The number of criminal offenses that have been designated hate crimes by the City of Dallas dipped down compared to last year, however, overall murders are still on the rise.
According to the City of Dallas victim demographics dashboard, there have been 26 hate crimes logged by the Dallas Police Department as of September 13, marking a 16.1% decrease from the 31 incidents clocked in the same period in 2022.
Looking closer at the data, it appears Hispanics and Latinos comprised the plurality of hate crime victims this year, with nine reported incidents logged. Black and white people were tied for the second-highest number of hate crime victims by race, with seven incidents recorded for each group. Two offenses against Asian individuals were also clocked, as was one hate crime against a person of Middle Eastern descent.
The crime overview dashboard also provides information on the alleged motivations of hate crime suspects. Such data indicates that out of the 26 hate crimes logged so far this year, six offenses were “anti transgender,” four were “anti Hispanic,” four were “anti homosexual (gays and lesbians),” four were “anti Jewish,” two were “anti Asian/Pacific Islander,” two were “anti black,” two were “anti male homosexual,” one was “anti Arab,” and one was “anti Islamic.”
As far as offense categories go, 12 of the crimes were categorized as cases of intimidation, eight were simple assaults, and six were aggravated assaults, according to the crime overview dashboard.
Still, even as hate crimes dipped down, murders have been on the rise this year, with 180 murders clocked so far, an 8.4% hike over the 166 recorded in the same period the previous year.
DPD is currently grappling with an officer shortage, with just 3,200 sworn officers in service despite a City report previously indicating a force of 4,000 was needed to maintain public safety in Dallas.
Downtown Dallas has been especially affected by the shortage. Compared to Fort Worth’s downtown area, which is reportedly patrolled by a dedicated police unit working alongside private security guards, the neighborhood regularly logs much more crime.