Neighborhood Crime Stats Surprise Police

DALLAS - A Dallas neighborhood has made tremendous strides in fighting crime. Its turnaround is surprising even the police department.

It’s now a common sight to see students walking home from school in the northeast Dallas neighborhood known as Five Points. But it wasn’t always that way.

“Five years ago it was not an attractive place to live,” said Deputy Chief Tom Lawrence.

Vickery Meadow Improvement District spokeswoman Angelina Avalos said the neighborhood turned people off. It was a scary place just by perception, she said.

Hoping to turn it around, the police department started meeting with the improvement district, a community group that serves a three and a half square mile area including Five Points.

Extra patrols were added and youth programs were started.

One such program is a midnight basketball league. Cops and kids play until midnight on the weekends.

“The kids love it. We feed them. They get to play basketball. It’s a really good time,” said Sgt. Sheldon Smith.

The partnership seems to be working. For the first time in 20 years there were no murders in the area and violent crime is down 41 percent.

The city of Dallas has also started building new schools and bought a high-crime apartment complex in the neighborhood.

By Feb. 1, all remaining tenants at Acacia Village at Park Lane and Shady Brook must move out so demolition can start at the end of the year. Eventually the site will be home to a new library.

Tesfaye Zelelew said he is now proud to live in Five Points because his 5-year-old can enjoy the neighborhood.

“He’s playing now. We used to keep him at home, but he can play outside now,” he said.

Instead of being known as a hot spot for crime, police said the neighborhood is serving as a model for other communities with a reputation of violence.