Police statistics show that crime declined in downtown Dallas in 2025.That is a welcome development after violent crime trended upward in 2024, with multiple attacks that year making headlines.
As is usually the case, the situation is more nuanced than what a single statistic indicates, but crime is inching lower no matter what politicians like our governor say. A more visible police presence, as well as a stepped-up private effort to tackle quality-of-life violations, are helping make downtown safer and more orderly.
Like many downtowns, Dallas has had its ups and downs over the decades and has struggled in the aftermath of the pandemic. Crime and homelessness have been significant concerns.
The city, the nonprofit Downtown Dallas Inc., individual business leaders and several other groups began focusing intensely on those crime and homelessness issues last year. They are producing positive results.
Opinion
Last year, the Dallas Police Department carved a Downtown Patrol Division out of the much larger Central Patrol Division, something that had been in the works for months. The switch allows officers assigned downtown to respond to calls faster because they don’t spend as much time driving from call to call. Traffic enforcement has increased; mounted officers clip-clop through the urban core more frequently.
One result: Vehicle theft declined about 36% year over year. Business and residential burglaries declined almost 30% each. Burglaries of motor vehicles, however, rose almost 22% and were the most common crime reported. Overall violent crime decreased, but homicides and business robberies increased. There were six homicides last year, including two related to a single incident in which police shot and killed a man who fatally shot another man outside a club.
Dallas Police spokesperson Corbin Rubinson said that increased hiring and promotions allowed the department to assign more officers to the city core without pulling them away from other divisions.
Nuisance crimes, like public urination or disorderly conduct, have an outsize impact on people’s perception of downtown. These quality-of-life violations can create an atmosphere of disorder and neglect that makes downtown residents and office workers feel unsafe. The Safe in the City campaign that launched last year combines tougher enforcement with more intense efforts to move homeless people into services.
The number of all quality-of-life violations dropped by one-third year over year, from 36,841 to 24,384, according to DDI. Almost anyone who lives or works downtown has felt that decrease, and these efforts to clean up downtown should be sustained. Federal funding for homeless assistance may be more difficult to secure in the future, so we hope that private donors and charitable foundations will be willing to prioritize that cause. The city, however, cannot let up on enforcing the law against public encampments.
These focused efforts will protect the people and businesses in downtown Dallas and keep the city core humming as decisions play out over the future of City Hall and a new Dallas Mavericks arena.
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