January 2026 Safety Forum Recap

The Downtown Austin Alliance hosted its Downtown Safety Forum on January 15, 2026, bringing together downtown stakeholders, public safety officials and community partners to discuss crime trends, homelessness outreach efforts and key downtown activity expected in early 2026.

The forum included updates from the Austin Police Department, a presentation on the Homeless Outreach Street Team (HOST), a review of the Downtown Alliance 2025 Year-End Dashboard, and a preview of upcoming conferences and major events scheduled to bring visitors to Downtown Austin.

See the Full January 2026 Safety Forum Recap

Austin Police Department Update

Lieutenant Eric Cleveland with the Austin Police Department shared a review of downtown crime data and enforcement efforts for 2025.

The presentation included an overview of crime activity between January and November 2025, highlighting trends across three primary categories: crimes against persons, property crimes and crimes against society.

Crime Trends

Crimes Against Persons:
The most commonly reported offenses were simple assault, intimidation and aggravated assault. Simple assault accounts for roughly 65% of reported crimes against persons, while intimidation represents about 20%.
Crimes Against Property:
The top incidents included theft and other larceny, pickpocketing and vandalism. Theft and larceny account for about 30% of property crimes, while pickpocketing represented about 20%. Activity peaked around October during large events and Halloween weekend before returning to typical levels in November.
Crimes Against Society:
These offenses largely involved drug or narcotic violations, drug equipment violations and weapon law violations. Drug-related violations account for roughly half of all crimes against society reported downtown.

Deployment Strategies

APD also discussed changes made in August 2025 to adjust to crime trends, including the creation of specialized teams and enhanced patrols downtown.

Key strategies include:

Establishment of a Public Order Team
Creation of the Downtown Austin Rapid Response Team (DARRT), which coordinates detectives with patrol officers and crime analysts
Dedicated foot and bicycle patrols along Congress Avenue
Evening patrols on East Sixth Street using bicycle and specialized units
Increased high-visibility patrols at locations such as Republic Square, Brush Square and Waller Creek.

Enforcement Activity

Between August and December 2025, enforcement activity included:

1,554 pedestrian stops
239 citations related to the Sit & Lie ordinance
139 citations for drug paraphernalia
408 misdemeanor criminal citations
111 misdemeanor custody arrests
133 felony custody arrests.

APD also reported several narcotics seizures during this time period, including quantities of crack cocaine, methamphetamine and synthetic cannabinoids (K2).

Homeless Outreach Street Team (HOST)

The forum also featured a presentation on the Homeless Outreach Street Team (HOST), a collaborative program that connects individuals experiencing homelessness with medical care, mental health services and housing resources.

HOST is a partnership between:

Integral Care
Austin-Travis County EMS
Austin Community Court
Austin Police Department

The team focuses on individuals who are:

Experiencing chronic unsheltered homelessness
Living with untreated medical or mental health conditions
Frequent users of emergency, hospital or criminal justice systems
Particularly vulnerable due to age, disability or health conditions.

The team works to build trust through repeated engagement and connects individuals with services including medical care, housing assistance and social support resources.

Service Impact

According to program data presented at the forum, the HOST team delivered significant services during FY25:

632 medical services provided
752 mental health service interactions
377 housing navigation and support services
373 document or benefits assistance cases
50 individuals placed into permanent housing.

Additional outreach included:

1,072 basic needs services (food, hygiene supplies and clothing)
381 coordinated assessments
236 shelter admissions or referrals.

Overall, the program served 1,027 unique individuals, resulting in 3,162 points of contact and more than 5,000 total interventions.

Downtown Alliance 2025 Year-End Dashboard

The Downtown Austin Alliance also shared highlights from its 2025 Year-End Dashboard, which tracks key indicators related to downtown activity, economic performance and public realm improvements.

The dashboard provides stakeholders with insights into trends affecting downtown Austin and supports data-driven planning for the coming year.

Upcoming Conferences and Events

Several major conferences, sporting events and cultural celebrations will bring significant activity to downtown Austin in the coming weeks.

January

SHI International Corp. Conference – Hilton & Palmer Events Center (Jan. 10–14, 1,200 attendees)
Stryker Medical Sales Meeting – JW Marriott & Austin Marriott Downtown (Jan. 11–19, 1,300 attendees)
Stryker Instruments Sales Meeting – Fairmont Austin (Jan. 12–19, 1,700 attendees)
Austin International Half Marathon – Downtown Austin (Jan. 18)
MLK Day Festival – University of Texas campus (Jan. 19)
Klaviyo Global Marketing Kickoff – Fairmont Austin (Jan. 23–29, 1,000 attendees)

February

Texas Council of Administrators of Special Education Conference – JW Marriott (Feb. 1–4)
Procore Sales Kickoff – Fairmont Austin & Austin Marriott Downtown (Feb. 1–6)
Black History Month celebrations – Various downtown locations (Feb. 1–28)
Austin Marathon – Downtown Austin (Feb. 15)
OUTsider Festival – The Vortex (Feb. 18–22)
Boomi Kickoff Meeting – Fairmont Austin (Feb. 21–26)
ATX Open – Westwood Country Club (Feb. 21–March 1)
NASCAR at Circuit of the Americas – Feb. 27–March 1
FloQast All Hands Meeting – Fairmont Austin (Feb. 28–March 4).

Next Forum

The Downtown Austin Alliance will host a Spring Festival Season Forum to discuss upcoming large events and downtown operations planning.

Thursday, February 19, 2026
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. (via Zoom)