Elizabeth Henneke spent much of her childhood in Huntsville, Texas’ notorious prison town. She watched soap operas with detainees and observed their trials. Decades later, she launched a Dallas nonprofit working to reform juvenile justice statewide. Latest profile for @labreportdallas.bsky.social:

She Grew Up in Jails, Now She Keeps Kids Out of Them - The Lab Report Dallas

Elizabeth Henneke’s Lone Star Justice Alliance spurred reforms of Dallas’ embattled juvenile justice system. Next comes the rest of Texas.

labreportdallas.com

Dallas has seen a fair bit of tough news lately—but also deserving of coverage is the work being done at places like Prosperity Park, where a vacant lot in a high-crime area was transformed. I spent some time watching the park burst to life. My dispatch from the Oak Cliff site now run by kids:

The Kids Are All Right at Prosperity Park - The Lab Report Dallas

How a rubble-ridden lot in Oak Cliff became a safe place for children who do far more than play.

labreportdallas.com

Dallas used pandemic relief funds to fix houses in Oak Cliff and elsewhere. But in the Tenth Street Historic District, promises remain broken. A story that’s worth your time, by @goodmoine.bsky.social:

In the Tenth Street Historic District, a Home Repair Program’s Promises Remain Broken - The Lab Report Dallas

Dallas used pandemic relief funds to fix houses and upgrade infrastructure in Oak Cliff and elsewhere. Years later, some residents ask what went wrong.

labreportdallas.com

Kelli examines the tension between service providers who are trying to house the homeless and the police department, which is increasingly detaining, ticketing, and arresting people in encampments. Her @labreportdallas.bsky.social dispatch from the messy conclusion of a six-week services blitz:

Kelli Smith@kellixsmith.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Since a Dallas police homeless team was created nine months ago, more than 300 people experiencing homelessness have been detained citywide. Thursday illustrated the challenge of this approach for service providers. 🧵

Since a Dallas police homeless team was created nine months ago, more than 300 people experiencing homelessness have been detained citywide. Thursday illustrated the challenge of this approach for service providers. 🧵

They Spent Weeks Housing the Homeless, Then Police Showed Up - The Lab Report Dallas

Service providers launched a new initiative in South Dallas to provide apartments to people in encampments, but that didn't stop police from making arrests.

labreportdallas.com

Eight months ago, Dallas PD created a new team for homelessness enforcement. We were curious how its work squares with recent efforts to connect people in encampments to housing/treatment/shelter. Kelli found two very different approaches, which shows how complicated this issue is on the ground.

Kelli Smith@kellixsmith.bsky.social · 4mo ago

281 detentions. $500 fines. A mounting pile of warrants. Records show a new Dallas PD team has zip-tied unhoused people across 61 locations in a pivot toward enforcement. My latest on the city’s new approach to homelessness—and the concern it’s stirring amongst service providers:

281 detentions. $500 fines. A mounting pile of warrants. Records show a new Dallas PD team has zip-tied unhoused people across 61 locations in a pivot toward enforcement. My latest on the city’s new approach to homelessness—and the concern it’s stirring amongst service providers:

How Dallas Police Ramped Up Homeless Enforcement - The Lab Report Dallas

The January storm was on its way, but the cops came first. Police approached a clearing filled with tents less than a mile south of Deep Ellum that winter morning, confronting nearly four dozen people...

labreportdallas.com

Dallas' juvenile justice system seemed to reach a crisis point in 2023. Researchers found many kids who didn’t need to be jailed, but spent months detained only to get probation or a short sentence. A report shows that’s begun to change—and conditions inside the jail are shifting, too. More here:

Dallas’ Juvenile Justice System Was Broken. Have County Leaders Fixed It?

Kids were spending months incarcerated when their cases shouldn’t have reached a judge in the first place. A new analysis points toward progress.

labreportdallas.com

"A 'priority two,' which is considered the second-most serious and can include domestic violence incidents, took officers an average of 32 minutes to get to in 2020. In 2025, that average was about 179 minutes." Kelli investigates officer staffing decisions and their impact on response times.

