Officer response times in Dallas increased since last month as the City continues to grapple with the Dallas Police Department’s staffing shortage.
Emergency calls for police service receive a priority designation (1-4) according to the seriousness of the reported issue. P1 classifications are reserved for extreme situations like an active shooter or major traffic accident with injuries. At the other end of the spectrum, P4 calls signify “non-critical” incidents.
When The Dallas Express last reviewed DPD’s average response times for 2024 on April 19, they were as follows:
- P1 – 10 minutes
- P2 – 74 minutes
- P3 – 205 minutes
- P4 – 230 minutes
As of May 11, according to the City of Dallas police response times dashboard, P1 calls are now taking 10.2 minutes on average. P2 calls are being clocked at 77.3 minutes. Police are taking 218 minutes to respond to P3 calls, and P4 calls have an average response time of 247.8 minutes.
DPD only has around 3,000 officers in uniform servicing Dallas residents, despite a City analysis that claims roughly 4,000 are necessary to bring down response times and properly maintain public safety.
The department’s staffing situation has seemingly affected Downtown Dallas. The Central Business District logs much higher crime rates than Fort Worth’s downtown area, which is reportedly patrolled by a dedicated neighborhood police unit that works with private security guards.
While the response times for higher-priority calls did not increase much, P3 and P4 calls saw significant spikes of 6.3% and 7.7%, respectively.
Budgeting only $654 million of taxpayer money for DPD this fiscal year, Dallas City officials have opted to spend considerably less on public safety than other high-crime cities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.