A local anti-crime and anti-vagrancy activist attended Wednesday’s Dallas City Council meeting and tried to give Council Member Zarin Gracey an unofficial “Crime Boss” trophy.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Gracey (District 3) was named Crime Boss of the Month for the second time in three months for the year-over-year rise in criminal activity that occurred within his council district the month prior.
Jake Lloyd Colglazier of Keep Dallas Safe took to the podium during the public comment portion of the meeting and attempted to award Gracey a small trophy.
“Mr. Mayor, council members, esteemed guests, thank you all for being here for the inaugural Crime Boss trophy award,” he said.
Colglazier, who is not an employee of The Dallas Express, proceeded to note the increase in motor vehicle thefts in District 3 before identifying Gracey by name, which prompted a stern rebuke from Mayor Johnson.
“We don’t do that here. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the rules. We made it very clear you don’t refer to council members by name when you do these, these uh, I guess, [the] … speaker section because you’re talking to me,” Johnson said.
Colglazier apologized, claiming he thought speakers just could not address council members directly.
“I would, in that case, like to give this trophy to the council member for District 3. I know that he has not been on the city council for very long, only a few months. That’s understandable that he … inherited an unfortunate situation in his district; however, he’s here now. So I would like to see what he’ll do to stop the rise in crime in his district,” Colglazier said.
District 3, which makes up Dallas’ southwestern flank, saw significant increases in burglary (59.1%), motor vehicle theft (75%), simple assault (35.6%), car burglaries (12.2%), vandalism (39%), and certain kinds of theft (77.3%), according to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard.
The Dallas Police Department has been having a hard time keeping crime under control amid an ongoing staffing shortage. There are only around 3,200 officers patrolling the city streets. In comparison, a City analysis, advises some 4,000 sworn personnel are needed to properly maintain public safety.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Downtown Dallas has been affected by the shortage of peace officers, logging far more criminal activity than Fort Worth’s downtown area. Fort Worth’s city center is patrolled by a specialized neighborhood police unit that works alongside private security guards.
Council Member Gracey could not immediately be reached for comment prior to publication.
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.