Kelli Smith@kellixsmith.bsky.social · 7mo ago

I spent the last few weeks analyzing where Dallas allocates patrol cops with a question in mind: How do police manage staffing for perception vs. risk? I dove into lots of data and spoke with police chiefs, elected officials and criminologists to try to make sense of Dallas’ changing priorities:

I spent the last few weeks analyzing where Dallas allocates patrol cops with a question in mind: How do police manage staffing for perception vs. risk? I dove into lots of data and spoke with police chiefs, elected officials and criminologists to try to make sense of Dallas’ changing priorities:

Where Did the Patrol Cops Go?

In 2021, after Dallas shifted its attention to curb violent crime, patrol numbers fell and response times skyrocketed. Those trends are changing, and so are the police department’s priorities.

labreportdallas.com

The stats are in, and they confirm a big trend: Dallas ended 2025 with 141 murders, a *10-year low.* To put that in perspective: 📉 43 fewer people murdered than in 2024. 📉 Dallas' 4th lowest murder count since 1995. A significant drop that has largely flown under the radar.

This weekend I met a boy who saw his mother for the first time since he was 9 months old. A family praying for a mother’s release from prison. And a woman whose life was near collapse before she saw her daughter. My latest @labreportdallas.bsky.social features the program changing their lives.

When Mom Can't Come Home

Last year, a program that attracted national attention for reuniting incarcerated mothers with their kids faced closure. Angelica Zaragoza helped it expand instead.

labreportdallas.com

Dallas will likely end 2025 with its fifth straight decline in violent crime, in part by focusing on tiny geographies that account for most of it. What's that look like in practice? And what can't the cops solve? @kellixsmith.bsky.social on Volara in Oak Cliff: labreportdallas.com/p/the-stubbo...

The Stubborn Story of a Challenged Apartment Complex

Volara in Oak Cliff, once the most violent apartments in Dallas, last year became a tale of success. In 2025, police say it has returned to its old ways. What happened?

labreportdallas.com

In 2024, Dallas' most violent apartment complex became a tale of success after police appeared to lead a dramatic turnaround. Then, this year, violence began rising again. For @labreportdallas.bsky.social, I looked into what Volara's volatility tells us.

The Stubborn Story of a Challenged Apartment Complex

Volara in Oak Cliff, once the most violent apartments in Dallas, last year became a tale of success. In 2025, police say it has returned to its old ways. What happened?

labreportdallas.com

And here is the link to that piece about the City Council briefing on the 287(g) program. www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/...

ICE Came to Dallas City Hall. It Did Not Go Well for ICE.

Mayor Eric Johnson’s insistence that the City Council discuss whether the police should be involved in a controversial federal immigration program may have had an unintended consequence: a fractious b...

dmagazine.com

It's official: A Starbucks will open next door to he restored Forest Theater in South Dallas. My latest story for The Lab Report looks at why Forest Forward decided this was the right call for the project—and its neighbors. labreportdallas.com/p/why-starbu...

Why Starbucks is Coming to South Dallas

The story of how Forest Forward came to understand the significance of inviting a national chain into its ambitious redevelopment of the Forest Theater.

labreportdallas.com

Headlines in the last month portray the city of Dallas in chaos. We've had killings outside an ICE facility, a nightclub, a shopping center, a beheading at a motel. A story that isn’t being told: Dallas is on pace for one of its lowest murder tallies in a decade. I dug into the data in my latest.

The Perception and Truth Behind Violence in Dallas

Despite numerous high-profile murders and violent crimes, the city is on pace for its largest decrease in homicides since well before the pandemic.

labreportdallas.com

What does the government shutdown fight have to do with Dallas hospitals? For @labreportdallas.bsky.social, I break down how planned health care cuts could hit the county’s safety net—with $130M already on the line. “There’s going to be some rough seas.”

Deep Medicaid Cuts Come for Parkland

The steepest reduction in the program’s history has the leaders of the county's safety net system preparing for the unknown. Here is where things stand.

labreportdallas.com

With the fight over healthcare shutting down the federal government today, The Lab Report's @kellixsmith.bsky.social looks beyond the political bickering and digs into the real-life implications across North Texas, especially within Parkland Health. labreportdallas.com/p/deep-medic...

