Black individuals seem to have a much higher likelihood of being physically assaulted in three particular City Council districts.
According to the City of Dallas victim demographics dashboard, Council Member Adam Bazaldua’s District 7 has logged the most assault offenses against black people so far this year, clocking 1,794 incidents.
The council district with the second-most assaults recorded against black individuals is District 8, which is represented by Council Member Tennell Atkins. Some 1,597 offenses were recorded in the district, just over a dozen more than the figure logged by Council Member Carolyn King Arnold’s District 4, which had the third-most assaults committed against black victims.
Districts 4, 7, and 8 stand apart from the rest of the council districts, which had considerably fewer black victims of assault this year. The next highest figure logged was by District 3, which had 1,039 incidents clocked.
Citywide, black individuals comprised 47% of all assault victims so far this year, with 11,230 incidents logged in the City data. More than 3,000 of the crimes were considered aggravated assaults.
Of all the documented offenses, 63.8% were committed against women or girls, and 36.2% were against men or boys. The median age of black assault victims is currently 33.
The Dallas Police Department has been having a hard time keeping crime down, having been hampered by a staffing shortage. There are only around 3,000 officers on duty. A City analysis claims a jurisdiction the size of Dallas requires a force of 4,000 to properly maintain public safety.
The staffing shortage is evident in Downtown Dallas, which logs far more criminal activity than Fort Worth’s city center. The latter is reportedly patrolled by a dedicated police unit that works alongside private security guards.
In a July interview with Dallas activist Antong Lucky, president of the anti-violence group Urban Specialists, The Dallas Express heard about how some communities of color previously expressed a desire for more police on patrol.
“We did a canvas of four neighborhoods that were deemed hotspot neighborhoods, more likely to have police violence, more likely to have community violence, et cetera. … About 90% said, ‘We want more police presence in these areas,’” Lucky asserted.