SAN ANTONIO — Overall crime went down 3% from January to August this year, according to new data shared Tuesday by the San Antonio Police Department, and violent crime also decreased by about 2%.
"To be honest with you, I'm grateful for 3%," said SAPD Chief William McManus. "Beats 3% increase, right? Any reduction at all is fewer victims."
For the past year and a half, the city has been implementing what it calls the Violent Crime Reduction Plan, an effort born out of a partnership between UTSA and SAPD that identifies and implements evidence-backed strategies to reduce violence in the city.
Phase 1, implemented in January 2023, added officers to hotspots across the city. Phase 2, which is currently underway, identifies a location and tackles the root causes of crime. The city decided to concentrate Phase 2 efforts on reducing crime at Rosemont at Highland Park Apartments on Rigsby Avenue.
"We can say confidently this much: The strategies that San Antonio is using to reduce violent crime are the best strategies that science has available right now to reduce violent street crime," said Michael Smith, a UTSA criminology and criminal justice professor.
The department's data echoes an August report by the Major Cities Chiefs Association that found San Antonio experienced 27% fewer murder cases from January to June of this year compared to the same time frame in 2023—the biggest drop among Texas' five biggest cities.
Yet while violent crime has slightly dipped, vandalism, stolen property, pornography and prostitution all have increased in San Antonio. Destruction, damage and vandalism is up in a big way, by 35%, while stolen property is up 30%.
"You leave something out, it gets picked up and stolen," McManus said. "You make a report, it adds to our stats. I've met more times than I want to meet with business owners and communities downtown complaining about the constant criminal mischief events that are happening to their property."
Royal Blue Grocery on Houston Street has seen its fair share of "criminal mischief" and property theft.
"Our store is not full of very expensive items, but we have a lot of small items that people steal," said Jessica Provost, the store's owner. "We've also had vandalism with our planter, which we no longer have but we got rid of, because we were sick of having to replace the plants. And we've had some aggression towards some of our employees."
Since the store opened in 2019, Provost said it's gotten worse.
"For me, it's all about the safety of my employees and the customers that we have," she said. "Any damage done to this store can be fixed, but people can't be fixed. And we've had trouble hiring people in the past because of the downtown atmosphere."
Provost has credited Centro San Antonio and conversations with the SAPD to deter crime and help make her store safer.
SAPD does have a property crimes task force that officials say has been working, adding it's malls and apartment complexes that statistically have the highest rates of property crime.
In downtown San Antonio, SAPD has proposed cameras with AI software that could bring statistics down.
"Ideally, I'd like to see a property crime program, something that possibly in the future I can work that with UTSA," McManus said. "But right now, it's the violent crime reduction program."