If the current pace holds, Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle could preside over a 20 percent reduction in homicides by year’s end, says the Dallas Morning News. It is a goal that few believed he could achieve when he announced it in January. The chief is likely to fall short of his overall crime-reduction goal, which was 10 percent for the year. Through last Thursday, overall violent and property crime was down about 5 percent, according to preliminary figures.
“When he announced last year that he wanted to get murder down 20 percent, I was pretty shocked that he’d be that bold,” said Mayor Laura Miller. Kunkle launched several anticrime programs. They include Operation Kitchen Sink, aimed at rampant drug dealing in apartment complexes in far northeast Dallas, and Operation Disruption, a roving band of officers that descends on blighted neighborhoods to make arrests and disrupt criminal activity. There were 195 killings through Thursday. Last year, Dallas logged 244. The City Council should reward the chief with more resources, Miller said. She said that funding an additional 100 officers over the past two years is a good start, but it’s not enough.