5 June 4 - 10, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents collisions. In an April memo to the Com- munity Police Oversight Board, DPD set a goal of an average response time closer to 12 minutes. “I challenged our team to find innovative ways to continue improving our response times, and this new drone unit will not only keep officers free to respond to more calls, but provide real-time updates as they are re- sponding to calls,” Comeaux said in a re- lease. “Even during our training, our pilots were able to clear three holding calls in an hour with one drone. That alone proved their value to us, and I’m looking forward to seeing the benefits in both officer safety and response times.” In as little as two minutes, Drone units will allow the department to collect aerial intelligence and assess conditions before units arrive. The drones will be equipped with thermal cameras for nighttime surveil- lance and loudspeakers that will allow pilots to broadcast messages on-scene. If they ar- rive before ground units, the drones could “reduce the level of response” or mark the situation as resolved based on the pilots’ ob- servations, freeing officers to respond to more pressing calls. Dallas Fire-Rescue will also benefit from the program. The drones can arrive on scene before firefighters and assess the scope and severity of fires, according to the release. “By strategically docking the drones at our fire stations in high-demand areas, we are optimizing our response times and en- suring our tactics are more precise, while adding an extra layer of protection for the city,” Justin Ball, Chief of Dallas Fire-Res- cue, said in the release. The program is funded through a $277 million agreement with Axios. City officials recently used over $10 million in federal grants to bolster counter-drone technology ahead of the World Cup. According to prior reporting by The Dal- las Morning News, a ninth station will be installed at Fair Park for the FIFA Fan Fes- tival. FIFA events, including the festival and games in Arlington, will be no-fly zones during the tournament’s run. Co- meaux has previously said drones are ex- pected to play a vital role in DPD’s security response to the World Cup. ▼ SUMMER FUN & SAFETY AFTER THE FLOOD NORTH TEXAS CAMPS RECALIBRATE TO AVOID NEW STATE REGULATIONS. BY EMMA RUBY W ith Memorial Day marking the start of summer, children’s sum- mer camps across Texas are scrambling to comply with a sweeping se- ries of new state regulations that were intro- duced in the wake of last year’s July 4 flooding tragedy that killed 27 Camp Mystic campers and counselors and more than 100 others. In North Texas, though, dozens of day camps may be bowing out of the new guidelines completely. At least 12 day camps in North Texas have chosen not to renew their licenses with the state, data from the Texas Department of State Health Services show, and another dozen have been dropped from the state’s roster of camps. Some of those camps may have scaled back operations so that registra- tion with the state is not necessary, but in- dustry leaders have warned for months that inevitably, the new rules would result in some camps closing for good. Camps that meet the state’s definition of a “youth camp” are required to register with Texas. The guidelines apply to childcare that operates only during school breaks, for four or more consecutive days a week, for four or more consecutive hours. If the camp offers more than one of the following activi- ties: waterfront access, archery, horseback riding, ropes courses or riflery, it is required to obtain a DSHS license. “There are camps that don’t meet the youth camp definition or have reduced the number of specialized activities they have so that they don’t meet that definition any- more,” Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the department, told the Observer. “We know that there are several [camps] that have done that, so they’re not applying for a re- newal.” According to Anton, the 12 DFW camps that appear on the state’s roster as “no appli- cation” are likely letting last year’s registra- tion expire and will eventually be removed from the list. The 12 area camps that already disappeared from the roster between De- cember and May likely also allowed their state registrations to go unrenewed. Some camp directors have argued that regulations passed last fall under the Youth Camper Act and the Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act failed to carve out exceptions for urban-based day camps, which typically op- erate differently than the Hill Country sleepaway experiences. That may be forcing some to rethink programming so they no longer fall under the state’s jurisdiction. For instance, the law introduced a re- quirement that camp operators develop ex- tensive emergency preparedness plans that address every possibility, from a natural di- saster to an epidemic. The plans must be updated and approved by the state annually, and counselors must be trained on the plans. The new regulations also hiked up li- censing fees to help pay for the increased in- spections now required by the state. While small day camps used to pay a $50 to $100 annual renewal fee for their state license, they may now face up to $3,500 per camp lo- cation per summer. Several of the DFW- based camps letting their license with the state expire this summer operate in multiple locations and would be required to pay li- censing fees for each site. Camps that operate for low-income fami- lies are especially likely to feel the sting of the price increase. “If families can’t manage the $225 [camp tuition], we tell them to come any- way, we’ll figure it out. We do everything we can to keep the camp experience acces- sible to all these kids,” Gary Sirkel, the ex- ecutive director of Lake Lavon Camp & Conference Center in Princeton, told the Observer last year. “So I don’t want to just knee-jerk say, OK, we’ll just pass all this cost on to them. Because that goes against what we’re trying to do.” At least one standard has already been rolled back for the summer after it threat- ened to shutter dozens of camps across the state. Earlier this month, the Department of State Health Services announced it would not enforce a law that required camps to in- stall fiber-optic internet, although they will be required to maintain at least two means of accessing broadband internet. Lawmak- ers said the requirement was to ensure camps could receive emergency warnings, but in April, 19 camps filed a lawsuit arguing that the strict requirement would force them to close. An agreement between the DSHS and summer camps prevents the requirement from taking effect until March 2027. ▼ CITY HALL LESS PARK, LESS REC DALLAS SLIDES IN GREEN SPACE RANKINGS AS CITY CONSIDERS CUTS TO PARKS. BY AUSTIN WOOD D allas has fallen in national park rank- ings while city leaders consider sig- nificant departmental cuts. After five consecutive years of gains in the Trust for Public Lands’ (TPL) park score rankings of the 100 most populous U.S. cit- ies, Dallas fell by four spots in 2026 to No. 38. Dallas has also been overtaken by Frisco (No. 30) as the second-highest-ranked Texas city in its second year in the rankings, with both still trailing Plano (No. 13), another Collin County suburb. The rankings were released two weeks ago and use a matrix of data points to evalu- ate cities based on five population-weighted factors: park access, equity, amenities, in- vestment and acreage. Arlington climbed 24 spots from last year to be ranked No.45, while Fort Worth (No. 58), Garland (No.64) and Irving (No.71) all rose in the rankings. Dallas did fare especially well in park space equity and access. Compared to around half the population in 2017, 81% of Dallasites live within a 10-minute walk to a park, the most of any North Texas city >> p6 Adobe Stock Youth summer camp in Texas is a beloved annual tradition. Adobe Stock The opening of Klyde Warren Park marked the beginning of Dallas’ venture into “big, signature parks.”
