True Grit
Since the beginning of the year, near-daily reports of auto break-ins, equipment thefts, and even stabbings and shootings have eclipsed even band gossip as Red River‘s No. 1 topic of conversation. As this picture shows, trouble isn’t exactly hard to find downtown, and most people TCB has queried recently say crime is starkly more prevalent than in the past. Several have been affected personally, and almost to a person, they trace it back to last fall’s influx of hurricane evacuees. “I think people were more freaked out and overreacting than there was anything happening when [evacuees] first got here,” says Room 710 doorman Joe Sebastian. “People’s perceptions made it worse, but there were certainly a few things that happened right after that.” Including his own car being burglarized. “That’s the first time it’s been broken into in 11 years working downtown,” Sebastian admits. “I was probably just overdue.” With the Salvation Army and ARCH nearby, Red River has long been local transients’ gathering spot of choice, and even their world has been upended by the storms’ fallout. “Our regular street people, our Huggy Bears, were missing for a couple of weeks there,” says Emo’s manager Bill Corsello. “The über-thugs who rolled in from the hurricanes scared some of them away.” Compounding matters, some believe the Austin Police Department‘s recent string of well-publicized minority beatings, Tasings, and deaths have made police reluctant to enter situations that could add to the list. “Cops’ hands are tied,” Corsello says. “It’s a real conundrum.” (TCB contacted APD for their perspective, and will continue to do so.) Another theory exists, that the recent crime wave is just one more set of growing pains as Austin becomes a real big city at last. “Maybe it’s just our quiet, safe little hamlet is growing up,” says Corsello.This article appears in February 17 • 2006.