Redistricting improves police response time

Redistricting improves police response time

Written by Darcie Duttweiler Friday, 27 June 2008

The Austin Police Department redrew all nine of their districts in April. Every area of command will now have a standard four subdistricts, instead of the varying number of subdistricts each sector held previously. Several of the city’s districts changed boundaries, and the Northwest Austin police district lost some area to the neighboring North Central district. With the redistricting comes new benefits for each of the districts within the Northwest area.

“Reducing the number of districts allows flexibility in reference to strategic planning and doing a lot more to address crime issues throughout the day,” said Troy Gay, commander of strategic planning with APD.

District changes

Before the district changes in April, the Northwest Austin district (dubbed “Adam”) was broken up into seven smaller districts. Each small district had a single officer on duty at all times as well as a district representative to manage one or more districts. Now, with only four districts, Cmdr. James O’Leary, who is in charge of the Northwest district, is able to move his officers throughout his districts easier.

Instead of just one, multiple officers now cover the area at any given time as officers are instructed to stay within their district.

“Each commander has a set number of personnel to move around as needed to respond to crime,” Gay said. “The expectation is that no district will be left unmanned. We can move around our resources to address specific needs at any given point of the day.”

With only one officer assigned to each district, precinct calls for multiple officers often left a district vacant. Now with the larger districts, each area is fully patrolled at all times by more than one officer, making response times much shorter.

“We will be offering our residents an improved service,” said officer Mike Dunn, Adam 1 district representative. “We are better utilizing and maximizing manpower.”

Gay also said that the set amount of four districts within the nine command areas would “standardize how APD operates and allow for further growth.”

The standardization of the Northwest district will be beneficial when Anderson Mill is annexed into the Austin city limits in January, and Gay is “anticipating that it will be absorbed into one of the existing districts.”

The North Central District (called “Ida”) was expanded farther north, taking the area from Parmer Lane to Howard Lane between Loop One and IH 35 off the Northwest district’s plate, but it also lost some land south of Anderson Lane.

“We’re a unique sector,” said officer Michael Youngs, the district representative for Ida 2. “We’re the smallest sector but we have one of the highest call loads. We were created to give the Northwest District a load off.”

Youngs said the redistricting will allow the Ida district to have a greater “officer presence in high-crime areas” now that they have more officers to allocate to certain areas.

History of the program

The district representative program was implemented in 1998. The APD decentralized its operations to create a neighborhood-based model of law enforcement. At the time, there were only six area commands with resources transferred to the neighborhood level to solve problems at the source.

Decentralizing operations and sanctioning area commanders with the resources to serve law enforcement needs on a neighborhood level improved the response to crime and the ability to prevent crime.

What does a district rep do?

Dunn has been a part of the district representative program for more than seven years and is part of the four-officer team working directly under O’Leary to ensure the safety of the residents in his district.

As a liaison between the police department and neighbors of Northwest Austin, Dunn said that his role is to handle non-emergency situations.

“We take care of problems such as neighbors in violation of codes, [those] who are doing business out of their homes or [those with] a barking dog,” Dunn said. “We deal with bad situations that aren’t illegal in terms of the penal code that the patrol officers don’t have time to handle.”

The district representative builds and maintains partnerships with the community and assists in planning and designing solutions to special issues and crime problems in his or her district. In addition to holding Commander’s Forums for their residents and passing along information between APD and residents, the district representatives also perform speed studies in neighborhoods, handle gang or drug related problems and promote crime prevention efforts for areas plagued by crime.

Combating crime

Because of Northwest Austin’s high business density, with several strip malls, movie theaters and fitness centers, the area can sometimes be a target for burglaries of vehicles.

24-Hour Fitness on Research Boulevard has been struck several times with these instances because, according to Dunn, burglars “know that the person working out is going to be gone for a set amount of time, and many leave valuables in the car.”

In February alone, there were 16 burglaries of vehicles. Through the APD’s efforts of utilizing unmarked vehicles and plainclothes officers as well as marked vehicles and coordinating with the property’s private security, this number has decreased to just three in April.

