The city’s crime rate has dropped, but our neighborhood still has the most crime in Dallas. At an Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce luncheon last week, Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said that city council District 14, where he lives, has the city’s highest crime rate.
The chief said that there are 21 areas in Dallas that account for about 20 percent of all violent crimes. The one-square-mile crime hotspots include Vickery Meadow – the area east of Central Expressway along Park Lane. That’s still the highest crime neighborhood in Dallas, although as of April, the rate was down 26 percent from 2008. Another Lake Highlands neighborhood, near Forest and Audelia, is the second-highest crime neighborhood. No. 3 is the Bachman Lake area north of Love Field, and No. 4 is Oak Lawn.
“The thing these areas all have in common is that there are large concentrations of older apartments,” Kunkle said. “There are more victims and people who are easy to victimize.”
More after the jump.
Overall, crime is down. We’ve had eight consecutive years of violent crime reduction, and six consecutive years of overall crime reduction, Kunkle said. There were 170 homicides in Dallas last year, which is the lowest murder rate since 1966, when there were 400,000 fewer people here. And so far this year, the city is on track for fewer than 170 homicides.
