Dallas City Wire

A majority of the Dallas City Council wants to rearrange how money targeted for the Dallas Police Department is spent.

The council voted 13-2 on Sept. 9 to cut $7 million from the $24 million overtime budget for fiscal year 2020-21 for police. Instead, the council wants to use $1.6 million to hire staffers to perform functions currently done by sworn officers, allowing them to return to the streets.

Another $2 million would be diverted to improving street signals to reduce traffic hazards and $1 million would be allocated for better lighting in public places.

Dallas Council Member Tennell Atkins | Ballotpedia

The remaining $2.4 million is scattered on a variety of projects, including raising the minimum wage for full-time city employees to $14 per hour, promoting affordable housing and investing in cultural activities and events.

Better street signals to improve traffic safety would receive $2 million. Bike lanes, a minimum wage boost of $2.88 an hour to $14 an hour, affordable housing and cultural programs would get the rest of the redirected police overtime money.

Council members Chad West, Adam Medrano, Casey Thomas II, Carolyn King Arnold, Jaime Resendez, Omar Narvaez, Adam Bazaldua, Tennell Atkins, Paula Blackmon, Adam McGough, Lee Kleinman, Jennifer S. Gates and David Blewett voted for the budget change.

Mayor Eric Johnson and council member Cara Mendelsohn cast the dissenting votes.

“I don’t know how any of us can look at all that and say that it’s the right time to cut back on police overtime,” Johnson said. “I’m against defunding of police that the city council has proposed.”

He said he has been inundated with comments from the public opposing the reduction in overtime funding.

The mayor has suggested reducing the salaries of city officials who make more than $60,000 annually and using that money to fund the police. Johnson calls that “defunding the bureaucracy” as opposed to “defunding the police.”

Bazaldua said that is an inaccurate term and other members of the council agreed with that assertion. They argue that they are not defunding the police department.

Atkins said it’s a different way to provide needed services, not defunding the police.

“I support reimagining our public safety priorities, including the preservation and expansion of the RIGHT Care program,” Atkins, who represents District 8, told Dallas City Wire. “RIGHT Care focuses on providing specially trained paramedics from Dallas Fire-Rescue, Dallas Police Department officers and behavioral health social workers that divert mental health patients from local emergency rooms and jails. This means stabilizing patients on the scene and providing appropriate preventative and intervention services to meet their health care needs.

“The RIGHT Care program helps free up our public safety resources to address other concerns and avoid placing people who may be experiencing a mental health crisis from being needlessly placed in jail.”

Atkins said although law enforcement is an important issue, he also has an eye on the city’s finances.

“In addition to preserving RIGHT care, I’m focused on providing an equitable balanced budget that serves taxpayers this fiscal year, while being mindful of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

Arnold shared a statement with Dallas City Wire on the proposed $3.8 billion city budget and the Dallas Police Department.

“It’s budget time at Dallas City Hall, so there’s a whole lot of politicking going on,” said Arnold, who represents District 4. “You may have heard the city council voted to defund the Dallas Police Department. That’s not true. Twelve of my colleagues and I voted to reprogram $7 million in police overtime pay in order to create programs and outreach efforts that will help reduce neighborhood crime rates.

“District 4 is one of the areas that continue to show a need for additional resources to combat criminal activity. This initial action was taken during the straw vote session of the budget process. This action does not represent a lack of support for DPD. The DPD budget still has several million dollars available for overtime compensation. If an emergency should arise, the city manager and the council could move funds from the reserve account to address the matter.”

Arnold said the process is still ongoing.

“In the coming weeks we will take official steps to finalize our votes," she said. "The hope is to be able to tell you more about these programs that represent reinvestment into our neighborhoods. The city can’t arrest its way out of the poverty and desperation issues that often lead to crime. We can use these dollars to harness the community’s powers in crime prevention. The final decision for this biennial budget will be made Sept. 23.”

Arnold said she sees reasons for optimism with a new approach to deal with long-simmering issues.

“In District 4 these dollars will likely help strengthen the Dallas 365 Safe initiative,” she said. “I announced this program earlier this year as a means for renewing neighborhood efforts to take back our community. District 4 community leaders have identified some of the issues they would like to address, such as drug trafficking, prostitution and gunshots at all hours. Ultimately, if we can clean up these activities and improve safety, we can attract new businesses in our neighborhoods.”

Arnold also offered good wishes for outgoing Police Chief U. Reneé Hall. Hall announced her resignation last week, planning to depart at the end of the year after three stormy years leading the Dallas Police Department.

“This was difficult news, I was deeply saddened, but I respect her decision,” Arnold said. “As the first African American female chief, she faced many obstacles but was able to introduce major reforms during her three-year tenure. To her credit, she worked to implement the police oversight board, protocol and reform measures for officer accountability and championed additional 21st Century policing initiatives, to name a few.”