Police response times in Dallas have ticked up again as the metroplex’s flagship city continues to go without the roughly 4,000 officers recommended by an official report.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, a City analysis advised that jurisdiction the size of Dallas needs roughly 4,000 officers on the street to properly maintain public safety and reduce police response times. At present, the Dallas Police Department fields around 3,000 sworn personnel.
When people make 911 calls, DPD dispatch personnel assign them a priority designation (1-4) based on the severity of the reported matter. P1 designations are reserved for serious emergencies, such as an active shooter or major freeway accident with injuries. P4 calls are at the other end of the spectrum, signifying “non-critical” incidents.
The last time DX reviewed average police response times year to date was on May 11. The data was as follows:
- P1 – 10.2 minutes
- P2 – 77.3 minutes
- P3 – 218 minutes
- P4 – 247.8 minutes
According to the City of Dallas response time dashboard, there have been increases across all four priority designations. As of May 31, the average police response times were as follows:
- P1 – 10.4 minutes
- P2 – 80.7 minutes
- P3 – 228.1 minutes
- P4 – 262.2 minutes
Budgeting only $654 million of taxpayer money for DPD this fiscal year, the Dallas City Council chose to spend considerably less on public safety than other high-crime cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.
So far this year, DPD has fielded 15,817 P1 calls, 110,907 P2 calls, 54,730 P3 calls, and 24,088 P4 calls.
“The City just continues to play games. They are not hiring enough police officers on purpose. They’re spending money on things that make it look like their budget is the same or increasing,” claimed Metroplex Civic & Business Association CEO Louis Darrouzet, speaking with DX in a previous interview about Dallas’ police shortage. “The biggest correction to crime is having a police presence. It’s not even putting people in jail, just having enough people on the street, making people less likely to commit crime, and the City’s not doing that.”