Where crime spiked and dipped in Williamson County in 2024

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas - 2024 was a busy year for police in Williamson County.

FOX 7 Austin pulled data from Williamson County’s three biggest cities: Round Rock, Georgetown, and Cedar Park.

Perhaps what stood out the most was property crime.

Round Rock police tallied about 4,000 property crimes in 2024, about a 7 percent dip from 2023, but still too high for Round Rock Police Chief Allen Banks.

"We’re trying to reduce those by getting it to our public and telling our public don’t make yourself a victim, don’t leave valuables in your cars, don’t walk to your cars with money walking from a bank or from an ATM because people are looking for stuff like that," said Banks.

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Although down from last year, property crime also made up the majority of Cedar Park’s cases. About a third of it comes from auto burglaries or thefts.

 In Georgetown, aggravated assaults saw an increase from 80 cases in 2023 to 113 cases in 2024, which is a 40 percent increase.

Police told FOX 7 Austin they've observed more people shooting at someone, at a vehicle with someone in it, or a residence, but very few cases resulted in physical injury. The police chief added that 113 cases are still relatively flat for the city’s explosive growth.

Round Rock reported three homicides in 2024, and while that may not sound like a lot, the city usually averages 0-1 per year.

"One homicide is high for Round Rock, and so again, we don’t want to see any victims of homicide," said Banks.

Two of these deaths came from the Juneteenth mass shooting. One is from fentanyl poisoning. Police arrested a man in connection to the death last month.

"Thanks to the new laws and the changes that were brought about in regards to those who sell fentanyl or give fentanyl to other folks and those subjects die as a result, now we're going after them criminally and charging them with homicide," said Banks.

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In the New Year, police will be keeping a watchful eye on these trends and more.

"As we gather that information and that data that’s helping us in that criminal investigation and our goal is to get those folks out in jail and suffer the consequences of terrorizing our community," said Banks.

Overall, person-to-person crimes or aggravated assault in Round Rock and Cedar Park didn’t change too much from 2023 to 2024.

Round Rock police said that in those cases, the people involved tend to know each other. About half of Cedar Park’s aggravated assault cases are family-violence related.