Racial minorities in Dallas continue to be the most affected by the city’s high murder rate.
As of October 20, there have been 206 criminal homicides committed within the city limits since the beginning of the year, marking a 12.6% increase over the same period in 2022. The vast majority of victims remain people of color, according to the City of Dallas victim demographics dashboard.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, black individuals made up the majority of murder victims as of October 6. However, Hispanic and Latino as a group were the second-most affected racial demographic.
Hispanics and Latinos currently comprise 32% of murder victims, with some 66 victims logged by the Dallas Police Department. Of the 66 victims, 52 were male, and 14 were female. Their ages ranged from 11 to 73, with the median age clocked at 29.5.
DPD has been very short-staffed in recent years, maintaining a force of fewer than 3,200 officers. A City analysis states that a jurisdiction of Dallas’ size needs roughly 4,000 police on the job.
The shortage has been felt in Downtown Dallas, which records significantly more crime than Fort Worth’s downtown area. The latter has a special police unit working alongside private security officers.
Of the 14 City Council districts in Dallas, only two hit double-digits as far as Hispanic and Latino murder victims go: Council Member Tennell Atkins’ District 8 and Council Member Omar Narvaez’s District 4. Council Member Carolyn King Arnold’s District 4 logged nine murders in the demographic group.
“You cannot have public safety if you don’t have community and law enforcement and all other stakeholders working together, for real, with a common cause to impact crime and affect [positive change] in neighborhoods,” said Antong Lucky, president of the anti-violence nonprofit Urban Specialists, telling The Dallas Express about the problems with public safety in Dallas in a previous interview.
According to City data, murders of Hispanic and Latino individuals in Dallas increased 24.5% year over year.