City council committee wants to scale back Dallas police hiring goal amid push for more officers
Council committee wants to lower DPD hiring goal
The original proposal would have directed the city manager to boost the hiring goal from 250 new officers to 400 for the current fiscal year. But on Monday, the Dallas Public Safety Committee recommended a lower target of 325 new hires.
DALLAS - Dallas voters changed the city charter to require an increase in police staffing to 4,000 Dallas police officers in the last election.
Now, a city council committee is taking a step back and reducing this year's hiring recommendations.
What we know:
The Dallas Police Department is preparing for a hiring frenzy.
Last November, residents approved a ballot initiative requiring the city to increase the number of officers to 4,000. That’s roughly 900 more than the city currently employs.
A recent city survey found 52% of residents said crime is a major problem.
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The original proposal would have directed the city manager to boost the hiring goal from 250 new officers to 400 for the current fiscal year.
But on Monday, in a 3-2 vote, the Dallas Public Safety Committee recommended a lower target of 325 new hires.
The decision was made after Dallas Interim Police Chief Michael Igo said he'll need to pull police officers from other departments in order to facilitate the hiring and training of so many additional officers.
The Dallas Police Department is in the early phase of building a new law enforcement training facility at the UNT Dallas campus, which would help with the training of larger classes.
What they're saying:
Chief Igo said having to pull officers from other departments could increase police response times in the short term.
"The problem with raising the goal past that is we have to have the structure in place to get these recruits through the training that's necessary. That takes additional staff," he said.
"I don't think we should have a knee-jerk reaction to do 400 today, and then we cannot get 400 officers to be there," said Councilmember Tennell Atkins. "And that's why I made this motion to amend this."
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Committee Chair Cara Mendelsohn — who voted against the amendment change, along with Councilmember Jesse Moreno — said the city needs to listen to its residents.
"Maybe we pull people out of civil service or HR to help with recruiting," she said. "We have to be thinking a little bit differently because the rest of the city knows this is a crisis. Somehow, people in this building don't get that."
"We are heading in the right direction, but we must set the bar even higher," said Moreno.
What's next:
It's unclear how much the boost in new officers would cost the city.
The public safety chair will forward the recommendation to the mayor for consideration by the full Dallas City Council.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Dallas Police Department, Monday's Dallas Public Safety Committee meeting and previous FOX 4 coverage.