Dallas Police Aim for Larger Recruit Classes in Push to Hit Hiring Goal

Dallas police are shooting for their next two academy classes to include 60 or more recruits — larger classes than usual for this time of year, officials said — as the department pushes to meet its goal of hiring 350 officers by next fiscal year’s end.

The goal was discussed Monday during a meeting of the public safety committee, the panel of City Council members tasked with overseeing and making recommendations to the full elected body on police and fire matters. The discussion comes after city leaders celebrated exceeding the council-set goal last fiscal year, adding 330 to department ranks.

Classes in November typically come in on the “low end,” Deputy Chief Jordan Colunga told the committee. But Class 409, set to start Nov. 19, has 60 confirmed recruits with five more pending psychological evaluations, he added. The November 2023 academy class had 23 recruits, according to city documents, while the class that followed last November totaled 38.

The larger class sizes come during a police and fire pension funding crisis and as two voter-approved propositions have shifted the city’s public safety obligations.

Proposition U, approved in November, requires the city to hire a police force of up to 4,000 officers and no less than half of any new revenue year over year to go to the pension system and public safety initiatives, while also mandating that starting pay and benefits be among the most competitive in North Texas. 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.

Colunga said the department hopes to draw just as many recruits for Class 410, which begins Jan. 14, potentially including applicants from recent on-site recruiting events in Dallas and New York City.

The larger classes have drawn some officers from patrol. The department has added extra advisors to accommodate the recruits, Colunga said. He added that while making those selections, officials are trying to avoid pulling too many officers from any one division.

Of the 51 recruits who entered Class 404, 40 earned their badges Friday at a graduation ceremony held at Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church. Classes 405, 406 and 407 are still underway, and Class 408, which recently began with more than 70 trainees, was lauded by the city as the department’s second-largest class on record.

The year-end hiring target has been a point of contention.

In February, the City Council voted 12–2 to set a goal of 300 new officers through September. Council members Cara Mendelsohn and Jesse Moreno, the public safety committee’s chair and vice chair, respectively, opposed the measure, pushing instead for 400 — a number that then-interim Chief Michael Igo and the city’s largest police association warned would strain the department.

Moreno on Monday said the department exceeding the previous council-set goal reaffirmed to him that the high yearly goals are attainable.

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