14 OctOber 17 - 23, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents DART is in a tricky spot, financially. Over the past year, a handful of Dallas suburbs have moved to reduce their funding contri- butions to the agency, an issue that would have to be approved by the DART board, and one that some cities have threatened to take to the Texas Legislature. The potential of lost funding has resulted in an uneasy DART board and a complicated budget season. And as neighbor cities evaluate the bene- fit DART serves their populations, security has been a key factor in discussions. In a July Farmers Branch City Council meeting, council member Richard Jackson seemed to point to safety issues in the areas surround- ing DART trains, stating that after 40 years, DART “can’t seem to police this parking lot” surrounding a Farmers Branch station. Jackson then rebuked “all the trash that comes up here on [DART] trains,” a com- ment that was deemed offensive by fiery Reddit users and which Jackson later told The Dallas Morning News was meant to re- fer to litter, not people. Safety is something that DART has worked to address in recent years. Increased security officer staffing, up- graded camera systems and a higher rate of arrests have all been signals of DART’s in- vigorated focus on safety, as was the Public Transit Multi-Disciplinary Response Team. With the dissolution of the team, individu- als experiencing homelessness or mental health conditions will be met solely by a DART police officer, the DART spokesperson said. It’s a step back for Dallas, warns Amos Irwin, who serves as the community re- sponse program director with the Law En- forcement Action Partnership. Irwin is a staunch advocate for community-based re- sponse teams for nonviolent police calls, an initiative that has gained nationwide trac- tion since 2020. “One of the many things that [the death of George Floyd] set in motion was wide- spread public support for seeking [policing] alternatives,” Irwin said. “One of the key [questions] was why do we have police re- sponding to all these things that don’t need police to respond to them?” Community response teams, which have been successful in cities like Eugene, Oregon; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Dayton, Ohio, send teams of non-officers to respond to low-level 911 calls, such as neighborly disputes. It’s an arrangement that is positive for both communities and police departments, many of which are fac- ing a nationwide staffing shortage, Irwin believes. In instances where weapons, vio- lence or a crime aren’t a concern, police shouldn’t be the first person sent to a scene, he believes. That includes calls related to mental health, which have historically been an- swered by armed police officers. Responding to individuals experiencing a mental health crisis has become a significant aim of many of the programs, a change that Irwin believes helps to de-escalate situations where an indi- vidual’s actions may be unpredictable. “Deescalation is the goal, we all agree on that. It’s not necessarily your average police officer’s fault, but when people see police officers, especially people who have had prior interactions with the police, do they feel naturally calmed or more upset?” Irwin said. “Generally it’s more upset if an officer has been called to deal with them, and so many of these people have had prior interactions.” During the pilot program’s tenure, re- sponders would offer individuals aid and re- sources, and would refer homeless individuals to nearby homeless shelters. Housing nonprofits OurCalling and The Bridge were collaborating with the pro- gram, and while officers were still respond- ing to calls with the Public Transit Multi-Disciplinary Response Team — some- thing community response programs would advise against — they were also receiving de-escalation training with Parkland clini- cians, the DART spokesperson said. Now, those officers will be on their own when responding to riders exhibiting signs of mental health crisis or homelessness until DART is able to determine whether com- munity-based response is the best fit for Dallas’ trains and buses. Wikimedia Commons DART says its police officers have received training from Parkland clinicians on how to deescalate situations involving people experiencing a mental health crisis. Unfair Park from p12
