Mayor Johnson lauds police chief’s plan, gets support of former Philadelphia mayor
DALLAS — Mayor Eric Johnson on Wednesday lauded Police Chief Eddie Garcia’s completion of a violent crime reduction plan, which was also praised by Michael Nutter, the former mayor of Philadelphia.
Chief Garcia, who took office in February, presented the new plan to the City Council on Wednesday as murders and aggravated assaults continued to outpace last year’s high numbers. In 2020, Dallas had more murders than in any year since 1998.
“This plan is the single most important document coming out of City Hall this year — bar none,” Mayor Johnson said. “Public safety is our top priority, and if people don’t feel safe in our city, nothing else we do as a council or try to accomplish here at City Hall will matter. Period.
“And while we need everyone to play a part in making our communities safer, law enforcement plays a major role in deterring and disrupting criminal activity.”
The mayor said that while no one could expect the plan to be perfect, he supported Chief Garcia’s willingness to detail holistic and comprehensive strategies to deal with people, places, and behaviors associated with crime; his engagement of criminologists at the University of Texas at San Antonio; his emphasis on data-based decision-making; his incorporation of recommendations made by the Mayor’s Task Force on Safe Communities; and his calls for numerous city departments and offices to play a role in public safety.
Mayor Johnson, who is pushing a “Back to Basics” agenda that emphasizes public safety, had initially requested a violent crime reduction plan from the city manager in late 2019. Under the Dallas City Charter, the city manager oversees the police department, and the mayor cannot give orders to the city manager’s subordinates.
The mayor made the request after reaching out to other mayors about crime issues in the fall of 2019. Mayor Johnson, who lived in Philadelphia while pursuing a law degree, sought advice specifically from Nutter, who served as the city’s mayor from 2008–2016. Nutter had directed then-Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey to develop a crime reduction plan, which was successful.
Nutter on Wednesday commended Mayor Johnson for his “leadership, foresight, and commitment to public safety” by requesting the plan.
“Needless to say, I’m particularly impressed that Mayor Johnson and Chief Garcia are utilizing and seeking to implement some of the many public safety tactics and policies that I worked to develop with our Police Commissioner, Charles Ramsey, when I was Mayor of Philadelphia,” Nutter said.
“The key is leadership — the Mayor, the Police Chief, the City Manager, City Council and most importantly, the citizens working together for safety. Mayor Johnson, through leadership, planning and vision, will certainly work to ensure a safer Dallas, and the citizens will be the beneficiaries. I am proud of the work that he is doing, and again, I commend Mayor Johnson for his efforts.”
The full text of Mayor Nutter’s statement is below:
“I want to commend Mayor Eric Johnson for his leadership, foresight, and commitment to public safety by requesting a new public safety plan and strategy from Chief Eddie Garcia. Needless to say, I’m particularly impressed that Mayor Johnson and Chief Garcia are utilizing and seeking to implement some of the many public safety tactics and policies that I worked to develop with our Police Commissioner, Charles Ramsey, when I was Mayor of Philadelphia.
“When I think about the tough times in the years before I became Mayor in 2008 — the violence, the bloodshed, the shootings and killings of so many of my fellow Philadelphians — I knew that on Day 1, we needed a plan to stop the violence and return our streets to our law abiding citizens. And that is what we focused on with some impressive results. Commissioner Ramsey designed a new plan for Philadelphia, just like Mayor Johnson now has a new plan for Dallas.
“We significantly reduced homicides, shooting and almost all violent crime to levels that we had not seen since the mid 1960s, including a 30% drop in homicides by the end of my tenure. The eight years of my tenure as Mayor were the safest consecutive eight years in modern Philadelphia history, because we had a plan, great leadership by the Commissioner and his team, commitment from the brave men and women in uniform who are out on the street every day, and much support from our citizens who wanted to be safe from crime in their own communities.
“Commissioner Ramsey and I also insisted on a community public safety engagement model, helping to restore trust between the citizens and our public safety personnel. Just like any new bold and dynamic effort, we had many successes, we had some failures, but we were constantly learning and striving to get better. We used proven models of safety strategy, as well as innovations that we may have seen work in other jurisdictions.
“The key is leadership — the Mayor, the Police Chief, the City Manager, City Council and most importantly, the citizens working together for safety. Mayor Johnson, through leadership, planning and vision, will certainly work to ensure a safer Dallas, and the citizens will be the beneficiaries. I am proud of the work that he is doing, and again, I commend Mayor Johnson for his efforts.”
