By Police1 Staff
DALLAS — The Dallas Police Department is at a “catastrophic state” after close to 1,000 officers have left the agency in less than three years.
Officers started leaving in droves due to the uncertainty of the police and fire pension, low morale and low pay in comparison to other area police departments. In the 2014-2015 fiscal year, 242 police officers left. In the following fiscal year, 294 officers left. And as of July 24, 344 Dallas police officers had left the department during the 2016-2017 fiscal year, according to NBC-DFW.
Sgt. Michael Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association, told NBC DFW that at this rate, more than 1,000 officers will have left the department in less than three years.
“If we reach 1,000 officers, that is the population of almost three full substations. So if you took Northwest, North Central and Northeast [patrol divisions] and just took them out of the picture, that is what you’ve lost,” Mata said. “That’s why we’re at a catastrophic state.”
Mata said his main concern is an increase in response times, which have already risen from last year. A Priority 1 call is still around eight minutes, but a Priority 2 has risen from around 18 minutes to almost 22 minutes.
A department spokesperson told NBC DFW that as of July 24, there were 3,115 sworn officers. That includes police academy trainees and officers who have been temporarily taken off the street due to injury. According to the Dallas Morning News, the desired number of officers is 3,500.