Marshall’s March 2009 Kickoff Letter

All,

This is to recap the meeting the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association (DANA) hosted with Austin Police Department ( APD) and community stakeholders held at the Hilton Austin on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009.  Again, a kind thank you to Joe Bolash and Hilton Austin for the meeting space!

Thank you for all who attended.  I believe we had a great dialogue and we now have a good jumping off point.  For those not able to attend, I hope this will serve as a good recap of the meeting, next steps needed and when we plan to meet again.  This is going to be my official list for this group until a Google Group or similar is set up.  Please let me know if you do not wish to receive emails from this group.

First, let me explain why this meeting was held.  I am on the Board of directors for DANA and also served on a community group known as RHI (6ixth Street Austin and Downtown Austin Alliance hired Responsible Hospitality Institute as a consultant to explore options to clean up our historic entertainment district).  RHI has a safety task force and one of the recommendations was a neighborhood watch or at least a more community-centric policing effort.  I agreed that we should let DANA lead that effort but for the larger area of downtown, not just our entertainment district(s).  Downtown is defined by IH-35 to the East, Lady Bird Lake to the South, Lamar Blvd to the West and Martin Luther King to the North.

In 2008, DANA purchased and placed with the City of Austin 22 Neighborhood Watch signs strategically around the Central Business District (CBD).  It has always been DANA’s intention to follow up with a Neighborhood Watch group (the signs were placed when they were in a city-wide program where the COA paid to place the signs once purchased by DANA).

Coincidentally, members of the 360 condominiums were interested in a neighborhood watch group and we have had a recent spike in crime downtown if defined by assaults, drug use and sales and aggressive pan-handling.  We will get specific statistics from APD as available further in this process for documentation.

It is with this background I decided to host this meeting.  My intention was to have a conversation amongst community stakeholders, concerned citizens and APD to discuss how we as citizens can help APD manage crime, real or perceived, downtown.  My goal for the meeting was to accomplish the following:

  • Inform stakeholders of current initiatives to curb crime in downtown
  • Open a dialogue with stakeholders and APD
  • Gain an understanding of what a Neighborhood Watch group can and cannot do
  • Gain an understanding of what a Neighborhood Watch should and should not do
  • Set goals for working with APD
  • Set actionable items to curb crime in downtown
  • Plan a Crime Prevention Forum to be held in the Spring of 2009

In the meeting, we discussed several issues including monitoring cameras, current policing efforts, neighborhood watch programs, social norming, pan-handling and more.  We agreed that this group is not currently set up to try and change current laws or regulations but that we are best served acting as good, concerned citizens and acting within the current regulations.  We may, at a later date, look at changing laws or regulations as a group or enlist the help of another agency more suited to that matter.  We also agreed that crime, real or perceived, is equally destructive to the communities safety, value and reputation.  Different types of crime were discussed as well as ways in which one manages each type.

APD has again and again stressed the importance of calling 911 when a crime is on progress once it is safe to do so.  This is the a strong measure the police department has to monitor where crime is occurring and leads to further force in the area.  For any person witnessing a property crime, assault, drug-related issue or illegal pan-handling should immediately call 911.

Here is what I hope to achieve with this group:

  • Create a community centric policing effort
  • Host a Crime Watch Prevention Forum
  • Study the possibility of working with APD on a Community Advisor two way communication system
  • Establish an anti pan-handling campaign
  • Create a Neighborhood Watch program
  • Help APD in their effort to place cameras downtown
  • Create a Downtown Crime Prevention public relations campaign

Five areas of focus:

  • Personal Assaults
  • Property Crimes
  • Illegal Drug Use and Sales
  • Illegal Pan-Handling
  • Social Norming (overall condition of the neighborhood should convey an anti-crime message rather than the opposite)

Resources available:

  • Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association (DANA)
  • Downtown Austin Alliance (DAA)
  • Austin Police Department Downtown Area Command (APD DTAC)
  • Downtown Rangers
  • 6ixth Street Austin
  • Community Court
  • Austin Convention Center and Visitors Bureau
  • Crime Prevention Website
  • Concerned Citizens
  • Others?

Already achieved!

  • Crime prevention Website is being developed – http://www/downtownaustincrimeprevention.org/
  • News story on KVUE – http://www.kvue.com/video/?z=y&nvid=341840
  • Met with Police Chief Acevedo
  • Council Member McCracken has appointed me to the Downtown COmmunity Court Advisory Committee (on Council consent agenda for March 26th)

What’s next?

  • Continue building website
  • Create Crime Prevention Google Group
  • Inform more residents, HOA’s,  property owners and business owners of our effort
  • Plan Crime Prevention Forum
  • Begin work on anti pan-handling campaign
  • Continue to be available to APD with camera vote
  • Create a Downtown Neighborhood Watch Program

How can you help?

  • Stay involved
  • Tell others
  • Volunteer (I can use help on any/all of these initiatives)

That is all I have for now,  I trust this has been informative but I am assured it is not complete.  Feel free to reply to me directly if you have any questions, comments, cares or concerns.  Once we establish a Google Group with all willing members we can then open the dialogue with the entire team.  Once established, I will resend this message for all to reply.

Sincerely,
Marshall