SAN ANTONIO – Two days before Monday’s community meeting laying out a crime prevention plan for District 2, a man was shot and killed on the 500 block of Corliss Saturday, the East Side’s latest murder.
Alan Warrick II, who represents District 2 on City Council said, “We don’t have as much crime as some areas of town, but it’s concentrated in small pockets.”
He said those problem areas are in stark contrast to the East Side’s hopes for redevelopment and the on-going historic renovations east of downtown.
At their initial meeting in late January, East Side residents had a litany of concerns for Warrick and Police Chief Bill McManus, from prostitution to street crime to burglaries and drug activity.
Warrick said a possible solution would be problem-oriented policing that targets specific issues.
He said city agencies also can help, “Whether it’s stray dogs, whether it’s code enforcement violations, overgrown lots, trash dumping, as well as vacant houses or places where violence has occurred.”
However, he said the community must do its part.
“That’s when you see the tide turning,” Warrick said.
He said the area needs “sustainable solutions to curb the violence and grow economic development.”
Warrick said he wants to see changes by this summer, as well as body cameras for police officers and shot-spotters, technology that can detect where gunshots are being fired, increasing response time.
He said otherwise, other options would include more of the community gardens and murals already at Nolan and New Braunfels, considered a hot spot for crime.
Warrick said he thinks that same intersection where 30 percent of the crime on the East Side has occurred, will become a model for other violence-prone areas.