AUSTIN, Texas — For the first time in approximately four years, Austin's crime rates have reached new lows.
Statistics from the newly developed Austin Police Department Open Policing Data Release website show the city's first quarter has seen less crime than the same time frame in 2023, 2022 and 2021.
Each month, Austin police update the online database to provide new numbers on crimes ranging from homicide to stolen property. The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) breaks up these cases into three separate categories: crimes against persons, property and society.
Between January and March of this year, there have been 14 reported homicides, 51 instances of kidnapping/abduction and 56 rape cases, according to the statistics. In comparison, at the same time in 2023, Austin saw 23 homicides, 52 kidnappings and 79 reported rapes.
When looking back to 2020, there were 16 homicides, 48 abductions and 89 instances of rape recorded during its first quarter.
Based on these statistics, Austin's homicide and kidnapping levels are both lower in the first three months of the year when compared to those in 2020.
So far in 2024, the most commonly committed crime on record is simple assault, with more than 2,100 instances already. Theft of motor vehicles and personal property are also relatively high compared to others on the list.
Experts studying crime rates say the recent decrease in crimes is not just a trend in Austin.
"[In] all cities across the United States, for the most part, all large sort of urban cities, or all big cities that are probably 500,000 and above, they've all experienced these crime drops," Carsten Andresen, an associate professor of criminal justice at St. Edward's University, said.
The Austin Police Department (APD) attributes the decrease in crime rates to a more proactive and holistic approach to policing. The department said that includes solutions like getting other departments involved when people are having a mental health crisis or putting more officers in areas where there isn't much lighting.
"I think that we are, especially the Austin Police Department, are being more purposeful about addressing the root contributors to crime," Auzzie Krobatsch, the acting Police Data Initiatives and Analytics Strategy Officer at APD, said.
Krobatsch said working on preventing crime and not just responding to it will also help alleviate the pressure put on APD's already understaffed units.
"I think our commanders and our patrol sergeants and our patrol lieutenant, they're understanding that we can't be reactive any longer," Krobatsch said.
APD said if these trends continue, Austin could have the potential to keep its crime rates lower than average as the year continues.
The department also said there can be some delays in more sensitive crimes that get reported because it may take a victim a little while to feel safe enough to report the crime. But that's only supposed to make the numbers go up about 6% for that time period.
