Crime in Downtown Dallas continues to outpace the criminal activity clocked in Fort Worth’s city center by a wide margin.
The Metroplex Civic & Business Association (MCBA) released its monthly crime study comparing the respective downtown areas of the metroplex’s titular municipalities. The study’s release shortly followed the National Cheerleaders Association All-Star National Championship, which was held in Downtown Dallas over the weekend at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
“I was there Saturday. You can see [visitors] avoiding the homeless individuals who were all over the streets as they walked to go visit vendor tents,” said MCBA CEO Louis Darrouzet. “It was noticeable that they were changing their behavior because of the homelessness issue. And I heard people from out of town comment on it frequently.”
As reported by DX, more than 75% of Dallas residents remain dissatisfied with the levels of homelessness, vagrancy, and panhandling in their neighborhoods and throughout the city. Crime reduction has also purportedly left much to be desired despite the efforts of the Dallas Police Department and some of the successes seen through its Violent Crime Reduction Plan.
According to MCBA’s February 2024 comparative study, there were 61 times more motor vehicle thefts in Downtown Dallas than in Cowtown’s city center last month, as well as 17 times more assaults and five times more thefts. The latter is patrolled by a specialized police unit and private security teams.
“Is Dallas a war zone? I don’t think so. Is it generally safe during the day? Yeah, I think so. Is it a little sketchier at night? Absolutely. And if that isn’t changed as the population density gets higher, it will become a bigger problem,” Darrouzet said.
DPD has been working with a serious staffing shortage, fielding only around 3,000 officers. A City report previously recommended approximately 4,000 as a more appropriate figure. Moreover, the department was budgeted just $654 million this fiscal year, far less than the spending levels seen on police in other high-crime jurisdictions such as New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.