Dallas City Council considers cutting police overtime budget

DALLAS - Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson urged city council members on Wednesday to change their minds about proposed cuts to the police overtime budget.

His plan to cut city staff salaries, including for those who made as low as $60,000 per year, was rejected last week in a straw poll and overwhelmingly rejected again on Wednesday.

Johnson only had one other council member, Cara Mendlesohn, join him on his proposal to fund social services by cutting salaries at city hall.

“I appreciate the compassion for the employees of the city, I really do,” Medlesohn said. “I would also appreciate that compassion for the taxpayers.”

Ten city council members held a news conference on Wednesday evening to push for cutting police overtime by $7 million. They said it is not an attempt to “defund police.”

“Thirteen of us voted against an amendment that would have gutted the talent here at city hall,” said Councilman Chad West.

The city council member behind the proposal said it would push the department to transfer more jobs to civilian roles and put more current officers on patrol. The savings would go toward hiring those civilian police employees, affordable housing and other city programs.

Johnson tried to frame the debate as a choice between defunding police or defunding bureaucracy, but some council members criticized him for framing the choice that way.

“To me the terms defunding the bureaucracy and defunding the police are no more than hashtags, slogans, catchphrases and fail to tell the whole story,” said Councilwoman Jennifer Staubach Gates.

Councilwoman Jennifer Staubach Gates says she disagrees with cutting overtime for officers, but did not want to sacrifice employees’ salaries.

 “We are down officers. There’s potential for more protests,” she said. “I think it’s actually irresponsible to take it.”

Councilman David Blewett added that the conservative position would be to cut police overtime and use staff more efficiently.

“The idea that cutting overtime by a certain percentage to hold the police department more accountable, to be more efficient, I think that’s a good position for us to be in. I think that’s a conservative position to be in,” Blewett said.

The council considered a proposal to cut DPD'S mounted patrol unit, which did not pass. The horses are used for crowd control during large events, parades and protests.

Sixty-six people signed up to speak before council members started discussing the budget proposals.  Some of them called for a much more drastic budget cut to the police budget of $200 million. Others called for some police money to be reallocated to non-emergency services or mental health care.

During the meeting, the mayor tweeted that he had received 500 emails from people calling the city council to fund police. In response, Councilman Adam Bazaldua tweeted others on the council “received 3,000+ emails asking the council for the opposite regarding the budget.”

The Dallas Police Association president has previously said cutting overtime would hurt public safety.

The council also set a cap on the tax rate. The rate makes a very small cut of about $150,000 to the $1.5 billion budget. The council could still decide to make a larger cut September 23.