As violent crime rises in Fort Worth, police, mayor affirm plan to combat shootings
As shootings and other violent crime continue to swell in Fort Worth, the city’s police department on Monday publicly affirmed its strategy to quell the crisis.
An element of the plan is a focus on arresting violent, repeat offenders, Police Chief Neil Noakes said at a press conference with Mayor Mattie Parker at the department’s headquarters.
“There are people walking the streets of Fort Worth who are violent, who have no business with guns, shooting one another,” Noakes said. “People are dying.”
There were 118 homicide victims in Fort Worth in 2021, a 27-year record high.
Violent crime is often concentrated in a relatively small number of areas and involves a relatively small number of people, police said.
Analysis of violent crime in Fort Worth in the last 12 months showed 2.9% of Fort Worth’s 824 police reporting areas, which are zones of just several blocks, account for 22.39% of all the city’s reported violent crime, Noakes said.
“We will focus our efforts on violence-prone places such as drug houses, illegal game rooms and open-air drug markets,” according to the plan prepared by police commanders.
The strategy’s goal is a 10% decrease in overall violent crime in the next 12 months. It will focus on decreasing homicides, aggravated assaults and robberies. Other goals are the improvement of neighborhood conditions in areas experiencing acute violent crime and of police-community relations.
The strategy is called Fort Worth Safe and began last summer.
Murder/non-negligent manslaughter has increased by 68.6% (70 to 118) between 2019 and 2021. Aggravated assaults increased by 59.37% (2,427 to 3,868). There was a 24.2% decrease in robbery (953 to 722).
Police have partnered with Texas Christian University to assist with data analysis, and the institution will offer recommendations based on best practices, and assess tactics and strategies.
The city is negotiating with Rutgers University to assist with risk terrain modeling, which diagnoses environmental conditions that lead to crime.
Parker said that she supported providing the police department with the budget it needs.
“We will not stop until every single community member in every single ZIP code feels safe in their homes, in their neighborhoods, in their parks,” she said. “And we absolutely have some work to do.”
This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 5:32 PM.
