Police response times have worsened significantly over the last month, shooting up across all four priority designations used by the City to sort 911 calls.
Priority designations, numbered 1-4, inform responding officers of the urgency of a call, with Priority 1 (P1) calls at one end of the spectrum signaling serious emergencies like active shooters and Priority 4 (P4) calls at the other end for “non-critical” incidents, like a loud music disturbance.
As reported last month in The Dallas Express, response times were already trending upward from 2022 averages in three of the four priority designations, with P1 calls on track to match the 9.6-minute average logged last year.
However, as of Tuesday, average response times have shot up for every designation. P1 calls averaged 9.8 minutes, P2 calls averaged 81.5 minutes, P3 calls averaged 493.7 minutes, and P4 calls averaged 507.2 minutes, according to the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard.
For comparison, on February 18, the Dallas Police Department (DPD) was clocking year-to-date averages of 9.6 minutes (P1), 77.5 minutes (P2), 400.8 minutes (P3), and 452.3 minutes (P4).
DPD Senior Corporal Brian Martinez explained to The Dallas Express that the increase in response times was largely due to a steep uptick in P1 and P2 calls.
“When compared [to] the same timeframe in calendar year 2022, calendar year 2023 [call-for-service] volumes are up,” Martinez stated in an email. “Priority 1 call volume [is] up 7.68% compared to last year … [and] Priority 2 call-for-service volume [is] up 4.81%.”
Martinez noted that Dallas has logged a combined total of 3,309 more P1 and P2 calls for service year-to-date than there were last year.
“These high-priority calls require more officers to respond to the scene. The increased number of officers needed for the higher-priority calls decreases their availability for low-priority calls,” Martinez told The Dallas Express.
This year’s greater volume of high-priority calls has in part been driven by the year-to-date rise in violent crime in Dallas, which has seen an overall increase of 5.07% as of Sunday, according to a DPD report.
The report shows that aggravated assaults are currently up by 10.05% and murders are up by 29.17%, a staggering figure that puts the City’s Violent Crime Reduction Plan into question.
As it stands now, DPD is taking 290.1 minutes on average to respond to a call about random gunfire in the city, an increase of almost 20 minutes over its response time last month and roughly 23 minutes more than 2022’s average.
No thanks to DA Creuzot. If he had his way he’d cut back the DPD more! The city of Dallas crime wave is all on him and his policies.
500 minutes, eight hours for P3 and P4. One of these is like loud Music and noise disturbance. Why bother if it’s going to take eight hours on average. I don’t know all that’s included in P3 and P4 but I’m sure there are issue that need to be dressed quicker than eight hours.
We are turning into a Haiti. Thank you, city government, for turning this city into a living hell!
And the reality of how calls are classified really changes the dynamic.
Dispatchers that downgrade calls so it looks better or due to a lack of training and caring.
I didn’t know the police responded to calls. In the past I have called them and they never showed up.
Lanie, I don’t know where you live. But some of these area’s need 24/7 police protection. The elderly are so vulnerable to these clowns. Someone mention The Dallas DA, did you VOTE?
As long as he get the majority of the votes, nothing will change. I voted for Faith Johnson but she has to do a better job of fighting to take that job. She has to step up or let someone else replace the current DA.
The police do the best they can. Recruiting is a problem, when we are worst than Chicago. The police want to ho home and be with their family like you!
It’s true. Had two domestic violence calls within 2 weeks at my home and DPD showed up 6 hours later after I made the call. There was a gun involved both times (& all other times as well) and when that was told, the police did absolutely NOTHING. I no longer have faith not trust the Dallas Police Department. .
Who is your City Council Rep.? That person should contact the police chief on your behalf. Do you know who that individual is. You know they get paid, he or she need to do their job and you need to do yours, if you voted for them.