Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, several nightlife spots in North Texas’ Deep Ellum will use technology to identify potentially disruptive patrons before they enter businesses in the popular entertainment district. It is one part of a more than 40-page Community Safety Plan released Tuesday by the nonprofit Deep Ellum Foundation. The updated safety plan, dubbed “2.0,” comes after months of meetings among the city, Dallas police, businesses and property owners on strategies to improve safety in the entertainment district. Deep Ellum Foundation Executive Director Stephanie Keller Hudiburg said Tuesday the plan includes creating the city’s first entertainment permit, designed to require all businesses to follow the same operating rules. “To make sure that all of our patrons, all of our employees, everyone that comes here, our youth, are all safe,” Hudiburg said. Violent crime in Deep Ellum decreased for three consecutive years after the first version of the safety plan was introduced in 2022. However, violent crime later spiked, peaking with a deadly parking lot shooting in July 2025 that killed one person. Business owners and community members called for increased police presence and a strategy to address venue operators not complying with city regulations. That effort led to the closure of Rodeo Dallas. Jon Hetzel, managing partner at Madison Partners, said the goal is to balance a strong nightlife economy with accountability and safety. “We’re trying to make that we have a nightlife economy that is vibrant and interesting but also accountable and safe,” Hetzel said. Hetzel serves on the Dallas Nightlife Task Force, which launched in October 2025 and has met weekly over the past five months. “Dallas is a better city with vibrant nightlife, and you can’t have vibrant nightlife, in my biased opinion, without a vibrant Deep Ellum,” Hetzel said. “We’re working on a neighborhood-wide late-night effort around ID scanners that can flag customers that are causing fights in bars, so the other venues know about them, and we’re starting to roll that out ahead of the World Cup.” ...read more read less