Dallas police chief urges voters to back $443 million public safety bond

Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux is urging city voters to approve a public safety bond package that he insists is desperately needed. 

He tells CBS News Texas in an exclusive interview that securing more funding for a new police training academy is essential to keeping the department properly staffed. 

The Dallas police training academy and the department's gun range are on the front line of attracting new recruits, according to Comeaux, who compares that appeal to state-of-the-art training facilities and college athletes. 

"Talking about college sports, the top athletes want to go to the universities with the best facilities," he said. "That's the same thing as recruits — you want to go to the department that has some of the best facilities

That's the argument Comeaux is making in support of a $443 million City of Dallas bond package to pay for a new training academy, which the chief and city leaders broke ground on last week at the UNT Dallas campus. 

It would also fund a new fire station, a new gun range, 911 call center and property room to house evidence. 

"The property room is completely unacceptable," he said of the current room. "There's other major cities that are way better than us and just right down the street in Houston, and I'm extremely competitive. Their facilities are way better than Dallas', and that's unacceptable ...  I'm not a politician. So, I'm not going to play the politics games, but I will say this is something the police department needs. It's something that I feel would take us to the next level."

The bond proposal, which voters will decide on in just two months, is struggling to gain support from the police department's largest officers' association, whose leader says the city needs to negotiate a new contract with first responders before spending more money on buildings.   

"I'm not a no vote," said Sean Pease, the Dallas Police Association President. "What I am is I cannot look to the future until I have right now taken care of and so this bond is about the future.
"We cannot be on either side of this issue at this point, we just can't. When you're talking about taking away all of my people's PPO insurance, then I promise you, they do not care about a new academy."

Comeaux remains optimistic that voters will see the value of investing in public safety. 

"I believe we're going to get it across the finish line."  

But Comeaux says he won't be publicly campaigning for the bond proposal between now and Election Day. 

"What I will be doing is telling everyone out there in Dallas that there are other major cities that are way better than us," said Comeaux.