Dallas residents do not feel safe at night, according to a recent survey commissioned by the City.
The survey, conducted by the ETC Institute on behalf of the City of Dallas, asked 2,118 randomly selected Dallas residents about where and when they feel most safe and unsafe.
During the daytime, 74% of residents said they feel “safe” or “very safe” in restaurants or retail areas, 73% feel “safe” or “very safe” in their neighborhood, 66% feel “safe” or “very safe” in parks, and 55% feel “safe” or “very safe” in downtown Dallas.
However, once nightfall hits, 29% of residents feel “unsafe” or “very unsafe” in restaurants or retail areas, 30% feel “unsafe” or “very unsafe” in their neighborhood, 68% feel “unsafe” or “very unsafe” in parks, and 66% feel “unsafe” or “very unsafe” in downtown Dallas.
A whopping 60% said they feel “unsafe” or “very unsafe” from property crime in Dallas, and 44% said they feel “unsafe” or “very unsafe” from violent crime, such as murder, rape, assault, or robbery.
The statistics do not come without reasoning. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Dallas has been seeing record-breaking numbers of auto thefts in recent years.
During the month of May, Downtown Dallas saw 80 assaults, 66 thefts, 22 vandalism or destruction of property incidents, and eight robberies.
Survey takers said that in regards to public safety services, the visibility of police in neighborhoods and the response time of police to emergency calls should be the City’s top priorities.
The response time of police to emergency calls is “poor,” according to 49% of respondents, while 44% said the visibility of police in neighborhoods is “poor.” Additionally, 35% said that the efforts by police to effectively deal with problems in their neighborhood are “poor” as well.
The Dallas Police Department has consistently experienced issues regarding response time and visibility due to staffing issues.
In May, The Dallas Express reported that Dallas police response times increased compared to the previous month, in some instances by over 7.7%.
Although a prior City analysis recommended roughly 4,000 officers to reduce police response times and properly ensure public safety, only around 3,000 officers are currently on the street.
The department’s staffing situation has seemingly affected Downtown Dallas. The Central Business District logs much higher crime rates than Fort Worth’s downtown area, which is reportedly patrolled by a dedicated neighborhood police unit that works with private security guards.
City officials have allocated DPD much less taxpayer money than police departments in other high-crime cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. The Dallas City Council approved a budget of just $654 million this fiscal year for the DPD.