Dallas has seen a pronounced rise in human trafficking and the promotion of prostitution this year, with the overwhelming majority of such incidents occurring in Council Member Omar Narvaez’s District 6.
Narvaez’s council district comprises Dallas’ northwestern flank and borders the city center from the west.
According to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard, instances of assisting or promoting prostitution citywide have increased by 54.5%, jumping from 11 to 17 incidents as of March 31. Human trafficking for commercial sex also shot up, increasing by 70%, with the City logging 17 reports in the first three months this year compared to the 10 clocked during the same period in 2023.
Some 20 such reported crimes were committed in District 6. Council Member Paul Ridley’s District 14 had the second-most incidents at four. No other Dallas City Council district logged more than two.
The recent rise in promoting and facilitating prostitution and human trafficking is playing out against the backdrop of serious understaffing at the Dallas Police Department, which currently fields only around 3,000 officers despite a City report recommending approximately 4,000 are necessary to properly maintain public safety.
The department was budgeted only $654 million this fiscal year by City officials, considerably less taxpayer money than what other high-crime municipalities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City, spend on public safety.
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.