE SUCCESS THAT WE'VE SEEN THESE PAST TWO WEEKS.
SO MY TEAM AND I ARE TRACKING A VARIETY OF THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN THE CITY.
UM, WE'RE TRACKING PRIMARILY, UH, THE NUMBER OF CALLS FOR SERVICE THAT WE'RE GETTING, THE RESPONSE TIMES THAT WE'RE GETTING TO THOSE CALLS FOR SERVICE.
AND THEN THE NUMBER OF ARRESTS THAT ARE MADE.
WE'RE PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON VIOLENT CRIMES, SO WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO EVALUATE WHAT'S HAPPENING UNDER THIS PARTNERSHIP AND HOW IT'S IMPACTING PUBLIC SAFETY, AND WE'LL PROVIDE REGULAR UPDATES TO THE COMMUNITY AS LONG AS THIS OPERATION'S UNDERWAY.
SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT IN THE FIRST WEEK OF THE PARTNERSHIP, THE NUMBER OF VIOLENT CRIMES IN THE CITY WENT DOWN 25% WE'RE AVERAGING ABOUT 89 VIOLENT CRIMES PER MONTH, AND WE WENT DOWN TO, I MEAN, PER WEEK, AND WE WENT DOWN TO ABOUT 67.
SO THESE ARE INCLUDING AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, THAT'S ASSAULTS INVOLVING A WEAPON, MURDER, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND ROBBERY IN THE AREAS WHERE THE DPS TROOPERS WERE SPECIFICALLY WORKING, BECAUSE THERE WERE A HIGH VOLUME OF VIOLENT EMERGENCY CALLS FOR SERVICE, A P D RECORDED A 58% REDUCTION IN VIOLENT CRIME.
SOME OTHER IMPORTANT STATISTICS CALLS FOR SERVICE FOR EMERGENCY, THE MOST RISKY CALLS DROPPED BY 27% IN THE AREAS DPS WAS WORKING 15% CITYWIDE URGENT CALLS FOR ASSISTANCE, WHICH ARE THE LEVEL JUST BELOW, ALSO VERY HIGH RISK, HIGH PRIORITY FOR THE DEPARTMENT, DROPPED BY 28% IN THE AREAS DPS WORKED, AND 17% CITYWIDE AVERAGE RESPONSE TIMES FOR APD OFFICERS TO EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE CALLS IN THOSE AREAS, WHICH WAS PREVIOUSLY AS HIGH AS NINE AND A HALF MINUTES IN THOSE AREAS WAS REDUCED BY OVER TWO MINUTES.
AP D AVERAGE RESPONSE TIME TO URGENT CALLS FOR SERVICE IN THOSE AREAS PREVIOUSLY AS HIGH AS 19 MINUTES AND 11 SECONDS, BUT REDUCED BY OVER SEVEN MINUTES CITYWIDE THE AVERAGE RESPONSE TIMES FOR EMERGENCY CALLS WENT DOWN BY ABOUT 23 SECONDS, AND URGENT CALLS WENT DOWN BY ABOUT 52 SECONDS.
SO THE GAINS THAT WE'RE SEEING IN THE AREAS THAT DPS IS DEPLOYED ARE PERCOLATING OUT THROUGH THE CITY.
SO DEPLOYING DPS TO SPECIFIC AREAS WHERE CALLS FOR ASSISTANCE ARE HIGHEST IS CURRENTLY DEMONSTRATING SUCCESS.
APD WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK THESE NUMBERS AND AN WE ANTICIPATE A CONTINUED TREND OF DECREASING VIOLENT CRIME RATES.
THOUGH THE NUMBERS MAY ACTUALLY VARY WEEK TO WEEK IN TOTAL IN THE JOINT OPERATION, IT'S RESULTED IN 728 TOTAL.
