Dallas Police Department (DPD) response times are on the rise, putting city residents at risk and spotlighting the department’s serious staffing shortage.
According to the City of Dallas Open Data response time analytics dashboard, response times across most priority designations appear to be ticking up since the beginning of 2023.
Priority designations, numbering 1-4, are used by DPD dispatchers to inform responding officers of the gravity and urgency of a call, with Priority 1 (P1) calls signaling serious emergencies like active shooters and in-progress robberies.
At the other end of the spectrum are Priority 4 (P4) calls, which are considered “non-critical” and include loud music disturbances, blocked streets, and reports of panhandling.
The average response times for the four designations in 2022 were: 9.6 minutes (P1), 64 minutes (P2), 370.2 minutes (P3), and 422.6 (P4).
So far in 2023, DPD has been clocking on average 9.6 minutes (P1), 77.5 minutes (P2), 400.8 minutes (P3), and 452.3 minutes (P4).
While Priority 1 calls are on pace with last year, the average response time is still over the goal listed on the dashboard, which is eight minutes or less.
Response times for the other call designations are all trending up by as much as half an hour, leaving some Dallas residents feeling disaffected.
The Dallas Express spoke with Kris Manning, owner of the South Dallas barbecue joint Smokey Joe’s BBQ, who shared his recent experiences calling the police. He claims he has called them twice in the last couple of months, and no officers ever showed up. His business is located in District 3, represented by two-time Crime Boss winner City Councilman Casey Thomas.
“A drunk driver, she ran into my patio, and so we’ve had that happen, and then we’ve called the police to get a gentleman escorted [off the property] because he was on some drugs, and that’s another officer that didn’t show up,” Manning told The Dallas Express.
Jake Colglazier, executive director of Keep Dallas Safe, previously claimed that DPD officers were not making arrests for incidents they did not believe would be prosecuted by District Attorney John Creuzot, who has been accused of being soft on crime by detractors.
It is unclear whether this alleged malpractice extends beyond arrests to call responses as well.
Another troubling aspect of the City’s response time data is the average time it takes to respond to a call about random gunfire.
Calls about gunfire are designated Priority 3 when the caller cannot provide any additional information, like a victim or potential perpetrator. Priority 3 calls have a response time goal of 30 minutes or less. So far in 2023, response times to calls reporting random gunfire are averaging 272.1 minutes, ticking up from 2022’s average of 267.6 minutes.
The Dallas Express previously reported on DPD’s lengthy response times last summer, highlighting how staffing shortages at the department have left officers spread thin across the city.
Additionally, both DPD and Dallas Fire-Rescue endured sporadic vehicle shortages during 2022, exacerbating response times, as reported by The Dallas Express.
When asked if some of the issues that led to DPD’s vehicle shortage last summer had been resolved, a DPD spokesperson claimed, “There is no shortage of vehicles.”
A request for comment was also sent to the office of each Dallas City Council member, asking what they were doing to help staff up the DPD and get crime under control.
Unfortunately, no response was received by press time.
For more Dallas crime-related news, see how assaults spiked YOY in Adam Bazaldua’s District 7.