Council Member Adam Bazaldua’s District 7 has seen the most ‘crimes against person’ committed against black and Hispanic individuals this year out of any of the City of Dallas’s 14 City Council Districts.
District 7 is situated east of Downtown Dallas and is primarily confined between I-45 and I-30; it includes Deep Ellum.
According to the City of Dallas victims demographic dashboard, some 1,355 “crimes against person” were reported against black and Hispanic people this year as of June 28.
Such offenses include crime categories like murder, assault, rape, kidnapping, and human trafficking.
Data shows that black and Hispanic individuals comprised 655 simple assaults, 423 aggravated assaults, 211 instances of intimidation, 20 murders, 16 rapes, 12 kidnappings, and several other sexual assaults reported in District 7.
The Dallas Police Department has been stretched thin, operating with only about 3,000 officers — roughly 1,000 fewer than the 4,000 advised by a City analysis. Additionally, the department has a much smaller budget than other high-crime jurisdictions, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City, with only $654 million allocated this fiscal year by the Dallas City Council.
The youngest victim in District 7 this year was less than 1 year old; the oldest was 83. The majority of reported victims were female, with a breakdown by sex showing 855 female and 500 male victims.
Speaking with NBC 5 DFW following the shooting of four individuals in Deep Ellum, local anti-violence activist Antong Lucky of Urban Specialists said, “We can no longer allow these types of instances to happen in our city. I would love to see some more efforts towards enforcement around our places where we go to kick it and have fun.”
