Dallas Mayor touts decrease in violent crime ahead of ahead of city council meeting
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson took to Twitter on Saturday to highlight data showing a decrease in violent crime across Dallas. This comes ahead of the City Council's Public Safety Committee meeting on Monday.
On Saturday, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson tweeted out data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association indicating reductions in murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault in both 2022 and 2021, including a 3.6% drop in murders.
Our local media have no interest in reporting on this data, which is why you haven’t heard about it. But you better believe if Dallas was leading the nation in violent crime INCREASES you’d be hearing about it daily. It’s sad, really. Kudos to @DallasPD and our residents!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 pic.twitter.com/8qc8k6RuNl
— Mayor Eric Johnson (@Johnson4Dallas) February 11, 2023
In a statement to CBS 11 News, Mayor Eric Johnson said:
"Through our focus on both data-driven policing strategies and community-based solutions, Dallas has bucked national trends and is now officially the only top 10 city in the United States to record two-straight years of reductions in every major violent crime category. We have more work to do, but I am proud of the work of the men and women of the Dallas Police Department and the people of Dallas."
In an interview with CBS11 News, the president of the National Black Police Association's Dallas chapter, Sgt. Sheldon Smith expressed skepticism about the decrease in crime. "I don't really believe that we should tout that crime is down and all is well because we have families that are losing members and people dying weekly in this city."
Smith emphasized the need for increased community involvement in solving crimes, saying, "When our community suffers a violent crime, we need them to help us solve it, but many people are apprehensive to talk about what's going on for fear." He added, "At the end of the day, it's old-fashioned policing - we need to not be apprehensive about getting out of the car and talking to people."
Smith also spoke about the importance of diversity in the police force, saying, "I would like to see an increased recruitment of African American officers. I think if we can get more African Americans to join our police department, it will be very good for our fight against crime."
In addition to giving an update on the city's violent crime reduction plan. The city council's public safety committee meeting will address topics including:
Human trafficking enforcement initiatives
A community violence intervention program
DFR and DPD recruitment and retention
The Public Safety Committee meeting will take place on Monday, February 13 at 1 p.m. and can be streamed on the city website.