Deep Ellum Business Owners Team Up To Hire Off-Duty Officers
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - After some high-profile crimes in one of Dallas's most popular entertainment districts, a group of bars and restaurants has come together to try to safeguard Deep Ellum.
Saturday was the second night of a new program that adds off-duty police officers to patrol, and business owners are already encouraged with the results.
When video of a street brawl surfaced, business owners realized they didn't want that to become the image of Deep Ellum.
"The crime's not terrible, but it's to the point where something needs to be done now before it's too late," Corey Good said.
Good owns the barbershop and speakeasy, High & Tight. He's one of 16 business owners pooling resources to pay for 10 to 12 off-duty Dallas police officers who will patrol Elm, Main, and Commerce streets.
The officers will work in pairs from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. to provide a show of force during the critical after-hours period. Good says he and the other business owners realize the police department's resources are stretched thin. That's why they decided to come together to beef up security.
"I'd rather contribute and show the initiative as a community with all of us contributing to show the effort and the care that we care about the Deep Ellum area. I wish it were the other way around where we already had officers down here, but that's just not how it is," Good said.
The officers will be on foot and will have the same authority to arrest people as they would if they were on duty.