AP D ASSISTS 96 FELONY ARRESTS, 63 MISDEMEANOR ARRESTS, 62 FELONY WARRANTS SERVED 54 MISDEMEANOR WARRANTS, SERVED 289 POUNDS OF METHAMPHETAMINE, SEIZED 200 GRAMS OF COCAINE, SEIZED 40 GRAMS OF HEROIN, NINE POUNDS OF MARIJUANA, 25 HANDGUNS, TWO SHOTGUNS AND RIFLES, 16 STOLEN VEHICLES RECOVERED 4,016 TOTAL TRAFFIC STOPS DURING THAT WEEK AND 18 WELFARE CHECKS, WHICH WERE CONDUCTED BY DPS.
THEY LIKEWISE MADE SIX MENTAL HEALTH REFERRALS.
SO WE'LL PROVIDE THIS SPECIFIC INFORMATION IN A PRESS RELEASE.
UM, AND AS CHIEF SHAONE SAID, WE'LL CONTINUE TO REPORT OUT AS THE PARTNERSHIP CONTINUES.
AND SO NOW WE'RE HAPPY TO TAKE QUESTIONS.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO PEOPLE WHO DO HAVE CONCERNS THAT THEY MAY BE UNFAIRLY TARGETED WITH TRAFFIC STOPS IN CERTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS? SO I THINK THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT WE ARE NOT LOOKING AT SPECIFIC AREAS OF TOWN BASED ON WHAT DEMOGRAPHICS IN THAT AREA OF TOWN MIGHT, MIGHT ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE.
BUT RATHER WHERE ARE THE CALLS FOR EMERGENCY, YOU KNOW, RE ASSISTANCE COMING IN, AND WE ARE LETTING THE DATA KIND OF DRIVE THAT OVER TIME.
WHAT I EXPECT TO HAPPEN IS THAT YOU WILL SEE DPS ACTUALLY MOVE AS WE DISPLACE CRIME THAT HAPPENS IN CERTAIN PARTS OF TOWN TO OTHER PARTS OF TOWN, WELL THEN WE WILL MOVE AND WE'RE ALWAYS GONNA LET THE DATA GUIDE US.
UM, I ALSO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT, UM, ON THESE TRAFFIC STOPS, WE KNOW THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE TIME, UM, THE OFFICER OR THE TROOPER THAT IS PULLING THE PERSON OVER 97% OF THE TIME DOES NOT KNOW THE RACE OF THE PERSON THAT'S IN THE VEHICLE.
WE RECORD THAT THROUGH OUR RACIAL PROFILING DATA,
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AND IT IS, IT HAS REMAINED CONSISTENT OVER YEARS.SO, UM, SO I I WHAT I WOULD SAY IS THAT THIS, CERTAINLY WE WANT TO BE RESPONSIVE TO THOSE KIND OF REQUESTS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS, WHAT IS THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE BEING STOPPED.
UH, WE'RE WORKING WITH DPS RIGHT NOW TO SEE HOW QUICKLY WE CAN REPORT THAT DATA.
UM, BUT WE, WE, AGAIN, THIS IS NOT ABOUT LOOKING AT A PARTICULAR, UM, A PARTICULAR, UH, DEMOGRAPHIC OR A PARTICULAR NEIGHBORHOOD, BUT RATHER LETTING THE DATA KIND OF DRIVE THE OPERATION.
I KNOW YOU MENTIONED THAT CRIME HAS HUGE JUST SAID ABOUT THE CRIME DECREASING SINCE DPS CAME IN.
I JUST WANNA ASK LIKE WHAT TIME PERIOD ARE YOU COMPARING THAT TO? IS THAT JUST A FEW WEEKS BEFORE? SO WHAT WE DO IS WE LOOK AT, WE TEND TO LOOK AT A YEAR OF DATA.
SO WE LOOK AT WHAT'S HAPPENING WEEKLY.
