Latest / Austin Signal / Crime statistics for Austin trended downward in 2025

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Crime statistics for Austin trended downward in 2025 · Austin Signal

0:10
Crime statistics for Austin trended
0:12
downward in 2025,
0:14
with the city experiencing last year
0:16
the lowest number of murders this
0:18
decade.
0:19
We're gonna talk about the trends
0:20
both locally and nationally and
0:22
discuss why the sentiment that crime
0:24
is rising still persists.
0:26
And the city has released an updated
0:28
design plan for a revamped
0:29
sixth street.
0:30
What's it gonna look like and when
0:32
might that work even begin?
0:34
Stay with us and find out.
0:35
That is on today's episode.
0:38
The Austin Signal is a production
0:39
of KUT News, hosted by
0:41
Jerry Quijano.
0:43
Plus the first full week of January
0:44
means it's free week in Austin.
0:46
Some of the city's best musicians
0:48
putting on shows in venues across
0:50
the city.
0:51
We're gonna have a lay of the land
0:52
and let you know what our sister
0:54
station KUTX is cooking up.
0:56
That's coming up next right here on
0:58
Austin Signal.
1:08
Howdy out there, and thank you
1:10
very much for tuning in.
1:11
This is Austin Signal.
1:14
It is January 5th, the
1:16
first Monday of 2026.
1:18
We are thrilled that you're starting
1:20
things off the right way here
1:21
with listener-powered public radio.
1:24
This is KUT News.
1:27
Well, the holiday break is over for
1:28
most of us, but perhaps you noticed
1:30
that the roadways were still a bit
1:31
light today.
1:33
We'll savor that feeling while it
1:34
lasts. It's back to class
1:36
tomorrow for Austin ISD.
1:38
And many other area school districts
1:40
after the winter break.
1:42
UT Austin's first day of classes is
1:43
not until next Monday, so
1:45
things are still calm around the KUT
1:47
studios, for now,
1:49
that is.
1:50
And in case you were out of town and
1:52
missed it, Austin hit some heat
1:53
records over the holidays, and more
1:55
may be on the way this week.
1:57
Tomorrow's forecasted high is 84
1:59
degrees, which would tie the
2:01
all-time record for January 6th,
2:04
and we could be setting a new record
2:05
on Wednesday, too.
2:07
But there is an end
2:09
in sight to the latest stretch of
2:10
warmer than normal weather.
2:12
Our next cold front is due late
2:14
in the week, and that's gonna bring
2:15
us back to temperatures more typical
2:17
of January, which is historically
2:19
our coldest month here in
2:21
Austin. We've got a lot more for
2:23
you today, so let's get on
2:25
with the show.
2:27
Crime in Austin trended downward
2:29
last year.
2:29
The city saw the lowest number of
2:31
murders since 2020, and
2:33
overall violent crime dropped as
2:36
well. Here with us to talk more
2:38
about the numbers is KUT's
2:39
government accountability reporter,
2:41
Andrew Weber.
2:42
Andrew, good to talk with you.
2:44
Good to talk to you too, Jerry.
2:45
So Austin experienced a decrease
2:47
in the number of homicides last
2:49
year, but I was hoping you can give
2:50
us some context on that data.
2:52
What were the numbers like in
2:53
previous years?
2:54
Yeah, the last five years or
2:56
so, Austin has been seeing a lot of
2:58
homicides, increases in homicides.
3:00
I should say this started back in
3:02
2020.
3:03
Austin saw its highest number,
3:06
I believe, was 59 that year,
3:08
which was the highest since APD
3:09
began collecting this data
3:11
back in the sixties.
3:13
And then the next year, the city saw
3:15
nearly 90 homicides
3:17
and since then, since
3:19
that 2021 record,
3:21
the numbers have dropped year over
3:23
year. Um, and
3:25
you know, Austin's also seen drops
3:27
in, in different sort of kinds
3:29
of crimes. A lot of aggravated
3:30
assaults, uh, those have largely
3:32
dropped year over year, or at
3:34
least middled out, um, and
3:36
sexual assaults as well.
3:37
Uh, they've been down through and
3:39
within the last year, 2025
3:41
to 2024, both of those
3:43
categories of violent and
3:45
nonviolent crime, trended
3:47
downward.
