Welcome to hell where you are welcome to sell — the situation on South Lamar in Dallas

by Michael Davis of Dallas Progress

When I speak about south Lamar, I am not referring to the Cedars. I am referring to the portion of Lamar that is in South Dallas.

In this area, we have a real bad situation in terms of crime. Most of it can be attributed to the type of behavior that is caused when you have a proliferation of nightclubs, liquor stores, and motels in a small radius.

Here is a graphic of the nightclubs on and around South Lamar.

Here is a graphic of the liquor stores on and around South Lamar.

The green arrow represents a newly-proposed nightclub. In a one-block radius of the newly proposed club, there are five other existing clubs.

On South Lamar alone, in the 300 number patrol beats (SE division), there have been 236 crimes from January 1st - December 19th. They include:

13 aggravated assaults

15 assaults

33 burglaries

18 robberies

These are only the crimes committed on Lamar; this doesn't even include the side streets.

In terms of making policy, we as elected and appointed officials have to make sure that we take these types of things into account when we decide where to allow new clubs to exist. If we don't protect all citizens equally in all corners of the city, we are failing our constituents.

DPD is stretched to the hilt because the leeches of the community aren't being shut down and are allowed to flourish. People complain about DPD, but they're stuck at the clubs and bars that cause all of the problems. What Avi Adelman is writing about on Lower Greenville is happening in this area as well. The people in South Dallas just have less resources and less of a voice.

We are beyond doing sweeps on South Lamar; we need business shut down.

I don't pretend to have all of the answers. As someone who grew up in these types of environments, as someone that has had to deal with things like people getting robbed and killed in front of our family home, I know what I'm talking about. Too many of these types of places in the same area asks for trouble.

It obvious that there are people that don't care where they put their businesses; it's up to us to help communities revitalize and reap the benefits of a better tomorrow.