Shanise remembers watching Martin, the 1990s sitcom\u2019s canned laughter filling her bedroom, while her two sons and their younger sister were upstairs.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when the first shots erupted outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody get down now,\u201d she yelled at the kids. \u201cDon\u2019t move. Just get down. Get down. Get under your bed.\u201d<\/p>\n
A break in the barrage came next. Thinking the gunfire had stopped, Shanise\u2019s daughter started down the stairs. Then another burst of gunshots rang out.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo back up the stairs,\u201d she yelled out. \u201cNow. Go back up the stairs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then she heard a \u201cping\u201d \u2014 the sound of a bullet punching through the door. It splintered the stair\u2019s railing where her daughter\u2019s hand had rested just moments before, showering specks of sheet rock onto the couch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI go into my downstairs bathroom and I just get down on the floor, next to the bathtub, and I just start praying,\u201d Shanise recalled in an interview. \u201cI’m like, \u2018Please, don’t let nothing happen to me or my children.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
For years, officials at the highest level of city government knew crime<\/a> was a problem at Roseland and other Dallas Housing Authority<\/a> apartment complexes. In 2018, the city and DHA entered into a special agreement to prevent crime.<\/p>\n A Dallas Morning News investigation shows that the agreement was not followed. Roseland became one of the most dangerous places in the city.<\/p>\n Roseland is a cluster of neighboring properties just east of Central Expressway, and a few blocks north of downtown. Its largest complexes, Roseland Townhomes<\/a> and Roseland Estates<\/a>, sit side by side and were built in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n Together, those complexes contain 290 tan-brick apartments and several playgrounds along narrow interior streets \u2014 all anchored by a community center residents call The Rose.<\/p>\n Police reports show at least seven people have been killed at Roseland since the agreement was signed. At least 20 others have been wounded by gunfire.<\/p>\n One 13-year-old boy was shot in the leg while walking outside in October 2021. Three months later, while standing outside his home, he was shot a second time, again in the leg.<\/p>\n The 2018 special agreement between DHA and the city deviated from what was at the time a new, aggressive plan to protect the public and hold owners of high-crime private properties accountable<\/a>.<\/p>\n On paper, the agreement with DHA was comprehensive and thorough. It required monthly meetings, meeting minutes, quarterly and annual reports, and yearly briefings to both the Dallas City Council and DHA\u2019s board of commissioners.<\/p>\n It also required crime-reduction plans tailored to specific DHA properties such as Roseland.<\/p>\n The News’ investigation shows that over the following seven years, two things happened. The agreement was never fully followed, and the violent crime at Roseland \u2014 endured by Shanise, her children, and others \u2014 persisted.<\/p>\n The News found numerous ways in which DHA and the city fell short in addressing crime and protecting residents, including failures to follow their own agreement:<\/p>\n When asked to provide copies of the crime-reduction plans required in the agreement, neither DHA nor the city could do so.When police and the city asked DHA to provide information such as private security contracts, community rules and a towing policy to help create a safety plan at Roseland, DHA declined.Despite recommendations to install security gates at Roseland, and approval from the DHA board to do so, gates were never installed.A News analysis of crime data shows from Nov. 2018 through at least June of this year Roseland continuously met the crime threshold set by the city to be designated a \u201chabitual criminal property,\u201d which leads to increased city and police oversight. That never happened.Shooting deaths of children at Roseland<\/a> sparked a public outcry but didn\u2019t result in efforts that kept crime down, or compliance with the agreement.The city and DHA were unable to provide to The News meeting minutes or quarterly reports required by the agreement.The city and DHA eventually stopped their monthly meetings. When The News asked why, DHA cited city personnel changes.Required yearly briefings to the City Council and DHA commissioners never occurred.<\/p>\n Alex Nelson, a community activist<\/a> who grew up in Roseland and is known as \u201cUncle JoJo,\u201d keeps an office close to the complex for his nonprofit, Love Deposit Inc. After years of staying plugged into the community and watching crime rise and fall, he said, knowing the city and DHA failed to follow their 2018 agreement feels like yet another example of efforts to improve the quality of life at Roseland \u201cnot sticking.