SAN ANTONIO — Combating crime downtown is a top priority for business owners and organizations like Centro San Antonio.
The president, Trish DeBerry spoke out about recent deadly shootings downtown at a panel discussion Tuesday night surrounding tourism and development.
DeBerry referenced the deadly Fiesta shooting in the Historic Market Square and the shooting Sunday that claimed the life of an 80-year-old woman in town for a high school graduation.
“I have an employee whose here tonight who was a part of that and had to duck and cover and she was with her boyfriend and her dog in Hemisphere Park when shots rang out and we had an 80-year-old woman who was killed,” DeBerry said in front of a crowd full of business owners.
It was a panel called Destination Downtown. Much of the conversation surrounded how tourism positively impacts the city. But DeBerry said she will not ignore the fact there are concerns surrounding keeping those tourists safe.
“We hired a firm out of Nashville to do a holistic security audit of downtown to be able to identify the gaps and the opportunities associated with how we keep downtown safer,” DeBerry said.
She said that the audit last year discovered there was a need for what she calls a more robust camera network.
“So, if we see people gathering or the cameras detect that, we can dispatch bike patrol or whomever to the situation maybe before an incident begins,” she said.
Terrin Fuhrmann owns the bar and restaurant Elsewhere on the Riverwalk. He said he has never felt unsafe at that location.
“The leaders of some of these organizations that represent downtown, they’re all talking to each other,” Fuhrmann said. “I mean I’ve sat in several meetings and listening to what they’re actively doing to curb some of this violence.”
During a press conference Monday, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said he does not believe there is a pattern of violence downtown and called the recent incidents, random acts. But DeBerry insisted those random acts are unacceptable.
“We’ve gotta double down, all of us,” DeBerry said.
Chief McManus said they have adequate patrol downtown which includes bike patrol, park police and covert officers.