The Washington , D.C., criminal justice system is failing to protect its citizens.

In the past month alone, a 9-year-old girl was shot and wounded in southeast Washington, and a young woman was brutally murdered in a northeast Washington hotel room.

This year, Washington has seen 65 homicides — a 25% increase from this time last year, according to the Metropolitan Police Department . Violent crime has increased overall by 4%, and property crimes have increased by 29%.

Despite these disturbing statistics, the Council of the District of Columbia chairman recently denied the city has a crime crisis, commenting that "while perception is important, the reality is less concerning."

And when asked last November what she would do differently to tackle juvenile crime in her next term, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser responded, "We've literally thrown everything at the problem." This is a troubling quote considering violent crime involving youth has continued to rise during her tenure . In 2018, there were 148 carjackings. In 2022, there were 485, with more than two-thirds of arrests involving juveniles.

The cavalier attitude with which Washington leadership is treating its crime crisis is a slap in the face to the city’s residents. It's time for leadership to stop grandstanding and start implementing evidence-based solutions to improve public safety.

Local policymakers should take their cues from Dallas, Texas — the only top-10 city in terms of population to see decreases in every major category of violent crime for two consecutive years . There were roughly 1,700 fewer victims of violent crime in Dallas in 2022 compared to 2020.

Instead of "throwing everything at the problem" and politicking, Dallas leadership worked together and brought in criminology experts to develop a comprehensive, evidence-based " Violent Crime Reduction Plan ."

The first major component of this plan is hot-spot policing, which focuses law enforcement resources on areas of the city that experience a disproportionate amount of violent crime. To determine these crime "hot spots," Dallas leadership split the city into more than 100,000 "micro-grids" and found that 47-50 of these grids were responsible for 10% of the city's violent crime. By focusing its resources on these grids, Dallas police were able to reverse negative crime trends. 2021 was on pace to be more violent than an already violent 2020, but that changed when Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia implemented the "Violent Crime Reduction Plan" midyear.

Hot-spot policing is one of the few anti-crime tactics consistently proven to reduce violent crime. Any serious crime reduction plan should include it. But police leadership must ensure it is appropriately implemented. To reduce violent crime successfully, "hot-spot" policing should be a collaborative effort with community residents — not an attempt to profile them.

Likewise, prioritizing police energy and resources on the most serious offenses is vital since police departments around the country, including in Washington , are severely understaffed. Overwhelmed police often have responsibilities far beyond tackling serious crime, such as handling mental health crises and other noncriminal calls. As a result, the core mission of policing can fall by the wayside. The homicide clearance rate (percentage of homicides solved) in Washington, for example, has been on a decline, dropping to just 62% in 2022 compared to 95% in 2011 . In contrast, Dallas cleared 74% of homicides in 2022 and 80% in 2021 .

Police need support from the community and other specialized programs so they can focus on their mission of preventing and solving serious crimes. One approach Dallas has implemented to focus resources appropriately is a co-responder model called the Rapid Integrated Group Healthcare Team, or RIGHT Care for short.

RIGHT Care teams combine police, fire department paramedics, and social workers to address certain 911 emergencies in which a person is suffering a mental health crisis. The goal is to divert people away from jail and provide them with the specialized health services they need. In 2021, RIGHT Care was able to divert 1,500 people from jail successfully . The city has continued to expand the program since, with more teams and around-the-clock services in each precinct.

Dallas proves that police are just one part of any successful strategy to tackle violent crime. Partnerships with community leaders and organizations are critical. Downtown Dallas is one such partner that works on homelessness outreach, among other missions. Dallas police also partner with Urban Specialists , an organization that provides mentorship and support services to youth at high risk of perpetrating or being affected by violent crime.

Dallas has also partnered with community organizations that help improve urban blight, such as rehabbing vacant lots and increasing street lighting, which has been shown to reduce violent crime significantly. Dallas has already seen positive results from this endeavor. For example, the most likely area for violent gun crime to occur in southeast Dallas dropped to 463rd in less than two years .

Dallas's success shows what is possible when a city's leadership comes together and tackles its problems head-on with a clear vision backed by evidence. Rather than dismissing crime to the detriment of Washington citizens (myself included), it's time Washington's leaders take a page out of Dallas's handbook and start getting serious about our city’s problems.

Greg Glod is a fellow for Americans for Prosperity focused on public safety and criminal justice reform and the co-host of Lava for Good's The War On Drugs podcast.