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo learn that is disheartening,\u201d Nelson said in an interview.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t prevent everything,\u201d he said, \u201cbut just looking at the losses that occurred after that inaction and watching the higher-ups be as apathetic as they are toward the loss of life and how residents over there are living \u2014 it’s infuriating.\u201d<\/p>\n Council member Paul Ridley, whose district includes Roseland, said he was unaware of the 2018 agreement between the city and DHA. Ridley took office in 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cIt leaves some unanswered questions as to why the original guidelines were not followed,\u201d Ridley said in an interview. \u201cAnd I\u2019m certainly interested in why they weren\u2019t followed.\u201d<\/p>\n DHA CEO Troy Broussard acknowledged the agency didn\u2019t follow the recordkeeping portions of the agreement, and said DHA continues to be committed to safety at all of its properties.<\/p>\n Reports, Broussard said, \u201cthat\u2019s not what\u2019s going to stop crime.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s going to stop crime,\u201d he said, \u201cis giving people a sense of hope, giving people communities that are healthy and thriving.\u201d<\/p>\n The agency cited shared access to security cameras with Dallas police as an example of efforts made.<\/p>\n \u201cTo make this appear as anything other than a proactive effort between DHA and the City to work together, to communicate better, and to be more responsive when it comes to a wide variety of quality-of-life issues, would be false and misleading,\u201d Jacqueline Chen, a DHA spokesperson, told The News in a statement.<\/p>\n City officials acknowledged minutes and annual reports weren\u2019t prepared, but declined to answer specific questions about why it entered the agreement or why it didn\u2019t take more action at Roseland.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile collaboration remains the city\u2019s preferred approach,\u201d city spokesperson Nick Starling said in a statement, \u201cthe city is prepared to escalate enforcement as necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n Dallas police<\/a> declined to answer detailed questions about the agency\u2019s decisions at Roseland.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Dallas Police Department continues to collaboratively address concerns at Dallas Housing Authority properties,\u201d police spokesperson Corbin Rubinson said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cDPD has engaged multiple units and resources,\u201d the statement continued, \u201cto provide a holistic approach to addressing the needs at these locations.\u201d<\/p>\n DHA is an independent government agency that administers housing programs funded and regulated by the federal government, and serves some of Dallas\u2019 lowest income residents. It\u2019s tied to city government; the five commissioners who oversee it are appointed by the mayor, serve two-year terms and hire the agency\u2019s leader.<\/p>\n Through the Texas Public Information Act, The News filed more than 140 requests for public records with six government agencies, including the city of Dallas, DHA and Dallas police. We reviewed dozens of police reports totaling hundreds of pages; emails between and among officials from the city, police and DHA; and communications between DHA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development<\/a>. We also reached out to residents who had lived at Roseland, as well as officials at DHA, the city, and the Police Department.<\/p>\n Azul Sordo | Staff Photographer.<\/p>\n State law has long held owners responsible for taking reasonable steps to prevent certain types of crime on their property. Known as \u201cabatable\u201d crimes, the law covers a wide range of offenses that include gambling, prostitution, drug violations, criminal trespassing, robbery, assault and murder.<\/p>\n Because poor maintenance and criminal activity sometimes go hand in hand, Dallas city officials often address both at the same time. Teams of police officers, code compliance and fire safety inspectors, and city attorneys are assigned to keep tabs on properties across the city.<\/p>\n If police notice high crime levels \u2014 at an apartment complex, a hotel, car wash or a corner store, for example \u2014 the city first sends code and fire officials for an inspection. With eyes on the property, inspectors might notice features that could contribute to criminal activity, such as poor fencing, broken gates, or vacant apartment units. Having inspectors on site also gives residents a chance to voice concerns about crime.<\/p>\n The origins of the agreement between the city and DHA grew from concerns at a DHA property other than Roseland.<\/p>\n Police take action at DHA property<\/p>\n
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