3:48
Okay, so when we're looking at these
3:50
numbers here in Austin compared to
3:52
other big cities across the nation,
3:54
what are we seeing?
3:55
Yeah, this has been part of a
3:57
national trend, right?
3:58
Like during the pandemic era,
4:01
there was a huge spike in crime
4:02
across the country.
4:03
And since then, you know,
4:05
at that time, everybody kind of
4:07
thought, okay, is this the new
4:08
normal? But since then it's
4:10
slowly been trending downward.
4:13
And to get some context about
4:14
all of this, I talked with Jeff
4:16
Asher. He's an analyst,
4:18
a crime analyst out of New Orleans.
4:20
He's a national expert on crime
4:22
and crime rates.
4:22
He has this big old dashboard online
4:24
that he updates with.
4:25
With sort of, he calls it the real
4:27
time crime index of any
4:29
major city.
4:30
And he had an analysis out right
4:32
before Christmas that caught my eye
4:33
that found in the U.S.
4:35
There was a 30% year
4:38
over year drop in homicides,
4:40
which he said was a record.
4:43
And also that over
4:45
the last three years, crime has gone
4:47
down nationally.
4:49
But he said to me that Austin's
4:51
drop in crime isn't as
4:53
drastic. As what we're seeing
4:55
across the country, but it's
4:57
still something that is noteworthy.
5:00
Necessarily seen the huge
5:02
drops in Austin this year that
5:04
you've seen elsewhere.
5:05
There have been less significant
5:07
declines sort of across the board
5:09
in Austin, this year relative
5:11
to last year, but certainly relative
5:13
to 2023 and the
5:15
early part of the pandemic you've
5:16
seen pretty dramatic drops in
5:18
Austin.
5:20
Austin's crime rate has been a topic
5:21
on a lot of people's minds over
5:23
the last few years It feels like
5:25
kind of a sentiment that runs
5:26
nationwide We've had discussions
5:28
locally here about police staffing
5:30
and if there's a sense that
5:31
crime is rising But the numbers
5:33
suggest that that's not actually the
5:35
case. Can you talk a little bit
5:36
about that? Why does that sense
5:37
persist?
5:38
Yeah, I think this is something that
5:40
really struck me when Kirk Watson
5:42
took over as mayor.
5:43
He was very insistent that he wanted
5:45
to obviously address crime, but
5:47
also the perception of it, the
5:49
feeling that people have that crime
5:50
is on the rise.
5:52
And you know, obviously that's
5:53
important. It's important for people
5:54
to feel safe in the city in which
5:56
they live.
5:57
And I think these numbers
5:59
don't necessarily suggest that
6:01
Austin is an unsafe city.
6:03
I think if you look, you know,
6:05
there's this sort of magnification
6:06
on social media on certain
6:08
corners of the internet.
6:10
I think I'm looking at you are
6:11
Austin, I'm looking at next door.
6:13
I'm looking at x.com
6:15
formerly Twitter.
6:16
I think I think this perception
6:19
that Austin is unsafe is highlighted
6:21
by certain cases, assaults
6:23
downtown, you know, murders,
6:25
obviously, and it
6:27
seems like kind of a thunderdome,
6:29
if I'm being honest.
6:31
So I asked Jeff Asher about this.
6:33
Obviously, he's a national analyst,
6:34
he has a whole whole bunch of
6:36
context.
6:37
About crime writ large
6:39
in the U.S.
6:40
And he's also a UT grad.
6:41
So I asked him whether he considers
6:43
Austin a safe city.
6:45
Certainly DKR can be like a
6:47
Thunderdome at times, but for
6:49
the most part, Austin has a
6:51
relatively low murder rate,
6:53
it has a relatively low violent
6:55
crime rate.
6:57
I think about breakfast
6:59
tacos a lot more than I do when I
7:00
think crime when I think about
7:02
Austin.
7:03
All right, that was Jeff Asher, a
7:04
national expert on crime and crime
7:06
rates, and we have been speaking
7:07
with Andrew Weber.
7:08
He is KUT's government
7:10
accountability reporter.
7:11
Andrew, thanks for your time.
7:12
Appreciate you, Jerry.
7:18
Well the new year always brings with
7:20
it some fresh changes and
7:22
some modifications could be on the
7:24
way to 6th Street here in Austin.
