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Rowlett police report drop in downtown incidents after added patrols; staff proposes citywide update to disruptive‑behavior ordinance
Summary
Chief Dunninger told the council a multi-pronged response — including two CDBG‑funded officers and a new core unit — coincided with sharply lower incidents in the downtown grid. Staff proposed amending Chapter 34 to expand disruptive‑behavior and loitering language to all city‑owned/operated properties.
Chief Dunninger and patrol leadership briefed the Rowlett City Council on a nine‑month enforcement effort responding to increased disruptive youth activity around the public library, City Hall and the downtown green. He told council that after an August–October spike tied to school releases, staff added a second officer funded by CDBG and launched a community‑focused "core unit" that pairs officers with a crisis clinician.
"When we put this plan in place in October, you see the the drastic increase in our proactivity…you see that it immediately, we dropped," Chief Dunninger said, summarizing staff data showing the month‑to‑month peak in September/October and a sustained decline after the additional deployment. He provided grid totals (Grid 115, Nov–Apr): 21 arrests, 136 citations and 5 criminal trespass warnings; staff also reported a small number of juvenile suspects tied to several property‑damage incidents (one instance estimated at about $10,000).
As part of the presentation staff previewed an ordinance update to Chapter 34 (Miscellaneous Offenses). The proposed revision would expand the definition of "public place" and revise section 34‑4 so the disruptive‑behavior prohibition would apply to all city‑owned, operated or controlled land and facilities across Rowlett’s corporate limits rather than being limited to the downtown rectangle. Staff characterized the change as clarifying and "modernizing" language, not as granting new enforcement powers.
Council members asked about constitutional limits and property boundaries. One council member warned the change "can trample right over the 1st amendment," and staff pointed to an explicit subsection in the draft ordinance stating the section "may not be construed to infringe upon any right of free speech or expression guaranteed by the constitution of The United States or of the state." City staff said they had met with apartment management near the library to discuss trespass procedures and would follow up on exact property lines as requested by council.
The council did not take a final vote at the work session; staff said the ordinance cleanup was for discussion and that any formal code amendment would return through the regular agenda process for consideration.
