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Has crime in Austin increased while José Garza has been DA, as some ads claim?

One add claims "Murder is up 119% percent, and auto thefts are up." Data tells a different story.

AUSTIN, Texas — The Democratic race for Travis County District Attorney is heating up, with both incumbent José Garza and challenger Jeremy Sylestine pulling out all the stops to sway voters.

That includes running attack ads.     

One ad from Sylestine claims, "The numbers don't lie: murder is up 119%, and auto thefts are up."

But our VERIFY team took a look at crime statistics in Austin and found those claims need some context.

RELATED: 2024 Texas Democratic primary election: Travis County District Attorney race

An article from a website called The Free Press claims, "Crime in Austin has soared under a progressive district attorney," referring to Garza. But the numbers tell a different story.

Crime reporting data from the Austin Police Department (APD) shows that in December 2020, before Garza took office as DA, 20,500 crime against people were committed through the whole year.

In 2023, several years into Garza's time as DA, that number was 2,000 less in the same timeframe.

Looking at property crimes, the statistics showed a similar trend. In 2020, there were a little over 53,000 property crimes. In 2023, that number was just under 47,000.

So crime has not increased while Garza has served as Travis County DA.

RELATED: What we know about the Saving Austin PAC targeting Travis County DA José Garza

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