AUSTIN, Texas — A group committed to improving safety on the University of Texas at Austin campus wants to see more police around the area.
SafeHorns -- a group comprised of concerned parents, stakeholders and citizens -- wants the city to make the West Campus neighborhood safer.
The neighborhood, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Austin Police Department rather than the University of Texas police, is located directly west of Guadalupe Street.
"There is an ebb and flow of crime here, and it's very concerning for us," Joell McNew, a founding member of SafeHorns, said. "We strongly believe that there needs to be more presence here in West Campus."
McNew believes that extra police presence may help deter crime -- like the attempted robbery that happened at the nearby Target Friday morning.
The closest APD station to West Campus is the department's headquarters on 8th Street.
SafeHorns supports the idea of having a closer police sub-station.
"When police are out, that crime is lower. And when there isn't police presence, it kind-of escalates," McNew said.
McNew also said SafeHorns is open to the idea of having a citizen patrol unit.
"You have people that are walking around, they have the matching shirts, they clean up trash. They can help people in the area,” she said. “It's just another set of eyes, boots on the ground, supporting this area."
And when a neighborhood is clean, McNew believes, crime is less likely to happen.
"The whole neighborhood and the attitude towards that neighborhood tends to be safer,” she said.
Students KVUE spoke with have mixed views about safety in the area.
"At night, if I, like, come down here and I'm, like, by myself, I was see there are, like, cops posted outside," one student said. "I feel like, in general, I've never really felt like, that fearful for my life."
"Yesterday, I had a homeless person come up to me and start saying incoherent things to my face, and it kinda shook me. It was late at night," another student said.
McNew said a safer UT community can only happen when everyone gets involved.
"It's gonna be a combination of the university, because they are their students, and then it's got to be the city because this is the City of Austin," she said.
KVUE spoke with Council Member Kathie Tovo, whose district includes West Campus, on Friday.
She's worked with SafeHorns before and said the city is open to any ideas that would make the area safer.