North Texas city leaders are reviewing the use of zip ties during a January homeless encampment clearing in Dallas, questioning how the action was planned and communicated. A Dallas City Council review is underway after a Jan. 22 operation under the South Central Expressway left dozens of unshelt ered people restrained with police zip ties, prompting concerns from outreach workers and elected officials. The enforcement came one day before a major winter storm. Twelve days after the operation, Elisabeth Jordan, a longtime outreach worker at homeless encampments, said she is still seeking clarity about what happened. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve witnessed in over 12 years with my own eyes because it was so different from what I’ve seen in encampment closures for 10 years,” Jordan said. She added that the response caught her off guard and left her overwhelmed and confused. Dallas police told NBC 5 the operation had been in planning for six weeks, led by the city’s emergency management and crisis response office, and that all agencies involved were informed ahead of time. The city later acknowledged there were coordination problems. In a written statement, the city said: “The city of Dallas and Housing Forward remain fully committed to addressing the coordination gaps that led to yesterday’s (Jan. 22) event. Our agencies will continue working together to strengthen our progress and bring real change on street homelessness.” Some council members and outreach providers said the typical approach—weeks of outreach by Housing Forward to connect people to shelter or housing before enforcement—is meant to ensure dignity and minimize harm, but that process didn’t play out as expected in this case. Councilmember Adam Bazaldua criticized how people were treated during the operation, linking the city’s approach to preserving dignity. “The first step in mitigating homelessness is restoring dignity, and I can tell you, the way the individuals were treated in our city was not dignified,” Bazaldua said. Councilmember Cara Mendelsohn said she still has questions about how the enforcement was handled. “I do think there are still questions to be asked about how exactly enforcement is being handled and how they proceeded that way and why,” Mendelsohn said. Jordan shared photos and videos of the police operation with NBC 5. On Tuesday, the city’s Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee reviewed the incident in greater detail. Councilmember Gay Donnell Willis said the expected outreach steps seemed to be missing. “It just seems like there needed to be a step before the zip ties came out,” Willis said. Kevin Oden, director of Dallas emergency management, told the committee the city’s goal is for encampments to be empty before enforcement, so only cleanup remains. Oden also said Dallas is working to tighten procedures so future operations do not result in similar concerns. “Making sure every procedure is right, every step is right. Not just till we get it right, but until we cannot get it wrong,” Oden said. Council members said they hope the next Housing and Homelessness hearing, scheduled one week later, will provide clearer answers about how the Jan. 22 operation was planned and coordinated. Jordan said the city’s unsheltered population deserves compassion, and that outreach—not enforcement—should be the priority. “I’m hopeful that we can return to that compassionate outreach ahead of enforcement and make enforcement again the last step in a process,” she said. ...read more read less