Council Member Chad West came in third place in May’s Crime Boss rankings.
Bested this time around by Council Member Jaime Resendez’s District 5 and Council Member Tennell Atkins’ District 8, West’s District 1 logged a year-over-year Crime Score decrease of only 2.48%. This marginal dip made him second runner-up this month. Notably, he has earned the Crime Boss title three times this year.
Resendez, The Dallas Express‘ Crime Boss for May, saw a 7.92% Crime Score spike. Atkins’ District 8 logged a slight decrease of just 1.71%.
As for District 1, located just southwest of downtown, many of the same issues covered in DX’s Crime Boss series this year persisted last month, including high numbers of motor vehicle thefts, larcenies, assault offenses, and drug crimes. As of May 20, District 1 is one of the few council districts still seeing crime reports trending upward (4.2% year over year) compared to the same period last year, according to the City’s crime analytics dashboard.
The Dallas Police Department and City leaders have championed the recent gains made against violent crime thanks to the reduction plan implemented by Police Chief Eddie Garcia — just one reason why other Texas cities were reportedly eager to recruit him. City officials ultimately arranged to keep him on board through May 2027, as previously covered by The Dallas Express.
Garcia has been adamant that DPD’s war against crime is far from over. Moreover, the department has been working with slim resources in terms of staffing and budget allocation. Although a City report called for a force of roughly 4,000 officers, DPD currently fields only around 3,000 sworn-in personnel. It also has only $654 million of taxpayer money at its disposal for this fiscal year, far less than the spending seen on police in other high-crime jurisdictions, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.
Police response times continue to lag behind DPD goals. Downtown Dallas regularly logs significantly higher crime reports than neighboring Fort Worth’s downtown area, which is patrolled by a specialized neighborhood police unit and private security guards.
In April, District 1 logged 111 reports of stolen vehicles, 121 reports of assault, and 114 reports of theft. Although all four crime categories dipped slightly compared to April 2023, they still occurred at an alarming rate of nearly four a day.
More startling still are the crime categories on the rise in District 1 that month: robberies (62.5%) and burglaries (6.2%).
The Dallas Express, The People’s Paper, believes that important information about the City, such as crime rates and trends, should be easily accessible. According to data from the FBI’s UCR database, Dallas has more crime per capita than hotspots like Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and New York.
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.
