Northeastern Dallas saw significant bumps in certain categories of property crime, especially in Council Member Kathy Stewart’s District 10.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Stewart’s council district logged the third-highest year-over-year Crime Score increase in August. Council Member Paula Blackmon (District 9) was named Crime Boss for her jurisdiction’s crime statistics that month, and Council Member Zarin Gracey (District 3) came in second.
Stewart’s Crime Score increased by 17.7%, largely due to substantial spikes in reported motor vehicle thefts, acts of vandalism or destruction of property, and thefts of building materials.
District 10 is located in northeastern Dallas. It comprises the neighborhoods on either side of I-635 between State Highway 75 and West Kingsley Road.
According to the City of Dallas crime overview dashboard, motor vehicle thefts more than doubled last month, jumping from 42 to 90 incidents year over year in August. Reports of thefts of building materials increased by 100%, with 12 logged last month. Vandalism also saw an uptick of 14.6%, with 55 instances reported last month compared to the 48 recorded in August 2022.
DPD’s ability to respond to crime has been hindered in recent years due to a significant shortage of police officers. A City report previously advised that a city the size of Dallas needs to have about 4,000 sworn personnel on staff. The department currently has fewer than 3,200 officers on staff.
Downtown Dallas has been especially affected by the shortage. The neighborhood regularly logs much more crime than Fort Worth’s downtown area. The latter is reportedly patrolled by a dedicated police unit working alongside private security guards.
A request for comment on the public safety situation in District 10 was sent to Council Member Stewart, but she was not immediately available.
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.