Murder and other violent crime, like aggravated assault, are down in the City of Dallas, but police are still struggling with response times.
As of Monday, the department's year-to-date Priority 1 calls take three minutes longer than the response time goal.
During Tuesday's Dallas City Council Public Safety Committee meeting, Committee Chair Cara Mendelsohn acknowledged the higher response times, but also applauded changes made to add investigators to help get people accused of violent crime off the street.
"We're obviously struggling with response times, but clearing this and having less victims is so important," Mendelsohn said.
Mendelsohn's comments come after an investigation by NBC 5 found that Dallas police response times for Priority 1 calls in some neighborhoods took almost twice the time of the city's eight-minute goal in March.
KERA reached out to DPD for comment on the response times, and will update this story with a response.
Dallas police have seen an overall 13.5% decrease in violent crime, 12.21% decrease in aggravated assaults, and a 33.71% decrease in homicides this year, according to an update from DPD Major Nathan Swyers Tuesday. As of May 31, there were 30 fewer murder victims and murder involving family violence lowered by four, he told the committee.
Community outreach, discussing gun violence, and positioning officers in the right areas for patrols contributed to that decrease, Swyers said. He did not expand on response times during Tuesday's meeting.
Robberies are also down in the city with 143 fewer incidents. There have been 45 fewer business robberies, which is something Swyers said Dallas police struggled with all last year.
The city's crime plan began in May 2021 and includes policing "hot spots" and focused deterrence.
Focused deterrence is the long-term strategy that started in 2023 designed to reduce violence among people who commit most of the violent crime in Dallas. People in the program are connected to more than 100 different services.
Focused deterrence currently has 65 people and the next neighborhood outreach is planned for June 7.
Swyers said the San Antonio Police Department plans to come up and observe Dallas' focused deterrence program to learn and potentially implement the same procedures.
Chief of Police Daniel Comeaux said the department also plans to have a basketball game in certain areas that will help with crime because of the department's involvement.
"It's just great work that's being done across the board, so I'm very proud and happy of the work that is going on," Comeaux said regarding the city's reduced violent crime. "We're going to really pump it up on the community outreach part and the awareness and education part."
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