The Dallas Police Department is set to launch the next phase of the violent-crime plan. Per a report from The Dallas Morning News, criminologists working with the police say that early data shows that the department’s strategies to reduce violent crime in the city are working, even though crime is still high in Dallas.
The next phase of the violent crime plan includes increased attention to crimes at apartment complexes. The department also plans to deal with staffing shortages and the possibility of “crime displacement.” Crime displacement is the relocation of crime from areas where police crime-prevention efforts are focused.
Chief Garcia told the City Council’s public safety committee on Monday the department has not reached its desired destination regarding the eradication of crime in the city. He, however, acknowledged there have been improvements in violent crime.
In December, police announced that Dallas’ violent-crime stats in 2021 show a decline in crime, even as cities around the nation recorded increased violence, the city recorded fewer cases of homicide, robberies, and aggravated assault than in 2020. Overall crime has not decreased.
Violent crime in Dallas went down in 2021 by about 8.5%, dropping the number of victims by 978.
In 2020, Dallas police recorded 254 murders and non-negligent manslaughters, according to The Dallas Morning News. That number saw a 13% drop in 2021, leaving a record of 220 murders and non-negligent manslaughters.
The city also saw a significant decrease in robberies and aggravated assault in 2021, with the numbers dropping from 3,494 in 2020 to 2,481, and 8,076 in 2020 to 7,959, respectively.
Per The Dallas Morning News, top police officials and criminologists attributed the city’s reduction in crime to the police chief’s violent-crime plan. The crime plan, which was taken into effect on May 7, is based on the belief that more crime happens in some parts of the city than others.
With this notion, the plan employs short-, medium- and long-term strategies to achieve its aim — eradicate crime in Dallas.
Part of the crime plan’s early strategies included the heightening of resources in 51 crime “hot spots” last September. The “hot spots” cover 330-foot-by-330-foot grids in Dallas, where violence rates are high. According to Garcia, the selected grids make up about 10% of violent crimes in the city.
According to the most recent statistics released by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the total crime rate in Dallas is approximately 4.3 criminal offenses per 100 residents, higher than in other Texas cities. Other cities had lower scores: Austin (4.1), Fort Worth (3.3), and El Paso (1.6). It is also a higher rate than the U.S. cities of Boston, MA (2.8) and San Diego, CA (2.2), both comparable in population size to Dallas.
