Council Member Paula Blackmon’s District 9 saw steep year-over-year increases in a number of crime categories last month, according to city data.
District 9 is located in northeastern Dallas between Interstate 635 and U.S. Highway 75.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, September’s crime statistics resulted in Council Member Zarin Gracey (District 3) being named Crime Boss of the Month for the year-over-year hike in his Crime Score (59.9%), with Council Member Gay Donnell Willis (District 13) coming in not far behind (44.7%).
Blackmon’s Crime Score for September came in just shy of Willis’, clocking a year-over-year bump of 42.5% last month, which surpassed the increase clocked in August (40%) when she was Crime Boss.
According to the City of Dallas crime overview dashboard, District 9 saw sharp spikes in motor vehicle thefts, aggravated assaults, reports of vandalism, burglaries, and drug offenses.
There were 145 auto thefts logged by the Dallas Police Department last month in Blackmon’s district, a 158.9% increase over the 56 clocked in September 2022.
As far as assaults go, simple assaults dipped down, however, more serious aggravated assaults jumped by 41.2%, increasing from 17 to 24 year over year.
Reports of vandalism and destruction of property also ticked up, with the city clocking a 14.3% bump from 49 incidents last year to 56.
The number of burglaries also increased from 29 to 49, marking a 69% increase.
Finally, drug offenses — which comprise drug violations and drug equipment violations — jumped by 44.4%, with 39 cases logged last month and 27 recorded in September 2022.
DPD has been understaffed for some years now, with the department maintaining fewer than 3,200 officers, even though a city analysis advises that around 4,000 are needed to properly maintain public safety in a city the size of Dallas.
Downtown Dallas has felt the lack of officers, with the neighborhood logging significantly more motor vehicle thefts, assaults, and drug offenses than Fort Worth’s downtown area. While both cities’ police departments have been struggling with officer shortages lately, Fort Worth has a specialized police unit monitoring its city center alongside private security guards.
Council Member Blackmon’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.
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.