7:27
KUT City Hall reporter Luz Moreno
7:28
Lozano is joining us now with more.
7:30
Howdy Luz! Happy New Year!
7:31
Happy New Year.
7:31
Hi Jerry.
7:32
Happy New year.
7:33
I'm glad you're here with us to give
7:34
us a little bit of what's going on.
7:36
So first off, why does the city
7:38
want to renovate 6th Street in the
7:39
first place?
7:40
Yeah, this has been, you
7:42
know, kind of in the works for a
7:43
couple of years. We've had a lot of
7:44
issues down on that street.
7:46
You know, it's filled with bars and
7:47
restaurants and it's nightlife and
7:49
the city is trying to not only
7:51
improve safety, but kind of make
7:53
it a more welcoming place that
7:55
would reach a broad range of
7:57
ages, not just people going downtown
7:59
to party.
8:00
Maybe, yeah, maybe like 20,
8:02
21-year-olds, you know, make it
8:03
applicable to a wider swath
8:05
of Austin. Exactly.
8:06
And as you said, we have already
8:08
gone through some changes on
8:11
6th Street.
8:12
What has been done there so far?
8:13
Yeah. So one of the big things that
8:15
they started with was those, um,
8:17
it was like these metal gates that
8:18
they put just along the road and
8:20
that was just to keep people.
8:21
Like a barricade, right?
8:22
Yes, it was just to keep people on
8:24
the road and over the last year
8:25
We've seen them change these gates
8:27
to water-filled barricades those
8:29
like orange and white ones It kind
8:30
of looked like it was a construction
8:31
zone and then a little confusing
8:34
Yeah, and then they put those
8:35
concrete up ones that are up now So
8:37
we've seen a lot of changes down
8:38
there in terms of like what those
8:39
barricade look like just to Keep
8:41
people on those sidewalks
8:42
Yeah, if you have spent any time
8:44
down there, you would know exactly
8:45
what loose is talking about So
8:48
we had a the city recently
8:50
released an updated design plan
8:52
I definitely want to ask you about
8:53
the plan But first how long did
8:55
it take them to come up with this
8:57
plan that they're releasing?
8:58
So they did some
9:00
early preliminary looks,
9:02
I think for the better part of
9:04
like the summer to now,
9:06
essentially. They did some community
9:08
feedback, they'd been talking with
9:10
business owners and local
9:11
stakeholders about what that road
9:12
would look like.
9:14
So yeah, so they spent a good amount
9:15
of time on it.
9:17
And yeah, and they made sure that
9:19
they were talking, especially with
9:21
those business owners.
9:21
I did a story early last year
9:23
about what some of those concerns
9:25
were about access to businesses and.
9:28
Crowding in front of businesses that
9:29
were kind of blocking entrances, and
9:31
so all of that was part of the
9:33
design that they released.
9:34
Okay, yeah, as Luce mentioned,
9:36
you can find that story that she
9:37
reported on in 2025 at
9:39
KUT.org.
9:41
So let's talk about this updated
9:42
plan that was released.
9:44
What is in it and what's
9:46
not in it?
9:47
Yeah, one of the big things is
9:48
that, so currently Sixth Street, if
9:50
you drive down that road during the
9:52
normal time of day, it's four
9:54
lanes going west.
9:56
This new design would take
9:58
those four lanes down to two.
10:00
We would use that extra
10:02
space or those lanes to expand the
10:04
sidewalk so that people have more
10:05
access, pedestrians.
10:07
And it would also include a
10:09
dedicated access lane.
10:10
So for anyone who is driving
10:12
downtown in the middle of the day,
10:14
some of the-
10:14
If you spent one hour or one
10:16
10 minute drive driving
10:18
west down 6th street,
10:20
inevitably you're going to run into
10:21
a lane that's being blocked by some
10:23
big old truck unloading beer,
10:25
unloading whatever.
10:26
Yes, yes, or bands, you know,
10:28
if they're setting up, yeah, so this
10:29
would be a dedicated access lane for
10:31
those commercial trucks.
10:32
It would also be a good access lane
10:33
for rideshare drop-offs.
10:35
That's good.
10:36
So yeah, so all of this would be
10:38
included as part of it.
10:39
One of the things it does not
10:40
include is bike lanes.
