Violent Crime is Low in East Dallas District 9, But Residents Remain Concerned About Public Safety
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Many residents who live along the Garland Road corridor and near White Rock Lake in Dallas City Council District 9 have lived there for decades and love their neighborhoods.
They host neighborhood block parties and are thoroughly engaged in local zoning and development matters. They don’t talk a lot about crime, and for good reason: The crime rate in D9 is the third-lowest of the 14 council districts, with just Districts 5 and 12 coming in with lower rates last year.
What’s on the minds of some East Dallas residents, including Lochwood Neighborhood Association communication chair Thomas Buck, are things like reckless driving and a proposed apartment complex on Garland Road, expected to bring an influx of new neighbors and traffic.
District 9 Crime Statistics
While crime is comparatively low in District 9, it’s not unheard of. Neighborhoods like Lochwood experience a lot of noise and nuisance issues that are actual crimes but don’t result in a rapid police response.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia has placed a strong emphasis on reducing violent crime, a measure supported by the majority of the City Council and most residents. An inability to recruit and retain patrol officers — due in part to a $3 billion unfunded liability in the police pension fund — has resulted in more than 500 officer vacancies at DPD.
An overall 4.15 percent decrease in crime was reported in District 9 over this time last year. Property crimes have gone up a slight 3.64 percent, and vehicle theft increased 58 percent, but decreases are reported in several other areas, according to the Dallas Police Department crime dashboard.
Crimes against persons — including sex offenses, kidnapping, human trafficking, homicide, and assault — decreased by almost 9 percent.
“There has been a growing undercurrent of illegal incidents happening in our area ever since COVID that has many residents concerned and on edge,” Buck told CandysDirt.com. “I believe it’s mainly a result of a diminished police force. It feels there has been a calculated effort to make people feel uneasy by way of noise — whether it be drag racing, celebratory gunshots, doing doughnuts during parking lot takeovers, et cetera. It seems to be a ‘loud and proud’ act of defiance to be heard. I think they enjoy causing this type of mayhem and realize the odds are no consequence will come from it.”
The actions could become more threatening and violent over time, Buck added.
“What makes matters worse is 27 percent of the 3,000 DPD workforce are eligible for retirement,” he said. “That’s over 800 officers. This is extremely concerning as the city keeps increasing in population.”
We reached out to Dallas Police Sgt. Sammie Robinson, who oversees neighborhood patrol for the area and had not heard back by deadline.
Standard Shoreline
The proposed Standard Shoreline project was Dallas’ first Public Facility Corporation project to make headlines. At the time, many were unfamiliar with the financing structure, through which a developer leases land from the council-appointed Dallas PFC for 75 years, and the property is taken off the tax rolls. In exchange, the developer agrees to offer at least half of the units at an affordable rate.
In the case of the Standard Shoreline, the existing property has operated for years as a church, so it was not contributing property tax revenue to the city’s general fund.
Lochwood residents offered numerous concerns about the development, particularly the proposed 59-foot height and the hundreds of residents and vehicles it would bring to the already-busy Garland Road, a state highway. Ojala Holdings’ proposal is for 18 two-story townhomes and a four-story multi-family complex. While developers agreed to buffering and landscaping, neighbors say some of the units will have a direct view into their backyards.
The project was unanimously approved by the Dallas City Council in November. Neighbors say the church is still occupying the building and there doesn’t appear to be any forward movement on the construction of apartments.
Garland Road Corridor
Vehicle accidents are frequently reported on Garland Road, and Councilwoman Paula Blackmon, who is seeking re-election May 6 against Kendra Madison, has vowed to work on infrastructure and traffic-calming measures. When the new redistricting map takes effect next week, District 9’s boundaries will move west toward U.S. 75. The new redistricting maps, updated each decade based on U.S. Census data, ensure that each council district will serve about 91,000 residents.
Betty Dunagan, president of the White Rock Lake Task Force, said in an April 17 email to members that the task force is working with city leaders to reduce car crashes in the area following a few deadly vehicle accidents last month.
