Reported instances of shoplifting in City Council Member Gay Donnell Willis’ District 13 skyrocketed in February, clocking more individual cases than any other district in Dallas.
Willis’ district is located in North Dallas and includes the Preston Hollow and Vickery Meadow neighborhoods.
According to the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard, Willis’ district logged 50 shoplifting cases in February, more than double the 23 incidents recorded for February of last year.
This 117.4% year-over-year increase comes some months after Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot reversed his controversial theft amnesty policy, which directed local prosecutors not to take up theft charges if the value of stolen items did not exceed $750, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
In a previous interview with Jake Colglazier, executive director of Keep Dallas Safe, The Dallas Express learned that Dallas police officers may have been opting not to make arrests for crimes that were not going to be prosecuted, leaving retailers vulnerable.
February’s increase in reported shoplifting in District 13 could indicate a renewed confidence among store owners that police will respond to calls over shoplifting.
Fifty incidents were logged in District 13 by police last month, eight more than were recorded in City Council Member Jesse Moreno’s District 2, which had the second-largest number of shoplifting offenses. Council Member Paul Ridley’s District 14 followed with 27 shoplifting offenses, and Council Member Jaynie Schultz’s District 11 had 23.
The increase in shoplifting in Willis’ district contributed to an overall uptick in property crimes for the council member, marking a 5.7% year-over-year increase in property crime offenses that month.
A request for comment was sent to Willis’ office by The Dallas Express, informing the council member of the increase in shoplifting reports within her district and asking whether she thought it had anything to do with Creuzot’s short-lived policy.
No response 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.