For the second time in four months, Jaynie Schultz has been named The Dallas Express’ “Crime Boss of the Month.” Schultz represents City of Dallas District 11, which once again had the most significant percentage increase in crime when comparing crime statistics from 2021 and 2022.
So, what is Schultz doing to help reduce the crimes increases?
It’s hard to say.
The Dallas Express has sought comments from the District 11 office several times since the end of November 2021, but all calls and emails have gone ignored.
Minutes from Dallas City Council meetings seem to contain no reference to crime in District 11 or Schultz broaching the subject with her peers.
Schultz is active on the social media platforms Twitter and Facebook, but those communication messages primarily focus on Schultz attending events or sharing announcements from the City of Dallas or other entities.
Each month,The Dallas Express analyses data to determine which Dallas City Council Member’s district had the most significant percentage increase in crime for the month previous. The council member with the least impressive change in crime statistics for the month before is named the current month’s Crime Boss.
By our calculations, Schultz was once again Crime Boss — this time for the month of February — based on the comparison of statistics from January 2021 and January 2022.
District 11, part of northern Dallas, stretches roughly from Walnut Hill Lane to Keller Springs Road in the south and from the Dallas North Tollway to the east of Central Expressway in the north. The remote district is a microcosm of Dallas, with pockets of wealth, poverty, economic redevelopment, and public safety issues.
The estimated population in District 11 is nearly 94,000, ranking seventh largest in the City of Dallas’ 14 districts. Still, the district showed a steeper increase in crime rate than the six more densely populated districts.
District 11 saw 105 more crimes committed in January of this year compared to January of last. Under Schultz’s authority, District 11’s per capita Crime Score jumped from 179 in January 2021 to 226 in the same month of 2022. Several categories saw double-digit increases, including: Assault; Motor Vehicle Theft; Destruction, Damage, and Vandalism of Property; and Burglary/Breaking & Entering.
Burglary and Breaking & Entering nearly doubled, with 51 instances this year in January compared to last year’s 26, an increase of 96.1%.
District 11 not only saw an increase in Burglary and Breaking & Entering when comparing January 2020 to January 2021, but the district also saw sixteen more crimes in this category when comparing October 2021, the month that first earned Schultz the name of Crime Boss for November 2021, to January 2022, which warranted her second Crime Boss distinction for February.
The other crimes that saw an increase when comparing District 11’s crime stats for October 2021 and January 2022 were Burglary/Breaking & Entering, up twenty-four; Assault Offenses, up eleven; Drug/Narcotic Violations, up five; Hazardous Traffic Violations, up five; DUI, up four; and Counterfeiting/Forgery, up three.
January 2022 also marked an increase in crime categories that had zero reports in October 2021, including Disorderly Conduct and Animal Offenses, up two; and Gambling Offenses, up one.
Of the twelve crime categories that saw zero reports in District 11 for January 2022, eight had no reports from any district for the same month, while the remaining four had no more than five reports from an individual district. As the numbers of reports for these categories are low across all districts, the data suggests these types of crimes are less common in District 11, not because Jaynie Schultz has made an effort to prevent them, but because they are less common in Dallas overall.
The Dallas Express once again asked Schultz’s office for comments on the District 11 increases and decreases in crime but had not heard back from the councilwoman at the time of press.