8 OctOber 2 - 8, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents their funds oftentimes, to the education of young people in the state of Texas. We do very little to support them. Now that we’re micromanaging the way they’re handling their classrooms, why would they want to stay?” Gooch empathizes with teachers who believe in the power of school and work hard to cultivate a safe space for students, especially the most vulnerable. “We have tied the hands of teachers who want to help young people succeed,” he said. “The state has told them, ‘You can’t help trans people succeed, you can’t help young queer people succeed.’ Because the type of support that young queer and trans kids need is off the table under SB 12.” But GSA clubs and visibility aren’t only good for students; they’re also good for the teachers who are equally targeted by the tirade on the LGBTQ community. In erasing the identities of students, the state has also erased the identity of countless teachers and required them to be equally complicit in the action. “Now the burden is being placed on teachers to enforce the moral code of the parents in the classroom,” he said. “That will not only harm young people as they move into the world, but it creates a very toxic climate for teachers who don’t feel like they can even be themselves in their own workplace.” Within the section that bans clubs, education on gender and sexual identities outside what is explicitly listed in the state- set curriculum is also outlawed. Gooch says this narrows the scope of what students are exposed to beyond what is necessary, and to the detriment of students who will one day be thrust into a world they are not prepared for. “Texas is one of the most diverse states in the Union. In order to adequately prepare young people to enter the workforce, they need to understand what they’re walking into,” he said. “That means introducing them to cultures and identities and lifestyles that are different than their own, different than what they see at home. That’s just good education.” Students Suffer The Most T he GOP is on a seemingly never- ending venture to sanitize schools of material it deems obscene and harmful. Whether it be ridding state curriculum of critical race theory lessons, banning historically relevant literature or now banning inclusive clubs, children are going to school in bubbles, to their own detriment. But the real consequence of this isn’t on the students who will be ill-adapted to dif- ferent identities; it’s on the students who, whether the state likes it or not, are LGBTQ. “The ethos coming out of the majority, the legislature is, they would just assume all of us be quiet, shut up, and not be seen,” Capo said to the Observer. “This is com- pletely about erasure. Erasure of anybody that they don’t feel comfortable with for whatever reason they don’t feel comfort- able. The fact of the matter is, everyone has a right to exist.” Capo and Gooch highlighted the same risk: the LGBTQ community has a disproportionately high rate of homelessness, usually after they come out of the closet and are shunned by an unaccepting family. “For decades, we’ve served LGBTQ students in schools that serve homeless shelters because they’ve been kicked out of their homes,” said Capo. “They’ve been made homeless.” LGBTQ youth also have higher rates of suicidal ideation, and Gooch says isolation without the safety that students could have found at school will only worsen it. “We know that this type of anti-LBGTQ legislation increases mental health stressors for LGBTQ young people,” he said. “The rates of suicidal ideation among trans and queer people are off the charts. Suicidal ideation for young people and for children should be zero. And we, as a state, have a duty to drive that number down.” The risks of the new law are unignorable and undeniable, but Capo says the state is doing just that, and hopes the law doesn’t last long. “The legislature can’t say that they were not aware of the consequences and the potential unintended consequences of their bill,” he said. “If this bill stands, the consequences will be grave for a large number of students who are simply trying to survive.” ▼ PUBLIC SAFETY DUDE, WHERE’S MY COP? SLOW DALLAS POLICE RESPONSE TIMES STOKE RISING FEARS AND ‘CRIME ANXIETY’. BY ALYSSA FIELDS I f you’ve been shot, stabbed or are racing down Interstate 75, fleeing the scene of a crime, you can expect a large number of Dallas’ boys in blue to be on the scene in the blink of an eye, even if it’s a very slow 10.67-minute blink. If you have any other kind of emergency other than what the Dallas Police Department classifies as the most emergent, or Priority 1 (P1), don’t hold your breath waiting for the distant sounds of sirens. Response times for Priority 2-4 emergencies are sitting at an hour and a half on the low side, and four and a half hours on the high side. According to a study from Vivint, a home security