Initiatives

Chief Eddie Garcia announced his “Weed and Seed” Initiative shortly after arriving in Dallas. While the premise sounds simple, it is actually quite complex. Using very specific data, culled through by highly trained analysts to pinpoint high crime areas, the Dallas Police Department will increase their police presence in these specific areas to: (1) fight crime and “weed” out the criminal element and (2) partner with residents and nonprofit organizations to help serve those communities, “seeding” trust and increasing positive police presence and interactions with officers in these areas that are hardest hit by crime.

In response to the Chief’s “Weed and Seed” Initiative, the city of Dallas has seen a drop in violent crimes in its first year of operation. Safer Dallas has considered it a privilege to partner with Chief Garcia on this initiative. Safer Dallas has had the special opportunity to focus on Chief Garcia’s highlighted elementary school, John Neely Bryan, which is located in South Dallas in a hot spot neighborhood that sees more than its fair share of violent crimes. The kick-off event, a Back To School Welcome by Chief Garcia and his command staff, distributed more than four hundred gift bags full of school supplies, crafting, and educational supplies. It was amazing to see the transformation so clear on the students’ faces when a uniformed officer approached them with a big smile and a present to unwrap.

The momentum continued, when Safer Dallas partnered with AT&T on the AT&T and DPD Sponsored Book Fair. Chief Garcia and his team hand delivered 400 wrapped books to the kids in their classrooms, and Chief Garcia sat on the floor with classrooms full of kids and talked about police and education; the students were full of smiles and giggles before they unwrapped their new books. For the rest of the week, all students were welcomed into the library where they were able to pick out three additional books to take home and treasure.

SDBD and DPD capped off 2021 partnering with Target on a special Christmas event, this time for both the students and their families. First, DPD and Target surprised all the kids during their classroom Christmas parties with pizzas, juice boxes, and a wrapped toy for each student. Once all the “Santas” had delivered their gifts, the teams from Target and DPD moved outside to load up 30 pound boxes of shelf stable food into parents’ cars, with at least one box per each student going home with families, to help support them through the long holiday break.