All Types Of Violent Crime In Decline 1 Year After Hiring Of Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Wednesday, Dec. 22 marked one year since Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia accepted the offer to come to Dallas from San Jose, California.
It was a time when the city's mayor and police groups were unhappy with the department's strategy and leadership.
He told CBS 11 News he wasn't sure then he would be able to change that perception by the end of the year.
"I don't think as a police chief you can come in and just assume you're gonna have that success, I knew we would have a focus, I knew we would have a mission," said Garcia.
That mission, according to the chief, has been to hyper-focus crime fighting efforts with help from criminologists.
"We're data driven, it really was all about the data we collected," he says.
Starting in May, officers targeted a handful of areas of the city broken down into 104,000 grids.
"It represents about .004% of the 104,000 grids we have but they're responsible for about 10% of the violent crime in the city of Dallas," he said.
Since that time, the latest statistics, provided to CBS 11 News, show all types of violent crime, murders, assaults and robberies are declining in Dallas while increasing in New York City, LA and Chicago.
But don't expect the chief to give himself an "A-plus" at the end of the year.
"I don't give my self any grade I give the men and women of this department a grade they are doing a fantastic job," said the chief.
Garcia said his lowest point in 2021 was losing an officer who was struck by a suspected drunk driver.
He said in 2022, you can expect officers to focus more on cleaning up crime ridden apartment complexes and improving police response times among other goals.
"He will have tragedy befall the city, so we are not screaming success, but I'm optimistic and I'm encouraged."
There is one major project Chief Garcia, a devoted Dallas Cowboys fan, hopes to be burdened with next year.
"Getting ready for a Cowboys Super Bowl parade is the one thing that I would really love to work on in 2022."