In an open letter published in Texas Metro News this week, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson discussed the 2022-23 fiscal year budget. At $4.51 billion, it is the city’s largest budget ever, and it contains some provisions aimed at addressing crime in the City of Dallas.
Johnson stated that public safety is a top priority and expressed hope that the budget will address some of the city’s long-standing issues, The Dallas Express reported. He said this year’s budget reflects a recommitment to both community-based crime solutions and data-driven policing strategies.
That should come as welcome news to City of Dallas District 13 Councilwoman Gay Donnell Willis. Curbing crime in Willis’ D13 has proven to be a challenge the past two months, with increases that led to the councilwoman being named Crime Boss the Month (CBOM) for the second month in a row in October.
Willis’ September crowning came after a 20.89% Crime Score increase in August. Though not as severe as last month, Willis and District 13 experienced a Crime Score increase of 18.05% in September, earning Willis the CBOM moniker again for October.
The Dallas Express sought an interview with Willis this week to discuss the crime increase in her district, but neither she nor her office responded. If she answers after press time, her comments will appear in the next installment of the Crime Boss feature.
In the 11 months since CBOM’s inception, D13 has never seen a month with a year-over-year Crime Score reduction. The district’s best month was in February of this year, when the Crime Score remained the same as in February 2021. For all other months, D13 has logged Crime Score increases.
District 13 and Willis hit a whopping 38.91% year-over-year increase in the Crime Score in June, and the Crime Score increase has remained in the double digits for the last two months.
District 13’s Year-Over-Year Crime Score History:
| CBOM Edition | Crime Score % Difference |
| November 2021 Crime Boss (October Data) | +1.00 |
| December 2021 Crime Boss (November Data) | +24.11 |
| January 2022 Crime Boss (December Data) | +9.69 |
| February 2022 Crime Boss (January Data) | +0.40 |
| March 2022 Crime Boss (February Data) | +12.20 |
| April 2022 Crime Boss (March Data) | +1.28 |
| May 2022 Crime Boss (April Data) | +14.24 |
| June 2022 Crime Boss (May Data) | +15.39 |
| July 2022 Crime Boss (June Data) | +38.91 |
| August 2022 Crime Boss (July Data) | +7.73 |
| September 2022 Crime Boss (August Data) | +20.89 |
| October 2022 Crime Boss (September Data) | +18.05 |
With three months of Crime Score data remaining in the year, it is almost certain that D13 will see an overall Crime Score increase for 2022 over 2021. The region has experienced, on average, a year-over-year Crime Score increase of 13.8% each month thus far in 2022.
The Dallas Express, The People’s Paper, believes that important information about the city, such as crime rates and trends, should be easily accessible to you. Dallas has more crime per capita than hotspots like Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and New York, according to data from the FBI’s UCR database.
How did your area stack up on crime? Check out our interactive Crime Map to compare all Dallas City Council districts. Curious how we got our numbers? Check out our methodology page here.
