Police Brutality or Rampant Crime - We Need a New Approach

-Black people in Dallas are a majority of all murder and violent crime victims. This is unacceptable.

-We should not have to decide between the false choice of accepting police brutality or tolerating rampant crime

-Liberals tell us to accept rampant crime in the name of “justice”, conservatives tell us to accept police brutality in the name of “safety”. We deserve both safety AND justice.

Black individuals in Dallas, despite representing a fraction of the city’s population, are the majority of murder and violent crime victims. This is not a situation that we can afford to ignore or hope will resolve itself. It is a crisis that calls for our collective action and commitment to change. Demanding safety should not mean blind obedience to the right-wing Republicans who tell us we must accept police brutality to have streets. However, it must also not lead to acquiescence to the social experiments being perpetrated by white liberal Democrats who tell us we must accept dangerous streets, drug dens, child sex predators, and more in the name of “justice”. We all know those same white liberals live behind safe walls or in well-policed suburbs.

We refuse to accept that merely hiring more police officers will solve the problem because our police department has for years been a force for segregation, oppression, and brutality against communities of color. However, the fact that Dallas has one of the lowest numbers of police officers, particularly in black neighborhoods, must be discussed. We need more Police Officers but they must be from our community, responsible, and held accountable for their actions.

An increase in police presence alone is not the answer. The city’s homeless population has been on the rise, fueled by a combination of economic hardship, lack of affordable housing, and the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and frankly the deterioration of those of us dealing with mental health issues. This rise in homelessness is not just a humanitarian crisis; it is also a public safety issue, as areas with high rates of homelessness often see an increase in crime.

Yet, amidst this crisis, the city council appears to be in a state of inaction. Despite the escalating crime rates, the police shortage, and the growing homelessness problem, the council has yet to take decisive action to address these issues. This lack of action is not just disappointing; it is a failure of leadership that is leaving our neighborhoods to bear the brunt of the crisis.

A disturbing trend has emerged in this crisis. Homeless camps and vagrants, often associated with increased crime rates and drug use, are allowed to exist in Black neighborhoods, while wealthier areas remain largely unaffected. This is a clear example of systemic inequality, where the burden of social issues is disproportionately placed on underserved communities. This is not a mere oversight, but a policy failure that allows such disparities to persist.

We are often presented with a false choice: accept high crime rates as a consequence of systemic issues or tolerate heavy-handed policing as the price of safety. This narrative, perpetuated by both liberals and conservatives, is both misleading and dangerous. We deserve both safety and justice, and we should not have to choose between the two.

Addressing the crisis in Dallas requires a multifaceted approach. We need to invest in community-led initiatives that tackle the root causes of crime, such as poverty and lack of education. We need to address the police shortage by investing in recruitment and retention, and by ensuring that our police forces are held to the highest standards of conduct and accountability while also being integrated with the communities they serve. We also need to tackle the homelessness crisis by providing support services for those in need and removing the easy way out of living on the street while engaging in degeneracy.

The crisis in Dallas’s Black neighborhoods is a pressing issue that demands our immediate attention. We cannot afford to be swayed by false choices or divisive narratives. We deserve both safety and justice, and it is high time that our city leaders stepped up to the plate to deliver both.