Two Dallas police officers were injured while investigating reports of a suspicious vehicle early Sunday morning.
The officers approached a vehicle that was left running next to a business in the 5500 block of Alpha Road at around 6 a.m. on March 24. As they began to inspect the vehicle, the driver allegedly took off, dragging the officers with them.
Both officers were hospitalized with non-life-threatening wounds and released after treatment. The search for the suspect is still ongoing.
The Dallas Police Department has not released any information about the type of vehicle involved or whether any surveillance footage was available.
The incident occurred in Council Member Jaynie Schultz’s District 11, which is where roughly 5% of crimes reported citywide have occurred, per data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard. The district’s top three most prevalent crimes are motor vehicle theft, simple assault, and theft from a motor vehicle.
Crime has been a bigger problem in Downtown Dallas, which has seen rising criminal activity in recent years, especially compared to Fort Worth’s city center. Monthly analyses of crime data by the Metroplex Civic & Business Association show that the former regularly logs more crime reports than the latter, which is patrolled by a dedicated police unit and private security guards. In February, 61 times more motor vehicle thefts and 17 times more assaults occurred in Downtown Dallas than in Fort Worth’s city center.
DPD’s longstanding officer shortage has been a considerable drain on its effectiveness. The department fields roughly 3,000 officers despite the City having previously recommended a force of around 4,000 in a public safety analysis based on Dallas’ population size.
Nevertheless, City leaders recently approved a budget of just $654 million for DPD this fiscal year, which is considerably fewer taxpayer dollars directed toward policing than in other high-crime jurisdictions, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.
