Dallas City Manager Proposing More Officers, Higher Pay
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - In the wake of the deadly police ambush on July 7 in which five officers will killed and 8 injured after a protest march, the Dallas Police Department has been working closely with city officials "to identify millions of dollars to expand the police force, an increase in pay for officers and additional equipment that ensures the highest level of safety."
The City of Dallas says it's purchasing additional vests, helmets, ballistic panels for vehicles, cameras for helicopters and firearms for police officers.
The City says it's also providing the DPD Fusion Center with additional tools to enhance intelligence gathering. The City and DPD are also exploring less lethal technology capabilities that increase officer safety and limit the use of firearms.
"In combination with challenges the City is facing on a number of fronts, we are reprioritizing some of our resources to fulfill Dallas Police Chief David Brown's requests for more officers, higher pay and better equipment," said City Manager A.C. Gonzalez. "We are also working with elected officials at the local, state and federal levels in addition to private donors who have all expressed a desire to financially support our police department. We are committed to supporting and protecting our officers so that our officers can protect others."
"I am proud of how our officers are determined to continue working these events to ensure the safety of all citizens, despite such tremendous loss," said Chief Brown. "I appreciate the City Manager's efforts to provide us with additional resources."
Following the announcement, the president of the Dallas Police Association Ron Pinkston responded with the following statement:
"Outgoing Dallas City Manager A.C. Gonzalez has repeatedly proven that he does not value the men and women in the Dallas Police Department. His misleading claim today that he is going to propose higher pay for police is an insult to every officer in our department.
The fact is A.C. Gonzalez, the highest paid city manager in the country with an annual salary of $400,000, is not proposing to increase the pay for all of our officers. Instead, he is offering only a slight bump in salary for a select group of officers while ignoring our more experienced officers. For him to claim anything else is, simply put, a lie. Under his plan, the pay for our officers will still lag far behind just about every city in North Texas.
If the City Manager successfully imposes his new salary plan on the department, the result will be a continued exodus of quality officers to other cities offering better pay and benefits like Fort Worth, Garland, Frisco and others. This will mean fewer officers patrolling our neighborhoods and a continued increase in our violent crime rate.
The Dallas Police Association has attempted to work with A.C. Gonzalez for the past six months to negotiate fair pay and reasonable benefits for our officers. But during this process, he has repeatedly shown his contempt for those who wear the badge by skipping meetings in the meet and confer process.
By his actions – just two weeks after the tragic murders of five law enforcement officers – A.C. Gonzalez has proven he cannot be trusted to develop an honest pay and benefits package that appropriately compensates Dallas Police officers. It is now up to the individual members of the City Council to do the right thing and take seriously the service and sacrifice of the men and women who work hard every day to protect the families, schools and businesses throughout our city."
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