As part of his rounds throughout Dallas, Police Chief Eddie Garcia met with residents in the East Dallas community of Buckner Terrace on May 31. Held at Edna Rowe Elementary School, the meeting focused on safety in public schools and other public spaces.
Ernestine Rhynes, a retired educator who has resided in Dallas for 19 years, expressed concern for the children she still tutors. “I still do tutoring. With little ones,” she told NBC 5. “Right now, I just finished tutoring with fourth and fifth graders. So, I can see those little faces. They’re babies. They’re 10, they’re 11. They’re babies.”
“We are with you,” Police Chief Garcia assured her. “We are partners in this. So, what we really need to do is work collectively and together.”
The Dallas police chief further reassured those in attendance that the department is working on measures to address safety concerns.
“Over the summer, you’re going to start seeing some trainer models between ourselves, school districts, [Dallas] ISD, and other entities,” Garcia said. He explained that the training session would extend to other spaces, such as places of worship, malls, and movie theaters.
Garcia also spoke of the police department’s understaffed state. According to the Dallas police chief, the department needs more officers to augment its ambitious goals. He explained that the city allows for 250 recruits into the police department this year and 250 next year. However, the department faces attrition of 200 staff yearly.
While the department works on its growth, Garcia hopes that community partnership remains critical to its success.
In May, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia partly attributed the crime drop in Dallas to the community’s support for officers. According to the police chief, support from the public has boosted officers’ morale and contributed to the department’s success in its work to reduce crime in the city. “…There is not a single community, not a single neighborhood in the city of Dallas that I have visited that has been impacted by violent crime that I have ever heard the words, ‘We want to see less of you,'” he said at the Dallas Regional Chamber luncheon.
Garcia further said that requests for more police come from communities of color.
“That’s important for us to see. To me, I call that a precious gift because that support does not exist everywhere.”