AND THE REASON WE LOOK AT A YEAR OF DATA IS YOU HAVE TO DEREN IT FOR SEASONAL CHANGE, RIGHT? SO AS WE'RE ENTERING THE LATE SPRING AND GETTING INTO THE EARLY SUMMER IN ALMOST ALL JURISDICTIONS IN THE US YOU SEE CRIME INCREASE, RIGHT? IT'S A FUNCTION OF AVAILABILITY, UM, NUMBER OF HOURS OF THE DAY AS SCHOOL STARTS TO BE CLOSED, RIGHT? SO THERE'S A VARIETY OF, UH, UNDERLYING FACTORS THAT HAVE THESE SEASONAL TRENDS.
SO WE ALWAYS HAVE TO LOOK AT AN ENTIRE YEAR SO WE HAVE A SENSE OF WHERE IT SHOULD BE, RIGHT? SO THE ENTIRE YEAR, THE AVERAGE IS 89 VIOLENT CRIMES PER WEEK, RIGHT? LAST WEEK IN THE FIRST WEEK OF THE DPS DEPLOYMENT, IT WAS 67.
AND THAT IS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE.
STATISTICALLY, IT'S A, IT'S SOMETHING WE WOULD NOT EXPECT TO SEE GIVEN WHAT THE DATA PREDICT.
SO THE DATA YOU JUST GAVE, NOW YOU'RE COMPARING THAT TO THE YEAR BEFORE.
WE'RE, WE'RE COMPARING IT TO WHAT HAS HAPPENED EVERY SINGLE WEEK IN THE YEAR BEFORE, RIGHT? CHIEF JAKO, YOU MENTIONED THAT, UM, D PS DOES NOT FOLLOW A APD POLICY, BUT IN MANY INSTANCES THEY'RE IN CLOSE ALIGNMENT.
CAN YOU GIVE SOME EXAMPLES OF WHERE THEY WOULDN'T BE IN ALIGNMENT OR AT LEAST KIND OF EXPAND ON THAT? CAUSE I KNOW THAT'S BEEN A BIT OF A CONCERN FROM THE COMMUNITY.
YOU KNOW, THE, THE EXAMPLES THAT, THAT I GAVE ARE THE ONES THAT SPECIFICALLY I'VE BEEN ASKED ABOUT.
UM, I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH DPS POLICY THE WAY THAT I AM WITH APD POLICY, BECAUSE THAT'S NOT OUR POLICY.
UM, I, I WOULD EXPECT THAT, UM, WELL, LET ME SAY THIS.
IN MY COLLABORATION WITH DPS, WHAT I'VE HEARD CONSISTENTLY OVER AND OVER IS WE WANT TO BE A GOOD PARTNER.
WE WANT TO COME IN AND WE WANT TO HELP IN AUSTIN.
AND, AND I HAVE BEEN VERY CLEAR THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE LIVE HERE AT APD, WE LIVE IN AUSTIN, AND THIS IS OUR COMMUNITY.
OUR COMMUNITY HAS CERTAINLY LET US KNOW OVER TIME, UM, THE WAY THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE POLICE SERVICES DELIVERED.
I HAVE SHARED THAT WITH DPS LEADERSHIP AND DPS LEADERSHIP HAS MADE A COMMITMENT THAT TO THE GREATEST DEGREE POSSIBLE, THEY'RE GOING TO TRY TO, TO STAY WITHIN KIND OF THOSE, THAT FRAMEWORK.
AND SO THAT IS, THAT IS THE, UH, THAT'S WHY I FEEL VERY GOOD ABOUT, ABOUT THEM BEING HERE.
AND, UM, AND AGAIN, JUST BEING TRANSPARENT, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO PUSH AS MUCH OF THIS INFORMATION OUT AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN SO THE PUBLIC KNOWS CHIEF RELATED TO THAT, UM, RESIDENTS HAVE EXPRESSED CONCERN THAT, YOU KNOW, COMPARED TO A P D D PS DOESN'T KNOW THAT COMMUNITY'S PRIORITIES AND EXPECTATIONS WHEN IT COMES TO POLICING THINGS LIKE DEESCALATION AND USE OF FORCE, HOW ARE YOU ADDRESSING THOSE COMMUNITY CONCERNS WEEKLY? UM, WE MEET WITH, UM, D AND I'M TALKING DPSS LEADERSHIP AND AP D LEADERSHIP MEET WITH THE TROOPERS THAT ARE, ARE BEING DEPLOYED FOR THAT WEEK.
