Violent crime and property crime in Austin are down

AUSTIN, Texas - Violent crime and property crime in Austin are down.

That's according to the latest monthly report issued by Austin's Police Chief. The Chief's monthly report for August notes a 9% total drop in crime across Austin when compared to this time last year. The decrease is in every category except in three major crimes.

Austin police, so far this year, have worked almost 70,000 criminal cases. According to Chief Manley's August crime report; that’s about 7,000 fewer calls than what was recorded during the same time period in 2017.

Among the crimes this year; 22 murders. That a slight increase from the 20 cases reported in August of 2017. The number of robberies in Austin has also increased. 664 compared to 630 last year. At 22%; auto theft had the largest, year to year, increase in the report.

So far this year, 1,678 vehicles have been stolen in Austin. That's compared to just under 1,400 cases between Jan. and Aug. of 2017. 

There was a significant reduction in arrests for several other major crimes; rape is down 10%. aggravated assault is down 5%. Burglary is down almost 9%

Crimes classified as Part II Index Offenses, like drunk driving, have also seen a decrease. Along with DWI there have been fewer arrests involving cases of prostitution, narcotics and weapons.

Chief Brain Manley told FOX-7 the report is a reflection of the steps they took after a spike in crime in 2016 and 2017.

One of the steps was the formation, this year of a Violent Crimes Task Force. The unit is design to quickly respond to immediate threats and to target growing crime trends.