Dallas officials will put more police officers downtown and double down on efforts that began last year to rehouse homeless people as part of a public-private partnership to fix the perceptions — and realities — of safety and quality of life in the city’s core.
Downtown Dallas Inc., the nonprofit at the helm of the Central Business District’s upkeep, is working with downtown stakeholders, the city and its lead homeless response agency to unveil a public safety initiative for the arrival of thousands of FIFA World Cup visitors next year.
“If we don’t turn it around downtown and we let our core atrophy, the region will suffer,” said Rob Walters, part of the business group Dallas Citizens Council. “The city will suffer. And in particular, our southern sector will suffer, because it really needs a strong downtown and a strong job base there.”
Dallas police will create a downtown substation and deploy about 35 more officers downtown by mid-summer — bringing a total of at least 130 officers to the district contained within the loop created by the Woodall Rogers Freeway, interstates 35E and 30, U.S. 75 and I-345. Downtown leaders hope the elevated enforcement reduces violent crime and quality-of-life concerns.
DDI, the city and Housing Forward, the region’s lead homeless response agency, will communicate on the same radio frequencies to quickly activate services needed to rehome individuals. They’ve already successfully moved more than 270 people off the streets through the Street-to-Home program, which pairs complex behavioral health with outreach work. More than 250 are in homes.
Existing community courts will also play a role in diverting people with low-level citations away from jails and toward community service.
Police data from 2020 to 2024 in the sector that includes downtown show a 3% drop in violent crime, including aggravated assaults, robberies and murders, while overall crime increased 34%. The statistics differ from data presented by DDI and consultants that show a 42% increase in violent crime from 2019 to 2023. The Dallas Morning News reached out to the Boston Consulting Group, which authored the report, to check the discrepancy. The group cited client confidentiality and declined to comment.
The data does not suggest downtown is more dangerous than other Dallas neighborhoods. But perceptions about public safety and rising violence in the city’s economic engine have prompted city officials and downtown stakeholders to invest millions of public and private dollars to expand the presence of police and private security, improve coordination among agencies and rehouse the area’s unsheltered residents — some through the city’s community courts system — in an effort to revitalize the city’s urban core and prevent business flight.
“I think a lot of the business owners are saying, ‘Look, read our lips. This is really, really serious, and if you don’t do something, we’re going to reevaluate our audience,” Walters said.
The collective focus on downtown is not unprecedented. After COVID-19, downtowns across the U.S. saw a seismic shift. Violence and crime levels rose. Office buildings emptied. Workers stopped commuting, and empty ground-level storefronts symbolized a changed world. City leaders recognized the trend. Researchers have delved into what an eroded tax base downtown can mean for the entire city.
Downtown’s prosperity is closely linked to the city’s fiscal health. It’s where the majority of jobs, both for high and low wage earners, are clustered, and presents an accessible option for residents. About 15,000 people live downtown, according to DDI, which has highlighted “vibrancy and economic development” as a focal point of the new initiative.
In recent months, major law firms such as Greenberg Traurig and Fisher Phillips announced they’d relocate their downtown offices to Uptown, according to news releases. Suggestions of AT&T’s departure have also percolated and are mentioned in the Boston Consulting Group report to DDI. A company spokesperson declined to comment.
Pressure to make downtown safer came from other avenues, too. Earlier this year, two bills in the Texas Legislature targeted entities like DDI in four cities. They mandated nonprofit leaders to reduce crime and homelessness downtown or the central business district. The bills, which applied to Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Fort Worth, would’ve given the state the power to make decisions about who gets to lead the boards of nonprofits overseeing public improvement districts. Neither bill advanced.
Dallas Hero, a nonprofit that led a successful ballot effort last year to strip the city of its governmental immunity, has threatened to sue the city if it doesn’t clear homeless encampments and enforce the state’s public sleeping ban.
Grant Moise, CEO of DallasNews Corporation and publisher of The Dallas Morning News, has been an organizing voice in the initiative to improve downtown and Katy Murray, the DallasNews Corporation’s president, serves as chair of the Downtown Dallas Inc. board. The Dallas Morning News’ headquarters is located downtown.
Conversations began in February 2024, Moise said.
“I just felt compelled to say, ‘Let’s get all these people in the same room, and let’s just bring all the right people into the same space and try to address the issues,’” Moise said in an interview.
Hanna Love, a Brookings Institution fellow who has researched downtowns nationwide, said she doesn’t think more police will have a meaningful impact on crime. She said public art, increased lighting, trash clean-up and unarmed ambassadors can improve safety perceptions. Long-term solutions for crime prevention include reducing blight and investing in parks, she said.
“ Having a bunch of police officers on a downtown street doesn’t necessarily contribute to perceptions of safety,” she said, “particularly when you’re thinking about the power dynamics and who feels safe from a police presence or not.”
Private funds, coveted resources
Downtown Dallas plans to unveil a revamped convention center in 2029 that city officials say will clear up acres of land in the southern half of the area. The center will be surrounded by new homes, hotels and a deck park similar to the Klyde Warren Park that will connect downtown to the Cedars and other parts of southern Dallas.
