Dallas police officials said Tuesday the department had surpassed its recruiting goal set by city council members earlier this year, hiring more than 300 recruits since last October.
Deputy Chief Jordan Colunga told members of the city’s Public Safety Committee — the body of city council members overseeing police, fire, and emergency management operations — the department hired 330 recruits and officers between October and the end of September. The committee roundly celebrated the milestone, calling it a sign the department’s stepped-up marketing and hiring strategies are beginning to pay off.
Their praise came against the backdrop of a fire and police pension funding crisis and two charter amendments — Propositions S and U — approved by voters last year that changed how city government operates.
Proposition U requires the city to hire a police force of up to 4,000 officers — the department said it had 3,280 officers and recruits, as of Sept. 30 — and move half of any new revenue year over year to the pension system and public safety initiatives. It also mandates that starting pay and benefits be among the most competitive in North Texas.
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Proposition S requires the city to waive its governmental immunity and allows any resident to file a lawsuit alleging the municipal government isn’t complying with the charter, local ordinances or state law.
Dallas HERO, the nonprofit that backed the amendments, has said it may sue to compel the city to meet the requirements, threatening to do so in March for the city not taking “immediate action” to comply with all of the requirements of Proposition U. Damien LeVeck, the nonprofit’s executive director, declined to comment on the city exceeding the council-set hiring goal when reached Tuesday.
In February, after debate over the figure, the city council voted 12-2 to set the 300 hiring goal through the end of September. Council members Cara Mendelsohn and Jesse Moreno, the public safety committee’s chair and vice chair, respectively, voted against the measure and argued for a goal of 400 — a figure then-interim Chief Michael Igo and Dallas’ largest police association worried would have strained the department.
Dallas City Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn (center) asks a question during a special meeting alongside Dallas City Councilman Jesse Moreno at Dallas City Hall, January 18, 2024.
Tom Fox / Staff Photographer
Mendelsohn represents District 12, which spans Far North Dallas, Moreno represents District 2, which includes Deep Ellum, Old East Dallas and parts of downtown.
The department adopted several measures to bolster recruiting, including eliminating its college credit requirement to widen the applicant pool, holding off-site applicant testing events like the one held at the State Fair of Texas earlier this month, raising starting salaries and offering tiered referral bonuses that reward officers for recruits who remain with the department over time.
From October 2024 through September, the department processed more than 1,200 police applicants, Colunga told the committee. The department reported that the top three draws were the city’s website, 22%; officer referrals, 19%; and social media, 19%.
The fiscal year saw an increase in the number of applicants from referrals, which Colunga attributed to the tiered referral bounces available to current officers. “That’s never been above 10%. So DPD officers are actually putting the word out, ‘Hey, come hire with us,’” the deputy chief said.
The six recruit classes since November 2024 have brought in between 38 and 76 recruits each. The class of 76, which started on Sept. 24, is the second-largest in the department’s history.
Mendelsohn praised those results, commending former Dallas police Chief Eddie García and current Chief Daniel Comeaux for making what she called “fundamental” changes to how the department markets itself and draws applicants.
City Council member Adam Bazaldua, who represents District 7, said he saw the hiring totals as proof the department’s current salary offerings and state of the pension system have not deterred recruiting efforts.
“These numbers you have brought,” Bazaldua told police officials during the meeting,” have really cut to the bottom of the fact that when we’re strategic and intentional, we’ll see results.”
Attrition for the past fiscal year fell to 176 officers, marking the lowest figure in the past five years, according to materials presented to council members. That’s a decrease from 192 officers lost in fiscal year 2023-2024 and the over 230 officers lost in previous cycles.
Retirements accounted for the largest share of departures for the last fiscal year at 63, followed by resignations for “personal reasons” at 37 and transfers to other public-safety agencies at 19.