Dallas has been ground zero when it comes to grand theft auto for the last couple of years, and police are averaging more than 90 minutes to respond to a call concerning a motor vehicle theft in progress.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, auto thefts are more prevalent in Dallas than anywhere else in North Texas. In fact, more cars were stolen in Dallas in 2022 than in every other municipality in the metroplex combined.
Such crimes are currently up by more than 39%, with the Dallas Police Department logging 14,259 incidents this year as of October 6, per the City of Dallas crime overview dashboard.
Motor vehicle thefts have been especially prevalent in Downtown Dallas.
“There were two [auto thefts] in downtown Fort Worth, and there were 87 in Downtown Dallas just in August,” said Louis Darrouzet, CEO of the Metroplex Civic & Business Association, telling The Dallas Express about a comparative study the organization had conducted. “That’s significant. That’s a huge difference.”
It has been taking police 96.5 minutes to respond to a motor vehicle theft in progress. Last year, DPD averaged 61.8 minutes to respond. In 2021, the average response time was 35.7 minutes. In 2020, it was 12 minutes, according to the City of Dallas police response times dashboard.
The significant increase in response times has been playing out against the backdrop of a serious staffing shortage at DPD. While a City analysis recommends a municipality of Dallas’ size should have around 4,000 sworn officers on staff — three for every 1,000 residents — DPD currently maintains a force of fewer than 3,200 officers.
In-progress auto thefts are considered P2 calls. Calls to DPD are given a priority designation (1-4) based on the seriousness of the situation, with P1 calls signifying serious emergencies, like an active shooter or a burglary in progress. P4 calls are at the lower end of the spectrum, representing “non-critical” incidents.
DPD’s current goal is to respond to P2 calls in 12 minutes or less. According to the City’s data, police have been meeting that goal less than 20% of the time.
Relatedly, many victims of auto theft do not have the opportunity to call the police as the crime is occurring. The City’s data also records response times for auto theft incidents that “just occurred.” Such calls take police 533.2 minutes on average to respond to.