Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson announced Monday he is creating a task force to combat a recent uptick in violent crime without the use of law enforcement.
Citing a 9-year-old girl killed last week, Mr. Johnson said, “We owe it to Brandoniya to do everything we can to prevent violent crime in our communities.”
“We cannot rely on law enforcement to solve this problem,” he said, a local Fox News affiliate reported. “There is something going on in our communities in Dallas that’s leading to this.”
The mayor said the task force will provide ideas to him by the end of the year
The city had five murders in three days last week, requiring state troopers to help cover the increased patrols, the Fox affiliate reported.
The Mayor’s Task Force on Safe Communities will review “holistic and data-driven solutions for communities disproportionately affected by violent crime.”
“It’s my hope that the Mayor’s Task Force on Safe Communities will collect and analyze all of the available data and engage with key stakeholders as well as the broader Dallas community,” Mr. Johnson said. “And then come up with specific recommendations for me and the city’s leaders to consider and implement.”
The mayor announced the task force would include a Methodist pastor, an advocate against child poverty and the leader of a Latino civil rights organization.
He said law enforcement officials will not be involved, as it is about dealing with Dallas’ communities.
Dallas Police Association President Mike Mata praised the move.
“Even if we put an officer on every single corner in this city, there’s some crimes we can’t stop, not without the community’s help,” Mr. Mata said. “We don’t have a lot of time. We’re already sitting on 140-plus murders, and there’s lives out there that will, unfortunately, be killed if we don’t act.”
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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