The overwhelming majority of victims of “crimes against persons” in Dallas this year are still black and Hispanic as the city continues to endure a serious police officer shortage.
According to the City of Dallas victim demographics dashboard, 45% of victims of such crimes have been black as of May 24, and 37.6% have been Hispanic.
“Crimes against persons” include offenses like murder, assault, kidnapping, human trafficking, and rape, among others.
Council Member Adam Bazaldua’s District 7 has seen the most crimes against persons committed, with 1,219 incidents reported. The share of black victims in the district is 61%, and the share of Hispanic victims is 29%.
District 2, which is represented by Council Member Jesse Moreno, saw the second-highest number of such incidents at 1,076. Some 39% of victims were black, and 36% were Hispanic.
And in District 8, Council Member Tennell Atkins’ domain, 66.1% of victims were black. Some 23.7% were Hispanic. There were 1,018 crimes against persons committed during the period.
Black and Hispanic victims made up the majority of crimes against persons last year, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The Dallas Police Department has been struggling to get crime under control, given its staffing situation. The department only has around 3,000 sworn officers in the field, despite a City analysis advising that approximately 4,000 are needed to properly maintain public safety and get police response times down.
Budgeting only $654 million for DPD this year, Dallas City Council members chose to spend less taxpayer money on public safety than other high-crime jurisdictions like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.