AUSTIN, Texas — For most Austinites, seeing the views at places like Covert Park at Mount Bonnell might seem like a breezy walk in the park.
But Amanda Ross, the Austin Parks and Recreation Department's division manager for natural resources, sees a different story.
"We have certain parks where we've seen kind of a rise in burglary of vehicles. And so, it just seemed like having more information and trying to understand how we could address it better would be helpful," Ross said.
The Austin Police Department reports that car burglaries are rising every year. So far in 2023, the number has risen 2% compared to this time in 2022.
Car break-ins have affected numerous people like Mateo Celano.
"When I moved to Fourth Street, it looks great, but I've had my car broken into seven times in the first three months. It was so bad that I would just leave nothing in the car knowing they'd break into it, just expecting the people to come into the car," Celano said.
The issues have prompted the Austin Parks and Recreation Department to launch a pilot project, placing 10 cameras throughout the park system, mostly in parking lots, to address potential burglaries. The cameras will be there for six months.
The cameras can be found at Mayfield Park, Edward Rendon Park, the Trailhead at Rainey Street on Lady Bird Lake and near the Barton Creek Greenbelt Trailhead off of the MoPac Expressway. Each camera costs around $140,000.
The Parks and Recreation Department is funding these cameras through vacancy savings, which is money that hasn't been spent due to open job positions.
Ross is hoping the cameras will provide more details about crime in these areas.
"It provides information about cars as they drive by, it provides [the] number of people walking in that area," Ross said. "It just provides background information that we can kind of go back to and look up if there is a crime that has occurred in an area."
The technology will act as the park's "eyes and ears" in a 24/7 role.
"I've lived in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, I visited L.A. and New York – it is just a different breed out here," Celano said.