Jago Times "English Edition" Best Online Newspaper
Vittor Strausz Jardim doesn’t remember how his assault happened, but he can’t forget how he felt the Dallas Police Department treated him after he was attacked after a soccer game.
After Strausz Jardim left an intense indoor soccer match in late October, a man hit him in the jaw so hard he blacked out, broke his jaw and broke some of his teeth. A witness and Strausz Jardim called 911 three times within one hour, according to recordings. Police didn’t show up.
“I felt powerless and very vulnerable,” he said.
According to police statistics, the department’s responses to calls like Strausz Jardim’s were slower in 2018 than in the previous two years — despite 7,621 fewer dispatched calls than in 2017.
Dallas police have struggled in recent years to keep response times low while the department’s ranks shrank by hundreds — something officials have attributed primarily to pension and pay troubles. December’s numbers showed some improvement, but still weren’t enough to make up for 11 months of difficulties.