Drug offenses in Dallas jumped in April, with the Dallas Police Department (DPD) logging a double-digit percentage increase over last year.
Such crimes spiked by 14.4% year over year, with significant bumps recorded in several council districts. Whereas the DPD counted 806 incidents in April 2022, there were 922 cases this year, according to the historical data maintained on the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard.
The council district with the most offenses logged last month was Council Member Omar Narvaez’s District 6, which constitutes the city’s northwestern flank, stretching from Interstate 635 down to Interstate 30. DPD reported 143 offenses in District 6, up 17.2% from last year’s 122.
Other council districts, including Districts 4, 7, and 8, saw increased drug activity that month.
Council Member Adam Bazaldua’s District 7 saw the steepest spike with 105 incidents, jumping by 26.5%. District 4, represented by Council Member Carolyn King Arnold, sustained a similar increase of 25.4%, with offenses increasing from 71 to 89. And in Council Member Tennell Atkins’ District 8, DPD clocked an 11.7% spike, with reports jumping from 77 to 86, according to available City data.
More up-to-date data on the state of illegal drug activity in Dallas is currently unavailable due to an apparent ransomware attack launched against the City of Dallas’ computer networks earlier this month, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
A request for comment was sent to Council Member Narvaez’s office concerning the drug activity in his district, but no reply was received by press time.
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.