4 August 15 - 21, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Homeless Tech A new company is mapping Dallas home- less encampments. BY EMMA RUBY I f you’ve ever wondered how many home- less encampments there are across Dal- las, an Austin-based tech company has an estimate: at least 230, not counting the downtown area. On the front page of the Nomadik AI app, red outlines on a satellite map of Dallas indi- cate where the company believes an en- campment to be. But in the week it took to build the map, co-founders Trevor Sorrells and Morgan Winters never actually stepped foot in Big D. Instead, they relied on a com- bination of first-person reporting and public records analyzed by artificial intelligence to determine where the encampments exist. “It’s not the spooky AI that everyone kind of associates AI with, like Silicon Valley tech bros, and more trying to look for pat- terns in the environment,” Sorrells told the Observer. Sorrells and Winters moved to Austin three years ago to work for a defense startup, tracking maritime intelligence for the Navy. After two and a half years, they wanted to use those skills to do some good on the do- mestic side of things: they tossed around tackling the opioid crisis, housing, poverty and crime, but settled on homelessness be- cause it’s the area where “all of those issues coalesce.” Starting in Austin, they developed an AI system that scans through various data sources like social media posts, news articles and police reports to identify patterns — such as recurring police reports of opioid possession in the same area — that indicate a likely encampment is nearby. Then, they went out into the city to con- firm what the data suggested. More often than not, it was correct. “In Austin we have a lot of really dense green belts right downtown, so you can basi- cally just disappear into them,” Sorrells said. “Our outreach team is in the camps six or seven days a week, going around just talking to people, providing normal outreach stuff: water, food, blankets … And a lot of the time, we’ll go into a camp and they’re like, ‘The city’s never been here.’ The camp’s been there for three years or something, and no one knew it was there in the first place.” Which is a problem, Sorrells said, espe- cially for first responders. In March, a fire started at a homeless encampment in Aus- tin’s Barton Springs Greenbelt, leading fire- fighters “deep into the woods” to provide assistance, AFD said. Nomadik AI’s data could have been useful in that instance, as well as during the greenbelt fires last sum- mer, which were caused by the dry condi- tions. The app already allows users to add inventory information such as population, pets, propane, gas and debris levels to known encampments, and that data could be used by police, EMS personnel and fire- fighters when preparing to respond to an emergency. The app can also be used by homeless in- dividuals, Sorrells added. On Austin’s map, resources such as food banks and shelters are marked with large blue and green bub- bles. On a separate tab, a short questionnaire helps point a user to their nearest resource depending on their needs. “A lot of this information is extremely siloed, so you’ll have the nonprofits who have a lot of specific information, the Austin Police Department will have a lot of specific information, the fire department, the city, same thing. And none of them seem to be talking,” Sorrells said. “So we wanted to be able to kind of centralize that information and coordinate them a lot better.” Mapping Dallas’ encampments has been the company’s first attempt to expand be- yond Austin, and Dallas was selected due to its proximity and open data collection that is similar to the capital city’s. On X, Council Member Cara Men- delsohn commended the early draft of Dal- las’ map, saying it was “remarkable.” Mendelsohn, who is the vice chair of the city’s Housing and Homelessness Solutions committee, has been outspoken about the need for more strict enforcement of laws that outlaw encampments. She has docu- mented her own attempts to reach out to in- dividuals living in encampments in her district on social media, saying they often decline assistance when offered. “There are four homeless encampments in District 12’s Rosemeade Park right now and they are setting fires nightly, harassing customers at nearby businesses, leaving lit- ter throughout the park and surrounding ar- eas, and loitering at nearby churches and businesses,” Mendelsohn told the Observer. She started following Nomadik AI’s tracking efforts in Austin, and hopes to use the data to encourage first responders to be “more proactive” when responding to Dis- trict 12 encampments. The information could also help businesses strengthen secu- rity and alert the park department to needs for litter removal and encampment clearing, she said. Nomadik isn’t the only page Men- delsohn is taking out of Austin’s book. She has voiced support for a Dallas-sanctioned homeless encampment similar to Austin’s Esperanza shelter, which provides secu- rity, bathrooms and showers, support ser- vices and tent camping areas for homeless individuals. A sanctioned encampment would be an “additional choice that could be offered” as encampments are closed, she said. “House Bill 1925 outlaws camping on public land. We should enforce the law. That cities in California are clearing encamp- ments but Dallas isn’t is notable,” Men- delsohn said. “I believe in a compassion-plus-enforcement approach. Dallas has done a great job on compassion, but no enforcement. I believe this must change.” Although Nomadik’s website mentions municipal partnership opportunities, the Dallas map was made without an official re- lationship with the city, Sorrells said. Coun- cil Member Jesse Moreno, Chair of the Housing and Homelessness Solutions Com- mittee, declined to comment when asked how the committee could best take advan- tage of the encampment data. It’s been only about half a year since No- madik AI began tracking encampments in Texas, but the progress is promising, Sor- rells said. They plan to expand to more cit- ies, such as Houston, as their system is perfected. “We’re not going to solve homelessness, right? We’re two guys who work in a house,” Sorrells said. “But we can provide a solution that at least enables everyone else who is do- ing the groundwork to have a leg up in terms of trying to solve the issue, and trying to bet- ter characterize it. Because we’re in the camps every day, and every single person has a different story, and a different reason they’re homeless.” ▼ HIGHER EDUCATION ARRESTED DEVELOPMENTS PRO-PALESTINE UT DALLAS STUDENTS BATTLE AGAINST THEIR OWN SCHOOL. BY JACOB VAUGHN N ine students and recent graduates of University of Texas at Dallas who were arrested in May during pro- Palestine demonstrations on campus now face the possibility of not receiving their de- grees. Some of those being disciplined by the school were present at an Aug. 6 news con- ference in a park near the campus to an- nounce they’ll fight the charges against them. On May 1, 21 students, faculty and com- munity members were arrested at the Uni- versity of Texas at Dallas’ Gaza Liberation Plaza encampment. The UTD protest was held in the wake of many other pro-Palestin- ian campus protests across the U.S. The nine people in question have gone through meetings with UTD’s Office of Community Standards and Conduct to discuss their options regarding punish- ment. They were given three options, ac- cording to the speakers at the press conference. They can accept responsibil- ity and a punishment to be determined later, accept responsibility and appeal any further punishment or they can dispute both. In the latter case, the individuals in- volved would proceed to a hearing on their charges. They’re not yet sure what the full extent of their punishment will be, but say deferred suspension and denying degrees was on the table at one point. De- ferred suspension means the punishment will be postponed but automatically ap- plied if the student or organization is found responsible for any other rule viola- tions. The university said in a statement that it couldn’t comment on student or faculty dis- ciplinary proceedings. However, the school said students were arrested for criminal trespass, not protesting, and that demon- strations have been held on campus before and after May 1 without incident. “Individuals may peacefully assemble in the common outdoor areas of campus and exercise their right to freedom of speech, but individuals may not erect or maintain an encampment,” the university statement said. The college recommends the nine accept the sanctions against them, the protesters said, but they’re not having it. They have chosen to dispute the charges and are asking the university for full amnesty and to drop all sanctions against them. The disciplinary charges are on top of the pending criminal trespass charges against those arrested and have prevented the students from stepping foot on campus this summer. As for the other 12 of the 21 arrests made in May, three were faculty and the rest were either alumni or community mem- bers. The university’s student code of con- | UNFAIR PARK | Jacob Vaughn The Nomadik AI app could provide first responders with information such as population estimates and reported pets, drugs, debris and propane.
