Dallas City Council Committee Reduces Police Hiring Goal Despite Voter-Backed Staffing Increase

DALLAS — Despite voter approval to increase Dallas Police Department staffing to 4,000 officers, a city council committee has voted to reduce this year’s hiring target. The Dallas Public Safety Committee decided on Monday, in a narrow 3-2 vote, to recommend hiring 325 new officers instead of the originally proposed 400 for the current fiscal year.

Last November, Dallas residents passed a ballot initiative requiring the city to boost its police force to 4,000 officers—an increase of about 900 from current staffing levels. The initiative reflected growing public concern, as a recent city survey showed 52% of residents view crime as a major issue.

The decision to scale back the hiring goal followed concerns from Interim Police Chief Michael Igo. He explained that hiring and training such a large number of recruits would require pulling officers from other departments, potentially leading to longer response times. “We need the structure in place to get these recruits through the necessary training, and that takes additional staff,” Chief Igo stated.

Councilmember Tennell Atkins, who pushed for the amendment to lower the hiring goal, emphasized the need for a realistic approach. “I don’t think we should have a knee-jerk reaction to do 400 today when we cannot get 400 officers there,” Atkins said.

However, not all council members agreed. Committee Chair Cara Mendelsohn and Councilmember Jesse Moreno voted against the reduction, arguing that the city should prioritize public demand for more officers. “We have to think differently because the rest of the city knows this is a crisis,” Mendelsohn said. Moreno added, “We are heading in the right direction, but we must set the bar even higher.”

The Dallas Police Department is also in the early stages of developing a new law enforcement training facility at the UNT Dallas campus, which aims to support larger training classes in the future.