Austin is generally considered to be a safe place to live, and, for the most part, this reputation is well earned and deserved. In fact, Parenting Magazine recently described Austin as a “‘unique oasis’ in the midst of the Lone Star State” while ranking our city the fourth-best place in the country to raise a family. The magazine considered factors like “quality of schools, affordable homes, low crime rates, jobs, and park lands” when ranking cities.

While Austin certainly meets the criteria and seems like a fairly obvious choice for the list, that is not to suggest that our city doesn’t have it’s fair share of crime.

Austin crime on the rise

According to the Department of Public Safety, the entirety of Texas experienced a decrease in overall crime over the last year, yet still witnessed the rates of violent crime rise by 1.2% throughout the state. The study also shows that Austin, in particular, saw a 2.5% growth in overall crime from 2011 to 2012 . While this is by no means any cause to panic for Austinites—the city is still an extremely safe place to live, as far as cities are concerned—it is an alarming trend, and many recent stories in the news demonstrate the kind of violent crime that has been ever-increasingly occurring within Austin city limits.

One disturbing story that reflects such findings is the first degree murder charge of 23 year old Jose Miranda. According to the article, officers responded to a report of shots being fired and found “an attended vehicle belonging to 23-year-old Miranda.” Shortly thereafter, they located Miranda “running in the direction of the Lady Bird hike-and-bike trail,” and Miranda confessed to having shot someone after the police found a handgun in his possession The body of the supposed victim was found near the trail, and Miranda’s bond is now set at $1 million.

Keeping residents informed

While this particular case—and countless others like it—certainly does not inspire much hope about the state of crime here in Austin, we at Freedom Bail Bonds believe that it is always best to know what’s going on in your city, and we’ve made it our goal to keep citizens informed.

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