AND, UM, I GET UP THERE, UH, TYPICALLY WITH COLONEL MCCRAW AND WE EACH KIND OF SET OUT WHAT THE EXPECTATIONS ARE THAT WEEK.
AGAIN, I DON'T HAVE CONTROL OVER DPS AND THEY CERTAINLY HAVE JURISDICTION WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, BUT THEY HAVE BEEN SO GOOD ABOUT ENGAGING WITH US TO HEAR THESE KIND OF MESSAGES.
UH, AND, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THE TROOPERS ARE, THEY REALLY WANT TO HELP.
AND, UM, AND SO I JUST FEEL LIKE, YOU KNOW, IF WE RECEIVE REPORTS WHERE MAYBE THERE'S DISPARATE TREATMENT, I HAVE THOSE, THOSE PHONE NUMBERS FOR D P S LEADERSHIP, WE CAN HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS.
UH, I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY REPORTS LIKE THAT AT ALL.
THIS OFFICER SHORTAGE HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR YEARS.
WHAT MAKES NOW THE TIME TO BRING IN D P S ASSISTANCE? WELL, I THINK WE'RE AT A CRITICAL POINT, RIGHT? RIGHT NOW, UM, WE ARE OVER 300 OFFICERS SHORT, UH, MOST OF THOSE FOLKS ARE, ARE PATROL.
AND, AND FOR THAT REASON, PATROL IS SHORT.
THEN I'M HAVING TO DRAW DOWN ON OTHER RESOURCES THAT WOULD NORMALLY BE DOING OTHER TYPES OF POLICE WORK TO TAKE THEM OFF OF THAT ASSIGNMENT AND PUT THEM ON PATROL SO THEY CAN ANSWER 9 1 1 CALLS.
UH, IT HAS MADE IT VERY DIFFICULT NOT ONLY TO HAVE GOOD RESPONSES, AS DR.
KREEN WAS MENTIONING, OUR RESPONSE TIMES ARE STARTING TO TREND DOWN, UH, DOWNWARDS.
SO IN OTHER WORDS, WE'RE GETTING THERE FASTER.
UM, BUT IT ALSO TAKES THEM AWAY FROM INVESTIGATING HOMICIDES OR ROBBERIES OR SEXUAL ASSAULTS.
SO THAT IS, THAT IS TROUBLING.
UH, THOSE, THOSE FOLKS NEED THAT INVESTIGATION TAKEN CARE OF IN A TIMELY WAY TO BE TAKEN CARE
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OF, UH, AS COMPLETE AN INVESTIGATION AS POSSIBLE.AND IT'S MORE DIFFICULT RIGHT NOW WITH THEM HAVING TO GO OUT AND DO THAT.
SO WE'VE GOT TO GET OUR ACADEMIES FILLED, WE'VE GOTTA GET THE OFFICERS, YOU KNOW, GOOD OFFICERS BACK OUT THERE ON THE STREET TO FILL OUR VACANCIES SO THOSE FOLKS CAN BE BACK TO FULL-TIME DOING THEIR REGULAR THING.
HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO PULL ANY OF THOSE OFFICERS BACK TO THEIR FULL-TIME SPECIALIZED UNIT QUITE YET? NO, NOT YET.
THEY'RE STILL, THEY'RE STILL OUT THERE.
IS THERE A, A TIMELINE YET REGARDING HOW LONG THE DPS PARTNERSHIP IS GOING TO LAST? THERE IS NOT, UH, THAT WE'RE KIND OF TAKING IT, LETTING THE DATA DRIVE IT, AND, UH, AND WE'LL, WE'LL MAKE A DECISION JOINTLY ON WHEN IT MAKES SENSE TO, TO END THE OPERATION CHIEF.
WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF, UM, JUGGING CASES RECENTLY.
THERE WAS ONE YESTERDAY AT, UH, CHICK-FIL-A, I THINK IN NORTH AUSTIN.
