COMPILED BY BEN THOMPSON
Austin looks to take on community con ict, gun violencewith public health angle
INCREASE IN VIOLENCE
Austin’s murder rate per 100,000 residents went from 3.39% in 2019 to 8.01% in 2021. Austin’s O ce of Violence Prevention is rolling out programs aimed at tackling violence on the neighborhood level to handle the increase in murder rates in recent years.
Austin and its O ce of Violence Prevention is rolling out several programs this year aimed at tack- ling violence at the neighborhood level, including incidents such as the March 20 shooting on East Sixth Street. The OVP was established last June based on the work of a previous city task force on gun violence and recommendations frommembers of the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force advising a shift away from existing public safety approaches. More than $1.24 million has been dedicated to supporting youth, promoting gun safety and shar- ing other community-oriented violence reduction strategies during the OVP’s rst year in operation. In addition to new gun storage and stress mitigation campaigns launched earlier in March, the o ce also aims to spend around $1.13 million on localized violence intervention and grant opportunities through 2022. Solicitations for those projects are coming soon from the city, and the OVP is also working to secure hundreds of thou- sands more dollars in grant funding for rearm and neighborhood safety programs. During a March 22 brie ng to City Council, OVP Manager Michelle Myles said those initiatives share goals of investment and collaboration with resi- dents in areas at heightened risk of violence. The
Annual homicides*
10%
81
8%
33
39
20
23
6%
4%
2%
0
*2000-09 homicide totals from Texas Department of Public Safety, 2010-21 homicide totals from Austin Police Department
SOURCES: AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
strategies fall in line with the o ce’s public health thrust by o ering prevention and education where it is needed most, Myles said. “There is a national trend of violence increasing, even in light of police presence. It is a reality of
what’s happening. And some of the strategies that I mentioned before, like Address Your Stress, the de-escalation [and] the con ict mediation, are designed to be used so that we can have that skill set within the community,” Myles said.
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