Office of Violence Prevention applies public health tenets to help reduce violent crime

Two years ago, following a spate of violent incidents at Givens District Park, the city’s Office of Violence Prevention took action to better understand what was driving crime at the historically significant East Austin park.

The OVP partnered with the Parks and Recreation Department, Watershed Protection, Austin Police Department and community groups to conduct outreach, administer surveys, gather data and establish a park advisory group. Additionally, the city pruned trees and other vegetation to create clear sight lines throughout the park, removed trash and other debris, and placed signage around the park.

“We did crime prevention through environmental design,” Michelle Myles, manager of the Office of Violence Prevention, told the Public Safety Commission at a Monday briefing. “Not only is it important for safety but it’s also important for beauty. We want the park to be beautiful for folks who are wanting to use it.”

Myles cited the Givens Park initiative as an example of applying a data-driven public health approach to crime prevention – a method that many U.S. cities, including Houston and San Antonio, have embraced in recent years. The Austin Office of Violence Prevention was created in 2021 with federal and local dollars and operates under Austin Public Health with four employees.

As Myles explained, the OVP’s mission is to help build a peaceful and safe Austin for everyone.

“We do this by fostering peace in Austin by working with communities and stakeholders to drive policy, coordinate violence reduction strategies, and (lead) initiatives that is informed by data and that is focused on equity,” she said. As such, Myles describes the OVP as “the love child between public safety and public health.”

Specifically, the OVP works toward reducing gun violence, domestic violence and aggravated assaults, focusing on crime hot spots along the Interstate 35 corridor and in neighborhoods within City Council districts 1, 2, 3 and 4, which recorded higher murder and nonnegligent manslaughter incidents between 2019 and 2024, Myles said.

The OVP has also made key investments in local programs toward achieving its goals, including youth programs and community art projects, plus programs that provide group therapy and individual and family counseling services.

“Oftentimes, kids are looked at as the problem, but they’re more of a symptom of something more globally happening in the community,” Myles said.

Additionally, she continued, “We have our community violence intervention program, called ATX Peace, and they work to address near-term homicides by working in hot spot locations with individuals who are trusted messengers with lived experience.”

The group works with people who are identified as high risk of either being a victim or a perpetrator of violent crime and provide wraparound services such as conflict mediation, de-escalation, job training, and healing and restoration, Myles said. Thousands of gun locks – safety devices to prevent the firing of a firearm – have also been distributed in the community.

On healing and restoration efforts, Myles pointed to the success of the Harvest Trauma Recovery Center, which opened a year ago as the first of its kind in Texas. The center, which provides mental health services to crime victims and their families, initially estimated serving 120 people, but that number grew to 800 people in its first year.

“We’re going to build a very robust infrastructure and help (the center) so they can have long-term sustainability,” Myles said.

Turning to a significant component of the OVP’s work, Myles pointed to the findings of a gun violence analysis conducted in Austin last year by the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform. The findings are helping guide the OVP’s understanding of root causes of crime and assist in driving policy.

The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.