As the first quarter of the year comes to a close, Austin is on track for another big jump in murders. Two new victims over the weekend brought the body count to 19 so far this year, which is on pace for 76 killings by year-end.
That would be a 58% increase over the 48 homicides of 2020, and a 111% increase over the 36 killings of 2019. And that doesn’t include killings and suspicious deaths outside the city limits in Travis County, which have also risen.
Workers at a Travis County recycle plant have discovered three bodies in the past year, which may represent homicides that took place inside the Austin city limits.
Many of the killings relate to disputes over drugs. In the latest killing, for example, a 39-year-old man at a hotel was shot dead while trying to buy marijuana.
Teens and youth increasingly are taking part in the bloodletting, as well as being victimized. Over the weekend, 20-year-old Thang Tin Uk was shot in his car in a drug-related incident, police said. In October, an 18-year-old gang member selling marijuana shot dead a man who declined to buy from him, and in September a teen boy lost his life during a dispute over marijuana. In Jarrell, north of Austin, detectives yesterday arrested a juvenile suspect in a narcotics-related shooting.
Weapon law violations in Austin rose 20% last year and have continued that trend so far this year, according to monthly crime statistics. A killing by a teenager last October happened in connection with a botched gun deal for an AR-15 shotgun. Armed teens have also are carrying out robberies, which were up 19% in February compared to the same month last year.
De Facto Legalization
The rise in drug-related violence is testing a central thesis of Progressive governance in Austin, namely, that decriminalizing drug use and providing addiction resources should result in more humane outcomes for drug users.
Prosecutors have stopped pursuing most drug crimes in Austin. As a result, police made 41% fewer drug arrests in 2020 compared to 2019. That dropped a further 45% year-to-date.
That means that fewer drug users are ending up in jail or in prison, but in the meantime more are ending up in bodybags.
A year ago Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore warned of “an increase in violence related to narcotics trafficking,” adding, “We have to deal with that.” But she lost an election contest to José Garza, who accused her of fear-mongering and promised to relax drug enforcement in the county.
It’ll be four more years before Garza is out of office, and the next city council election isn’t for two more years. That gives these policymakers another couple years to turn things around before they’ll be challenged again at the polls. They’ve sown the seeds for a new approach to public safety. The question now is what kind of harvest they’ll reap. Right now, it’s looking like it’ll be a grim one.
