By Steve Thompson
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — Dallas police are looking at their busiest crime zones from a different perspective this year, using a new system called a Target Area Grid to more accurately focus their efforts to combat violent crime.
Drilling down: Setting aside traditional beats and reporting areas, which can vary in size, police officials have broken the city into hundreds of 1/16th-square-mile sections to better compare crime data and designate hot spots. “Instead of having officers cover the whole area, they tune into the more specific grid within the area where the crime is occurring,” said Sgt. Steve Armon, who supervises the department’s crime analysis unit. “It better enables us to drill down more specifically to exactly where the crime’s going on.”
Few surprises: Many of the 26 hot spots for violent crime in 2008 (see map) are familiar to police, including the troubled Five Points neighborhood in northeast Dallas. The area, so-called because of the five major streets that intersect near Greenville Avenue and Park Lane, is home to a multitude of apartments. “I’d say the top 10 from last year are probably going to be the top 10 from this year,” Armon said. “Those are those chronic hot spots.”
Putting data to work: Police say the grid system will allow officers from across the department to determine where and when more resources are needed. “They see that on Friday evenings, this is a hot spot for robberies; they can go right to that hot spot,” Armon said. “It’s not just for the division people. It’s for the other resources: your tactical units, your operation disruption units, your gang units. “So everybody can kind of see, where is it occurring and when it is occurring.”
Copyright 2009 The Dallas Morning News