Gun violence, not homeless, driving downtown crime, police say

Despite swirling rhetoric on social media painting Austin’s homeless policies as a catalyst for increases in violent crime and a hobbled police department unable to enforce laws, Austin Assistant Police Chief Joe Chacon says the reality on the ground is quite different.

Gun crime, and not those who are homeless, is behind the uptick in violent crime downtown, Chacon told Austin City Council members on Tuesday.

“The correct message, and really what reality is, (is) that when we are looking at our violent crime incidents, especially in the downtown area, that a small minority of them involved an individual experiencing homelessness,” he said. “What is driving that right now is gun crime. It is people that are not homeless.”

Chacon fielded questions from Mayor Steve Adler and other council members in the wake of widespread media reports of a handful of violent encounters over the past few months and posts from local businesses voicing frustration over homeless people and their behavior in some areas.

On Feb. 8, the Round Rock Honey Company wrote a Facebook post saying it would no longer attend the downtown SFC Farmers’ Market after nearly 18 years.

“Unpredictable and unsafe behavior by vagrants and mentally ill individuals at the market has created an unsafe environment for our workers, and IMO, the police and farmers market staff are either unable (or) unwilling to address the problem,” the post said.

Vince Young Steakhouse sent a tweet on Feb. 12 complaining about a cardboard shelter in the alley behind the restaurant. Another followed on Feb. 16 in response to a tweet from Gov. Greg Abbot saying businesses and residents are leaving downtown or avoiding the area because of increases in attacks and feces.

“(Mayor Adler) and the rest of the city council do not care about us,” the steakhouse tweeted. “Took a stabbing in our parking lot to get an aide of (Kathie Tovo) to call back. I guess (Tovo) couldn’t find the time herself to call.”

@MayorAdler and the rest of the city council do not care about us. Took a stabbing in our parking lot to get an aide of @kathietovo to call back. I guess @kathietovo couldn’t find the time herself to call.

— VinceYoungSteakhouse (@vysteakhouse) February 16, 2020

Adler, in an effort to dispel myths that Austin police are not enforcing policies related to homelessness, said the city has a clear policy that makes aggressive confrontations illegal, which did not change as the city adjusted other policies allowing camping in public spaces last year.

He said the council’s decision to change rules related to public camping didn’t increase homelessness, just made it more visible. Gov. Abbott has repeatedly tweeted criticism of Austin’s handling of homelessness, saying city leaders have allowed lawlessness and serious threats to public health and safety run rampant.

Chacon told council members that Austin police officers still are directed and expected to enforce city ordinances, including the ordinance against aggressive confrontation, if laws are being broken.

“Guidance on the ordinance has been put out to our officers over the last several months and the expectation is for our officers to enforce those ordinances as they see fit,” Chacon said. “They do have the ability and they have discretion on how those ordinances are enforced so we see an end to whatever the conduct is.”

Adler said a few loud voices are pushing an idea on social media that isolated incidents, like a stabbing at Freebirds World Burrito that left a man dead, are the norm, sowing fear in the community.

“I recognize on social media sometimes these things just catch and then all the world starts commenting on it,” he said. “I want us to stay ahead of that and I want us to affirmatively react to that and make sure that we are doing everything we can to make sure that everyone in our community feels safe.”

David Gomez, Integral Care's PATH program manager, said characterizations that people who are homeless are dangerous or criminals can lead to more tense encounters.

“You have parts of our community that are going to believe that, and then they are going to treat the individuals that they interact with that way,” he said.

Gomez said that people’s attitudes can take interactions from healthy, helpful and hopeful to hateful and violent. He said the community needs to focus on treating people as the individuals they are, rather than as a broad generality.

“‘You get what you give,’ and that’s a statement that I’ve heard many homeless individuals tell me, along with ‘I don’t care what you know, I need to know that you care.’”