“Following the tragic accident a week or so ago on Garland Road, Paula Blackmon reached out to the task force as soon as the issue was raised for discussion,” Dunagan said. “She informed us they will be doing some research on adding protective measures along Garland Road between East Lawther [Drive] and the [White Rock Lake] Spillway. This will protect pedestrians on this portion of the trail so close to Garland Road.”
Traffic accidents don’t always involve a crime, so fatal accidents may not be counted in crime statistics, but road conditions, signals, and vehicle counts are certainly public safety matters, Buck said.
“Having more of a police presence would logically cause drivers to slow down,” he said. “I’ve seen more police officers on motorcycles in our area. I hope that continues. Suggestions of adding more stop signs and/or traffic lights would help control speeding a bit.”
Reducing the lanes with Streetscape and Pedestrian Improvement Bonds used to redesign for safety, mobility, and accessibility could transform streets like Jupiter Road into more well-connected and functional streets, Buck added.
“Our neighborhood calls Jupiter Road, ‘Jupiter Speedway,’ with all the activity,” he said. “The rumble strips the city installed are a speed deterrent non-factor and speed radar stations do very little to control the speed of cars who want to speed. More lanes add to the allure to go faster. Expecting drivers to go 35 mph on a three-lane road is unrealistic anyway, especially when it bisects Northwest Highway and Garland Road.”
There’s also the matter of hundreds of new neighbors living in the mixed-income Standard Shoreline.
When affordable housing is built near an established neighborhood, the residents who resist it are sometimes accused of not wanting to live near poor people, as evidenced by a recent showdown over the proposed Cypress Creek at Forest Lane apartments in District 10.
The affordable housing component is not the problem, Buck said.
“What’s going to be of great concern with me, involving crime and Shoreline apartments, is illegal apartment subletting,” he said. “It seems this is a more nefarious form of property management than [short-term rentals], allowing people to live in complexes who would not be approved by property managers. To my knowledge, no one is publicly talking about it, because like me, no one has considered how much it contributes to illegal and/or criminal acts. And, as Dallas continues to grow in population and lead the nation in new apartment builds, it’s only logical to assume the market for illegal subletting will grow as well — especially in high-opportunity areas like ours.”
The matter of addressing the city’s need for affordable housing was outlined on the Lochwood Neighborhood Association website during the Shoreline public hearings.
“We completely understand the need to provide more affordable housing while densifying, ” the site states. “However, we believe there are better, smarter housing solutions that should have been considered. This lot would’ve been an amazing opportunity to provide Missing Middle Housing in Dallas, something that, to a significant degree, hasn’t happened since the early-to-mid 20th century. Dallas has been so dominated with single-family and massive multifamily developments, and the struggle continues to create more compatible, transitional housing to fit in between them. Instead, this complex will be adding to the nation-leading 63,000-plus multifamily complexes that are being built in North Texas. Something needs to change with this equation.”
District 9 Election Campaign
Blackmon earned the sought-after endorsement of the Dallas Police Association Political Action Committee. She touts her support of Chief Garcia and the effort to hire and retain new officers on her campaign website.
“Paula has heard from families all across East Dallas impacted by or worried about escalating violent and property crimes, and she continues to work hard to make public safety a top priority for our city,” the site states. “That’s why Paula voted to add 500 more police officers in the last two city budgets, raise the minimum pay and salaries for Dallas’ first responders, and add 60 new civilian staffers for the 911 call center.”
Political newcomer Madison addresses priority issues on her campaign website.
Those issues and potential solutions include:
- Community Support for Law Enforcement: “Backing the blue is an action,” Madison said. “It’s more than a sign in a front yard or a sticker on a bumper. Let’s bring neighborhood-based support for the officers that keep us safe.”
- Homelessness Intervention: “We are seeing homeless encampments pop up in our backyards overnight (quite literally for some neighbors), and the noise, trash, and disruptions to quality of life within our community,” Madison said. “Let’s look at ways to find compassionate care to get our unsheltered neighbors out of these encampments and onto paths of self-sufficiency.”
- Thoughtful community development: “No one wants to live in a blighted community,” she said. “Let’s continue to keep our neighborhoods looking their best by getting involved in development projects. We live here and have a say in how our community looks and feels.”
