DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - Dallas has recorded more murder cases in May than any other month since the 1990s, and the Dallas Police Association says fewer homicide detectives are working cases.
Three people were killed in separate cases Thursday night. Dallas police say a man was shot and killed after leaving a check-cashing business on Martin Luther King Boulevard. They say the gunman took the victim's money and ran off.
In a separate case at an apartment complex on Park Row, near Fair Park, a man was shot and was taken to the hospital by neighbors, but he died shortly after arriving.
A third shooting at an apartment complex near Marvin D. Love Freeway and I-20 left one person dead.
Police have not made arrests in any case.
The Dallas Police Association says the department has just 13 detectives working homicide cases, compared to 28 detectives in 2008. The union says Houston has 80 homicide detectives; San Antonio has almost 50.
The police association says the average homicide detective in Houston investigated 3.4 cases last year. Detectives in San Antonio averaged 7.9. In Dallas, each detective worked an average 12 cases last year.
The union says some detectives are being pulled from the cold case unit to investigate new homicides.
"The command staff has made adjustments to some investigative units to allow several detectives to be added and to supplement the homicide unit. These are experienced detectives who are very capable of investigating these cases," the Dallas Police Association wrote in a statement.
The Dallas Police Department has not confirmed any detectives have been moved. Chief Renee Hall has said investigators might be moved temporarily, but the cold case unit would not shut down.