District 6 Council Member Omar Narvaez came in third in this month’s Crime Boss feature after seeing only a marginal decrease in his Crime Score.
The Dallas Express doles out the Crime Boss title to the City representative with the highest year-over-year increase in his or her Crime Score for a given month.
In July, District 1 Council Member Chad West earned the “honor” for the fourth time this year after his Crime Score increased by 2.22% in June 2024 compared to June 2023. District 9 Council Member Paula Blackmon came in second thanks to a 0.89% increase in her Crime Score that same month.
Narvaez comes in third thanks to his district logging the smallest decrease in Crime Score, just 8.58%, compared to the steeper drops clocked by the remaining council members.
While West’s district — located just southwest of the Central Business District — appears to have been rocked by high rates of motor vehicle theft, and Blackmon’s — located just northeast of the CBD — has a problem with simple assaults and shoplifting, Narvaez’s District 6 is a whole different beast.
The illicit sex trade propels a considerable amount of the crime occurring in this northwestern part of Dallas. Notably, Narvaez’s council district was the only one to clock prostitution (29) and human trafficking (10) offenses in June, according to the City’s crime analytics dashboard.
District 6 also dwarfs all others in terms of sex offenses, with four rapes, four cases of sodomy, four fondling incidents, and two sexual assaults with an object reported. It also logged the most criminal offenses overall (1,040) in June compared to all other districts.
While City data on victims does not provide monthly analyses, it is notable that of the 52 sex offenses reported in District 6 this year as of July 14, all but one involved a female victim. Most sex crime victims were Hispanic or black. Their median age was 21.5 years old, with the youngest being 3 years old and the oldest 68.
The Dallas Express‘ Dirty John DFW series has spotlighted some of the Dallas Police Department’s work to curb these activities in the area. Officially, DPD has refrained from limiting its ongoing operation to suppress prostitution to a certain area. However, the data and police reports suggest District 6 is in DPD’s crosshairs.
Local residents and business owners have long spoken out against the seedy activities in plain sight in the area around the I-35 corridor between TX-348 Spur and I-635, as well as Harry Hines Boulevard. Nevertheless, DPD’s officer shortage has hindered its ability to clean up the streets, with a YouTuber pointing out the growing boldness of pimps recently.
DPD fields only around 3,000 officers, even though a City report recommends that a jurisdiction the size of Dallas have a force of 4,000 to meet public safety needs. Operating with a budget of $645 million this fiscal year, DPD is unlikely to fill this gap anytime soon, even with its ongoing efforts to recruit and retain officers. When compared to other high-crime cities, the Dallas City Council has appeared to shortchange its police force.
The Dallas Express asked Narvaez for comment but did not receive a response 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.