CAN YOU MAYBE TALK ABOUT, I DOUBT YOU CAN TALK ABOUT THAT CASE, BUT, UM, JUST IN GENERAL, UH, HOW THIS PARTNERSHIP COULD HELP PREVENT MAYBE SOME OF THOSE VIOLENT JOGGINGS WE'VE BEEN SEEN? CERTAINLY.
I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, FIRST OF ALL, WHEN IT COMES TO JOGGINGS, IT'S REALLY ABOUT EDUCATION AND MAKING SURE THAT PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS HAPPENING SO THAT THEY CAN BE ON THE LOOKOUT AND THEY CAN, THEY CAN HOPEFULLY TAKE MEASURES THAT WOULD MAKE IT AS HARD AS POSSIBLE FOR THAT CRIME TO OCCUR.
BUT OVERALL, I THINK THAT, LIKE I CERTAINLY, AS I'M DRIVING AROUND AUSTIN, HAVE SEEN YOU SEE MORE OF A LAW ENFORCEMENT PRESENCE KIND OF EVERYWHERE YOU GO.
AND WHEN YOU HAVE THAT, YOU HAVE THAT GREATER VISIBILITY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, IT IS A DETERRENT.
IT, I MEAN, THIS HAS BEEN PROVEN OVER TIME THAT PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, IF THEY THINK THAT THERE IS A CHANCE THAT THEY'RE GONNA GET CAUGHT, MAY JUST GO AHEAD AND DECIDE NOT TO, NOT TO COMMIT THE CRIME.
UH, I THINK THAT'S WHY TO SOME DEGREE WE'RE SEEING SOME OF THE DOWNWARD TREND IN OVERALL NUMBER OF CRIMES, VIOLENT CRIMES PARTICULARLY THAT ARE BEING COMMITTED SPECIFICALLY IN THE AREAS THAT ARE BEING WORKED, BUT ALSO CITYWIDE.
WE'RE SEEING THAT THAT NUMBER START TO GO DOWN.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT IT APPLIES TO THAT TYPE OF CRIME AS WELL.
NO QUESTIONS? I HAVE A QUESTION RELATED TO THE DATA.
LIKE THE 25% DECREASE IN VIOLENT CRIME IS SEVEN DAYS LONG ENOUGH TO DETERMINE WHETHER SOMETHING IS OR ISN'T WORKING.
WHEN IN THE PAST WE HEARD IT COULD TAKE MONTHS OR YEARS TO MEASURE THE IMPACT OF A NEW INITIATIVE.
YEAH, SO THE IMMEDIATE IMPACT AND THE LONG TERM IMPACT, THEY WON'T NECESSARILY BE THE SAME.
STATISTICALLY, CAN WE SAY THAT IT WAS A REDUCTION THAT WE CAN'T ATTRIBUTE TO ANY OTHER CHANGE? WE CAN, UM, OVER TIME AS WE HAVE ADDITIONAL WEEKS OF DATA, WE'LL BE TRACKING IT TO TRY TO BEST UNDERSTAND HOW STRONG THE EFFECT IS.
SO IT MAY BE THAT THE 25% REDUCTION IS SORT OF AN INITIAL EFFECT.
IT COULD BE HIGHER OR LOWER, AND WE HAVE NO WAY TO TELL, UM, OVER TIME ON A WEEKLY BASIS WILL BE, YOU KNOW, WORKING THROUGH MORE DATA, TRYING TO UNDERSTAND.
UM, BUT THE INITIAL INDICATION IS THAT THE DROP WAS SIGNIFICANT.
LIKE WE MENTIONED EARLIER, WE'LL HAVE A PRESS RELEASE COMING OUT, UM, AND WE'LL SEND THAT OUT IN THE NEXT LITTLE BIT, LET'S SAY, BUT IT'S IN THE WORKPLACE.
MAYBE IT EARLY WAS THAT EASY? HE JUST MADE HIS MIX TAPES AND MOVED ALONG.