Dallas moves forward with violence interrupters program; wants convenience stores to beef up surveillance

The city of Dallas is moving forward on two initiatives to decrease crime as the number of murders has exceeded last year’s total for the same time last year.

Homicides are up 24% this year, with parts of South Dallas, Pleasant Grove and Oak Cliff experiencing more than half of Dallas’ 57 homicides between January and April.

In an effort to curb the killings, the city has picked a contractor to run a new violence interrupters program where members of the community defuse tensions in neighborhoods to stop shootings. Officials also are looking to change an existing city law that would require convenience stores to improve their security systems, essentially to help police investigate robberies and aggravated assaults, the latter of which are also concerning.

Officials on Monday told Public Safety Committee members that they’ve selected Youth Advocate Programs Inc. to run the city’s violence interrupters program, which will focus on multiple levels of outreach, specifically in areas where shootings and homicides are the highest. The idea was pitched back in 2019.

The former second in command at the Dallas Police Department, David Pughes, who now oversees a new city department called the Office of Integrated Public Safety Solutions, is leading the charge.

Youth Advocate Programs also operates in Baltimore and Chicago. Dallas police officials have said many of their murders followed a conflict and occurred among people who have known each other.

Members of the committee mostly shared support for Youth Advocate Programs. The program’s implementation is awaiting a full City Council vote on April 28 to approve a contract. It’s unclear how long the contract will be for, but the program will cost $800,000 a year to run. The funds were budgeted from the city’s general fund.

Council member Casey Thomas on Monday said he was pleased the program’s president, Gary Ivory, was based in Dallas but wants to see the program hire from the neighborhood.

Ivory said that was his plan, adding that members can also “interface with the police.” The program’s areas of focus were not discussed Monday.

“We’ve been waiting a very long time for you,” Thomas said.

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Ivory said his goal was to get the program running within 60 days of the contract’s approval.

City officials on Monday talked about the issues of poverty and economic opportunity in neighborhoods. Youth Advocate Programs said it focuses on people who live in poverty, who have been in juvenile or adult detention and are between the ages of 14 to 25.

In the Southeast and South Central patrol divisions, which cover South Dallas, Pleasant Grove and Oak Cliff, 32 of the 57 homicides in the city occurred within those boundaries, according to police statistics from April 8. Total family violence assaults in Dallas are up about 12% this year, with police reporting 500 incidents compared with this time a year ago.

In Pleasant Grove, about 22% live below the poverty line, about 1.5 times the rate in Texas. In South Dallas, it’s about 29%.

The ZIP code where the North Central patrol division is located has the lowest number of murders and aggravated assaults, and 16.4% of its residents live below the poverty line.

Police are still operating under the department’s violent crime plan from former Police Chief U. Reneé Hall.

Officials on Monday said Dallas Police Chief Eddie García will release his plan in the coming weeks, but did not specify a date.

Police and the code compliance department on Monday also discussed an amendment to a 2008 ordinance that mandates convenience stores carry alarm and camera systems. The Code Compliance Department and city attorney’s office are preparing a resolution expected to go before the council, but a timeline was not given.

Police now want the stores to include an additional camera requirement for a total of three cameras — at the cash register, main entrance and exit.

Robberies are down so far this year compared with this time a year ago, but are showing an uptick from month to month. Criminologists have said robberies and burglaries dropped in major cities in 2020 amid the pandemic as more people stayed home.