Dallas Mayor Challenges City Leaders to Improve Public Safety

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson sent a sternly worded note to the city manager demanding that the city leaders work with Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall to address what he sees as an increase in violent crime there.

According to the Dallas Morning News , Johnson said in the letter that the Dallas City Council "cannot continue to accept the status quo or tolerate excuses" with regard to the increase in violent crime.

"While I believe Dallas remains relatively safe for a major U.S. city, the level of violent crime we have seen through eleven months of 2019 is patently unacceptable," the mayor wrote. "We have already far exceeded the homicide total in 2018 and Dallas is on pace for more than 200 homicides for the first time since 2007."

The letter continued, "I do not believe the City Council has received a sufficiently clear explanation of what is driving this increase or what the police department’s specific plan is to reverse it. I understand that crime is complex and dynamic, and that our crime fighting strategies must evolve as news trends arise, but I have not heard anyone articulate a concrete plan to reduce violent crime in our city by a particular amount and by a time certain. This must change now."