In a public safety update on Monday, leaders of the Dallas Police Department said their efforts have been driving down overall violent crime in the city.
But murders in the city have risen more than 10% since 2022, leading some advocates to call for new action.
2023 has brought two different trajectories for murders to the Metroplex’s major cities.
In Dallas, homicides and non-negligent manslaughter are up 10.4% compared to last year. In Fort Worth, that number has dropped by more than 21% through the first nine months of 2023.
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“A direct result of that is this violent crime initiative,” said Buddy Calzada, a public information officer with Fort Worth PD. “You have all different kinds of units working together.”
A Fort Worth police spokesperson said they believed a holistic approach to violent crime has been driving down their murder rate, involving multiple task forces – and the community.
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“We can’t do this on our own,” Calzada said. “We’ve come to the understanding that we have to build trust with the community, and when you build that trust, they start talking.”
“They start trusting us, and coming out and letting us know where these violent criminals are,” Calzada continued.
At the December 11 meeting of the Public Safety Committee in Dallas, police officials said overall violent crime is down more than 12% since last year.
“I think we’re all fortunate to see that gun crime in this city is reducing,” Dallas police chief Eddie Garcia said. “As this is a national issue, not just a city of Dallas issue.”
While some of those numbers have declined, the city has seen 230 murders so far in 2023 – a rise after homicides fell for two years from their peak of 254 in 2020.
The city’s now in its third year of a violent crime reduction plan, focusing in part on driving down aggravated assaults, which are down 15% since last year.
“The way you reduce murder is to reduce the incidents of aggravated assault that cause the murder,” Garcia said. “And the men and women of this police department are doing an incredible job.”
Some advocates want to see other strategies implemented.
“You drive down the number the same way we did as before, a couple of years ago as a great city,” said Mar Butler, Founder and CEO of T.R.E.E. Leadership Organization.
Butler led the Dallas Cred program, a group of civilian violence interrupters who worked with the city from 2021-22.
He told NBC 5 that the city should renew its focus on stopping gun violence at the community level, going into underserved areas and connecting with them more heavily.
“Build those relationships and understand the causes of violent crime, and the full scope holistically,” Butler said. “We’ve got to get back to basics again and say what did we get away from that we need to go back to as a city.”
NBC 5 reached out to the Dallas Police Department to ask if they’re considering bringing back civilian violence interrupter teams.
"We have partnered with violence interrupters as part of our violent crime reduction plan, and during city initiatives like the Summer of Safety," the Dallas Police Department said. "The violence interrupters we have worked with in our grids have been good partners in our mission. As a city, we have to work together to fight and prevent crime in our neighborhoods. It also takes city leaders, community groups, our pastors, and even citizens, to weed and seed our neighborhoods and put an end to violent and destructive behavior. This effort includes the violence interrupters who have been committed to bettering our city."