Walters, who is leading a fundraising effort, said the group has raised a few million dollars in private commitments for this initiative, including contributions from philanthropy and the Dallas Citizens Council, and others. They anticipate using the money until 2026. “We anticipate organizing longer-term supplemental funding sources,” Walters said.
Landowners, investors and tenants are pooling resources to grow DDI’s security team. “So we have more eyes and ears, which helps both on the criminal enforcement side, but also helps in helping the homeless into rehousing and into resources in court,” Walters said.
Other philanthropic dollars will be used to buy radio systems and help pay for the new police substation.
The wide array of concerns was on display at a downtown Dallas meeting last week. The gathering, billed as a public safety conversation, drew about 40 people to the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library. Questions ranged from development of pedestrian crosswalks to squatters in abandoned buildings to robberies, traffic enforcement, loitering and noise complaints.
Courtney Hunter, 29, has lived downtown for about four years and said her biggest concern is traffic safety after she was struck by vehicles on two separate occasions while walking. She said she’s noticed a drug problem downtown, too.
Hunter has seen more patrol officers in recent weeks, which she said makes her feel safe “as long as they’re going after the right thing” and not minor issues like jaywalking.
“It’s gotta be a mix of things,” she said. “Seeing officers on foot or on horseback or on bikes, that’s great, but also having officers ready to pull over offenders who are driving aggressively.”
The uptick in boots on the ground has had some effect on traffic enforcement. Officers gave at least 528 citations and 35 warnings from April 25 to May 15, a police spokesperson said. That compares with 408 traffic citations in the same period last year, the spokesperson said.
Daniela Soria, 26, was relieved to hear city officials hint at improved policing downtown. “After 6 p.m., I don’t really feel safe,” she said in Spanish.
A college student, Soria often used the DART to get to her classes and said she always had people approach her at the station closest to her house.
Soria and her husband are now considering moving. But it isn’t just due to the street interactions; the cacophony from events during the weekends also played a factor.
“You know, the noise? I cannot sleep,” she said.
If downtown is safer, officials believe they can attract a new arena, find locations for colleges and continue to convert commercial spaces into residential units.
“We can actually have a far better downtown,” Walters said.
Police demands elsewhere in the city have spurred questions about moving more resources downtown.
“I trust that they’re not going to harm the rest of the city just to benefit downtown,” said Council member Chad West, who represents Oak Cliff. “But I believe in trust but . So we’ll continue to watch crime reports and staffing levels for my areas.”
Dallas City Council member Carolyn King Arnold, whose district covers South Oak Cliff, said she understood the importance of a safer core. However, she doesn’t see wild behavior downtown.
“I don’t hear random gunfire every 2.5 minutes,” Arnold said. “I don’t see people running in and out of businesses with masks on their face. I don’t feel unsafe there.”
That said, she noted, it’s important for others to feel downtown is safe.
“You kind of get in a Catch-22,” Arnold said, “because we want all of Dallas to be safe, but what we have to make sure is that we are not using those boots on the ground in this one central district and in the other communities … it minimizes the number of boots.”
Council who represent downtown did not comment. Paul Ridley declined to comment until the rollout of the initiative, and Jesse Moreno did not respond to requests for comment. Other of the City Council said they are reviewing the plan.
Dallas police spokesperson Lt. Tramese Jones said the department is looking at increasing patrol officers across the city. The initiative is starting downtown because of an uptick in crime and population in the district, she said, citing the Boston Consulting Group report.
“This Downtown initiative is a t venture between private and public organizations, not just DPD,” Jones said. “Looking citywide, officers will be assigned where they are needed.”
Perceptions vs. reality
The initiative isn’t based only on more police.
On Tuesday, Housing Forward, the region’s lead homelessness response agency, announced an “effective end” to street homelessness in the area. It doesn’t mean people won’t fall into homelessness, but that the system can quickly rehouse them.
“When I was an outreach worker seven years ago, (rehousing people quickly) was unheard of,” said Hannah Sims, a senior project manager at Housing Forward.
Officials have promised to ensure newer homeless encampments are not created where others have been cleared. The city’s emergency response department, which includes workers from the office of homeless solutions, will be working toward “de-magnetizing” hot spots near City Hall and the downtown library. The city is enforcing the state’s ban on public sleeping.
Sarah Kahn, Housing Forward’s CEO, said in the past, the only tools the city had were breaking up camps and moving people along or arresting and ticketing people. Adding rehousing efforts to the mix has given the city a more comionate solution, she said.
Love, the Brookings Institution fellow, said downtowns historically have a “very low baseline of crime compared to other neighborhoods.” A rise in violence during COVID-19 shifted perceptions, she said; fewer people walking downtown increased visibility of crime and disorder, like drug use and public urination.
DDI President Jennifer Scripps said it was important to address both public safety and homelessness, but the city won’t arrest its way out of the problem.
Dallas is competing for young professional talent, so perceptions are paramount, Scripps said.
“We have to hit on multiple fronts: You have to have things to offer, you have to have restaurants, parks,” she said. “It starts with safety — over and over again. People are not going to host client events, they’re not going to come to conferences, they are not going to live and work in places where they don’t feel safe.”
