The Dallas Police Department’s new budget increased by nearly 10% as it plans to increase the number of sworn officers by only 2%.
The Dallas City Council unanimously passed a roughly $5 billion budget for fiscal year 2024-2025 that increased DPD’s funding from $657 million to $719 million. This 9.5% increase in police funding outpaced the 7.4% overall increase in the City’s budget.
The City budget includes a plan for the police department to hire 250 sworn officers in each of the next two years. However, the budget projected that the number of sworn officers would only increase by 60 each year due to anticipated attrition. The City projects the number of sworn officers will go from 3,102 in September 2024 to 3,162 in September 2025 to 3,222 in September 2026.
The new DPD budget includes a 15% increase in funding for police recruiting and a 22% increase for the police academy and training. The department is set to launch a program that would provide an up to $5,000 bonus to employees who successfully recruit new police officers, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
DPD has roughly 3,000 sworn officers, which falls short of the City’s 2015 recommendation of 4,000 officers. This police shortage is paired with increasing response times to emergency calls, as previously reported by DX.
Senior Corporal Brian E. Martinez, a public information officer for DPD, said the sworn officer projections were made before the launch of two programs addressing staffing challenges.
The department is set to launch a program to provide an up to $5,000 bonus for employees who successfully recruit new police officers. Another program allows officers to buy back sick leave time.
“We feel that these initiatives will have an impact and are looking forward to the results,” Martinez told The Dallas Express. “Our team is always researching, evaluating, and looking for ideas that will impact retention and recruiting.”
Dallas residents are set to vote on a citizen-led ballot amendment in November requiring the City to hire roughly 1,000 police officers. The amendment would also increase police pay and help secure the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System.
The new DPD budget boosts several key areas of operation, including increased funding for criminal investigations by 17% and field patrol by 4%. Nearly $17 million will be allocated for overtime expenses, which were not included in last year’s budget.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia implemented a violent crime plan in 2021 that decreased overall violent crime in the City each year since, as previously reported by DX. However, homicides increased last year for the first time under the plan.
Garcia is leaving Dallas in November to become an assistant city manager in Austin.
DPD’s new budget details an extensive list of goals. These include recruiting police officers, increasing patrol units, and equipping all officers with body cams. Another goal states the department will increase “diversity within the department to more proportionately represent the City population.”
City departments are required to detail a plan for “Budgeting for Equity,” as previously reported by DX. DPD’s efforts under this requirement in the budget include implicit bias training and an annual “Racial Profiling Analysis” of vehicle traffic stops.