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If everything Officer Novello is saying is true things need to change in Dallas city government.

If you google-fu Officer Novello, he has been an outspoken and public critic of his Department. I don't know if he is a disgruntled officer or the City is sweeping problems under the rug. However, the Mayor's statement from a couple of weeks ago does not mesh with Officer Novello's concerns.

Someone is not accurate.

I know that during my ride to the station on August 14th the patrol officer showed me their laptop with calls. They had armed robbery calls with 40+ minute times that hadn't been answered. There were lower priority calls with longer times.

Not very familiar with the Dallas area.
Wife got us a good deal on Southwest so we be flying out of Love Field in the future.
We stay a night at "Candlewood Suites" Love Field by the Stemmons Freeway before we catch our flight. Thug area? Or safe?

The article said the problem was due to the city spending its money on land development deals. Not sure what that means exactly, but I assumed Dallas's problem was the same as Houston's: they can't afford the pensions for all the retired city employees.

When I was in New York City the last time I noticed that literally there is a police officer standing on every corner. I thought no wonder the crime rate is lower, its not the gun control, its all the police officers. (NYC has 50,000 police officers if you add up all the groups and 8.6 million people)

Here in Houston, I will go days without seeing a police car. I assumed the Houston police are patrolling the rough neighborhoods.

In my neighborhood we rely on paid constable patrols and they handle all the calls as we call them first. (Houston has about 5,000 police officers with a population of 2.3 million)

Dallas has 2500 police officers and 1.3 million people, really not much different than in Houston.

Its good there are so few Bad Guys. Or maybe Texas basically relies on the safety provided by its armed homeowners and Licensed Concealed Carry to keep the peace.

Timeline: History of Dallas City Hall corruption

Dwaine Caraway Resigns, Pleads Guilty to Federal Corruption Charges

Caraway, now serving his fifth non-consecutive term on the Council, accepted $450,000 from Robert Leonard and Slater Swartwood Sr., both former executives with Force Multiplier Solutions, the Louisiana-based technology company at the center of Dallas County Schools stop arm-camera scandal. In exchange for the cash, the feds say, Caraway influenced the City Council's vote on the stop arm-camera program, which allowed DCS to collect civil fines from those who drove past the signs without stopping.

2 More Sentenced in Dallas Corruption Trial

FBI has seized more than $460,000 in cash at the home of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price.

Prosecutors accused Price of taking around $1 million in bribes in the form of cash, cars and real estate for his influence in Dallas County business. They said Price failed to pay taxes on the bribes and other hidden income from outside businesses...John Wiley Price Acquitted on 7 of 11 Charges, Jurors Fail to Reach Verdict on Four Other Counts

Dallas Police See Exodus as Doubts Rise on Pension Promises

Dallas Police and Fire Pension Backs Cutbacks to Avoid Collapse

Dallas squares off with another city pension fund — this time the one for civilian employees

To say that the city has management problems would be an understatement

Dallas proper is a scary place indeed.

Paladin wrote: ↑Mon Dec 17, 2018 10:43 am Timeline: History of Dallas City Hall corruption

Dwaine Caraway Resigns, Pleads Guilty to Federal Corruption Charges

Caraway, now serving his fifth non-consecutive term on the Council, accepted $450,000 from Robert Leonard and Slater Swartwood Sr., both former executives with Force Multiplier Solutions, the Louisiana-based technology company at the center of Dallas County Schools stop arm-camera scandal. In exchange for the cash, the feds say, Caraway influenced the City Council's vote on the stop arm-camera program, which allowed DCS to collect civil fines from those who drove past the signs without stopping.

2 More Sentenced in Dallas Corruption Trial

FBI has seized more than $460,000 in cash at the home of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price.