10:42
What we heard from community
10:44
feedback in the report that I was
10:45
looking at this morning, everyone
10:47
seemed to be like, when can we get
10:49
bike lanes down on 6th Street?
10:50
This plan does not included that.
10:52
I think there was a lot of concern
10:53
about like, are we adding additional
10:55
protected lanes?
10:57
And is that safer?
10:58
Is that not safer?
11:00
So this plan doesn't include it, but
11:01
the city did talk about how they
11:02
can, um, add bike lanes in
11:04
other nearby streets to kind of
11:06
improve connectivity downtown.
11:08
Which, you know, if you do some
11:10
biking downtown, you know that there
11:11
are a few streets that you can get
11:13
on, so it makes sense that people
11:14
would desire a little bit more.
11:16
But an understanding that there is a
11:18
little bit of infrastructure there
11:19
already. Yeah.
11:20
So, okay, we've got this updated
11:22
plan.
11:23
Do we expect work to start soon?
11:25
Probably not until at least
11:27
2027.
11:29
So one of the big things as part of
11:30
this redesign is that they have to
11:32
get it funded.
11:34
And we could see that as part of a
11:35
potential bond package that
11:37
could go before voters in November.
11:39
We won't know that until later
11:41
in the year. I think we'll get a
11:43
preliminary look actually later this
11:44
week.
11:46
So finding the money to fund it is
11:47
the next big thing.
11:48
If it is approved by voters and it
11:50
gets on the bond package, we could
11:52
start to see construction start in
11:54
2027.
11:55
And this is just a certain stretch
11:57
of it, I should mention that.
11:58
So this is from I-35 to Congress
12:00
Avenue. So the rest of 6th Street
12:01
will look the same, but this
12:02
particular redesign would include
12:04
what we call dirty 6th street.
12:06
Okay, well you can find more about
12:08
this story. Take a look at some of
12:09
the diagrams yourself.
12:11
That is over at KUT.org.
12:13
And that story was written by Luz
12:15
Moreno Lozano.
12:16
She is KUT City Hall reporter.
12:18
Luz, thank you for being with us
12:19
here on Austin Signal.
12:20
Thanks, Jerry.
12:27
And thank you out there for tuning
12:29
in.
12:30
This is KUT News 90.5.
12:32
We're on the KUT app.
12:34
And we have more about this show
12:36
at kut.org
12:38
slash Signal.
12:40
And it is the first full
12:42
week of January.
12:43
That means it's free week in Austin.
12:45
Lots of live music going on this
12:47
weekend.
12:48
Come find out what you can't miss.
12:50
That's coming up after this break
12:51
right here on Austin Signal.
12:59
This is Austin Signal.
13:00
Thank you for spending part of your
13:02
Monday here with us.
13:03
It's the first full week of 2026.
13:06
And in case you didn't know, that
13:08
means here in Austin that it's
13:10
free week, which means there's gonna
13:11
be a bunch of free shows and music
13:13
around town. A great way to start
13:14
the new year.
13:16
And here to talk with us about
13:18
free week and the shows on her radar
13:19
is your morning drive time host over
13:21
at KUTX, Taylor Wallace.
13:23
Taylor, thanks for being with us on
13:24
Austin Signal!
13:25
Thank you.
13:26
Thank you for having me, hello!
13:27
So let's just say somebody recently
13:29
moved to Austin, they're tuning in
13:30
to KUT to connect with the
13:32
community around them.
13:33
This is the first time they're
13:34
hearing about Free Week.
13:36
Tell us about, you know, I'm
13:37
assuming that everything's free, but
13:38
what are some of the expectations?
13:40
What goes into the Free Week?
13:41
So free week is a wonderful time
13:43
to support the venues that provide
13:45
the stages for our artists.
13:47
January is historically a very down
13:49
month for a lot of bars and things.
13:51
People have just spent money.
13:52
They have New Year's resolutions
13:54
that don't align with going out and
13:55
everything. So this is a way
13:57
to encourage people to go out
13:59
and to, you know,
14:01
spend some money at the venues
14:02
because if the stages go away,
14:04
the musicians have to find somewhere
14:06
else to play.
14:07
So it's
14:10
a And, uh, and since everything's
14:12
free, it's a wonderful way.
14:14
I say there's a trifecta of
14:16
wonderful ways to do free week.
