Dallas police chief marks year one with new culture, tech push and hiring efforts

A new sign that will be unveiled outside the Dallas Police Department on Friday pretty much sums up how Chief Daniel Comeaux feels about his job exactly one year into his tenure.

"It's going to be, 'I love DPD,'" Comeaux said. "The sign that was donated by CSI Fabrications to the police department. I'm really excited about that. And I want everyone to come out and take selfies with the sign."

Comeaux says it reflects a new culture he's been trying to create.

"I've had a great time, and I'm so happy that the city manager selected me to be the chief in Dallas," Comeaux said.

Recruiting gains, officer shortage remains

Comeaux's first year has seen some of the largest recruiting classes in years, in part by removing a college credit requirement.
But the department is still several hundred officers short of the 4,000 that voters approved the hiring of through a referendum two years ago.

"We've got to keep our recruiting going upward," Comeaux said. "One of the things is we're one of the very few departments in the United States that can say we have more officers today in 2026 than we did 10 years ago." 

To compensate for the manpower shortage, the chief says he is planning to start deploying drones ahead of officers as first responders on priority three calls as early as next month. 

"I think that's going to be a game changer for the city," Coeaux said. "On these three and four priority calls, we have to wait a long time for an officer to come. Well, some of these calls are going to be able to be cleared by drones."

Comeaux has also started hiring civilians for roles in Human Resources and internal affairs that were formerly held only by sworn officers.

Drones, AI aimed at faster response times  

That, along with using AI to process reports and paperwork, could free up more officers to improve response times.

"That officer and the patrol car will be able to go to another call where he's needed," he said. "So I think that's going to be really huge for the city." 

To help cut costs, Comeaux is forming what will be the Dallas Police Foundation, which has already secured new dive rescue team equipment and additional mounted patrol horses by going directly to local philanthropists.

Patrol vehicles are also getting a makeover and DPD's fleet will soon include pickup trucks.

"I think it was a morale booster," Comeaux said. "I didn't realize how many officers would be excited about getting a pickup truck."

With the World Cup only weeks away, Comeaux says security will be like a Texas OU game, every single day for 6 weeks. 

"We're looking at it as we're going to have that for 45 days in a row here," he said. "And we're ready to rock and roll."

The chief attributes a reduction in violent crime to getting wanted felons off the streets. But even he says the results could be better. 

"You know, you always want to give yourself the highest grade," Comeaux said. "But all through my academic career, I was always a C/B student, so I almost still stay in the area. C/B because there's room to improve."