City of Austin

The APD Region II District Representative Unit will conduct a Vehicle Abatement initiative as part of the Restore Rundberg Project.  The initiative is taking place today, Tuesday, February 19, between the hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Officers are tagging vehicles that are in violation of city ordinances and state laws.  Between the hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, February 21, 2013, vehicles that are not in compliance with the ordinances will be towed.   The Restore Rundberg Project focuses on cleaning up the area and making it safer Austin residents.

This initiative will use both crime prevention through environmental design and intelligence based policing. APD will attempt to curb crime by observing the Broken Window Theory, which states that maintaining and monitoring urban environments in a well-ordered condition, may stop further vandalism and escalation into more serious crime. This part of the initiative focuses on the abatement of junked nuisance vehicles.
APD is not only enforcing the laws but also educating the public by passing out informational flyers.  Some of the violations are (but not limited to):

• Illegal Yard parking
• Vehicles blocking sidewalks/cross walks
• Vehicles parked with their left wheels to curb
• Vehicles parked with wheels more than 18 inches from curb

Early in 2012, the Austin Police Department Region II command was awarded a $1 million grant from the Department of Justice, which resulted in the implementation of the Restore Rundberg Project. The project will focus particularly on crime challenges, neighborhood distress and revitalizing the Rundberg neighborhood. 

The Region II command is committed to restoring the Rundberg Neighborhood and combatting crime in the area. To establish this goal, the Austin Police Department is working with the community to address and listen to concerns using information based policing. 

###