Austin Police Department data shows public safety improvements on 6th Street, such as a  decrease in arrests and use-of-force reports in the last year, according to an APD email.

These improvements come after the street opened to vehicular traffic from Thursdays through Sundays, announced in January 2025 by the city and APD police chief Lisa Davis. The street was opened as part of an initiative to increase pedestrian safety and decrease officer injury, according to the announcement. 

According to the APD data, there was a 25% decrease in arrests and use-of-force reports and a 24% decrease in officer injury from 2024 to 2025.

“We’re going to continue to keep the street open,” said Carey Chaudoir, APD commander for the downtown area. “Our main focus is making sure everybody is safe down there, having a good time but being responsible.”

In addition to opening the street to vehicular traffic, Chaudoir said APD and city staff increased lighting, cleaned up alleyways and installed concrete barricades to widen the sidewalks for crowds temporarily while the 6th Street Mobility and Revitalization project is underway. 

Opening the street is not a “one-size-fits-all solution,” wrote city council member Zohaib “Zo” Qadri, who represents 6th Street and most of UT and West Campus, in a statement. Qadri wrote that coordination between the city, code enforcement and APD could also be improving public safety on the street.

“I wasn’t a huge fan of reopening 6th Street to vehicles, but it was my understanding that city staff and APD made that decision with public safety as the primary goal,” Qadri wrote. “I still have concerns about what opening the street means for pedestrians and overall safety in the area.”

According to the data, there was a 7% decline in “person crimes,” which Chaudoir said include assaults. She said when streets were closed to traffic, the combination of crowds and intoxicated people led to fights. 

“The biggest arrest that we make down there are the assaults that people have because people accidentally bump into each other,” Chaudoir said. “We noticed a big decrease in that.” 

However, according to APD data, aggravated property crimes, such as credit card and cell phone thefts, increased by 23% partly because crowds were concentrated in a smaller area, Chaudoir said. 

“That’s something that we’re really trying to tackle and get a handle on,” Chaudoir said. “You think it’s just someone accidentally bumping you because of a crowd, but then they end up taking your phone out of your pocket.”

There were around 40 days where the department still closed the street to vehicular traffic, especially in October with the Austin City Limits music festival, F1 races and Halloween season drawing large crowds, Chaudoir said. She said moving away from the “street party mentality” was part of this initiative.

Qadri wrote that his vision for 6th Street safety is for people to not worry if they will make it home after going out with friends. 

“I want to see a 6th Street that is exciting and full of opportunity for Austinites, not a one-stop destination limited to nightlife,” Qadri wrote. “Change won’t happen overnight, but we are trending in the right direction.”