Here's What a Long-awaited Staffing Study Says — and Doesn't Say — Dallas Police Must Do to Better Protect the City

For years city officials have asked: How many officers does the Dallas Police Department need to be fully staffed? On Friday, the city made documents related to an intensive staffing study of the department public for the first time. It highlights manpower shortages in patrol but falls short of giving a conclusive number needed for the entire department. The 337-page study revealed issues with call response times, detective caseload and technology. The auditors offered various recommendations for patrol deployment but said that throughout their study “the consistent challenge faced was data quality” when assessing staffing numbers.“This was primarily driven by either data recording practices or the lack of system integration to provide a common viewpoint within the data,” the study said.   Continue reading...