Assault offenses ticked up in Council Member Jesse Moreno’s District 2 last month, with the Dallas Police Department logging 236 incidents in August 2023.
Simple assaults, aggravated assaults, and reports of intimidation collectively jumped by 4% year over year in Moreno’s district, according to the City of Dallas crime overview dashboard. Police logged 227 incidents in August 2022.
District 2 includes the neighborhoods around the intersection of Harry Hines Boulevard and Mocking Bird Lane, as well as Deep Ellum and the southern half of Downtown.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, a study by the Metroplex Civic & Business Association found that 12 times more assaults are logged in Downtown Dallas than in Fort Worth’s downtown area. The latter is reportedly patrolled by a dedicated police unit working alongside private security guards.
DPD’s ability to respond to crime has been hamstrung in recent years due to a serious shortage of sworn police officers. A City report previously recommended that a city the size of Dallas needs to have about 4,000 sworn personnel on staff — around three officers for every 1,000 residents. The department currently has fewer than 3,200 police officers on staff.
Citywide, Moreno’s district logged the second-most assault offenses in August. Council Member Adam Bazaldua’s District 7 saw the most occur, with 244 incidents. District 8, represented by Council Member Tennell Atkins, had the third-highest number of assault offenses committed at 211.
A request for comment was sent to Council Member Moreno’s office, but the council member was not immediately available.
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.