As the City of Dallas struggles to get a handle on crime rates that have seen dramatic rises since 2020, some City Council districts are making progress, with significant reductions logged last year.
The Dallas Express has kept council members accountable with its Crime Boss of the Month series, which names a Crime Boss each month based on which council member has seen the biggest year-over-year change in monthly Crime Score.
Five City Council districts stood out for their low cumulative Crime Scores in 2022, making them some of the safest places in Dallas. The total 2022 Crime Score for each of the five council members — the sum of their twelve-monthly Crime Scores — is listed below next to the member’s name.
Ranked from the lowest (best) to the highest score, they are:
1. District 12 – Cara Mendelsohn (1,204)
The Dallas Express spoke with Dallas Police Association President Michael Mata, who said that low crime in Mendelsohn’s district is no surprise.
“She has been one of the most positive and most influential voices that’s been on the Dallas City Council in decades … a huge voice of common sense and leadership, especially in supporting public safety,” Mata said.
2. District 5 – Jaime Resendez (1,747)
Mata also had words of praise for Resendez, saying that the council member understood the need for police officers in the city.
“He voted well in a positive manner with public safety in mind, supporting Chief [Eddie] Garcia and his crime plan, which has led to a steep decline in crime within his district,” he said.
3. District 9 – Paula Blackmon (1,840)
Christi Rodgers, a resident of District 9, told The Dallas Express that Blackmon has been very responsive to her constituents, even once helping her get police officers to respond to a burglary at her house.
“The police just kind of refused to respond because nobody got hurt. … [My husband] called Paula Blackmon, and she got on them. They ended up coming out finally the next day,” Rodgers said.
4. District 10 – Adam McGough (1,866)
The Dallas Express reached out to McGough about crime in his district last year. He replied in an emailed statement:
“Over the past several years, I have zealously advocated for more police officers, better pay and benefits, and increased training and equipment. Chief Garcia has deployed his evidence-based violent crime reduction plan, and we continue to see positive results.”
5. District 3 – Casey Thomas II (2,007)
Terrance Hopkins, president of the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas, told The Dallas Express that members of his organization felt good about Thomas’ support for the Dallas Police Department and that he was very community-oriented in his approach to public safety.
“I went out with him a time or two to some of his community engagement information [meetings], which were centered around … how they should work with the police department, and what part they should take themselves to reduce crime in their community,” Hopkins said.
Also noteworthy are the City Council districts that saw the most significant Crime Score decreases from the beginning to the end of 2022. The percentage changes listed below are calculated by comparing each council member’s total 2022 Crime Score to that logged in 2021. Three of these five also made the list of the five lowest-crime districts overall.
1. District 10 – Adam McGough (-13.9%)
“We know that place-based community policing along with a focus on specific target areas works to reduce crime, but we must continue to support those reductions with more opportunities for jobs, youth activities, and recreation in these areas,” McGough said to The Dallas Express in his statement.
2. District 4 – Carolyn King Arnold (-8.6%)
The Dallas Express spoke with District 4 resident Phillip Gipson, who praised Arnold for making a dent in his community’s crime rate and pointed out that drug offenses, prostitution, and car burglaries had gone down noticeably last year.
“She has taken it upon herself to be interested in the area, in its opportunity development, its economic development … The first thing you want to do is clean the crime up, lower the crime rate,” Gipson said.
3. District 5 – Jaime Resendez (-6.7%)
“We have a long way to go, but District 5, in terms of overall crime, has been the second-safest district in the city,” said Resendez, speaking with the Dallas Observer earlier this month.
4. District 12 – Cara Mendelsohn (-6.4%)
In a statement to The Dallas Express, Mendelsohn suggested that “year-over-year increases or decreases are not a good measure of safety when the numbers are so small.”
“Crime in D12 is very low and has decreased,” Mendelsohn continued, “Given how low it is, at some point there will be increases and that change will be the result of criminals, not elected officials or community efforts. My actions, and the actions of the residents, will remain vigilant, active, engaged, and in close partnership with DPD, but as crimes go up or down, my outreach and efforts remain consistent.”
5. District 11 – Jaynie Schultz (-6.2%)
Janice Schwarz, a district resident, told The Dallas Express that she feels like her neighborhood does not have much of a crime problem at all.
“I think she’s doing a great job because she’s been interacting well with the community and addressing our needs and concerns,” Schwarz said of Council Member Schultz.
Despite the noteworthy dips in some parts of the city, Dallas continues to face an alarming increase in murders in 2023. Year to date as of May 1, the City has logged a 23.38% increase in criminal homicides. Additionally, motor vehicle thefts are still running high across the city, with DPD logging 4,999 incidents in the first four months of 2023.
No up-to-date crime statistics are currently publicly available after May 1, allegedly due to a ransomware attack on City servers that has upset the police department’s ability to accurately relay crime data, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The Dallas Express, The People’s Paper, believes that important information about the city, such as crime rates and trends, should be easily accessible to you. Dallas has more crime per capita than hotspots like Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and New York, according to data from the FBI’s UCR database.
How did your area stack up on crime? Check out our interactive Crime Map to compare all Dallas City Council Districts. Curious how we got our numbers? Check out our methodology page here.