14:18
It's a great way to see an
14:20
artist you love who maybe you
14:21
haven't seen in a while.
14:22
It's a great opportunity to see
14:24
a band you haven't seen yet, but
14:26
perhaps have been hearing on your
14:28
favorite local radio station.
14:30
Wink, wink.
14:30
And, um, and just a way to like
14:32
bounce around like, Oh, I like this
14:35
band, but oh, that's kind of, maybe
14:36
it's a little crowded here or you
14:37
just want to change the scenery.
14:38
And so you bounce across the street
14:40
or next door and you're like, oh my
14:41
gosh, I have no idea who these
14:43
people are.
14:44
Now I'm their next newest fan and
14:46
I'm going to go to their next show.
14:48
And just because the shows are
14:50
free, there is still merch.
14:51
So there are ways to directly
14:52
support the artists as well.
14:54
And, um, if you're wanting to
14:56
get, if your...
14:58
I don't know if I can do two full
15:00
days of all of this free week
15:02
and you're trying to get like one
15:04
show, get a mosaic of Austin
15:06
Sound.
15:07
We have our own free week show.
15:09
Oh, really? Okay, who's going to be
15:10
on the bill for the KUTX show?
15:12
So the KUTX free week show is this
15:13
Friday. It stubs indoors.
15:15
We're kicking off the night at eight
15:16
o'clock with myself.
15:18
I'll be doing a vinyl DJ set.
15:19
Nice, okay, very cool from your
15:21
own personal collection my own
15:23
personal collections
15:25
And then we'll have Paige Plaisance,
15:27
who is like a country artist
15:28
originally from Louisiana.
15:31
Nothing about my
15:33
mama's old piano
15:42
Nothing bad
15:56
And there is definitely like
15:58
some of her songs swing more
16:00
country country and then some of
16:02
them get a little bayou, get a
16:04
Little Swampy Country, yeah!
16:07
So she's gonna kick off the proper
16:09
sets and then we'll have R&B
16:11
artist Sweet Lim, fantastic,
16:13
we've been playing him a lot on
16:14
KU-TX, we've played all these bands
16:16
on KUTX.
16:17
I just wanna be happy
16:23
I just wanna make all
16:25
my dreams come true
16:29
I just wanna be present sometimes
16:35
I just wanna be a better
16:37
man too
16:40
Then we kick it into the rock
16:42
drive with this punk garage band
16:44
called Cormé.
16:45
That's C-O-R-M-A-E if
16:47
you're wondering.
17:00
We get a job and a rock and roll!
17:07
And then we rounded all night out
17:10
the night with some like real good
17:11
funk-infused what I
17:13
like to call little dance punk
17:15
from Blaspa who put out one
17:17
of my favorite albums of the year
17:19
and put out specifically my favorite
17:21
Austin album of 2025.
17:26
Yeah
17:37
So that is our whole night, it's a
17:39
little bit of everything and
17:40
together, threaded together, it
17:42
sounds absolutely fantastic.
17:44
And that's Friday.
17:46
And then if you're also looking to
17:47
go out on Saturday, we've got
17:49
a couple of good suggestions of some
17:51
different sounds you wanna go out
17:53
exploring.
17:53
Yeah, a little taste of everything because it
17:54
sounds like the KUTX show is pretty
17:56
eclectic already, but you got a
17:57
little extra mix for us
17:59
Indeed. And so on Saturday at
18:01
chess club, which if you haven't
18:02
been to chess club yet, it used to
18:04
be plush and it's
18:06
a small venue.
18:07
So you want to get there early to
18:09
make sure you get a spot, but the
18:10
energy there is fantastic.
18:12
And this experimental rap
18:14
group called Ha Ha Laughing
18:16
is going to be playing and
18:19
they are to be heard better
18:21
to be than to just be described.
18:24
Take my money, take my money Take
18:26
my, take, take Take my Money,
18:29
take Take my
18:37
I think if you really want to
18:39
surprise yourself with one of the
18:41
most off the wall sounds
18:43
that you're going to find, it's
18:45
going to be at 1130 at chess club
18:46
on Saturday.
18:48
And then kind of bringing it back to
18:49
the KU TX fold and kind of more
18:51
of the, uh, maybe one
18:53
of the more core sounds of the indie
18:55
music scene.
