Crime in Dallas was higher in 2023 than the year prior, despite the best efforts of the short-staffed Dallas Police Department.
According to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard, overall criminal activity ticked up by roughly 1% compared to 2022, with 109,764 incidents reported.
In terms of raw numbers, Districts 2, 6, and 14 saw the most crime. Council Member Omar Narvaez’s District 6, which comprises Dallas’ northwestern flank and terminates just west of Downtown Dallas, logged the most incidents with 12,832.
Districts 2 and 14, represented by Council Members Jesse Moreno and Paul Ridley, clocked 12,296 and 10,763 incidents, respectively. Downtown Dallas is about evenly represented by Districts 2 and 14.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Downtown Dallas has been dealing with high levels of crime, homelessness, and vagrancy. Relatedly, the Dallas Police Department has been suffering a longstanding staffing shortage, currently only fielding around 3,000 officers. A City report previously advised that a jurisdiction the size of Dallas needs about 4,000 to properly maintain public safety.
Downtown Dallas routinely logs considerably more criminal activity than Fort Worth’s city center. A dedicated special police unit and private security guards patrol the latter.
While crime went up year over year in Districts 2, 6, and 14, the biggest increase clocked in 2023 was in Council Member Tennell Atkins’ District 8. Reports of crime increased by 6%, jumping from 7,915 incidents in 2022 to 8,390. The next biggest increase was in District 3, which is represented by Council Member Zarin Gracey. His district saw crime increase by 5.6% year over year.
Some of the biggest drivers of crime in 2023 included motor vehicle thefts, car burglaries, larceny, and shoplifting.
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.