company, Dallasites are increas- ingly anxious about crime and curious about home security. It seems like city dwellers are looking for more reinforcement than a de- partment whose non-emergent response times are equal in length to a Hallmark Channel Original Movie. Crimes like bur- glaries are classified as P3, and according to the latest data from DPD, officers will arrive at the scene in 238.42 minutes, or just under four hours. So realistically, you could actu- ally watch a Hallmark movie marathon while you wait. Pop the corn. The home security company assessed the Google search patterns of the 200 most pop- ulous cities in the country. Dallas ranked 43rd for general interest in home security, with first being high-interest, but 183rd in crime anxiety, with first being highly anx- ious. But despite ranking low in anxiety compared to other cities, Big D’s crime anxi- ety is up 14% year-over-year, and home secu- rity searches are up 25% from last year. But DPD has been consistently improving its response times, and home invasion-related crime rates are down from last year. Since January, there have been 3,742 reports of burglary or breaking and entering within Dallas. Last year, between January and September, 4,474 burglary or breaking and entering crimes were recorded. Though the department is still two min- utes over the goal of eight minutes for a P1 crime and sometimes hours over goals for other priority levels, all response times have improved over last year’s numbers city- wide. Baby steps. The department welcomed a new chief in April, and he has taken a no-nonsense approach to improving his new home, starting with response times, recruitment, and retention. “Every call is important to those who make the calls. So we’re really working hard to make sure our response time is appropriate,” police Chief Daniel Comeaux said in a May interview with Telemundo. For a long time, DPD has struggled with numbers, falling far below the office-to- citizen ratio required by city ordinance. The rush to recruit for proper policing, which would improve response times and increase city safety, has been placed on every chief who has worn the badge. “I need every single person that works for the Dallas Police Department, and not that just works for the Dallas Police Department, but that lives in Dallas to become an effective recruiter for us,” Comeaux said at his swearing-in ceremony earlier this year. “We have to hire more officers.” That rush to recruit was hastened in the last November election when a controversial proposition passed requiring the city to increase its force by 900 officers within a few years. If the city does not achieve the metric within a reasonable time, it could face litigation. The pressure is on, and so in the $5.2 billion 2025-26 fiscal year city budget, hiring 350 police recruits and maintaining a force of 3,424 officers was highlighted as the top bullet point. The city police budget increased by $46 million, totaling $611.9 million. “It’s not a perfect budget, but I believe the city manager has done a really good job of bringing us the best she can bring us, given the parameters we have from Proposition U,” Council member Chad West said to NBC 5. “...We’ll see a fully funding of police and fire for our brave men and women in blue and in red, and we’ll see a significant amount of money going toward services. I wish it was more, but it is what it is.” ▼ FREE SPEECH ANOTHER BLOW TO FREE SPEECH TARRANT COUNTY ESCALATES ‘POLITICAL RETALIATION’ AGAINST ACTIVIST OVER GRAFFITI. BY TYLER HICKS T wo weeks after a politically charged trial, Tarrant County is still pursuing multiple criminal charges against activist Raunaq Alam, the man charged with a hate crime after being arrested for vandalizing a local church. On Wednesday, the 32-year-old Alam was indicted for aggravated perjury and sent to jail for his answers to questions about drug use asked by the prosecution during the trial. It was the fifth time Alam had been ar- rested on charges related to the same crime. According to his attorney, Adwoa Asante, it’s a clear sign of malicious prosecution and a “vindictive” county. The first arrest happened in March 2024, when Euless police and the FBI arrested Alam for allegedly spraypainting “Fuck Israel” on the wall of Uncommon Church. The nondenominational church, which was flying the Israeli flag and has provided material donations to the Israeli Defense Force during the attacks against in Gaza. During that arrest, Alam’s attorney says the police illegally searched her client’s car and allegedly found less than a gram of the drug psilocybin, or mushrooms. Thus, the county also pursued a charge for possession of a controlled substance. “His car was locked and legally parked as an employee of The Sam’s Club parking lot Adobe Stock Response times are getting better, and burglary reports are decreasing, but crime anxiety is still growing, the study says. Unfair Park from p6
