Anyone who's been around for a few years can probably remember a time when leaving your doors and windows unlocked was considered normal. I can personally remember, not that long ago, driving down a neighborhood street and seeing several open garage doors, many of which didn't even have a car in the driveway. It didn't take very long for things to change here in what I would consider the extremely friendly and neighborly city of Dallas. At just a glance, one might say, that although the world as we know it continues to change, the city of Dallas is hard at work promoting an environment for all residents to feel comfortable living, working, and raising their families in. You might get this feeling from the fact that the police department continues to boast a declining crime rate. You may even take comfort in the fact that many city council members believe that alarm monitoring is no longer needed in Dallas since the city council voted in 2006 to stop police response for home and business security alarm systems. But for residents of Dallas, a glance is not nearly good enough to bring them comfort that, in this great city, they can trust that their lives and the lives of their families will be safe. Unfortunately, when you go beyond the glance and begin to look at the hard facts, and when you begin to hear the stories of the citizens who live in Dallas, you will see a much different picture. Many people are beginning to wonder if they will ever be able to have a true sense of security living within the city limits of Dallas.



There doesn't seem to be a shortage of reasons for residents to have serious concerns about their safety. It is true that for the last few years the overall crime rate in Dallas is on the decline; but, during this time, violent crimes such as rape are increasing along with commercial burglaries. I was amazed when I heard that, according to the FBI's most current data, Dallas was ranked the most dangerous city out of the ten largest cities in the United States and was ranked #1 in violent crime among cities with a population over 1 million. These statistics are in comparison to cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia. When I heard this information I was completely baffled. Why would the many members of the city council and police department of a major city, which has been branded by the FBI as being the most dangerous city to live in, want to stop responding to burglar alarms for homes and business? Fortunately, due to the outcry of the citizens of Dallas, the city council decided to reject the proposal to stop responding to home break-ins. However, for what ever reason, they decided to pass this proposal for Dallas? businesses. I wasn't overly surprised when I found out that commercial robberies are now up 6.5 percent in the last year.

This question of the city of Dallas? ability to keep its citizens safe has, once again, come to the forefront of many local residents. This is a result of the events that took place during the very early hours of Friday, March 16, 2007. At around 3:45am, on this day, the Dallas police received a call from the 2500 block of Kenesaw Dr reporting a break-in. According to the police, four assailants broke into a family's home with automatic weapons, beating one of the family's two children, and shooting both the husband and the wife. By itself, this heinous crime is not only extremely heart wrenching but is enough to strike fear in almost any resident. As a part of a larger pattern of increasing criminal invasions and violent crimes, it leads many to ask the question: ?Can the City of Dallas keep its people safe??