{"id":243010,"date":"2026-04-10T03:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T03:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/243010\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T03:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T03:23:13","slug":"fort-worth-police-chief-eddie-garcia-on-2026-q1-crime-drop-and-sudden-april-violence-as-city-heads-into-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/243010\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Worth Police Chief Eddie Garcia on 2026 Q1 crime drop — and sudden April violence as city heads into summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

As warmer months approach, Fort Worth police say they are preparing for a seasonal rise in activity, even as new data shows crime declined at the start of the year.<\/p>\n

From January through March, overall crime in Fort Worth dropped more than 8% compared to the same period last year and nearly 19% compared to 2024, according to department data.<\/p>\n

Police Chief Eddie Garcia said the department has focused on deploying officers strategically, using data, and strengthening community relationships. He said they are also working with criminologists on the latest crime plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been working on ensuring that our officers are in the right places at the right times,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n

The first-quarter numbers show notable declines in several major categories. Aggravated assaults fell more than 11% year-over-year and more than 23% compared to 2024, while robberies dropped more than 36%. Motor vehicle thefts also saw a sharp decrease, down nearly 30% from last year and almost 48% from 2024.<\/p>\n

Homicides dropped to 12 cases in the first quarter, down from 20 during the same period last year, though still higher than 2024 levels.<\/p>\n

Despite the overall downward trend, recent violence in early April is raising concerns among residents and city leaders.<\/p>\n

In the past week alone, three people were injured in a domestic-related shooting, a 16-year-old was killed in an accidental shooting, and another teenager died in a drive-by shooting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At a community \u201cBeyond the Badge\u201d meeting this week, residents voiced concerns about gun and youth violence and called for collective action. \u201cWe have to come together to solve this problem,\u201d one pastor said during the meeting.<\/p>\n

For many victims and their families, statistics don’t offer comfort.<\/p>\n

Mercy Mungwa, whose mother was shot inside their Fort Worth home, said the impact of violence is deeply personal. \u201cMy mom was on the floor in a pool of blood,\u201d she said. \u201cWhy was someone shooting into my home?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne life is always going to be too many,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cWe have a lot of work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia acknowledged the challenges ahead, especially as the city prepares for a busy summer that includes additional demands tied to international events like FIFA.<\/p>\n

While encouraged by the first quarter numbers, Garcia said the department\u2019s realistic goal is crime reduction \u2014 not elimination. Garcia said they will work on sustaining progress. \u201cWe\u2019re not screaming success,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019re on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch our full interview with Chief Garcia below:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As warmer months approach, Fort Worth police say they are preparing for a seasonal rise in activity, even…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[92928,7884,116,118,117,3737,81527],"class_list":{"0":"post-243010","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-chief-garcia","9":"tag-eddie-garcia","10":"tag-fort-worth","11":"tag-fort-worth-headlines","12":"tag-fort-worth-news","13":"tag-fort-worth-police","14":"tag-youth-violence"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}