Members of the Dallas-based anti-violence activist group Urban Specialists are hitting the streets to canvass city neighborhoods in an effort to keep violent crime down during the summer months.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the organization launched a summer program with the mission to “disrupt the trends of violence and poverty by recruiting, training, and deploying changemakers from various backgrounds to positively impact urban communities.”
“Together, we’re making a difference because it starts with us. Remember, each one teach one! Let’s keep the positive vibes flowing!” wrote the organization in a Facebook post.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the vast majority of the city’s murder victims during the first four months of 2023 were people of color. An alleged ransomware attack has purportedly disrupted the City’s ability to maintain accurate public-facing crime statistics since then. Still, nearly 90% of murder victims in Dallas were either black or Hispanic during the time period for which the City has reliable figures.
The Dallas Express spoke with Christine Williford, a holistic personal trainer that works in Dallas, about people of color being overrepresented among the city’s victims of crime. She echoed the Urban Specialists’ motto of staying positive and minding one’s impact on others.
“At the end of the day, crime … black, white, square, circle, it don’t matter. At the end of the day, if we just sit down with ourselves, look back at our history, look back at how we grew up, and dive deep within ourselves, … crime would be eliminated,” she said.
Williford advised that everyone should “put in the practice on how to evolve your mind to be the best version of yourself and not have toxic thoughts or be greedy.”
“If we all individually took the time to reflect and dive deep within ourselves, that alone would stop crime,” she added.
Urban Specialists posted a promo video to highlight its efforts on that front:
“The violence that we are seeing around the country, that’s showing up in Dallas, it is our responsibility to do something about it,” said former gang member Anton Lucky, who now serves as president of Urban Specialists.
Later in the video, Lucky said, “The hope is that we are going to attract some changemakers and some OGs, some business leaders, and some concerned citizens from all over the city who are saying ‘let’s work together to ensure that our neighborhoods are safe.’”
As of May 1, murders were up roughly 23% year over year, and criminal activity has been rampant within Downtown Dallas. The neighborhood routinely logs significantly more incidents than Fort Worth’s downtown area, which has a specialized police unit and private security guards protecting residents and visitors.
DPD has been short around 900 officers in recent years, operating significantly under the recommended staffing level of about 4,000 sworn personnel, per a City document advising the department should have three officers for every 1,000 residents.
“Because of [the shortage], that customer service that we have long given to the city of Dallas … we just can’t do anymore. And I think we’re actually hurting our relationship with the community more than helping it by not changing to doing something different,” said Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association, according to the Dallas Observer.
