Dallas Leaders Meet To Discuss Growing Crime Rates
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The Dallas Police Department is still trying to crack down on violent crime, but newly released statistics show that the total number of murders within the city remain up this year when compared to the same high numbers of last year.
Violent crime is still high throughout the city despite the creation of a new task force designed specifically to work on bringing those numbers down. Police assigned 170 officers to the Violent Crime Task Force back in March, when violent crime reached its peak, and they have been zeroing in on the city's high-crime areas.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has also been working with city police officers to tackle the growing crime problem.
Through the first four months of this year, the Dallas Police Department has worked on 16 more murder cases than during the same time last year. Chief David Brown has explained that domestic confrontations and drug dealings account for most of the violent crime cases.
However, it does not stop there. Nonviolent crimes -- such as burglary and theft -- are up as well, by 376 cases from just a year ago. The Dallas Police Association has called this a sign that the city needs to hire more police officers to patrol the streets.
The Dallas Public Safety Committee is taking a good look at these growing crime statistics on Monday. Members met early to address the continued spike in crime. While numbers have been decreasing since the task force's creation, they are still above what is expected.
"We're determined to get control of this," Brown said last month. "We have to lower the violence in the city. We're determined to make it happen."
