Shoplifting has become drastically more common in Council Member Gay Donnell Willis’ District 13.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, shoplifting offenses have been soaring in Willis’ northern district, which is situated just below Interstate 635 and includes the Preston Hollow and Vickery Meadow neighborhoods.
That trend has not abated, with District 13 clocking an enormous 74.4% year-over-year increase for the month of April, according to the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard.
The Dallas Police Department logged more shoplifting offenses in Willis’ district than in any other council district that month. Some 68 incidents were reported in District 13, almost a third of the 215 shoplifting offenses reported citywide.
Council Member Jesse Moreno’s District 2 had the second most with 21, and District 11 — represented by Council Member Jaynie Schultz — had the third most with 19.
In the first four months of 2023, a total of 235 instances of shoplifting were reported in District 13, up by 107.9% compared to the 113 incidents DPD logged in the first four months of 2022, according to City data.
District 13 saw 61 incidents in January. Offenses ticked down the following two months, with 58 logged in February and 48 in March. However, shoplifting shot back up in April, above January’s figure.
More up-to-date data are currently unavailable to the public due to an alleged ransomware attack that purportedly affected City computer systems, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
A request for comment was sent to Council Member Willis’ office, but no reply was received by press time.
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.
