Dallas Police Chief David Brown accepted a million-dollar check from a North Texas car dealership association on Friday. The money will go toward new "protective equipment" for patrol officers.
The seven-figure check came courtesy of the DFW New Car Dealers Association, and it's the largest donation in the group's six-year history.
It's the second million-dollar donation the chief has accepted in just the last three months.
After the July 7 downtown ambush, many patrol officers went out and spent hundreds of dollars of their own money for improved tactical gear, like ceramic-plated bulletproof vests that can stop rifle fire.
The chief says the donated money will go toward better equipment for patrol officers around the city, and will help the police department for many years to come.
"More vests and protective gear for our officers, particularly during big crisis moments, like within a protest. So our officers can be better protected," Brown explained. "So this is a big chunk of funding."
"Look at the zeroes: seven digits. It's pretty significant for us," Brown joked with the president of the New Car Dealers Association.
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The association also donated 14 brand new, unmarked SUVs to the police department.
How, exactly, those vehicles will be deployed is the next chief's call. That's because Brown is almost out the door.
"My last day is Tuesday: 10/4. But who's counting?" he joked.
Beyond leading the city through this summer's ambush that claimed the lives of five officers, Brown hopes his legacy is one of community building and crime reduction.
Violent crimes like murders and robberies went down for five straight years during Brown's tenure. But this year, Brown's sixth as police chief, violent crime is up by double digits.
"Our attrition rates are too high, and our pay was too low, to be able to keep our officers here. We lost them to Fort Worth and other departments. So our staffing levels being that low, we didn't have enough officers to deploy around the city and meet the challenges," Brown said.
Attrition – things like retirements and resignations – will cost Dallas at least 250 officers this fiscal year, which ends Saturday.
The final numbers won't be available until next week, but it figures to be significantly higher.
In early August, deputy chiefs told City Council members in a presentation that they projected 14 retirements between Aug. 9 and Oct. 1. The number is significantly higher than that.
In the first two weeks of September, a total of 21 Dallas police officers retired.
Even if the attrition numbers remains around 250 officers, that's the highest number of "lost" officers going back at least 10 years.
Brown said with fewer officers out on the streets, violent offenders are able to commit more crimes before being caught. Numbers show that is was a particularly violent January, February and March within the city.
But DPD says since the spring – when the chief launched a new violent-crime patrol task force –crime has been reduced by 18 percent.
Still, overall crime statistics citywide show that through this week, there have been 115 murders in Dallas this year, compared to 91 through this point last year.
Violent crime is up 11 percent, compared to this time last year.
Next year's budget calls for hiring almost 450 new officers, and 5 percent raises for all officers. Brown said it's an important show of support.
"I'm confident that with the City Council and mayor support, we will grow the city staffing levels to meet these challenges," Brown said.
