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Police, community partners develop safety plan as more people come back to Downtown Dallas
City leaders are expecting a transformation in Downtown Dallas beginning with a holiday weekend boost and companies bringing back thousands of employees over the summer.
DALLAS - City leaders are expecting a transformation in Downtown Dallas beginning with a holiday weekend boost and companies bringing back thousands of employees over the summer.
But to be a success, they know they have to address several safety issues.
Several groups are coming together to make it happen.
They said the spirit of these initiatives isn’t new, but they’re fine-tuning the approach and stepping up efforts.
Matt Soness, the owner of Flying Horse Coffee Shop in Downtown Dallas, had his windows busted in June 2020 after George Floyd protests turned violent.
It was one of several setbacks during a pandemic that shrank business by 80% as downtown workers traded buildings for home offices and hotel guests vanished.
Soness is now eager for an influx of workers and tourists, but he knows they have to feel safe first, and issues, like homelessness, are still a major concern.
"The 19 years that I’ve been here, we’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. And at least I think we are on the upswing right now of them doing a better job with it, it’s still an issue, but at least we are moving in the right direction," he said.
"I would like to see them get these homeless people some place to live," said Andrea Foster, who walks to work.
Private non-profit Downtown Dallas Inc., the Dallas and DART police departments, and other community partners are launching a summer safety plan that includes adding an off duty uniformed police patrol and boosting the homeless outreach.
It will help connect people like Randy Kindall with much needed help.
"They get crime mixed up with homelessness," Kindall said. "A lot of people out here, they don’t want to be out here, but they out here trying to do the best they can with limited resources."
Downtown Dallas Inc. President and CEO Kourtny Garrett said the safety plan comes as companies like AT&T are starting to welcome back thousands of employees, and the much anticipated AT&T Discovery District is finally opening.
"Now we are all awakening, businesses are opening back up, employees are coming back," she said.
But it may take some time and work to convince people there’s action and results behind the message.
"There are still a lot of people who are very standoffish. We just have to give them the assurance that things are right. So they don’t use the homeless, or they don’t use the crime, or the pandemic, or whatever as an excuse not to come back down here," Soness said.