Deep Medicaid Cuts Come for Parkland

The steepest reduction in the program’s history has the leaders of the county's safety net system preparing for the unknown. Here is where things stand.

labreportdallas.com

A woman had a theory: could small teams deployed after a drug overdose or poisoning save lives? Three years since the fentanyl crisis struck North TX, deaths are declining. My latest spotlights a 33-year-old at the center of the fight.

The 33-Year-Old Architect of the Region’s Fentanyl Response

Becky Devine had a theory: could outreach teams, deployed days after a drug overdose or poisoning, save lives? Three years later, deaths are declining.

labreportdallas.com

ICYMI: While the dominant public safety conversation in Dallas was about adding more cops, violent crime fell 48% across 150 sites in just six months. Police officers had very little to do with it. From @labreportdallas.bsky.social's @kellixsmith.bsky.social labreportdallas.com/p/dallas-bli...

In Dallas, Reducing Violent Crime Goes Beyond Policing

They aren’t cops. But this specialized team of city employees is showing how improving neighborhoods and addressing blight can reduce violence.

labreportdallas.com

For my latest story, I feature Dallas' City Action Strike Team — a trio that targets urban decay with an ambitious goal in mind: Could improving these spaces help reduce violence? So far, we've found, the results are promising. More here:

In Dallas, Reducing Violent Crime Goes Beyond Policing

They aren’t cops. But this specialized team of city employees is showing how improving neighborhoods and addressing blight can reduce violence.

labreportdallas.com

Dobie Pre-K will soon be a hub for services in Esperanza. To understand the significance of local government finally paying attention here, @kellixsmith.bsky.social spent weeks with residents to learn about resilience and community in this pocket of North Dallas. labreportdallas.com/p/esperanza-...

In North Dallas, a New Future in a Shuttered School

County officials are finally paying close attention to the Esperanza neighborhood in Far North Dallas, beginning with a new vision for Dobie Pre-K.

labreportdallas.com

In my first story for The Lab Report Dallas, I spent weeks in Esperanza, a neighborhood once called "mayhem" where a third of households live on less than $25,000 a year. After a school shuttered, officials stepped in — and residents turn to resilience.

In North Dallas, a New Future in a Shuttered School

County officials are finally paying close attention to the Esperanza neighborhood in Far North Dallas, beginning with a new vision for Dobie Pre-K.

labreportdallas.com

The full website goes live in the fall. We’ve hired @kellixsmith.bsky.social, one of Dallas' best reporters, as a staff writer. Email newsletters go out every Wednesday. We want to help Dallas understand what’s working, what’s not, and why. Join us! (Also it’s free.) labreportdallas.com/subscribe

🧵 Fourish months ago, @sharongrigsby.bsky.social and I holed up in essentially a glass-doored closet and talked at each other until we could see the shape of a new publication. The Lab Report has a ways to go—website (the design rips), social accounts (yikes)—but we’re now running stories.

🧵Our first stories are out at The Lab Report Dallas! Leading up to our website launch, we're publishing a new piece every Wednesday to offer a look at the solutions-based journalism you can expect from us. Our first two by @sharongrigsby.bsky.social and @goodmoine.bsky.social are must-reads. 👇

For my last @dallasnews.com story, I sat down with new Chief Daniel Comeaux and community and police leaders to ask how the ex-DEA leader can succeed amid a torrent of challenges here. “Dallas is gonna have to deal with me because I’m not going anywhere.”

Dallas police face a torrent of challenges. How can new Chief Daniel Comeaux succeed?

Dallas' new police chief gave himself 90 days to learn before making changes. Still, since his start April 23, he’s had to contend with wide-ranging issues.

dallasnews.com

Today is my last day at @dallasnews.com and it's still hard to believe it snuck up. Words can't express my gratitude for DMN's chance on me when I was a breaking news fellow. I'm leaving after ~4 years covering Dallas PD, which has been an incredible opportunity to work on important stories.

Not a great situation tonight at Dallas city hall. The city attorney's interruption was a surprise to all board members who had questions prepared for the police chief. We are not done with this.

Kelli Smith@kellixsmith.bsky.social · last yr.

Board member Brandon Friedman (@brandonfriedman.bsky.social) is trying to ask the chief for his views on immigration, but is interrupted by a city attorney who says they can’t ask anything him about immigration or specific policies because the agenda only said it’d be a “general introduction.”