DALLAS — After a month packed with more than 40 murders in the city of Dallas, many residents are on edge.
Some are concerned. Many just want to know what police plan to do and how the community can help.
Thursday, the Dallas Police Department hosted a South Dallas Community Safety meeting. The forum was held days after four people were shot and an innocent bystander killed at Jim’s Car Wash on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
”Right now, I’m not optimistic about none of the crimes going down,” said neighbor Yalonda Edwards. “If anything, I’m optimistic about them going up.”
Edwards lives at an apartment complex in South Dallas where a young man was killed while sitting in a parked car last week. Another man was murdered just blocks away the same night.
“It’s terrible," said Joy Reid, a South Dallas resident. "It’s not safe at all. We have kids that are being killed. It’s not safe at all these days.”
The Dallas Police Department said Thursday’s meeting was an opportunity to discuss how the community and police can address safety concerns in their neighborhoods.
“We need more officers to patrol the areas where the crimes are occurring," Edwards said.
City leaders and police are calling on the community’s help as crime continues to increase.
Staffing at the Dallas Police Department is down. In recent weeks, some detectives are being moved around to other units to help with the growing number of homicide cases. DPD has also launched a special Homicide Task Force to help with the crisis.
“There’s plenty out here for us to do to save each other,” said Willie Mae Coleman, president of the Bertrand Neighborhood Association.
In addition to Dallas Police Department’s community safety meeting, there are a variety of other groups planning grassroots anti-crime programs and initiatives in the coming days and weeks.