The Dallas Police Department has launched a new training initiative for officers serving in specialized units in the city.
Going forward, City police assigned to special units will train under the Dallas Police Department’s new Tactical Training Group, part of an effort to provide standardized comprehensive training and a measure of continuity across the different units.
“The question isn’t whether or not we need them here in the city of Dallas. We absolutely need them. The question is can we make them better?” said Police Chief Eddie Garcia, speaking with Fox 4 KDFW.
Fort Worth has reportedly seen some success in its downtown area after deploying a dedicated unit to the neighborhood, which collaborates with private security guards. For its part, Downtown Dallas has seen rampant crime in recent years, considerably more than Fort Worth.
“Really look at our specialized units, you know. What’s the best selection process for officers in specialized units? What’s the best selection process for supervisors in specialized units?” Garcia said about the new program. “They’ll be the professional specialized units that we need to be surgical about when they go into certain neighborhoods to rid that area of violent crime.”
The new initiative is unfolding against the backdrop of a severe staffing shortage at DPD. The department only has around 3,100 officers on duty — far fewer than the 4,000 believed to be needed to adequately police the city, per a City analysis.
Sgt. Matt Banes praised the benefits of the new standardized training program.
“So when they go out into real life, real world situations, they are more cohesive. Everybody’s on the same set of tactics, same playing field, and we’re not working off of each other trying to guess what each other’s doing,” Banes told Fox 4.
The new training is part of the department’s efforts to get violent crime under control. While some gains were made last year, the city has seen an alarming number of murders thus far in 2023. As of July 27, there has been a 9.4% increase year over year, according to an internal DPD report. Auto thefts are also up, with DPD logging 7,582 so far this year — a 34.1% year-over-year increase over 2022.
“This is our reaction, this is our game plan, this is how we’re going to combat that,” Sgt. Banes told Fox 4. “We’re getting our officers trained probably better than any other police department that I know of.”
