U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch is in Dallas this week for "National Night Out."
She's meeting with Dallas police commanders and community organizers at UNT Dallas and emphasizing the importance of having patrol officers walking the streets and getting to know the neighborhoods they serve.
On Monday night, Lynch said Dallas will get millions in federal funding to hire more than two dozen new police officers. But the money comes with strings attached.
“It is a terrible management practice to hire long-term employees, using short-term funds," said Dallas City Council member Philip Kingston. "It doesn't make any sense at all."
The city wants to hire about 450 new officers by this time next year to bring up its dwindling patrol ranks; and give every single sworn officer a five percent raise.
Loretta Lynch's visit to Dallas added a new wrinkle. She pledged to DPD $3.1 million to hire an additional 25 officers on top of the 449 new cadets the department is trying to find.
The federal grant money must be used to hire 25 new officers on top of those 449 planned new hires. And, the community policing grant only covers 75 percent of a new officer's salary.
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"We need to not hire them unless we have the expectation that we can pay them for their entire career and give them great benefits," said Kingston, who also serves on the City Council's Public Safety Committee.
"With just $3.1 million, we can’t afford to pay for 25 new officers for even two full calendar years," he said.
Because the federal grant only covers 3/4 of the salary, Dallas taxpayers would on the hook for about $300,000 a year.
Plus, Dallas must pay for all new vehicles, equipment, uniforms and the 9-month training academy.
"Police officers in Dallas are highly-trained. And it’s expensive to train them. As it should be, they have an extremely difficult job," Kingston said.
The DOJ federal grant also cannot be used towards overtime pay for the new officers.
Still, Dallas police commanders said there's a pressing need to get more boots on the ground.
The ranks of the department this year has thinned by more than 200 so far and violent crime is up. As of Oct. 1, there are now as many murders in 2016 as in all of 2015.
In his final remarks to the media Friday afternoon, outgoing Dallas Police Chief David Brown said that the exodus of officers retiring, resigning or transferring is making it difficult to fight crime.
He said the city needs to find the money to bring in new officers.
"I’m confident that with the city council and mayor's support, we will grow the city staffing levels to meet these challenges," Brown said Friday.
Kingston said it’s worth holding off on taking the Department of Justice grant money until there's a further discussion by the full city council and guidance by police commanders.
Kingston said it'd be better to use that money for improved security measures and cameras at police substations around the city, rather than bringing on board extra officers that the city couldn't commit to paying beyond a few years.
NBC 5 has reached out to Interim Chief David Pughes, but he's declined all media interviews about his vision for the department and his plan for lowering the crime rate.
