Public Safety

Community Safety

The presence and perception of crime makes people feel unsafe and fearful, often precluding them from full participation in their communities. Violent crime rates correlate positively to poverty levels, income inequality, and residential instability. Perhaps more influential than the actual incidence of crime is the perception of crime, the belief that you are not fully safe in your neighborhood. Approximately 34% of Austin region residents perceive that violent crimes are increasing, compared to 35% that perceive they are decreasing. Travis County (37%) and Hays County (38%) have the highest perception of increasing violent crime, remaining statistically the same as in 2012. Generally, more people have an opinion one way or another as compared to 2012 where 40% of survey respondents “didn’t know” or “didn’t have an opinion on violent crime”. In 2015 this number was 30%.

Safe Families

Domestic violence crimes––those typically occurring within what should be the safe harbor of one’s home and own neighborhood––are destructive to the fabric of an individual’s life. Family violence rate has dropped in Travis but increased in Bastrop and Burnet counties. Bastrop County has the highest increase of family violence incidents per 1,000 residents from 2004 to 2014 with a 42% rate increase followed by Burnet County (24%) and Hays County (7%). In the same period, Williamson County had the greatest rate reduction (-22%), followed by Travis County (-11%), and Caldwell County (-4%). In 2014, Travis County reported an all-time low of 6.8 family violence incidents per 1,000 residents.