Officials with the Dallas Police Department are planning a $185 million training academy – and they hope it can boost recruitment.
Police officials are planning the 20-acre academy near the intersection of Camp Wisdom Road and University Hills Boulevard in South Dallas, near the University of North Texas-Dallas.
The facility will include a basic training academy, in-service training, a physical training pavilion, and a criminal justice center.
Voters passed Proposition U in November 2024, requiring Dallas police to retain at least 4,000 officers, as The Dallas Express reported. The department has increased recruitment, but next year’s budget includes funding for only 3,424 officers – short of the statutory requirement.
Dallas Police Sr. Public Information Officer Corbin Rubinson told The Dallas Express the new academy “will help with recruiting.”
“A new academy and training center represents our commitment to producing the best-trained and most prepared officers in Texas, and will have increased capacity for larger academy classes for new recruits,” Rubinson said.
The new academy will feature “large, two-story buildings” including reality-based training for the basic academy and the in-service academy, according to Rubinson.
“The second floor will be open to the training area below for observation, and the buildings will be large enough to allow vehicles to drive in to simulate an officer’s full response to a call,” he said.
Dallas Police Asst. Chief Israel Herrera presented plans to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee on December 8, showing how the proposed facility would expand the department’s training capacity.
For basic training, the department currently has 31,050 square feet for classrooms, defensive tactics, a computer lab, administration, and reality-based training – shared with in-service training. The proposed space would offer 87,600 square feet for the current programs, plus “non-lethal training” and a dedicated space for in-service training.
For in-service training, the department currently has 26,200 square feet for classrooms, defensive tactics, a computer lab, administration, and “hands-on” reality-based training. The proposed space would offer 72,800 square feet for the current programs, plus different forms of reality-based training – including “virtual/augmented reality,” a “scenario warehouse,” and non-lethal training.
Officials have already secured $96.5 million for the academy, according to Herrera’s presentation, leaving $88.5 million still unfunded.
In the committee meeting, City Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn expressed concern about the shortfall, according to NBC DFW.
“What we’ve asked of our fundraisers is a huge task,” Mendelsohn said. “It’s basically asking them to raise double what we put in as bond.”
Officials currently have enough funding for the academy’s November 2026 groundbreaking.
According to the presentation, Dallas police are hoping to hold the facility’s “grand opening” in mid-2028.
“Our academy curriculum is among the best in the country,” Rubinson said. “Having a modern, future-focused academy space will allow us to train new officers more effectively, including an expanded reality-based training area, where recruits spend the final four months of the academy, preparing for every possible scenario.”
The department is partnering with UNT-Dallas to bring the academy to life, with the city council approving a lease agreement for the facility in June, as The Dallas Express reported.
“There will also be shared classroom space with UNT Dallas’ Criminal Justice students to take classes alongside Dallas PD recruits,” Rubinson said. “This was an opportunity to partner with a tier one university with a criminal justice program and utilize an expansive plot of land that could be built up exactly as needed.”
The Communities Foundation of Texas gifted $10 million to the academy in early 2024, as The Dallas Express reported at the time. In November, the city council approved $23.5 million for a mixed-use residential and shopping development near the academy, just across the intersection of Camp Wisdom Road and University Hills Boulevard.
