The group tasked with finding solutions to reduce crime in Dallas now has the funding to do it, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson says.
Johnson created the task force in August 2019 and tasked them with figuring out what can be done about the city’s skyrocketing violent crime rate. The group of 16 then spent months “touring high-crime areas, discussing ideas, learning about programs in other cities, and talking about strategies with stakeholders, nonprofits, community leaders, and policy experts” before submitting their report recommending four “core recommendations”:
- Remediate blighted buildings and abandoned lots in high-violence locations.
- Add outdoor lighting in locations where nighttime violence has been most severe.
- Utilize schools to deliver group support that teaches kids to pause before they act.
- Hire and train credible messengers from within high-violence neighborhoods as “violence interrupters” to keep resolvable conflicts from escalating into gun violence.
On Monday, Johnson is expected to hold a press conference detailing funding for all of the task force’s recommendations.
According to a city news release, the newly passed city budget allocates $1,670,347 needed for blight remediation. A further $2 million is budgeted for lighting improvements, and $800,000 is budgeted for “violence interruption” programs.
NBC 5 reported in January that the recommendations are supported by extensive research of best practices used across the country and their report was endorsed by eight distinguished criminologists.
Starting Sept. 5, Dallas launches a new drive to bring peace to neighborhoods plagued by violent crime. NBC 5’s Ken Kalthoff reports the plan is to send ‘violence interrupters’ into rough neighborhoods.
