All right, I get it. Someone wants us to be afraid, very afraid.
One local political mailer that came to our house proclaims in all caps: “THE BOTTOM OF YOUR BALLOT IS OUR LAST LINE OF DEFENSE!” A shadowy, faceless figure in a hoodie and jeans illustrates the danger. Another mailer announces, again in all caps, that Dallas has become “A HAVEN FOR CRIMINALS.”
Well, darn. I’ve lived in Dallas 35 years. How did I not notice?
These ads irk me. The mailers and related television advertisements are as manipulative as any social media algorithm. Their tone matches the rhetoric of some national candidates on the November ballot. Call it “Dallas Carnage.”
One logical result of these ads could be to make residents so fearful they never leave their homes or they flee Dallas altogether. At the very least, they distract potential voters from reading the fine print about three Dallas charter propositions on the November ballot and from evaluating judicial candidates individually. The ads encourage impulsive choices, not thoughtful votes.
Fear can agitate and motivate, as campaign strategists have long understood, but no worthwhile politician or political campaign offers fear as the only message. Consider two-term President Barack Obama and The Audacity of Hope. Consider President Ronald Reagan, who won his second term in a landslide, and his vision of a “shining city upon a hill.” Campaigns that amplify fear usually produce bad public policy and reward candidates who talk tough but are underqualified for the offices they seek.
Fearmongering political ads always trigger my skeptic nerve. Why are these ads trash-talking Dallas? Who wants me scared and why? Even if the mailers’ claims are true, are the proposed solutions practical, wise and effective?
The answer to the last question is an emphatic, all-caps, NO! Dallas propositions S, T, and U are like mowing your yard with a flamethrower. Yes, the grass will be shorter afterward, but there’s a good chance you’ll burn down your house and fence, and your neighbors’ house as well.
The first proposal allows residents to sue Dallas, and recover legal fees, if they feel it is violating any ordinance, portion of its charter, or state law. (A couple decades ago, conservative Texas politicians would have led the charge against this proposal.)
The second proposition could have an unelected 0.1% of Dallas residents (1,400 out of 1,304,379) decide the city manager’s performance-based pay and continued employment via a survey.
The final proposal is unrealistic and awkwardly worded. It requires Dallas to employ at least 4,000 sworn officers — the department has about 3,100 now — and dedicate at least half of any increase in annual revenue to police and fire pensions. The problem is that there aren’t 4,000 people who want to be, and are qualified to be, Dallas police officers. Google “Dallas Police Department.” Click on Join DPD and you’ll see that the department is recruiting constantly here and across the country and still coming up short.
Dallas isn’t alone in this situation. Many U.S. cities struggle to fill public safety jobs. Dallas is the nation’s ninth-largest city and we have the ninth-biggest police department, so we’re doing about as well as our peers.
Last, to anyone who believes that having more law enforcement officers around automatically makes you safer, I have one word: Uvalde.
No matter what these mailers imply, violent crime in Dallas has been significantly worse in the past. In 1990, the city recorded 447 murders. Dallas murders peaked at 500 in 1991.
Last year, it suffered 246 homicides. That’s 246 too many, but mercifully, it is hundreds fewer than back in the bleak years of the crack epidemic.
Public safety doesn’t begin and end with police. Loose, aggressive dogs require well-equipped, well-trained, decently paid animal control officers to respond. Late weekend hours at recreation centers might entice teenagers away from hanging out at gas station parking lots and fast-food places. The ballot propositions could divert resources away from those services.
If you want to see carnage, drive on North Texas roads. Vehicle wrecks cause injuries or deaths daily, and the amount of public and private property damaged is a huge drain on personal and local government budgets. The crazy driving problem extends well beyond our city limits, but according to the Texas Department of Transportation, crashes in Dallas killed 205 people in 2023.
More police officers working traffic enforcement isn’t the only way to combat the problem. Red-light cameras worked. (I should know. I earned two red-light tickets in a month after our son started at a new school farther from home. I paid them and slowed down.) Anyone concerned about public safety in Dallas should contact their Texas legislators and ask why they outlawed this effective and relatively inexpensive public safety tool.
When faced with something scary, instinct usually takes over. But there’s another option: think. Quickly run through possible scenarios to ensure that the action you choose doesn’t leave you facing something worse.
If the yard needs cutting and a flamethrower is the only equipment at hand, let the grass grow a little longer until you find a more appropriate, less destructive tool.
Jennifer Nagorka is a freelance writer in Dallas.
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