'Reimagining justice': New community safety model to be tested in east Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN)—Millions of dollars are now being put toward testing what's being called a new model of community safety in east Austin.

National nonprofit Urban Alchemy was awarded a $2 million federal grant by the Department of Justice.

The initiative will reduce crime in this predominantly Black neighborhood and increase trust in traditional public safety organizations in the 78702, 78721, and 78723 zip codes.

Urban Alchemy

Over the next three years, Urban Alchemy said it plans to have members of its trained team be the go-to people in east Austin for de-escalating non-violent situations. This is versus having to call police for everything.

According to grant award information, some strategies that will be used include community engagement, training and technical assistance, community events, service referrals and deploying trauma-informed community ambassadors.

Building community trust is going to be key. And perhaps it'll start with long-time east Austinites like Brian Mays.

"I've been here 50 years...I've seen everything," Mays said.

Mays owns Sam's BBQ. His business, in the heart of east Austin, has walls filled with generations of memories and family photos. It's a community staple.

Mays said he loves his community. But over the years, he said he has seen a lot.

"Selling drugs, prostitution, everything, fighting," Mays said. "Everything."

Urban Alchemy—a Black-led nonprofit—said it'll focus on the historically predominately Black and Latino neighborhood, as it has noticed east Austin struggling with crime consistently. It wanted to do more to make those who live in the area feel safer.

"Police are needed, right?," Ian Clark-Johnson with the Urban Alchemy said. "But we also recognize that in certain nonviolent situations, that the is community that can be that buffer between police and the crime. Especially when you're talking about non-violent crime."

Clark-Johnson said Urban Alchemy will use public Austin Police Department data and work with Huston-Tillotson University to analyze it. From there, he said the nonprofit will also work with other groups based in east Austin to help with community outreach. Those groups—Hungry Hill Foundation and We Can Now—will facilitate a new community-driven approach to reducing crime, according to Urban Alchemy.

"We're also going to be proactively engaged...like embedded... within the community, are identifying hotspots, pillar areas where we know certain behaviors occur," Clark-Johnson said.
"[We'll be] proactively having conversations, checking on folks, just genuinely building that relationship."

A big task, with big hopes of a lasting impact. As it starts out a lot of the work, Urban Alchemy said it will be surveying people out in the community and lining up anecdotal experiences from neighbors with APD crime data. Some of the non-violent crimes it is hoping to address are auto thefts, drugs and sex crimes.