The Austin Police Department is seeking community input for ideas on how to reduce crime in the Rundberg Lane area.

The initiative, titled Restore Rundberg, is an effort funded by a $1 million federal grant from the U.S Justice Department as part of the Obama administration's Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative to help high-poverty neighborhoods that are in distress. The three-year grant will provide funds to research, increase enforcement and facilitate more community outreach.

As part of the outreach, a community revitalization team is being formed that will collaborate ideas on how to reduce crime in the Rundberg Lane area. There are seven of 13 spots that still need to be filled for the team and the APD is accepting applications online or in person until July 31. The first meeting for the revitalization team is scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 13 at an undetermined location. The APD is seeking a range of representatives for the team, including community health, education and immigrant communities.

At a June 10 Restore Rundberg meeting at the Greater Austin Merchants Cooperative Association, APD Commander Donald Baker outlined primary concerns for the Rundberg neighborhood, including drug activity, burglaries and theft, prostitution and sex trafficking, code violations and gangs and violent crime activity. He said one of the APD's goals for the project is to make its officers more accessible to residents and to establish more trust in the community.

"It is about improving the quality of life [for Rundberg Lane residents]," Baker said. "How do we [the APD] reach communities that we have not reached? I'm asking for your help."

According to the APD, the Rundberg Lane neighborhood encompasses 5.74 square miles and is where five percent of Austin's population lives. For more information about the Restore Rundberg project, visit the website, or call 512-974-8199.