Dallas police say gun violence in the city is falling, and the new report comes after a violent weekend in Dallas that saw ten people shot. NBC 5’s Keenan Willard has more.
Dallas police say gun violence in the city is falling: the latest crime data from the department shows homicides are down more than 26% compared to last year, and assaults are down more than 19%.
The new report comes after a violent weekend in Dallas saw 10 people shot, leading police and community advocates to agree that the work to reduce shootings must continue.
“It’s not a time for celebration,” said Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia. “I like that we’re going in the right direction, but we have to double down on our efforts.”
In the City of Dallas’s Public Safety Committee meeting on Monday, police touted signs of success in the struggle against gun violence.
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“Overall, violent crime for the city of Dallas is down just over 17%,” said Major Jason Scoggins with Dallas PD.
The latest department data showed that from January 1 to May 31, assaults in the city fell more than 19% compared to last year.
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And Dallas saw 32 fewer murder victims than in the first five months of 2023.
“I mean that that’s awesome in our eyes right now,” Scoggins said.
Police cited streetlight improvements in high-crime areas and their specialized Crime Prevention Unit as potential reasons for the progress.
While department leaders said the numbers were positive, they also acknowledged the difficulties lying ahead.
“Going now into the summer months, there is no question these are the most challenging times,” Garcia said. “Not just for DPD but for law enforcement agencies nationwide.”
Historically gun violence rises during the summer nationwide.
This weekend, police data showed 10 people were shot in multiple incidents in the city of Dallas.
That figure included four people shot in Deep Ellum early Sunday morning, leaving a 17-year-old in critical condition.
Community leaders said that was the type of violence that still needed to be contained.
“We need to do more to make sure that we keep guns out of the hands of our children,” said Maxie Johnson, DISD Trustee for District 5.
Johnson lost a son to gun violence. He told NBC 5 that families in hard-hit areas have still been feeling the impact of shootings, and he believed outreach to young people needed to continue.
“We still have to do more,” Johnson said. “And everyone agrees that we still have to do more to keep guns out of the hands of our children, to continue to lower those shootings that are mostly happening with our teenagers.”
The Dallas police chief agreed.
“Yes, we’re in a positive place, but we’re nowhere near where we want to be as a city yet,” Garcia said. “And we’ve got to continue to get to that.”
Dallas Police Department leaders said the next steps in their ongoing Violent Crime Reduction Plan would include a focus on Place Network Investigations, operations specifically targeting criminal networks in the city.
Later this summer, the department planned to once again offer its Focused Deterrence program, which provides one-on-one interventions to repeat offenders.
