Dallas Murder Rate Down 25% Since 2004

[TXCharlie]

Simple: Criminals out of jail increases crime and wrecks the local economy.
Police putting them in jail reduces crime and improves the economy.

Your opinions of whether these stories got it right?

Dallas Logs Fewer Murders
http://www.nbc5i.com/newsbycounty/10625075/detail.html



While the number of murders is up this year in most cities, Dallas saw a decrease, officials said.

For the second year in a row, Dallas had fewer murders. So far this year, Dallas has logged 183 murders, which is down about 6 percent from 2005. There were 244 murders in 2004.

Dallas police official Gil Cerda said they’re targeting gangs, drugs and guns [in the wrong hands] more led to the drop in murders.

"We'll continue several of these programs,” said. “Obviously they've been working. They're helping us spiral down these homicides throughout the year."

[TXCharlie]

This is a 2004 - 2006 continuing story which details the turning point of crime in Dallas:

Supporting Consultant Summary Report (30 pages - A must read):
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/...images/bah.pdf

Part I:
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/...as/dallas.html

Part II:
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/...as/crime2.html

Update 2005:
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/...nt/tpmain.html

Exerpts:

[2004 Story:] "This decline [in quality of life] is neither inevitable nor irreversible," the consultants wrote. A strong dose of basic management principles plus an infusion of political courage "can alter the trajectory and break the cycle."
...

A dysfunctional government -- and an "anti-business aura" -- drive businesses to avoid the city and discourages business leaders from civic involvement.
...

But to get there, Dallas must start from where it is. And that means recognizing where it is.
...

You get what you pay for. You reap what you sow. Those lessons are coming home to the city of Dallas as it stakes its future on its southern sector – a panorama of blight whose ills are substantially of the city's own making.
...

It was as if Dallas City Hall were an aircraft flying blind and in the clouds, in a steep nosedive, with a disoriented pilot.

Nearly a year and a half later, a follow-up analysis shows that the flight crew has begun to get its bearings.
...

"Dallas is no longer in complete denial," according to the consultants hired by The News, citing a survey in which the mayor and City Council agreed the city needs to change course. "But despite some improvements, Dallas remains in crisis."

Unchallenged, the report said, the city will continue on a downward spiral.

It works like this: High crime and cratering schools send droves of middle-class families into communities like Frisco, Rowlett and Garland. Eventually, businesses follow. Dallas sales and property taxes plummet, reducing funds the city needs to fight crime and fix its schools.
...

The city has taken a fragmented approached to the project – a set of tires here, a new radio there, without knowing whether they will fit Dallas, or suit its long-term needs.
...

To be sure, dramatic changes are happening in selected parts of the southern sector.

New subdivisions are appearing for the first time in 40 years. City Hall helped spur the creation of new business parks at Pinnacle Park and Mountain Creek, which have brought thousands of jobs south of the Trinity. The University of North Texas is establishing a campus that should transform the nearby communities.
...

A crime rate is a narrow window through which to view the fluid and chaotic streets patrolled by Dallas cop Hector Roa, and a wide-angled view of a troubled code enforcement department would distort the value of inspector Bob Curry's home-by-home work.

Statistics offer a big picture. People provide profound insights.