[ad_1]
AUSTIN (KXAN) – After another shootout in downtown Austin’s entertainment district over the weekend, KXAN is investigating whether the city is on track to make security changes that councilors called for earlier this year.
Austin Police said two people were injured in a shooting at 500 East 7th Street early Sunday morning, almost an hour after the bars closed. Jaylin Gibson, 20, was arrested.
Austin Police Association President Ken Casaday described the shooting scene in a tweet as “chaos out of control”.
That shootout came just days before the city council’s deadline for city officials to develop a plan to curb alcohol use and other weekend activities by minors on Sixth Street.
RELATED: What Could Be Done To Avoid More Shootings On Austin’s 6th Street?
The council set several of these deadlines in a resolution passed in July, setting out how the city could make security improvements and explore potential strategies to curb violence in the Sixth Street area.
By that Thursday, September 30, the resolution called on the city administrator’s office to coordinate with the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission on “strategies to curb underage alcohol consumption and possibly limit the presence of underage Austinites on Sixth Street on weekend evenings “to develop.
The city has also been instructed to develop a program for entertainment licensed companies by Thursday that includes “safety training for staff and increased coordination and communication with public safety officers.”
Prior to this deadline, the city manager’s office was instructed to upgrade the existing lighting and / or use temporary lighting to illuminate the area and to explore cafe seating, water barriers and other pop-up measures to clear the sidewalks for the people, that the bars along Sixth Street use to widen. The deadline for these changes was August 30th.
Austin Police report “numerous” violent crimes at the downtown after-hours club
In addition, through Oct. 30, city officials have been instructed to review their mass accident response plan and consider potentially opening Sixth Street to vehicles on weekends to reduce the number of people who congregate when the street is on closed is.
Councilor Kathie Tovo is the driving force behind the resolution. She presented it to the other council members in July.
Tovo says the city has made progress since then and has formed a cross-departmental team that meets regularly to discuss solutions to curb crime in the entertainment district. It is run by the city’s music and entertainment department and APD.
“All of these departments, from fire and ambulance services to stakeholders and owners in the field, have been involved in these talks for years, but it was extremely important to bring all of our urban departments together in one room,” said Tovo.
According to Tovo, some immediate improvements have already been made to the lighting, although changes to the lighting infrastructure may take more time.
Tovo also says that some of the other improvements to the project will take more time as well.
“It will be a comprehensive approach, and one where we have some short-term gains, I hope, and short-term strategies and will work towards some longer ones,” said Tovo.
In a statement, the city of Austin told KXAN, “Implementation of the council’s comprehensive plan to make Sixth Street safer is well underway. The plan, which was approved in late July and includes more than a dozen individual initiatives involving multiple city departments, will work with the Austin Police Department’s ongoing violence intervention program to tackle the recent surge in gun crime. We expect to provide the council with another update soon. “
KXAN has also inquired with TABC whether the city will achieve its September 30 goal of using TABC to develop strategies to curb underage drinking on Sixth Street.
“Although TABC has discussed ways to work with APD along Sixth Street, there is currently no formal plan to announce it. We will continue to discuss potential joint operations and look for ways each agency can help keep downtown customers and businesses safe, “TABC spokesman Chris Porter told KXAN.
Tovo says working with business owners along Sixth Street and other parts of the entertainment district is important in making the area safer.
Marc Roppolo, owner of Roppolos Pizzeria on Sixth Street, is one of the business owners who met with Tovo and are working on improving the area themselves.
After the mass shooting in June, he hired private security for his restaurant and installed a security system with a panic button in the pizzeria. He says he can already see that the security upgrades have had an impact and that employees and customers are feeling more secure.
“Every bar and every shop on the street is responsible for the safety of the street and the customers down here,” said Roppolo.
Bar owners in the area are also trying to bring back more live music and make Sixth Street attractive to everyone, according to Roppolo. He likes a lot of ideas from city guides, such as providing restaurants with family-friendly cafe seating on the sidewalks and cracking down on underage drinkers.
“You can really have it all,” said Roppolo. “Sixth Street, you can have it all, it just depends on everyone coming together and working together to make it happen.”
[ad_2]
