Northwestern Dallas appears to have a problem with people committing criminal weapon violations.
According to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard, Council Member Omar Narvaez’s District 6 had seen 74 such offenses this year as of March 3, far and away the most out of all 14 Dallas City Council districts.
District 6 comprises the city’s northwestern flank and borders Downtown Dallas, which has seen criminal activity run rampant in recent years.
As reported by The Dallas Express, the Dallas Police Department has been having a tough time getting crime under control as a result of its police officer shortage. Only about 3,000 officers serve on the force these days in spite of a City analysis that claimed roughly 4,000 are necessary to properly maintain public safety.
The impact of the shortage has been felt in Downtown Dallas, which regularly clocks considerably more crime than Fort Worth’s downtown area, where a dedicated neighborhood police unit and private security guards work together to protect the community.
Budgeting only $654 million for DPD this fiscal year, the Dallas City Council voted to spend a lot less taxpayer money on public safety than other high-crime cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.
Last year, District 6 logged the most weapon violations, with City officials documenting 398 incidents. The council district with the second-most violations in 2023 was Council Member Adam Bazaldua’s District 7, which had 291 such crimes reported.
Narvaez’s district is on track to run away with the most weapon violations again this year, as Council Member Tennell Atkins’ District 8 and Council Member Carolyn King Arnold’s District 4 trail behind at 41 and 42, respectively.
Council Member Narvaez could not be immediately reached for comment.
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.