Last month, Downtown Dallas logged nearly 60 times more stolen vehicle reports than Fort Worth’s city center.
The Metroplex Civic & Business Association (MCBA) released its latest analysis comparing crime data between the two neighborhoods for June. Downtown Dallas continues to dwarf Fort Worth’s downtown area in terms of criminal offenses, especially motor vehicle theft.
MCBA CEO Louis Darrouzet told The Dallas Express that he was “constantly shocked at the number of cars that are stolen in the city of Dallas versus Fort Worth.”
“You are roughly 30 to 60 times more likely to have your car stolen in Downtown Dallas than you are in downtown Fort Worth, and that’s just ridiculous,” he said.
“People say, ‘Oh, Downtown Dallas is safe, move your business here,’ but no. We’re losing two cars a day,” he added. “Fort Worth has obviously got it under control.”
In June, just one vehicle was reported stolen in Fort Worth’s downtown area, whereas a whopping 58 were reported stolen in Downtown Dallas. Moreover, the former saw just one vandalism report and one documented drug crime, while the latter clocked 31 and 27, respectively.
There were three times as many larceny theft reports clocked in Downtown Dallas than in Fort Worth’s city center, as well as 11 times more assaults. Overall, June saw eight times more crime occurring in the heart of Dallas — the Central Business District — than in Cowtown’s downtown.
In this ongoing tale of two flagship cities, MCBA’s crime data analyses suggest that the City of Fort Worth continues to do a better job of policing its downtown area than the City of Dallas.
Notably, Fort Worth patrols its city center with a specialized neighborhood police unit and private security guards. Meanwhile, the Dallas Police Department has been laboring against significant resource issues. Despite a report calling for a force of about 4,000 officers, DPD fields roughly 3,000, which has negatively impacted response times. Its budget of $654 million is also smaller than that of law enforcement agencies in other high-crime cities.
The impact of crime weighs heavily on Dallas’ future success, with businesses choosing to make investments in other cities around the metroplex, as extensively covered by The Dallas Express.
“We’ve been harping on the City for years now … it’s clear all they need to do is increase their police force,” Darrouzet told DX.
He noted that a strong police presence, much like the one seen in downtown Fort Worth, is a significant crime deterrent.
“That’s really what [Dallas] needs, and [City leaders] seem to not be willing to invest in it. So they’re going to continue to stall the businesses that are wanting to grow or move into the city as long as there continues to be an issue [with crime],” he said.