Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall released a new crime-fighting plan for 2020 Thursday after a 2019 that was the most violent year in Dallas in more than a decade.
The plan drew support from one police union leader but immediate criticism from another union, from the Dallas Mayor and from a leading City Council Member.
Goals in the plan are a 10% reduction in murder and aggravated assault in the Southeast, Southwest and South Central Patrol Districts this year, a 10% reduction in robbery in the Northeast and Southwest Districts and a 5% violent crime reduction citywide.
A statement from Mayor Eric Johnson said the goals should be more ambitious.
“We should strive to reduce homicides, aggravated assaults and robberies to 2018 levels citywide, at least,” the Mayor’s statement said.
Dallas City Council member Adam McGough chairs the Public Safety Committee, which will review the plan later this month.
McGough issued a statement, agreeing with the Mayor’s call for changes.
“Our goals need to be much more ambitious, and there are areas where greater measures must be developed to define success of tactics being deployed. We must have a clearly defined implementation strategy and the discipline to evaluate every strategy with regularity, transparency and specificity,” McGough’s statement said.
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Hall was not available for comment Thursday.
Four objectives are stated in the plan:
- Implement a data-driven, comprehensive approach to address people, places, and behaviors impacting violent crime
- Increase clearance rates and solvability of violent crime
- Improve coordination and communications within the department and with external partners
- Optimize departmental resources using technology and organizational changes
Black Police Association of Greater Dallas President Terrance Hopkins said it is on target.
“I think it is a good plan. Now it’s time for us to roll up our sleeves and go to work,” Hopkins said. “We’ve got new programs in here where SWAT is doing their part, vice, narcotics, everybody’s got a plan now on how to address the violent crime.”
Dallas Police Association President Mike Mata said the plan is smoke and mirrors that revives programs that worked in the past when Dallas crime was lower. Mata said Chief Hall reduced staffing in those areas to shift manpower to patrol to answer calls for service faster.
“Even though response time improved, so did crime increase, so they’re not connected,” Mata said. “We need to go back to thinking about what actually works. And you’ve got to go back to people who know that, and that’s institutional knowledge that Chief Hall does not have.”
The Dallas police force is currently around 600 officers smaller than it was in 2011. A staffing study released in August suggested 600 more officers might be needed to answer all calls for service without using overtime. The study said investigative functions were understaffed as well.
Dallas Police pay was increased last year to help recruiting and retention of officers.
