Gay Donnell Willis, City of Dallas District 13 councilwoman, was named The Dallas Express Crime Boss of the Month (CBOM) for September after the Crime Score in her district increased by 23.11% in August, the most of any district when compared to Crime Score statistics from August 2021.
Despite being mentioned numerous times in this feature and witnessing multiple Crime Score increases throughout 2022, Willis and D13 had never earned the dubious CBOM moniker until now.
Since last December, D13 has seen a reduction in its Crime Score just one time. In January of ’22, the district’s Crime Score decreased by 0.40% compared to crime stats in that month of ’21.
The other eight months of ’22 thus far have all seen Crime Score increases for Willis and D13.
The Crime Scores for D13 this year thus far are as follows.
- December ’21: +9.69%
- January ’22: -0.40%
- February ’22: +12.20%
- March ’22: +1.28%
- April ’22: +14.24
- May ’22: +15.39%
- June ’22: + 38.91%
- July ’22: + 7.73%
- August ’22: +23.11%
On average, Willis and D13 have seen a Crime Score increase of 13.57% each month.
The Dallas Express has asked Willis for an interview several times this year to discuss crime issues in her district, but nothing has come of it. If she responds, the interview will be featured in a future installment of Crime Boss.
Crime reports in D13 increased in these crime categories:
- Motor Vehicle Thefts: up from 106 in August 2021 to 150 in August 2022.
- Larceny/Theft Offenses: up from 181 to 216.
- Drug/Narcotic Violations: up from 14 to 30.
- Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property: up from 25 to 39.
- Hazardous Traffic Violations: up from 16 to 24.
- Trespass of Real Property: up from one to nine.
- Robbery: up from eight to 13.
- Public Intoxication: up from five to 10.
- Stolen Property Offenses: up from zero to four.
- Fraud Offenses: up from seven to 10.
Following a crime summit she helped organize in August, Willis tweeted that crime in the City of Dallas is often “tied to” apartment buildings, passing the responsibility for crime reduction off onto those who run the properties.
She said she had partnered with multiple entities in the city to educate apartment owners and managers about “rules, rewards, and consequences” and encourage them to do their part to reduce crime on-site, tagging City of Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia, District 11 Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz, and District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn.
So many crime stats are tied to apts. Partnering with @caraathome, @Jayniefordallas @DPDChiefGarcia, Code, Community Prosecution, Office of Integrated Safety Solutions and @DallasPD to educate apt owners and managers on rules, rewards and consequences to fight crime on site. pic.twitter.com/OG0hbwAR1h
— Gay Donnell Willis (@GayDWillis13) August 16, 2022
The Dallas Express has asked Willis and her office if the crime summit brought any new ideas to the table regarding fighting crime in D13, but again, no responses were received.
The Dallas Express, The People’s Paper, believes that vital city information, such as crime rates and trends, should be easily accessible to you. 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.
Note: This article was updated on September 13, 2022, at 6:41 p.m. to account for additional data.