Southern Dallas community, police chief discuss solutions to crime

Amid the handfuls of individuals packed into the Juanita J. Craft Recreation Middle on Saturday afternoon have been three girls linked by the topic at hand: the price of gun violence in Dallas.

Shalonda Gilmore’s son, 26-year-old Kealon Gilmore, was killed in a mass taking pictures at a southeast Oak Cliff live performance that wounded 16 others. Adriana Vasquez’s son, 22-year-old Fernando Enriquez Jr., was slain in a Far East Dallas drive-by taking pictures. And Chi Ballard’s son, 19-year-old Zuri Goff, died after he was shot within the drive-through of a Elevating Cane’s in Purple Chicken.

The South Dallas occasion, titled “Sufficient is Sufficient — Cease the Violence,” allowed residents like them to talk on to group leaders about arising with methods to forestall crime and placing them in place. The panel was led by police Chief Eddie García, who was joined by a metropolis council member, a pastor, a choose, native nonprofit house owners and different advocates.

The dialog adopted a string of violent crimes in southern Dallas, together with two mass shootings — one on the Oak Cliff live performance and one other exterior a South Dallas get together — that killed two individuals and wounded 25 extra. Different latest crimes throughout Dallas embody a sequence of shootings at Asian-run companies below investigation as potential hate crimes and a taking pictures in Deep Ellum that left two useless and three wounded.

“These previous few weeks in our metropolis have been difficult for all of us,” García stated. “We’re not going to arrest our manner out this.”

García has beforehand stated that the division was centered on the southern a part of the town, and that officers’ heightened presence led to a drop in violent crime.

Division statistics up to date Friday present violent crime is down within the metropolis’s southeast, south central and southwest divisions, the place there have been a complete of two,205 violent crimes this 12 months — 150 fewer than on the similar level in 2021.

The homicide depend throughout southern Dallas is barely greater final 12 months, in accordance with the division’s official tally. There have been 55 murders in southern Dallas this 12 months, 5 greater than throughout the identical interval in 2021.

Throughout the town, murders have elevated to 88 from 76 this time final 12 months. Whereas García frequently commends the division on bettering these statistics, he added Saturday that he’s involved that 90% of the individuals slain in Dallas have been Black or Latino.

“Even when we scale back violent crime, we shouldn’t be leaping up and down if that disparity nonetheless exists,” he stated. “Everyone knows we didn’t get into this mess in a single day and we’re not going to get out of it in a single day. We have to reinvest in not solely our group, however in people.”

As a part of that reinvestment, a number of residents requested for extra alternatives for the youth of their communities, akin to leisure sports activities, summer season jobs and internships at native companies. Others introduced up employment alternatives for individuals with prison information to assist stop them from turning into repeat offenders.

A part of Saturday’s occasion included a job honest open to such residents — which was notable to Victor Alvelais of Dallas CRED, an extension of the nationwide nonprofit Youth Advocate Applications, who stated he attributes the focus of crime in southern Dallas to poverty.

“We now have to handle it,” Alvelais stated. “9 occasions out 10, [crimes] have an financial connection.”

However García argued that two issues will be true on the similar time: Whereas he agrees poverty drives violent crime, lowering it gained’t result in the progress the town must see with out extra short-term options.

“Even investing in our communities at present isn’t going to present itself into individuals not getting killed this weekend,” he stated.

García acknowledged that there are not any simple solutions however stated he plans to proceed internet hosting group discussions in hopes they won’t solely carry extra individuals collectively, however that the number of concepts delivered to the desk will create constructive change over time.

Ballard, Zuri Goff’s mom, stated it’s simply as urgent to start out small — one individual at a time.

“We would like our youngsters secure … however we’ve got to start out reminding them who they’re,” Ballard stated. “No, you’re not a gangster, you’re a police captain. No, you’re not a thug, you’re a mentor. You aren’t what society has advised you that you’re, that you need to turn into.”