Security Upgrades At DPD HQ & Substations Nearing Completion
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Ever since an attack on Dallas police headquarters nearly three years ago there have been calls to better protect officers. Now, major security upgrades at police stations are nearing completion.
The headquarters building on South Lamar Street has already been outfitted with bulletproof glass, but there are more upgrades being made inside the lobby and at the seven substations serving neighborhoods across the city.
The need for better officer security was brought to the forefront after a number of incidents involving suspects targeting officers and police property. In 2015 a gunman in an armored van opened fire on police headquarters. After that attack city leaders promised there would be security upgrades... but it took time.
Meanwhile, threats continued. In February of 2017, a drive-by shooting left the south central substation riddled with bullet holes and in February of this year a man was arrested for battering 12 police vehicles -- parked in a station parking lot -- with a sledgehammer.
If you peer through the windows into the lobby at police headquarters, you can see the construction of a new visitor's entrance -- a project scheduled to be complete next month. At a cost of nearly $2 million the headquarters building will also have a new revolving door, a number of cameras and a card reader access system installed.
The City is also spending more than $2.7 million on fencing for each of the seven neighborhood substations -- with work expected to be complete by the end of June.
Information on all of the work completed and still underway is being presented the Director of Equipment and Building Services during a public safety meeting before the Dallas City Council. Leaders will also discuss which further improvement projects to begin using the remaining money a 2017 Bond Program.
