Statistics Point to Lower Rates, But District 11 Crime Has Residents Questioning Their Safety

An early-morning March 11 shooting in the 6400 block of Royal Lane between Preston and Hillcrest roads left an 11-year-old boy dead and a woman injured. A 30-year-old man was charged with capital murder.

Less than two weeks prior, a jeweler was robbed at knifepoint and assaulted in a Galleria parking lot. 

Later on the afternoon of Feb. 28, three vehicles were burglarized at a North Dallas Bank & Trust Co. parking deck. A man’s iPad was stolen from his car in a Whole Foods parking lot the same day.

On March 4, a father and his daughter were followed home from a Preston Forest shopping center and robbed at gunpoint at their home.

All the incidents occurred in Dallas City Council District 11, prompting residents of the northern Preston Hollow area to question whether there’s been an uptick in crime and if their personal safety is at risk by doing something as simple as going to the grocery store. 

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and Police Chief Eddie Garcia have touted a reduction in violent crime for the second consecutive year in 2022. Garcia presented the city’s 80-page Violent Crime Reduction Plan to the City Council in June. 

But statistics have done little to calm the fears of those who have been personally violated. 

Shopping Center Crime

Rita Goodsell’s grandson’s car was broken into at a Whole Foods grocery store on Feb. 28. The thief took a backpack of personal items, including an IPad that was later tracked to South Oak Cliff and Red Oak, Texas. 

“I can still ping its location,” Goodsell told CandysDirt.com early last week. “But the police have not seemed interested in going to the location. I am going to have to figure out what to do about that. I don’t want to go to the location to try to get it myself. This uptick in crime has made us wonder if we want to stay in Dallas County.” 

A few days later when contacted for an update, Goodsell said she could no longer track the stolen iPad.

“Now there is no location so I’m sure they removed the SIM card,” she said Friday. “It is disheartening to feel like the police can’t or won’t help when a specific location was given.”

Is there actually an uptick in crime?

Frankly, it’s hard to tell. 

Crime statistics change daily, and the Dallas Police Department offers a public dashboard by council district. More than 820 property crimes were reported in District 11 year-to-date on March 12, down from 846 year-to-date last year, representing a 3 percent decrease.

District 11 crimes against persons, including homicide and assault, total 268 year-to-date, down from 317, or about 15 percent, this time last year.

Property crimes include theft or destruction of someone else’s property. Depending on the monetary value of the property and the damage inflicted, such crimes could be misdemeanors or felonies. 

In the case of the vehicle break-in and theft in the Whole Foods parking lot, police responded promptly and the Goodsells’ car insurance will cover the damage to the car. It’s the contents of the backpack and the stolen iPad that Goodsell is worried about, in addition to personal safety.

If an arrest has been made, Goodsell hasn’t been notified, she said. 

We reached out to District 11 Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz, who has represented the North Dallas area since 2021. Schultz has been immersed in the “situation” at Valley View Center, which ultimately resulted in the abandoned mall being designated a “habitual criminal property” last month, days after a fire was reported there. Schultz proposed a tear-down at the site to be replaced with affordable housing, but developers with Beck Ventures reportedly were not on board.  

Schultz did not immediately respond to questions from CandysDirt.com. 

CandysDirt.com founder and publisher Candace Evans is also running for the District 11 seat, and she did have something to say about property crime in the district where she lives and is running for office. 

“I attended our recent D11 budget meeting and was amazed at the responses Jaynie and Assistant Chief Jesse Reyes gave the 20 people in the room — half of whom were city employees or consultants,” she said. “The response was that whatever the Dallas police ask for, the city council gives them: ask and ye shall receive. I know that’s not true. We hired 200 new officers but lost 238, so we are already down 38. Jaynie said every city in the country is having trouble hiring police. Several in the room suggested we pay them more, and offer incentives and bonuses, which is what businesses do when they wish to attract quality employees. The reason we are seeing this crime wave and other problems such as losing evidence is that our police department is seriously, seriously understaffed.”

Evans said Dallas should prioritize hiring more police above everything, taking a cue from other cities, including Fort Worth.

“DPD salaries should definitely be higher, housing provided, and retention and sign-on bonuses implemented,” she said.

As for that “downtick in crime,” Evans said people at the budget meeting told Schultz that many residents don’t report crimes because of the long time it takes police to show up, or the inconvenience of going downtown to file a report.

Galleria Robbery And Car Burglaries 

The jeweler robbed at knifepoint at the Galleria was actually cut with a knife, according to this letter from Rebecca Keener, property manager for North Dallas Bank & Trust — so that’s classified as a violent crime rather than a property crime. The overall city data shows crimes against persons have decreased about 4 percent from year-to-date last year to year-to-date this year.

The data frequently referenced by city leaders is based on a calendar year, and shows 11,087 violent crimes in 2022, down from 11,699 in 2021. That includes 214 homicides and non-negligent manslaughters in 2022, a 4 percent reduction from the prior year.

It’s progress, but not particularly comforting to those who received Keener’s letter last week. 

“On Wednesday, March 1, 2023, NDBT’s corporate security officer met with DPD and a representative of the FBI regarding the two incidents,” Keener’s letter states, in reference to the Galleria robbery and subsequent car break-ins at the bank parking deck. “The FBI believes the robbery suspects are part of a high-profile cartel that is known for following their victims from the airport when they arrive in DFW or from the World Trade Center. They do not believe the building, or any occupants of our building are being targeted due to their profession.”

Combating Crime in District 11

Dallas Police Department Public Information Officer Kristin Lowman directed us to some data-gathering resources such as the crime dashboard. We’ve also filed open records requests regarding district-specific property crime, response times, and prosecution data. 

Each patrol substation throughout Dallas has Neighborhood Patrol Officers, Lowman said. 

“The NPOs manage various community policing programs in [the assigned] area,” she said. “Your local NPO can assist you and your neighborhood with developing a crime watch group or Volunteer in Patrol program.”

Dallas PD monitors crime statistics daily, identifying trends and looking for areas of concern, Lowman said.

“The safety of those who live, work and visit our city is the priority of the men and women of the Dallas Police Department,” she said. “While we don’t get into specific operations or tactics due to the safety and security of the public and our officers, to prevent and deter crime we constantly make adjustments to patrols and our crime plan.”

Officers rely on vigilant reporting and observation from residents, Lowman added. 

“The men and women of the Dallas Police Department cannot fight crime alone,” she said. “Along with enforcement, we need the help of the public, businesses, community leaders, and clergy to help us to make Dallas a safer city. If you see something, say something. It will take all of us to make our city safer.”

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Editor’s Note: This is the first installment in our series on neighborhood crime by Dallas City Council district. Have you been the victim of a crime in a Dallas neighborhood or shopping center? Let us know about your experience at [email protected].