Council Member Zarin D. Gracey of District 3 has been named Crime Boss of the Month for the year-over-year Crime Score increase his southwestern council district saw in the month of September.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Gracey was first elected to the City Council in a runoff election this June, beating out his opponent to assume termed-out former Council Member Casey Thomas’ seat. District 3 comprises Dallas’ southwestern flank, running north of I-20 for the most part and including the Kenwood and Redbird neighborhoods.
District 3’s Crime Score jumped by 59.9% year over year in September. The increase can be attributed to spikes in several different crime categories.
According to the City of Dallas crime overview dashboard, the primary driver behind the substantial jump in Crime Score was the number of motor vehicle thefts logged by the Dallas Police Department. In September 2022, 50 vehicles were reported stolen. Last month, authorities logged 144 offenses, marking a 188% hike.
More auto thefts have been occurring within Dallas city limits than in the rest of the metroplex combined, with downtown Dallas finding itself particularly afflicted by the frequency of cars being stolen, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
“There were two [auto thefts] in downtown Fort Worth, and there were 87 in Downtown Dallas just in August,” said Louis Darrouzet, CEO of the Metroplex Civic & Business Association, telling The Dallas Express about a comparative study the organization had conducted. “That’s significant. That’s a huge difference.”
Downtown Fort Worth is reportedly patrolled by a special neighborhood police unit working alongside private security officers.
DPD has been operating with fewer than 3,200 officers in recent years, despite a City analysis recommending Dallas needs around 4,000 to properly maintain public safety.
Still, auto thefts were not the only crime category to see a year-over-year increase in September. City crime data indicates reported incidents of vandalism and destruction of property (12.2%), burglary (17.4%), intimidation (22.2%), and robbery (33.3%) all jumped up.
While the raw numbers for the aforementioned crime categories were outstripped by the figures racked up in other council districts, the year-over-year spikes pushed District 3 to the head of the pack in terms of Crime Score increase.
A request for comment was sent to Council Member Gracey, informing him about the increase in crime in his district and asking him what he plans to do to make the community safer.
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.