{"id":499720,"date":"2026-01-07T20:39:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T20:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/499720\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T20:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T20:39:17","slug":"dallas-leaders-failure-on-policing-homelessness-to-blame-for-att-relocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/499720\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas leaders\u2019 failure on policing, homelessness to blame for AT&T relocation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday that Dallas leaders were responsible for AT&T\u2019s decision to relocate<\/a> its headquarters from downtown Dallas to Plano, blaming what he called the city\u2019s failure to fully fund and staff its police department and \u201ccontain a homeless problem\u201d downtown.<\/p>\n

Abbott, a Republican, made the remarks while taking questions from reporters at the Fort Worth Police Officers Association headquarters, where he appeared alongside Tarrant County officials and police union leaders \u2014 including the Dallas Police Association \u2014 to accept their endorsement in his race for a fourth term.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the responsibility of local leaders to fully fund local law enforcement,\u201d Abbott said in response to a question about voter-approved charter amendments requiring the police department to boost officer staffing. \u201cBecause Dallas did not do that, AT&T is now moving out of downtown Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n

City and police spokespeople declined to rebut Abbott directly, instead deferring to the city\u2019s previous statement that AT&T described the relocation as a preference for a suburban campus, not a judgment on public safety or city leadership.<\/p>\n

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Abbott\u2019s remarks sought to turn AT&T\u2019s move into a referendum on the city\u2019s public safety approach, as he warned the state would review whether the city\u2019s police funding decisions comply with a 2021 law restricting cuts to police budgets.<\/p>\n

It comes after AT&T\u2019s announcement Monday that it will move its global headquarters from Whitacre Tower and the Discovery District downtown<\/a> to a new campus in Plano \u2014 a shift expected to reshape downtown\u2019s street-level economy and potentially depress property values.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A car drives past AT&T headquarters building Whitacre Tower and the AT&T Discovery District in downtown Dallas, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026.<\/p>\n

El\u00edas Valverde II \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

In a joint statement<\/a> with City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Mayor Eric Johnson said the city\u2019s economic strengths are what had drawn AT&T to Dallas in 2008, and its decision to move was the result of company leadership favoring a \u201clarge horizontal, suburban-style campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

AT&T did not mention public safety in its announcement Monday. An AT&T spokesperson declined to comment on Abbott\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n

Public safety was a focus last year when Downtown Dallas Inc., the nonprofit that helps oversee the central business district\u2019s upkeep, rolled out Safe in the City \u2014 a public-private initiative<\/a> designed to increase police and security presence downtown, improve coordination among agencies, and expand efforts to move people off the streets<\/a> and into housing.<\/p>\n

The area had more than 120 assigned officers as of November \u2014 up from about 90 at the start of the year, according to records reviewed by The Dallas Morning News.<\/p>\n

Before the launch, a study commissioned by Downtown Dallas Inc. estimated AT&T\u2019s departure could contribute to a roughly 30% drop in downtown<\/a> property values. The study also raised the possibility of corporate relocations from downtown if public safety concerns were not addressed.<\/p>\n

Last year, voters approved charter amendments that set a baseline of 4,000 officers for the Dallas Police Department, intensifying the department\u2019s push to recruit<\/a> and train new hires. As of November, the force was more than 600 officers short, according to records reviewed by The News.<\/p>\n

Sean Pease, president-elect<\/a> of the Dallas Police Association, said while the department has made strides in recruiting and hiring with the City Council\u2019s backing, staffing shortages will take time to close as departments nationwide struggle to attract and keep officers. Efforts to address homelessness, he added, were underway but are complex, requiring more than just police work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith respect to AT&T, the company has stated its move is part of a broader consolidation to a centralized campus, not a reflection of law enforcement conditions in downtown Dallas,\u201d Pease said in a statement.<\/p>\n

During the news conference, Abbott signalled his office could look into Dallas\u2019 funding decisions with the police department. He specifically mentioned legislation he signed into law in 2021 that restricts cities\u2019 abilities to reduce police budgets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be looking into what the city of Dallas has or has not done with regard to funding the police [and] see if they\u2019re in violation of that state law that I signed,\u201d Abbott said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday that Dallas leaders were responsible for AT&T\u2019s decision to relocate its headquarters from…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":499721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,24340,1596,14841,14842,14052,5026,8629,5292,358,5524,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-499720","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-att","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-city-hall","12":"tag-dallas-police","13":"tag-downtown-dallas","14":"tag-greg-abbott","15":"tag-local-politics","16":"tag-public-safety","17":"tag-texas","18":"tag-texas-politics","19":"tag-tx","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115855751889010321","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}