“Our patrolling makes criminals uncomfortable,” Dunn said. “And the project yielded several arrests. As time and manpower permits, [patrolling] will be an ongoing occurrence.”

In January, approximately 30 cars in the Anderson Mill neighborhood were vandalized with spray-painted swastikas. Neighborhood association president Phil Denney and Capt. Shawn Newsom of the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department coordinated the creation of a neighborhood patrol and a cash reward in order to facilitate arrests.

Denney admitted that the residents of Anderson Mill do not always call 911 to report a crime in their area.

“Some residents apparently feel like it isn’t worth the time of the sheriff, that they won’t catch anyone,” Denney said. “I tell them the sheriff needs to know there is a problem, so he can resource our area with additional patrols if needed. When we had the increase in vandalism back in December, when vehicle windows were shot out with an air gun, and then in January, the sheriff did increase resources in our area.”

Newsom agreed that the sheriff’s department relies heavily on the residents to be their “eyes and ears,” but also said it has created a higher presence to prevent crime in the area.

“We want to be proactive to crime, not always reactive,” he said. “We’ve increased patrols fourfold, conducted sting operations in the area and coordinated with volunteers from the neighborhood association.”

Austin Police Department draws up new districts in Northwest Austin

Austin Police Department recently redistricted their departments, which they say will bring new benefits, such as moving officers throughout the districts more easily and making sure no district is left unmanned.

Six districts make up the Northwest Austin area, four of which fall under the Northwest district, also known as Adam, and two falling into the North Central district, named Ida.

North Central District Contacts:

• Main number: 974-4245
• Ida 3 District Representative: Officer Mario Martinez
• Ida 4 District Representative: Officer Steve Gordon

NW Austin District Contacts:

• Main number: 974-5743
• Cmdr. James O’Leary
• Adam 1: Officer Mike Dunn
• Adam 2: Officer Tanya Normand
• Adam 3: Officer Billy Simoneaux
• Adam 4: Officer Joe Maciel

The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office arrested an adult male in connection to the Jan. 13 vandalism of several vehicles and property in Anderson Mill. Although swastikas and other derogatory messages were spray painted on vehicles, the actions of the suspect were not deemed as intended hate crimes. He was charged with several counts of criminal mischief.

What is criminal mischief?

Section 28.03 of the Texas Penal Code defines criminal mischief as:

A person commits an offense if, without the effective consent of the owner:

1. He intentionally or knowingly damages or destroys the tangible property of the owner,
2. He intentionally or knowingly tampers with the tangible property of the owner and causes pecuniary loss or substantial inconvenience to the owner or a third person, or
3. He intentionally or knowingly makes markings, including inscriptions, slogans, drawings or paintings, on the tangible property of the owner.

According to Capt. Shawn Newsom of the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, criminal mischief and burglary of a vehicle are “crimes of opportunity.” To help prevent criminal mischief or burglaries in your area, take the following precautions.

• Keep your homes well lit.
• Try to park your cars inside your garage if you can. Make sure to keep the garage door down and locked.
• If you can’t park your car in your garage, park in a well-lit area and do not crack the windows.
• Never leave your homes or cars unlocked.
• Do not keep valuables in your car. Take GPS devices and unlocked stereos with you. Do not place any valuables under your seat.

What to do if you have witnessed a crime:

Officer Mike Dunn encourages residents that if they witness any suspicious activity or a crime in progress they should immediately call 911. Newsom agreed that no suspicious activities are too small.

“It might be the piece of the puzzle that leads us to someone,” he said.

If you haven’t witnessed a crime in action, but need to report something as stolen or vandalized, call 311 and remember to keep the case number for your records. Newsom reminds Anderson Mill dwellers that there is no 311 for Williamson County. Dial 911 to report the crime, and the operator will give you a non-emergency number. When Anderson Mill is annexed and serviced by Austin Police Department in 2009, the area will be receiving a 311 help line.