18:56
Good looks who have been a KU-TX
18:58
artist of the month and definitely,
18:59
um, Austin music darlings
19:01
for the last few years.
19:03
They haven't played a show.
19:04
It's been a hot minute, so I'm
19:06
excited to go.
19:07
Like I said in step two, revisit
19:09
an artist I haven't gotten to see
19:10
live in a while.
19:11
And they'll be playing Mohawk
19:13
Outdoor on Saturday.
19:18
Skyline, take me
19:20
back
19:22
Say goodbye, it's nice
19:24
to be
19:35
And what's really cool is Bright
19:37
Light Social Hour is going to be
19:38
rounding out the night.
19:39
You don't normally get a free Bright
19:40
Light social hour show.
19:54
Bange your locks until the sun comes
19:56
up
19:57
Yeah, and Saturday looks like it's
19:58
gonna be a really nice, really the
19:59
whole weekend is shaping out to be
20:01
perfect weather for an outdoor
20:03
show just like that.
20:04
Okay, so we've got a great mix of
20:06
what you can expect to see and hear
20:08
out at Free Week.
20:09
It's kind of reminded me of Art
20:11
Tour, the art studio tour around
20:12
Austin. It's a way to get a little
20:14
bit of a taste here and there of
20:16
everything you don't have to commit
20:16
to one big experience,
20:18
but you can dip your toe in.
20:20
And you mentioned a great way,
20:22
a couple of great ways to support
20:24
local artists.
20:25
Going out to see them buying some
20:26
merch.
20:27
It's free week this weekend,
20:30
but all January long we are
20:31
celebrating Love Austin Music Month.
20:33
For our listeners who might not be
20:35
familiar, what is Love Austin music
20:36
month?
20:36
Love Austin Music Month basically
20:39
is just a reminder and kind of
20:41
an encouragement to connect with
20:43
Austin Music, to stay connected with
20:44
Austin music.
20:45
It's very easy to do that if you
20:47
listen to KUTX and party with us all
20:49
the time. But it's also a
20:51
reminder to maybe go
20:53
reconnect with some live music,
20:55
to go listen to that album.
20:57
Well, I hear that song, but what
20:58
does the whole album look like?
20:59
And it's really just a way
21:01
to be really connected and
21:04
whether you do it all the time
21:06
and Love Austin Music Month is just
21:07
your life anyway, or sometimes
21:09
we need some reminders.
21:10
We take some things for granted
21:12
sometimes. So I think it's a good
21:13
opportunity to really
21:15
connect. And then with at KUTX,
21:17
we already play a lot of Austin
21:18
music. Every song of the day this
21:20
month is gonna be from an Austin
21:21
artist.
21:22
Our My KUTx and all of our specialty
21:24
programming will be reflecting Love
21:26
Austin music month.
21:27
So at the very least, you tune
21:29
into 98.9 and boom, there you go.
21:31
You're doing Love Austin, Music
21:32
Month.
21:32
That's right and you can find more
21:34
about Love Austin Music Month and
21:35
free week over at KUTX.org.
21:39
That is Taylor Wallace, your morning
21:40
drive time host over at our sister
21:42
station KUTx.
21:43
Taylor, thank you for joining us on
21:45
Austin Signal.
21:45
Always a pleasure.
22:00
A big thank you to Taylor Wallace
22:02
for those recommendations and
22:04
congrats to Taylor and KUT
22:06
and KUTX's Mark Fort.
22:08
They're both nominated for best
22:09
radio personality in the 44th
22:12
annual Austin Music Awards.
22:14
Also nominated for Best Live
22:16
Sound Engineer is our guy Jake
22:18
Perlman.
22:19
Go cast your ballots for all of them
22:21
and best station of course, KUTx989,
22:23
that is at vote.austincronicle.com.
22:28
And that's it for today's show.
22:30
Thank you to Luz Moreno Lozano
22:32
and Andrew Weber for
22:34
stopping by.
22:35
Kristen Cabrera is our managing
22:37
producer.
22:38
Rayna Sevilla is our technical
22:40
director.
22:41
And I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
22:43
We are with you every weekday
22:44
afternoon at one o'clock.
22:46
You can subscribe wherever you get
22:48
your podcasts.
22:49
And we have more at kut.org
22:52
slash signal.
22:54
We'll be back tomorrow.
22:55
Talk to you then.