Councilwoman Gay Donnell Willis and the City of Dallas District she represents, District 13, have never earned the dubious “Crime Boss of the Month” (CBOM) honor, but in July, the district saw an increased Crime Score of 7.47%.
On average, residents in District 13 experienced 1.19 more crimes per day in July of this year than the same month last year. Crime increased from 483 reports in July ’21 to 520 in July ’22.
According to the district’s July newsletter, there were two meetings between district reps and the City of Dallas Police. The newsletter stated that Council Liaison Jake Anderson represented the District 13 office at those events. It is unclear whether Willis also attended any of those meetings.
“Council Recess has not stopped D13 from meeting with community members,” the latest newsletter claims. The Dallas City Council summer recess ended on August 1.
Though District 13 witnessed an increase in crimes in July of 7.47%, this was nowhere close to the district’s increase of 29.63% when comparing June ’21 to June ’22. A total of 503 crimes were reported this June compared to last year’s 388, for a total of 115 further reports for the month, or 3.83 more crimes per day, reported The Dallas Express.
The Dallas Express reached out to Willis and her office to ask about crime increases and decreases, but at the time of press, no comments have been submitted.
Willis and her district were featured in a special report on car thefts by The Dallas Express in February and again in July, based on the previous month’s statistics. Last month, Motor Vehicle Theft in District 13 increased by 51%, shooting from 94 in July ’21 to 142 last July.
While Motor Vehicle Theft was the only double-digit increase in District 13 in July, the other crime score categories to see an increase were:
- Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property: up from 40 to 45.
- Larceny/Theft Offenses: up from 202 to 206.
- Driving Under the Influence: up from four to eight.
- Burglary/Breaking & Entering: up from 23 to 24.
- Public Intoxication: up from seven to eight.
- Nonviolent Family Offenses: up from one to two.
- Disorderly Conduct: up from one to two.
- Trespass Of Real Property: up from one to two.
The City of Dallas districts with the biggest Crime Score increase in July ’22 were:
- District 1 and Councilman Chad West +38.35%.
- District 7 and Councilman Adam Bazaldua +10.39%.
- District 11 and Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz +8.76%.
- District 13 and Councilwoman Willis +7.47%.
- District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn (who will be featured in the August 25 CBOM feature) +2.83%.
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.