Mayor Says Dallas Is Safer, Outlines Public‑Safety Agenda and New Police Academy Task Force

Speaker 1, the mayor of Dallas, opened his State of the City address by emphasizing public safety and presenting year‑to‑date crime reductions: burglaries down 10%, robberies down 11%, aggravated assaults down 14% and murders down 24%. “What these numbers mean is simple. We're saving more lives and livelihoods in this city,” he said.

The mayor credited a new public–private partnership for downtown improvements, saying downtown aggravated assaults fell by nearly 40%. He announced that the city council's public safety committee, led by Kara Mendelson, will draft a comprehensive public‑safety policy to set a long‑term vision and guarantee continued focus on violent crime reduction.

On training infrastructure, Speaker 1 said the city must continue building a new police academy and has asked Tonelle Atkins to chair the task force to complete the project. He urged the city to deploy funding “that the state of Texas and our taxpayers approved” to construct a facility that provides high‑quality training for officers. He also thanked Police Chief Daniel Como and first responders for their work in reducing crime and supporting the largest recent academy class.

The speech included no formal ordinance or vote in the address itself; the mayor described policy directions and an administrative task — forming and charging a task force — rather than a council motion made or decided at the event. The next concrete steps the mayor described are committee work on a public‑safety policy and the task force effort to plan and build the academy.