Murders in Dallas in 2023 are still outpacing those logged in 2022, year to date, with communities of color suffering the brunt of the impact.
As of Monday, 95 murders were reported by the Dallas Police Department (DPD), 18 more than had been committed by May 1 last year, marking a roughly 23.4% increase, according to the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard.
The City’s victim demographics dashboard indicates that black and Hispanic or Latino people make up the overwhelming majority of murder victims so far this year.
These two demographics account for 87.4% of those slain so far this year. However, this figure does not include everyone murdered within the city limits since the City does not count crimes that occur on property where DPD is not the primary investigative agency, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
So far, 51 black people and 32 Hispanic or Latino people have been reported murdered or killed under circumstances suggesting non-negligent manslaughter. In the same period, seven white people have been murdered, along with two people of Middle Eastern descent, one Asian person, and two others designated as “Unknown,” according to City data.
The majority of the victims — 81% — are males, with a breakdown of 77 male victims, 17 female victims, and one designated as “Unknown.”
Geographically, some City Council districts are logging significantly more murders than others. The deadliest district so far this year is Council Member Tennell Atkins’ District 8, which has clocked 20 murders year to date. The victims were overwhelmingly people of color, with 11 black people, eight Hispanic or Latino individuals, and one white person dying due to criminal homicide.
Council Member Omar Narvaez’s District 6 logged the second most murders — 15 — with the victims reported by DPD as eight Hispanic or Latino, five black, one Asian, and one “Unknown.”
The Dallas Express contacted the offices of Council Members Atkins and Narvaez for comment on the situation, asking what the council members were doing to get crime under control in their districts, but received no response by press time.