An officer shortage has hindered the Dallas Police Department’s response to robberies, especially in southwestern Dallas.
Violent crime has trended slightly downward citywide. Robberies have seen a marginal drop of 3.4% year over year, with 1,214 incidents reported as of July 16, according to data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard. But certain parts of Dallas, such as council districts 1, 2, 9, and 11, are even seeing double-digit increases in such offenses.
Council Members Chad West and Paula Blackmon were both highlighted by The Dallas Express this month for having high Crime Scores in their districts in June. West, who represents District 1, won the Crime Boss title, whereas Blackmon, who represents District 9, came in second.
According to City data, both districts have seen more robberies this year, with District 9 logging 64 compared to 55 over the same period last year and District 1 clocking 86 versus 73.
As reported in The Dallas Express, an armed robbery just occurred in District 1 last week, leaving a store clerk dead.
It is noteworthy that, much like West’s District 1, many of the council districts located in the southwestern part of Dallas have seen year-over-year bumps in robberies. For instance, the number of robberies in Zarin Gracey’s District 3 has risen by 2.8%, in Carolyn King Arnold’s District 4 by 3.4%, and in Tennell Atkins’ District 8 by 3.5%.
District 4 saw an armed robber shot dead by a DPD police officer earlier this month, as covered in The Dallas Express. The suspect was allegedly one of four individuals attempting to shake down an illegal game room.
Southwestern Dallas is also where DPD response times to robberies in progress have been most lacking. According to City data, the Southwest division had responded to 100 robbery-in-progress calls as of July 16, and barely half of them met the goal time of 8 minutes or less. Meanwhile, the South has fared slightly worse, with only 40% of the 77 robbery-in-progress calls being responded to within 8 minutes.
DPD is short roughly 1,000 officers, with just 3,000 currently fielded. Although a City report previously recommended a force size of 4,000 officers, City leaders have not allocated enough taxpayer money to fill the gap. DPD has a budget of $654 million this fiscal year, which is much less than the spending levels seen in other high-crime cities.
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.