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Dallas is adjusting its approach to homeless encampments in response to resistance among activists to a sweep earlier this summer. Updated clean-up notices, the provision of cleaning supplies at some camps, and a new law enforcement strategy are all part of the mix.
“We’re changing the way we’re doing cleanings because we realize that was an issue,” said Christine Crossley, director of homeless solutions. “We also realize that there are some people that might show up with guns, and I think we need to have a collective response.”
The changes come after activists and volunteers, some of whom were armed, showed up to a scheduled camp cleaning in July on Coombs Street in South Dallas, cutting off city workers from the camp and prompting the city to delay the sweep.
Activists and residents feared those who hadn’t moved from the camp would be forced to do so and their belongings thrown away that day. The city subsequently said it had decided to take a more collaborative approach to the camp cleaning, though that was not what had been communicated.
One way the city hopes to avoid such incidents is by providing clearer language on notices distributed to camp residents about upcoming sweeps, something officials are currently working on. Another is through taking that collaborative approach: helping residents at some camps keep their areas clean by providing them with cleaning supplies and equipment.
In instances where activists do show resistance against city workers, a new security strategy that calls for different levels of law enforcement involvement will come into play.
While better communication is welcomed, said Julia Paramo, who is a member of Sunrise Movement Dallas and often works with camp residents, rebuilding trust will take work.
“The city gives us a lot of reasons not to trust them and that’s partly why the residents themselves don’t feel very comfortable working with the city,” said Paramo. “They should be trying to work together with residents at these camps.”
She added that activists and volunteers who work with the unhoused are nervous about the new security strategy and many camp residents aren’t yet aware of it.
Better communication, more collaboration
Camp residents are typically given a 72-hour notice before scheduled sweeps in the form of a paper that tells them to move their belongings from the area. Whatever is left behind is removed by city workers who regularly use small bulldozers, claw trucks and other heavy equipment to do the job.
Crossley recognizes that the operations often displace people, especially when shelters are overflowing and housing is lacking.
“A lot of people, if you’ve gone through the effort of moving your things already, are probably relocating to another spot,” she said, adding that, unless a camp is officially being closed, the city does not prevent people from moving back to the area.
When the city swept a private lot earlier this year, bulldozers and trucks entered the area ripping through abandoned tents while some people were still gathering their things nearby. One brief confrontation occurred when a bulldozer pulled dangerously close to a group of residents.
Crossley said the city is aware of the hazard and makes sure to be conscious of residents when using the equipment. “You wouldn’t operate a Cat [bulldozer] next to someone sitting in a lawn chair,” she said.
For some larger camps that have a longer history, Crossley said the city is now using an approach that involves the residents in the cleaning process, which limits the use of heavy equipment and doesn’t require them to move from the area.
“We saw an opportunity that we can implement,” said Marci Jackson, community liaison for homeless solutions. “In areas where we can clean and not necessarily have them move, we can do that, and that’s what we will do.”
In those cases homeless solutions, together with code compliance and city marshals, will offer camp residents roll carts and cleaning tools, like rakes and gloves, as well as trash bags to pick up debris in the area.
“What we’re looking for is not a build up of trash, not a build up of human feces and waste,” said Crossley.
Most of the time camp residents will still be required to take their belongings and leave during sweeps, however, and for those cases the city is currently working on updated wording for the notices they distribute.
The updated language about the area to be cleaned will include specific addresses and expectations about cleanliness, said Crossley, who added they want to give people five days notice before sweeps rather than three days.
When asked whether the city could use the collaborative approach at more locations, Crossley said a lack of resources and manpower was a major issue.
“I think it’s just a capacity issue. We don’t have the capacity to do that at every single site”, she said.
The goal of the cleanings is to maintain the safety and hygiene of the sites until a new rehousing program can provide residents with help, she said. Moving residents into units can take weeks and the program can’t be everywhere at once.
Updated Security
Volunteers and activists are on edge about the new security measures and many camp residents The Dallas Morning News spoke with weren’t aware of the changes in policy.
The new security memo lays out multiple levels of law enforcement involvement depending on who is present during camp sweeps and whether they actively resist city workers.
By default, city marshals accompany city workers to a given site with neighborhood police teams on standby. Police officers only enter the scene when activists are expected, at which point a high security police response team will be prepared as backup.
In the instance that a camp is scheduled for closure and there is anticipated resistance from activists or armed protesters, Dallas police will send out warnings ahead of time “encouraging peaceful demonstrations” and notify the mayor and city council that possible arrests will be made.
Will Brown, a longtime resident at the Coombs Street camp who was there when the confrontation occurred in July, said he wasn’t aware of the new security measures. When asked what he thought about them, he shrugged.
“It depends on the situation,” said Brown, who helped mediate the confrontation at the time. “We’ll just have to see.”
Brown added that city officials failed to communicate their plan for the camp on the day of the encounter, but felt things escalated in a way that was “unnecessary.”
Many of the armed protestors present were a part of the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, who said they were troubled by the new strategy in a statement provided to The News.
“We are concerned about the hostility of the city government and the implied willingness to premeditate false arrests,” the group said. “The presence of armed police and mass shows of force is nothing new. Earlier this year they showed up with half a dozen giant claw trucks and dozens of cops to destroy a large camp.”
While the new strategy indicates that the presence of open-carry protestors is a factor when considering law enforcement’s level of response, Brown clarified that “the open carrying of a weapon does not in and of itself constitute a threat.”
“A threat would exist if a weapon was pointed at or in the direction of an individual or if a verbal threat is made against an individual,” she said.
Crossley said that no weapons were pointed at workers that day but they still left feeling rattled. For them, they hope clearer communication and working more closely with residents will help such instances be avoided.
“We are a municipality, but we are human,” said Jackson. “We want to work with the community, we can’t do it without the community… Our initiatives are successful when we have that collaboration, but it has to be effective.”