The local nonprofit Downtown Dallas, Inc. is collaborating with the City of Dallas to ease some of the issues burdening the downtown area — particularly the high crime and prevalent homelessness and vagrancy on display.
Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI) launched its “Dedicated to Dallas” public awareness campaign last month to spread the word about its downtown security team and homelessness outreach efforts. Jennifer Scripps, president and CEO of DDI, announced the campaign in June.
“What makes downtown so vibrant is our people, and that is especially true at Downtown Dallas, Inc.,” she said, per a DDI press release. “When it came to finding new and impactful ways to tell the story of who we are and what we do, the answer was right in front of us.”
“We decided to feature the faces of the dedicated, compassionate, and effective people who take care of our streets, sidewalks, parks, and public spaces,” she continued. “They truly bring out the best in the community.”
Locals can use the SeeSay app to report non-emergency concerns about safety, cleanliness, homelessness, and vagrancy to DDI. Reportable issues include littering and panhandling.
The DDI security team responds to nearly 30,000 incidents every year — of which more than 5,000 are received through the SeeSay app, according to the release.
DDI’s field operations teams are led by DDI Chief of Public Safety and Field Operations Larry Gordon, who served in the Dallas Police Department (DPD) for 27 years.
“Downtown is a neighborhood unlike any other in Dallas,” said Gordon, per the release. “It has a concentration of more than 14,000 residents, 120,000 workers, and millions more visitors annually.”
Gordon added that his “team members take pride in proactively serving Downtown Dallas’ public spaces, including streets, sidewalks, and parks.”
Furthermore, DDI offers a variety of homelessness response initiatives and claims its strategy has “successfully impacted the lives” of many homeless people in the downtown area.
The Fellowship Program, for example, brings on an “individual transitioning [out of] homelessness to [DDI’s] homeless outreach team. This fellow position allows individuals to share their stories through outreach and develop critical job skills needed for permanent employment.”
Chief of External Affairs and Government Relations Scott Goldstein told The Dallas Express that DDI is not a homelessness service provider. Instead, it connects the homeless with organizations, such as Housing Forward, that offer supportive services.
“We created a small outreach team a few years ago with the ‘relate and refer’ philosophy, meaning we build relationships with people experiencing homelessness and help connect them to resources they need for key services and housing,” he said.
Efforts to maintain public safety and address homelessness and vagrancy in Downtown Dallas have been sorely needed. Crime rates in Downtown Dallas are notably high when compared to Downtown Fort Worth, which has a dedicated, specialized police unit patrolling the neighborhood alongside private security.
Furthermore, DPD has been experiencing a severe shortage of police officers, which has held back its efforts to tamp down crime. DPD currently has roughly 3,100 sworn personnel. However, a City analysis previously concluded that Dallas needs about three officers for every 1,000 residents — putting the department some 900 officers short of the 4,000 needed.
Homelessness and vagrancy also continue to be a “major” problem for most Dallas residents, according to a recent satisfaction survey from the City of Dallas.
While local authorities have tried several homelessness response strategies, they have yet to adopt an approach similar to that of Haven for Hope in San Antonio.
San Antonio authorities and Haven for Hope partner to offer a “one-stop shop” of housing and supportive services in a single location rather than maintaining several facilities across the city. The strategy contains the problems of homelessness and vagrancy in a single geographic area and has polled favorably among Dallas voters.