As the NBC 5 Investigates series "Driven to Death" continues, many viewers have asked "Where are the police?" and why don't they see Dallas police officers writing more tickets?
We visited with one of those viewers, Gayle Baker, who lives along Ferguson Road in East Dallas. Baker told us she feels like she lives on the edge of a speedway.
"It is so loud it can wake you up," Baker said.
With narrow sidewalks along the street, Baker also told us she's afraid to walk in her neighborhood.
Bryan Adams High School is also in Baker's neighborhood, on Millmar Drive just off Ferguson. NBC 5 Investigates saw students leaving the school and crossing six lanes of fast-moving traffic on Ferguson mid-block, stopping only to wait out oncoming traffic in a narrow median before dashing the rest of the way across the pavement.
Data from the Texas Department of Transportation showed that within five years 13 people have been killed and 45 others suffered serious injuries in crashes on Ferguson Road. Almost half of those deaths and injuries were speed-related.
One of those fatalities was 73-year-old Linda Pearson who was killed two years ago along Ferguson Road when a street racer crashed into her as she walked her dog.
It's because of crashes like the one that killed Pearson that Baker wants to see police writing more tickets on Ferguson Road.
"We need to see that. Yes," Baker said. "Let's just stop people dying so often out here."
It's a request we've heard often from viewers, commenting on our recent reports on social media. One said it was a free for all and there were practically no police patrolling the roads. Another said people are driving like maniacs because they know it'll go unpunished.
NBC 5 Investigates took those concerns straight to the top, to Dallas Chief of Police Eddie Garcia who agreed the city has a problem with speed.
"We need more visibility. Speeds are way too fast," Garcia said. "There's probably not a day that I that I drive that I don't see … someone operating their motor vehicle in some egregious fashion."
Garcia said he imagined most people who drive in Dallas would have similar stories. But despite those concerns, Dallas Police data we obtained show a decline in the number of speeding tickets written in the most recent two years where we have complete data.
Back in 2020, officers with the Dallas Police Department wrote more than 48,000 speeding tickets. That number dropped almost 50% in 2021 before rebounding some in 2022, though it's still down 25% compared to 2020.
Garcia said short staffing and a focus on reducing violent crime limits what his department can do about speeders and he agreed that they don't have a consistent level of enforcement.
"Certainly not. We would love to see, to see more, more visibility," Garcia said.
The chief added his traffic unit has a lot of ground to cover beyond city streets. In Dallas, the Dallas County Sheriff's Department doesn't handle enforcement on all freeways. So, city police patrol freeways like Interstate 635/LBJ Freeway and U.S. 75/Central Expressway.
Garcia said he was stunned when he learned his department would be patrolling highways. He moved here from California where the state's highway patrol monitors many urban freeways.
"I was a little shocked. There's no question about it," Garcia recalled. "I was a little bit shocked."
Along 75/Central, data suggests speed enforcement has been inconsistent. From 2019 to 2021, the number of tickets dropped almost 70% with only 560 tickets being written in 2021. That averages out to fewer than two tickets per day.
In 2022, the number of tickets written on Central did increase but it was still down 30% overall compared to 2019.
Dallas's Vision Zero action plan to reduce traffic deaths says the Dallas Police Department is supposed to "elevate the enforcement of the most dangerous driving behaviors" and "provide consistent levels of enforcement across all DPD divisions as feasible."
But is it feasible?
"Well, that was the beauty of the 'as feasible' because, right now, we're doing what we can," Garcia said. "We're certainly supportive of Vision Zero. It's incredibly important and we're doing what we can."
The department's ticket data suggests enforcement increased in the first six months of this year and the department appeared on track to write the most tickets since 2020. But when you look more closely at some of the city's deadliest streets, records still show sporadic enforcement.
One of those areas is along Buckner Boulevard, where nearby residents and business owners told NBC 5 Investigates, they rarely see police writing tickets.
"I really do mean there isn't any enforcement. I just don't see it," said Bobby Peterson.
On Buckner, the data show a 66% drop in tickets written over the last two years and in the first half of 2023, the numbers were tracking even lower.
Back on Ferguson Road, Dallas Police records showed tickets more than doubled to more than 1,700 in the year after the death of the pedestrian who was killed while walking her dog. But then in the first half of 2023, only 257 tickets were written.
"Oh, yeah, they just disappeared from the area," Baker said. "If they would just come out -- and be a presence!"
Garcia said he believes officers have been writing more warnings to drivers and that warnings are not reflected in the ticket data obtained by NBC 5 Investigates. We asked the department for that data, but they have not provided it in a format where we can analyze it.
Garcia said as department staffing levels hopefully improve the department can assign more officers to speed enforcement. Approximately 150 positions are currently vacant according to stats DPD provided.
The department told NBC5 Investigates it has stepped up speed patrols on 75/Central and that since 2022 it has written more than 1600 citations in Vision Zero focus areas including parts of Buckner Boulevard and Ferguson Road.
While no one is suggesting the department should not focus first on violent crime, data does show that the number of people killed in traffic crashes in 2022 was higher than the number of murders -- 228 to 214. It highlights how both problems are cutting too many lives too short.
