Dallas police worked with state, federal law enforcement for World Cup

The Dallas Police Department logged 83 FIFA-related incident reports during last month’s World Cup tournament  — a low rate of criminal activity that officials attributed to proactive crime prevention operations with state and federal leaders during the tournament. 

“Despite welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors to Dallas, the city remained safe, and criminal activity associated with tournament events remained relatively low,” said Allison Hudson, a DPD spokeswoman at a Monday news conference. 

Throughout the tournament, DPD worked alongside Homeland Security officers, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office to monitor and reduce crime, officials said.  Officials shared that two of their collaborations — Operation Uptown Downtown and Operation Safe Streets – resulted in over 1,000 arrests during the tournament. 

“We’re taking a comprehensive approach to address prostitution and the criminal activity that often surrounds them,” Aarin Harrel, the commander of DPD’s Special Investigations Unit, said at the news conference. 

This isn’t the first time federal and local law enforcement have joined together to keep Dallas safe for the World Cup. Just before the tournament, law enforcement officials wrapped up Operation Red Card — seizing narcotics, firearms, and taking many dangerous offenders off the streets. 

During the tournament itself, DPD arrested more than 300 people for solicitation — including one of their own officers — as a part of Operation Safe Streets. 

Harrel said DPD Corporal Zachary Helm was arrested in late June for solicitation of prostitution. Helm has since been placed on administrative leave, pending a criminal and administrative investigation. 

“Our officers are held to the same, if not higher, standard that the public we serve,” Harrell said. “When someone violates that trust, we will take appropriate action and hold them accountable.”

Operation Safe Streets helped identify and rescue eight victims of human trafficking — four adults and four children — according to Travis Pickard, a Homeland Security official.  

A second initiative, Operation Uptown Downtown, resulted in nearly 700 arrests throughout the Deep Ellum, Central Business District, and Uptown neighborhoods. The operation broadly focused on identifying violent offenders, in partnership with U.S Marshals Service. 

“We  were very relentless in our partnership with the Marshal Service in an attempt to arrest criminals that are committing crimes within that area,” DPD Sergeant Sheldon Smith said. 

It’s still unclear how much money the department spent on FIFA-related security expenses, but DPD Chief Daniel Comeaux said the department is working through the process of getting reimbursed from the federal government. 

“We’re going to try to get back every single dollar that we can,” Comeaux said.