Although the Dallas Police Department has reduced violent crime, it still falls short of response-time benchmarks.
Violent crime has fallen 13.4% so far in 2026, according to a February 9 memo from Chief of Public Safety Dominique Artis to Dallas City Council members. This marks 523 fewer violent crimes than the same time in 2025.
In January, Dallas police met response-time targets for “priority one” calls in only two of its eight patrol divisions.
For “priority two” calls, the department missed targets in all eight divisions.
Dallas police met goals in the Central Business District, responding to priority one calls in just 3.67 minutes. They also met goals in the broader Central Division, responding to such calls in 6.47 minutes.
Across other divisions, however, callers had to wait longer for priority one emergencies.
The department missed targets in the following areas:
- Southwest Division: 10.28 minutes.
- South Central Division: 9.12 minutes.
- Southeast Division: 8.83 minutes.
- North Central Division: 8.38 minutes.
- Northeast Division: 8.19 minutes.
- Northwest Division: 8.07 minutes.
Residents had to wait even longer for priority two emergencies, which include crimes like violence, robbery, and burglary, as The Dallas Express reported.
The department missed targets in every division:
- Central Business District: 14.2 minutes.
- Central Division: 37.91 minutes.
- Northeast Division: 72.15 minutes.
- Southeast Division: 111.04 minutes.
- Southwest Division: 96.63 minutes.
- Northwest Division: 45.93 minutes.
- North Central Division: 50.76 minutes.
- South Central Division: 77.77 minutes.
Dallas Police Senior Public Information Officer Corbin Rubinson told The Dallas Express the creation of the Central Business District division in 2025 helped reduce response times in that area, and across the broader Central Division.
Still, he said the department has completed a multi-year study on staffing and response times, and staff are currently reviewing the study and potential strategies to reduce response times further.
“The Department is continually evaluating response times across each patrol division and adjusting staffing and assignments as needed,” Rubinson told DX.
In January, response times were down from June 2025, when priority one calls had an average response time of 11.19 minutes and priority two calls had an average response time of 93.95 minutes, as The Dallas Express reported.
Violent crime was also down overall. In January, crimes against persons fell 5.4%, and crimes against property fell 18.4% – while crimes against society, which include drug offenses, rose 56%.
“The increase in some reported offenses, like drugs and narcotics, can be attributed to the increase in proactive enforcement,” Rubinson told DX. “Officers doing proactive work often recover drugs and charge those in possession more frequently than during routine calls for service.”
Use-of-force complaints against Dallas police also rose to seven, up from five during the same period last year. Meanwhile, Internal Affairs had only completed 18 investigations – 28% less than the same time last year.
“Completing an internal investigation takes time, as each complaint requires thorough investigating,” Rubinson told DX. “Additionally, the number of complaints does not equate to the number of sustained or exonerated allegations; each complaint is fully reviewed, regardless of the nature.”
Dallas police also hired 112 more officers since October, nearly one-third of the way to the council’s goal of 350 additional officers for FY 2026. Even after the department reaches this goal, however, the total number of officers would fall more than 500 short of the legal minimum of 4,000 that voters passed in November 2024, as The Dallas Express reported.
“The Department exceeded its hiring goal for the last fiscal year, and we are confident that we will again meet the goal set by the City Council for this current fiscal year,” Rubinson told DX. “We are filling up our academy classes because people want to be a Dallas police officer and be part of the most proactive police department in the country.”