Two city council districts in southern Dallas stand out from the others for the murders they clocked in March, with the majority of victims logged as black.
While the murder rate has dipped this year compared to 2023, which saw criminal homicides surge by 15% compared to the year prior, the districts represented by Council Members Carolyn King Arnold (District 4) and Tennell Atkins (District 8) led in such offenses last month, according to data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard.
Although The Dallas Express‘ Crime Boss for March, Council Member Chad West (District 1) surpassed both in terms of overall Crime Score increase, certain crime categories were noticeably higher in Arnold and Atkins’ districts.
District 4 clocked five murders in March, a 66.7% year-over-year increase from March 2023. Atkins’ District 8 came in second with four murders, which is actually a decrease from March 2023, when a total of six homicides were reported. In 2023, District 8 led all other districts in murders, logging a total of 41 for a 78.3% spike year over year.
Districts 2 and 7, represented by Council Members Jesse Moreno and Adam Bazaldua, respectively, tied for third, logging three murders a piece.
As covered previously by The Dallas Express, black and Hispanic males comprised the vast majority of murder victims in 2023. Of the 246 people killed, 114 were black boys or men, and 63 were Hispanic males. Of black and Hispanic murder victims overall, the highest number of killings occurred in District 8 (37), followed by District 7 (36), and then District 4 (29).
So far, 2024 has been following the previous year’s trend. Of the 63 murders committed citywide as of April 21, 66.7% have been black and 25.4% Hispanic — and just 12.7% have been female, according to City crime data.
At a recent public meeting to discuss public safety in District 4, Arnold stressed how alarming the figures have been.
“A total of 57 African Americans who’ve been killed, 51 of them males, men against men, and black men against black men. That’s tragic,” she said, possibly adding homicides logged as justifiable and cases of negligent manslaughter.
The resounding message of the meeting was the need for community members, grassroots organizations, and police to work together to curb the violence.
“If you see something, say something. And if you know something, do something. That is the only way we can have a community that is 365 Safe,” Arnold said.
In early March, the area of South Oaks Boulevard saw two killings in the space of 24 hours. Dallas police officers first responded to the 3300 block of Southern Oaks Boulevard just before 9 p.m., finding 16-year-old Trelynn Derrion Henderson shot and unresponsive. He died later at the hospital. At around 2:10 a.m., units were deployed to an apartment complex in the 3500 block of Southern Oaks Boulevard. They found 38-year-old Victor Taylor Jr. fatally shot upon their arrival on the scene. No suspects have been identified in either case.
DPD has been grappling with a longstanding officer deficit, which has thinned its resources and negatively impacted response times. There are only 3,000 officers currently in the field despite a City analysis recommending a force of 4,000. The result has dampened policing efforts.
Moreover, when compared to Fort Worth’s downtown district, Downtown Dallas regularly sees more crime. This March, a study by the Metroplex Civic & Business Association found that eight times more crimes were reported in the latter. Notably, Fort Worth’s city center is patrolled by a specialized neighborhood police unit and private security guards.
Meanwhile, Dallas City Council is spending considerably less on policing than its counterparts in other high-crime jurisdictions, including New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. This fiscal year, City leaders allocated just $654 million to DPD.