As crime downtown increases, the San Marcos Police Department is deploying a series of strategies to address rising violent crime downtown.
San Marcos has experienced a significant decrease in crime compared to the state average. According to San Marcos Chief of Police Stan Standridge, from 2022 to 2024, Texas saw an 11% decrease in violent crime, compared to San Marcos’s 46% decrease. Instead, data provided in an email to The Star by the SMPD Crime Analysis Unit detailed a nearly 39% increase in violent crime seen only at The Square, that may have had a negative effect on the perception of violent crime as a whole in San Marcos.
Amanda Graham, associate professor in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology, said there has been a noticeable decline in crime in the city of San Marcos since 2021; however, fear of crime might have increased among citizens due to recent shootings downtown.
“It sounds really scary, right? [Crimes] that might look like they’ve gone up, [based on] large percentages or proportions, are things that happen relatively infrequently,” Graham said. “Any increases or decreases [with infrequent crimes represented as percentage changes] are going to look massive.”
According to the Uniform Crime Report for the city of San Marcos in 2025, interpretations show areas of crime like weapon law violations have gone up by about 20% from 2024. Graham said this is because the crimes are infrequent, and any increase is going to look larger percentage-wise. The main increases in crime in San Marcos are seen at The Square.
SMPD’s Crime Analysis Unit provided data showing the increase in violent crime downtown is the highest it has been since at least 2019. Violent crime falls into six categories, such as assault, homicide, human trafficking, kidnapping, robbery and sex offenses.
“The story then becomes, what do we do about that? Well, what’s the role of the university? What are the roles of the students? You’ve got to communicate to them [that] there’s going to be heavy enforcement as it relates to intoxication offenses, henceforth,” Standridge said.
The SMPD Crime Analysis Unit reported that approximately 38% of violent crime offenses are reported at bars and nightclubs.
To combat rising crime downtown, Standridge outlined his plans to address certain issues, such as a lack of lighting and holding students accountable with the university for crimes committed downtown, among other issues.
“We have to see what, and how the community could benefit from different environmental factors and support systems that can be put in place,” Patricia Hom, analyst supervisor for SMPD, said.
According to Standridge, planned measures include a partnership with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) to implement response strategies to intoxication offenses, leveraging technology like security cameras to identify suspects and establishing a downtown unit that focuses on The Square.
Standridge also discussed a partnership in the works with the Texas State University Police Department (UPD) to station at least one officer downtown on busy nights. He said this would help hold students accountable for crimes and misconduct.
“[UPD officers] are going to have key access to the Dean of Students to report student misconduct,” Standridge said.
Due to the increase police presence that comes with UPD and the formation of a unit on the Square, Russel Wilde, SMPD’s Public Safety Communications Specialist stated residents may see an increase in reported offenses because there will be more officers downtown.
Standridge and Hom also provided advice on what citizens can do to combat crime, stating it’s important to cooperate with the police, and communicating the importance of making citizens less vulnerable victims.
“Crime is not just a police issue, it’s a we issue,” Standridge said. “If you see something, say something and report it.”
Standridge stressed the importance of educating citizens, stating that the more educated a citizen is on their safety, the better decisions they can make.
“Consider making yourself a less viable victim. Think in the mindset of an offender,” Hom said. “Somebody who is completely oblivious to their surroundings, never locks their door, keeps their laptops out, all of those things, do not do that.”
SMPD established voluntary compliance as the ultimate goal. This includes abiding by laws, reporting crime and ensuring situation awareness at The Square.
“I’ve always been very aware of my surroundings [downtown], but now it’s even more so. If I was on a 10 before, now I’m on a 100,” Javier Mireles, a biology and psychology graduate student, said. “If someone else is reaching behind their back or [something] like that, I’m more on the lookout for that stuff.”
As San Marcos continues to fight a rise in crime in the downtown area, SMPD plans to build on the already increased police presence downtown. Standridge said a decrease in crime may come from what people do with the safety information SMPD provides.
