Service Providers Launched a New Initiative in South Dallas to Provide Apartments to People in Encampments, But That Didn’t Stop Police from Making Arrests.
The officers arrived by 6 a.m. last Thursday, parking their squad cars and white vans on each side of Clarence Street, off Cesar Chavez Boulevard. The Dallas Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team walked into a clearing under Interstate 45 with zip ties looped around their duty belts and radios. They woke about two dozen people who had congregated in tents, then clasped their hands behind their backs.
Before sunrise, 23 people were placed under arrest at this South Dallas homeless camp two miles from downtown.
Housing Forward, the agency responsible for coordinating the homelessness response in Dallas and Collin counties, didn’t expect the day to begin like this. Thursday, May 14, marked the conclusion of a six-week services blitz that resulted in providing apartments or medical treatment to 47 people who had been living in tents beneath the highway…