PATROLLING FOR PEACE OF MIND

Preston Hollow’s longtime fixation with private police forces

Story by ELISSA CHUDWIN

Photos by RASY RAN

Once its own municipality, Preston Hollow’s private police force badges are preserved in the city’s Municipal Archives.

efore Preston Hollow became one of Dallas’ most sought-after neighborhoods, it was its own municipality with a strict set of laws. The city barred public dance halls, using loud speakers and purchasing alcohol in the early 1940s.

Enforcing Preston Hollow’s ever-growing regulations was troublesome, however. In 1941, only one officer patrolled the 2-square-mile town at night, leaving it unprotected during the day, according to archived documents. City officials weren’t persuaded to establish a 24-hour police force until a string of burglaries, vehicle thefts and a car hijacking rocked the neighborhood.

But not everyone benefitted from those patrols.

Police protection was offered on a subscription basis. The police department charged homeowners at a rate of $2.50 per month or $250 per year.

“Probably but few of our citizens realize the extent of the need for efficient policing in our area,” town council secretary Herbert C. Otis wrote in an undated letter featured in the book “Preston Hollow” by Eva Potter Morgan.

Seventy-two years after Preston Hollow was annexed into Dallas, the neighborhood’s crime rates are some of the lowest in the city. Police reported just two robberies, four aggravated assaults and 31 burglaries during an 11-month period in 2016. By comparison, East Dallas saw 139 robberies, 109 aggravated assaults and 271 burglaries in the same time span.

The low crime rate hasn’t stopped Preston Hollow residents from seeking additional protection, whether that’s through the Dallas Police Department or a private company.

“It’s one of the few neighborhoods that have engaged in private security for a long time,” Councilwoman Jennifer Staubach Gates says.

Seven neighborhoods benefit from Enhanced Neighborhood Protection (ENP). The Dallas Police Department has offered the voluntary program, which brings in an off-duty officer to patrol the neighborhood, since 1991.

Interested residents pay a fee, which covers the officers’ pay and patrol vehicle maintenance, says Rick Watson, deputy chief of the North Central Division. The program’s cost depends on the number of homeowners involved, how many hours the officer works per week and his or her hourly wage, which is privately negotiated with the neighborhood or homeowner’s association.

The expense of an ENP wasn’t feasible for the Meadows Neighborhood Association because of its small size, says Kelley Willis, a neighborhood association board member and crime watch committee chair. The neighborhood contracts with a private firm that they pay monthly instead.

“It just depends on the neighborhood, their needs and what they feel they can afford,” Watson says.

Windsor Park launched its ENP earlier this year and now has roughly 150 members. Families with children and seniors make up the neighborhood, says Igor Jekauc, president of the homeowner association’s ENP. Many felt uneasy solely relying on security cameras.

“I think, for them, they’re not used to technology,” he says. “They like to see a person.”

Neighbors who opt to participate pay roughly $400 per household, Jekauc says.

The Hillcrest-Forest neighborhood