This is a list on which no neighborhood wants to be included — unfortunately, a section of the Lake Highlands area took the number two spot.
According to the Dallas Police Department’s list of violent crime hot spots, the Forest-Audelia neighborhood ranks the second most dangerous Dallas neighborhood, with more than 300 violent crimes last year.
This comes as little shock to those of us who live around or frequently drive through the crime ridden Forest-Audelia area, and, in fact, it’s a good thing that we are recognized on this list. You see, according to this CBS11 story, this study and subsequent list is part of a police department effort to place officers where they are most needed — now, perhaps that area will get the attention and help it deserves. (It’s like being the worst football team in the league. It bites, but, then again, you get the first draft pick.)
There is a lot of work to be done there though. When I talked to our new Northeast Division Commander Tom Lawrence last month, he acknowledged that the area’s biggest problem remains the dense apartment communities, and according to the CBS11 story, police say all the hot spots have a high concentration of residents, mostly in apartment complexes.
The answer, Lawrence has said, lies in neighborhood associations, crime watch groups, police and the city all working together, pressuring apartment managers into making their communities safer.
Our Skillman-Royal neighborhood also makes the list at number seven, with 179 violent crimes.
Topping the violent crimes charts with 350 murders, rapes, robberies and assaults is nearby Five Points, a cluster of apartments and businesses east of Greenville, north of Northwest Highway.
