Dallas police plan to boost the number of police reports they take online and over the phone and want to create a new civilian unit to respond to lower-priority...
Dallas police Chief Eddie García during a May 17 news conference.Dallas police plan to boost the number of police reports they take online and over the phone and want to create a new civilian unit to respond to lower-priority calls in an effort to get to emergencies faster.
Police response times have spiked in recent years, which the department has attributed to more calls for service and a shortage of officers. From 2011 to 2021, Dallas police 911 administrator Robert Uribe said there’s been a 53% increase in the number of highest-priority calls — priority ones — even as the number of sworn officers has fallen 11%.
Response times for priority ones, which include shootings, increased this year through May 31 about 10.9% — for an average of 8.4 minutes — compared with the same period in 2021, Uribe said. Uribe said almost 20% of the current police workload is related to calls that aren’t in progress and could be taken online or over the phone. Dallas police already take some reports that way, but Uribe said the department can expand requirements, create a new civilian unit and have some calls diverted to other city departments.
Police could also divert some calls to other city departments, he said. Police have already gained council approval to transfer reports of parking violations and street blockages to the city’s transportation department, which should be in place by the end of 2022.
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