While crime overall may be dipping slightly in Dallas’ downtown area compared to last year, motor vehicle thefts and assaults, among other offenses, continue to rise.
The Dallas Police Department’s Sector 130 — which comprises the Central Business District and Victory Park — has persistently reported high crime figures in certain categories despite the hard work of police. The weekend shift, especially the third watch from 4 p.m. to 11:59 p.m., is when most crimes occur, per City data.
As an example, 22% of violent crimes in Sector 130 took place on Friday, 18.6% on Sunday, and 16.9% on Saturday. Third-shift officers saw 45.8% of violent crimes reported this year. When all crime categories are considered, Sector 130 saw the most reports coming in on Saturday (21.2%) during the third watch (36.2%).
As of April 22, Sector 130 had seen 268 incidents of motor vehicle theft for a year-over-year increase of 10.7%, according to data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard. This region remains the hotspot for this type of crime, leading all other DPD sectors. In terms of simple assault, although Sector 150 leads citywide with 203 offenses logged, Sector 130 is not far behind with 193 — a 19.1% uptick from the year prior.
Meanwhile, intimidation in Sector 130 ballooned by 37.1%, larceny is up by a slight 1.1%, and prostitution skyrocketed by 400%, with five reports made this year compared to just one at this time last year. Northwestern Dallas — mostly covered by Council Member Omar Narvaez’s District 6 — is the undisputed ground zero for the commercial sex trade, as covered extensively in The Dallas Express.
Downtown Dallas falls within council members Jesse Moreno and Paul Ridley’s District 2 and District 14, respectively. Comparative studies of crime data by the Metroplex Civic & Business Association have repeatedly revealed that this neighborhood has more crime than the downtown area of Fort Worth. This discrepancy was eightfold in March, with 247 crimes reported in Dallas’ Central Business District compared to just 31 in Fort Worth’s downtown area, bolstered by high rates of motor vehicle theft and assault in the former.
While a specialized police unit and private security teams patrol Downtown Fort Worth, DPD’s resources have been stretched thin by a longstanding officer shortage. Although a City report recommended a force of 4,000 officers to ensure public safety citywide, DPD only has around 3,000 sworn-in officers and has struggled to meet response time goals.
The Dallas City Council also budgeted DPD just $654 million this fiscal year, significantly less than what other high-crime jurisdictions like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City spend on their police departments.
The Dallas Express, The People’s Paper, believes that important information about the City, such as crime rates and trends, should be easily accessible. 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.