Prosecutors accused Price of taking around $1 million in bribes in the form of cash, cars and real estate for his influence in Dallas County business. They said Price failed to pay taxes on the bribes and other hidden income from outside businesses...John Wiley Price Acquitted on 7 of 11 Charges, Jurors Fail to Reach Verdict on Four Other Counts

Dallas Police See Exodus as Doubts Rise on Pension Promises

Dallas Police and Fire Pension Backs Cutbacks to Avoid Collapse

Dallas squares off with another city pension fund — this time the one for civilian employees

To say that the city has management problems would be an understatement

That's why we brought in a police chief from the crime riddled hull of a great city, Detroit (https://www.forbes.com/pictures/mlj45jg ... 165a5469d9), and a city manager from one of the worst run cities in the US, Tacoma (https://wallethub.com/edu/best-run-cities/22869/), and to who we pay a reported $350,000 a year.

dlh wrote: ↑Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:00 am Not very familiar with the Dallas area.
Wife got us a good deal on Southwest so we be flying out of Love Field in the future.
We stay a night at "Candlewood Suites" Love Field by the Stemmons Freeway before we catch our flight. Thug area? Or safe?

The area near Love Field is mixed. I would suggest that you confirm what kind of security they have and why or why not. For example, do they have a secure (fenced / gated lot) and full time armed security? You may consider looking to a hotel a little farther out, say like in Addisson. I can lock your HG up in my home safe if you don't have a vehicle safe and wish to travel to Dallas with your HG.

philip964 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:31 am
Here in Houston, I will go days without seeing a police car. I assumed the Houston police are patrolling the rough neighborhoods.

In my neighborhood we rely on paid constable patrols and they handle all the calls as we call them first. (Houston has about 5,000 police officers with a population of 2.3 million)

Dallas has 2500 police officers and 1.3 million people, really not much different than in Houston.

Its good there are so few Bad Guys. Or maybe Texas basically relies on the safety provided by its armed homeowners and Licensed Concealed Carry to keep the peace.

Houston has a lot more cops than than the 5000. There are Deputies and constables, school police and hospital police. DPS heavily patrols the area. Lately even the Border Patrol has shown a visible presence. Inside the loop you can hardly throw a rock without finding a LEO of some sort.

I don't ever do Dallas, but I would think it wouldn't be much different.

How a "perfect storm" of problems has shrunk Texas' largest city police forces

Since 2011, Dallas’ police force has shrunk by more than 600 people, according to department reports. More than 40 percent of that drop has been since 2016, and officials continue to report large numbers of departures every month... The diminishing ranks come as the cities' populations continue to grow and violent crime rates creep up from rare lows. “It’s kind of like the perfect storm,” said Robert Taylor, a criminology professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. “You got failing pension plans, you have low pay, and then you have all sorts of political turmoil doing the job of enforcing in major cities.”

...A primary reason for Dallas’ shortage has been its inability to keep young officers from transferring to Fort Worth and the surrounding suburbs...“They’re all cherry-picking our best officers,”...The city has always paid less than its neighboring agencies, but the department had countered its low pay with an excellent pension plan...That pension plan lost much of its selling power in recent years

dlh wrote: ↑Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:00 am We stay a night at "Candlewood Suites" Love Field by the Stemmons Freeway before we catch our flight. Thug area? Or safe?

It's not the worst part of town, but not the best either. It's not far from some of the seedy "night life" areas. You'll see individuals and small groups wandering around at all hours of the night.

Keep your situational awareness and you'll likely be fine. I would not leave anything of value in my car.

My BIL retired from Dallas Fire Dept. He was a Fire Chief and one of the reason he retired was the City of Dallas is poorly run and poorly managed!

This has got to be more than underfunding. I'm sure Dallas could do more to recruit/train/develop the police force, but you don't get this bad just from short funding. I suspect poor management from middle to upper. The leadership (Mayor, Chief, City Manager, etc) set the tone. I wonder how many desk flying sergeants, admin officers, paper pushers, and bureaucrats are sitting around. Get everyone out on the street, turn in the tanks and rocket launchers and other toys and fix the squad cars, radios, mobile terminals, and even bikes. Get new head of dispatch.... OK I'm no expert on police administration, but I'll bet a city as big as Dallas could find someone who is. Instead they get a "Failed State" Chief from Mogadishu (sorry Detroit).