A study released last week by criminologists from the University of Texas at San Antonio is the latest evidence that over the past couple of years, Dallas has become a national model for excellence in public safety.
The study confirms the effectiveness of one of the key components of the Dallas Crime Plan: hot spots policing. The study is ongoing and may become the longest study to date of hot spots policing as a citywide crime reduction strategy. Available evidence is already being leveraged by other cities to craft their own versions of the Dallas Crime Plan.
Hot spots policing is an evidence-based strategy developed from research that suggests crime in American cities is concentrated in a small number of geographic units — commonly referred to as “grids” — and committed by a small number of people. The study provides an initial evaluation of the Dallas Crime Plan and its hot spots policing strategy during its first year of implementation and includes three main takeaways:
Link to Dallas crimes analytics: Workbook: Crime Analytics Dashboard (dallascityhall.com)
The study confirms the effectiveness of one of the key components of the Dallas Crime Plan: hot spots policing. The study is ongoing and may become the longest study to date of hot spots policing as a citywide crime reduction strategy. Available evidence is already being leveraged by other cities to craft their own versions of the Dallas Crime Plan.
Hot spots policing is an evidence-based strategy developed from research that suggests crime in American cities is concentrated in a small number of geographic units — commonly referred to as “grids” — and committed by a small number of people. The study provides an initial evaluation of the Dallas Crime Plan and its hot spots policing strategy during its first year of implementation and includes three main takeaways:
- Treated grids experienced significant reductions in violent crime compared to grids that did not receive treatment. Violent crime fell, on average, by 11% in the treated grids.
- Reductions in violent crime in the treated grids did not displace crime to the areas immediately surrounding the treated grids. In many cases, surrounding areas also benefitted from the treatment.
- Reductions in violent crime were not achieved through overly aggressive or heavy-handed tactics. The Dallas Police Department (DPD) relies on increased police visibility and deterrence of would-be violent offenders rather than indiscriminate stops, arrests, or other overly aggressive or heavy-handed tactics as part of its hot spots policing strategy. The study reveals that the implementation of the Dallas Crime Plan did not result in an overall increase in arrests in the treated grids or in surrounding areas.
Link to Dallas crimes analytics: Workbook: Crime Analytics Dashboard (dallascityhall.com)