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The images of a van being stolen with a four-year-old inside have raised new questions about crime control in southern Dallas.
Employees of businesses in the area of Bonnieview and Simpson Stuart roads said robberies are happening too often.
The same store where this carjacking with a child inside was caught on video was robbed six days previously by a man with a knife who didn’t care about being caught on camera.
Keandra Woodson and her friends in the Highland Hills part of the Dallas Police South Central sector say crimes are seemingly happening 24/7.
“It’s every day, sirens. Everyday I sit in my room window right here and all I hear is people dying every day and I don’t understand it,” said Highland Hills resident Marcus Owens.
The south central sector leads the city in homicides and business robberies. Police are trying to be visible and vigilant.
To try and combat some of the business crimes happening in the area, officers are supposed to stop into the various businesses once or twice per shift and then sign in on a sheet to document their visit. Merchants along Simpson Stewart and Bonnieview said so far it hasn't been happening.
One store manager showed FOX4 his business sign in sheet. He said not only has it not been signed since it was dropped off October 13, but he maintains no officers have stopped in either.
“I can’t say that I see the police all the time on this parking lot next door riding up and down,” said Williams Fried Chicken’s Tim Williams. “I support and I appreciate what they do.”
On the north end of the South Central Patrol Division, businesses at Sunnyvale and Ledbetter say police are present.
Two blocks from the Dollar General where Gabrielle Simmons was killed, all weekend police pressed pedestrians pulled cars over and raided drug dens.
“It’s present, you can see it and I’m just glad that they stepped up and did something about it,” Williams said.