A few months back, AT&T was concerned enough about copper theft across the City of Dallas that it took the unusual step of offering rewards for information on the troubling rise of the crime.
During that time, AT&T’s Vice President of External Affairs Michael Peterson commented on the severity of the threat: “When they take out our network, unfortunately, it imperils the lives and livelihoods of our customers,” reported NBC DFW.
Alarmingly, in June of 2024, AT&T customers in South Dallas experienced days-long outages of phone and internet services due to copper cable theft. This type of outage can be particularly dangerous for the infirm who need access to emergency services and other assistance.
Peterson’s company headquarters is not only in downtown Dallas; AT&T is a proud anchor tenant along Commerce Street. However, that area has been plagued by a 42% increase in violent crime over the years and has also suffered from an alarming increase in property and quality-of-life crimes.
Per Downtown Dallas Inc.’s 2024 Annual State of Downtown survey, the nonprofit that runs Dallas’ public improvement district, 9 out of 10 downtown residents report that homelessness is a significant or at least moderate problem. The same report indicates that nearly 50% believe the situation has worsened over the past year.
Dissatisfaction from residents comes as the city faces scrutiny for refusing to enforce Texas state laws around homeless camping and as viral videos of lewd acts by vagrants garner national attention.
Curiously, informal reporting suggests that Peterson appears to oppose a reform effort in the Texas legislature that would provide public improvement districts with a major increase in total funding and specific funds for security and quality of life improvements.
That same reform legislation seeks to increase accountability for how public improvement district dollars are spent – the type of accountability that might help address the damning statistics and downtown departures Dallas has suffered under the leadership of Jennifer Scripps and others.
It is currently unclear why Peterson would undermine public accountability efforts aimed at improving the downtown area, leaving Dallas residents seeking to understand this puzzling contradiction.