As auto thefts in Dallas keep ticking up year after year, two districts in particular are on track to be the future city hotspots from which to steal a car.
Based on data retrieved from the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard, City Councilman Adam Bazaldua’s District 7 and City Councilwoman Paula Blackmon’s District 9 clocked the steepest year-over-year hikes in Motor Vehicle Theft offenses for the month of December 2022.
The Dallas Express has reported extensively on the incessant drive of criminals to steal motor vehicles from within the city limits.
According to City figures, the Dallas Police Department (DPD) clocked 10,734 auto thefts in 2020 and then 11,937 in 2021 — an 11.3% jump, which was overtaken by a bigger spike of roughly 12.5% the following year, with 13,428 offenses on the books.
If December 2022 data is any indication, things are not getting any better.
DPD reported higher year-over-year offenses for that month, but the figures for Districts 7 and 9 jacked up an astonishing 69% and 85%, respectively.
While Districts 2 and 6, represented by City Councilmen Jesse Moreno (D2) and Omar Narvaez (D6), have consistently logged the most Motor Vehicle Thefts over the last three years — as previously reported in The Dallas Express — Bazaldua and Blackmon are gearing up to remap the landscape as far as grand theft auto goes in Dallas.
“The problem parallels most crime in Dallas: you can no longer assume the safety of yourself or your property. Our city can claim that crime is decreasing, but Dallas residents can feel the consequences of rising crime,” said Jacob Lloyd Colglazier, executive director of Keep Dallas Safe, speaking with The Dallas Express.
DPD logged 12,737 car burglaries in 2022, roughly 200 more than the previous year.
The Dallas Express reached out to DPD, asking what geographical trends the department is currently seeing in auto thefts and what Dallas residents can do to guard themselves against becoming a victim of motor vehicle theft or break-ins, but as of press time, no response had been received.
The Dallas Express also reached out to Councilman Bazaldua and Councilwoman Blackmon, informing them of their December 2022 statistics and requesting comment.
No response was forthcoming by press time.
The Dallas Express, The People’s Paper, believes that important information about the city, such as crime rates and trends, should be easily accessible to you. Dallas has more crime per capita than hotspots like Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and New York, according to data from the FBI’s UCR database.
How did your area stack up on crime? Check out our interactive Crime Map to compare all Dallas City Council Districts. Curious how we got our numbers? Check out our methodology page here.
District 9 probably has many more car thefts that are probably not being reported due to not trusting the validity of the system. Our district, in far east Dallas, is crying for new leadership with strengths to make the necessary changes that are having a blind eye being turned towards them.