September’s Crime Boss of the Month was supplanted in October, but he still came in second place with a significant double-digit Crime Score spike.
Council Member Zarin Gracey’s District 3 saw a 31.6% year-over-year Crime Score increase last month, which was lower than the 59.9% the district clocked in September but still high enough to come in not far behind current Crime Boss Council Member Tennell Atkins’ (District 8) 39.8% hike.
District 3 makes up Dallas’ southwestern flank, spanning north of I-20 for the most part and including the Kenwood and Redbird neighborhoods.
According to the City of Dallas crime overview dashboard, there was a 6.2% year-over-year increase in overall crime in District 3 last month. Categories of offense that saw the biggest jumps in October included motor vehicle thefts, drug offenses, car burglaries, intimidation, and non-vehicle/non-building equipment thefts.
The ability of the Dallas Police Department to fight crime has been impeded by its long-standing staffing shortage. DPD currently has fewer than 3,200 officers on duty despite a City analysis advising that some 4,000 are needed to properly maintain public safety.
The shortage has been especially felt in Downtown Dallas, where significantly higher crime rates are logged compared to Fort Worth’s downtown area, which is patrolled by a special neighborhood police unit that works alongside private security guards.
Auto thefts in District 3 spiked by 69.4% year over year in October, jumping from 72 to 122. Car burglaries increased from 37 to 52, marking a 40.5% bump. Cases of intimidation — which are categorized as a type of assault — spiked by 47.4%, with 28 offenses recorded last month. Last October, there were only 19 on the books.
Thefts, excluding car burglaries and the theft of building materials, jumped by 50%. There were 26 offenses reported last October and 39 in October of this year. Additionally, drug offenses spiked by 27.7%, jumping from 47 reports to 60.
A request for comment was sent to Council Member Gracey’s office, but no reply was received before 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.
