Comeaux outlines first of its kind approach to tackle DPD overtime overspending

Each bureau will learn how much it has to put toward overtime at the start of the fiscal year.

On the heels of the Dallas City Council passing the largest budget in the city’s history at $5.7 billion, Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux says he is implementing a first-of-its-kind budget oversight for each bureau before the start of the fiscal year to determine how the department will spend more than $823 million.

"You manage your budget, you see what’s actually going on, rather than just putting in overtime and you’re taking it away from the big budget, so if we give each bureau their budget so they can see it and work with it, I feel like it’s going to bring some more efficiencies and it’s also going to bring more accountability, and that’s one thing that hasn’t been done at the Dallas Police Department," Comeaux said.

The department said it overspent its overtime budget by nearly $3 million last year, and Comeaux said they had to make other adjustments to save money, including staffing adjustments at the academy.

"Rather than having the recruits go five days a week for eight hours and then our staff having to work overtime on the extra day, now we have recruits on four 10s, the same as the staff, so it sounds very simple, but it saves us a lot of money," Comeaux said.

Comeaux said the department's homicide unit will now be working night shifts and weekends, rather than being called in for overtime.

The new budget also helps continue to fund technology that will help with response times, including the drone as first responder program and AI tools like transcription through body worn cameras.

"It should help shorten the amount of time that an officer has to spend on report writing even at a scene sometimes when you have to wait for someone to come translate," Comeaux said.

Comeaux says he's taking a page from the playbook of Dallas CEOs on how to better manage Dallas PD’s budget.

"I'm trying to run the Dallas Police Department more like a Fortune 500 club when it comes to budget. We're going to look at every possible way to save money, without, at all, sacrificing anything that we do for the city of Dallas," Comeaux said.