Dallas hits 200 murders in a year for first time in more than a decade

DALLAS - There have been 200 murders this year in the city of Dallas for the first time in more than a decade.

With less than two weeks left of 2019, some city leaders are calling for a plan to prevent this from happening next year.

2019 is the first time since 2007 that at least 200 people have been murdered in Dallas.

A small number of murders are being reviewed as justifiable.

Many leaders are calling for immediate action because of the crime spike.

There has been a lot of talk about the crime problem since Mayor Eric Johnson sent a stern letter to the city manager demanding a plan by the end of the year to reduce crime.

In the letter, Mayor Johnson sayid :"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.”

“This has nothing to do with anything personal against Chief Hall. She is a very articulate, smart woman and chief, but it comes down to performance,” Dallas Police Association President Mike Mata said. “She has been here over 2 and a half years, and it’s time to get these numbers down and it’s not going to be done by task force. It’s not going to be done by calling in quick band aids, like the feds or state troopers. We have to find a holistic attack on these violent crimes.”

After a deadly month of May, DPS troopers were sent to help with the crime problem.

While multiple arrests were made and guns were seized, crime continued throughout the city.

Some have cited issues, like the need for more officers, as part of the solution.

Mata agrees that the department needs more officers.

But he feels crime fighting tools and plans can be put in place that can work, even with reduced manpower.

“That institutional knowledge has left, whether it was pushed out, retired or quit on their own, and some that are here were demoted and their voices are not heard,” Mata explained. “She created this command staff, they are her command staff, she created the mindset over the last two years, so if you are going to own it when things are good, you have to own it when things are bad.”