œœIn a speech given before Christmas to a gathering of business and civic leaders, hotelier Monty J. Bennett touched upon the scourge of crime impacting the city of Dallas. At the December Metroplex Civic & Business Association (MCBA) luncheon, Bennett addressed a full room and challenged the leaders present not to remain complacent about crime.
“In discussing crime and reading about it in the news, there are metrics our public officials will show you, numbers that they will give you, and press releases that will follow that talk about a decline in crime. Hear me now: crime is up. Way up,” Bennett said to attendees.
He continued, “Murders are up. Armed carjackings are up. Automobile theft is up. I can keep going; there are more categories. The evidence refutes the narratives of our politicians.”
According to the City’s daily crime briefing NIBRS REPORT CompStat Daily V1 (5) as of December 21, business robberies are up, vehicle burglaries are up, and automobile thefts are surging, up by 12%.
“I’m told that there are hundreds of open arrest warrants for suspected criminals in Dallas. We know where they are, but we don’t go pick them up. Can you imagine such insanity?” Bennett said. “These problems aren’t hard to solve. There’s just no political will to solve them. There’s no political will because the vast majority of the people here in this room and all your employees do not vote in municipal elections.”
“If you did, then the political will would exist,” he said. “Until you do, it won’t.”
Polling by The Dallas Express has revealed that Dallas residents believe the city population is shrinking due to homelessness and vagrancy (27.10%) and high crime rates (29.91%) — the top two responses received. FBI data indicates Dallas has more crime per capita than hotspots like Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and New York.
Recently, state officials were ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott to reexamine their parole procedures after multiple parolees allegedly committed violent crimes in Dallas County. Two high-profile cases were specifically highlighted by Abbott: Nestor Hernandez, who has been charged with killing two people at Dallas Methodist Hospital while on parole, and Zeric Jackson, who allegedly killed someone at his girlfriend’s Lake Highlands home while on parole.
These incidents have increased concerns regarding Dallas District Attorney John Creuzot’s role in allowing alleged violent criminals to receive parole. During Creuzot’s tenure, Dallas has seen several thousand more reports of violent and property crimes as compared to before his inauguration in 2019, per FBI data.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, certain districts continue to suffer disproportionately from crime. In fact, City Councilmember Jesse Moreno of District 2 has been named Crime Boss of the Month for the last two months due to increases in assaults and robberies, according to data provided by the City.
Additionally, crime continues to have an outsized impact on Dallas’ black and Hispanic communities, as indicated by the City’s own data reflected in The Dallas Express’ new Murder Victims Graphic.