DALLAS — A new report by Dallas’ top police watchdog and activists shows Black people are overrepresented in low-level marijuana arrests, spurring calls for an expansion of the de-enforcement policy in the city.
The study — led by Dallas’ Office of Community Police Oversight, a civil rights group called The Leadership Conference Education Fund and local community organizer Tamara Neal — examined public arrest data from 2018 to 2022 but acknowledged room for error because of incomplete or missing entries in Dallas’ database.
Although the overall number of low-level arrests steadily dropped, the report found people of color were disproportionately impacted — especially for possession of up to 2 ounces of marijuana and criminal trespassing. Public intoxication arrests, which made up 64% of low-level arrests, also showed a racial disparity, but with a smaller gap.
