Voters to decide in November on planned Dallas police training campus

Dallas voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to authorize a $443 million public safety bond package that includes $82 million to complete the financing plan for a new police training campus at the University of North Texas (UNT) at Dallas. 

The proposed allocation would help pay for the estimated $227 million Law Enforcement Training Center, where new cadets and current officers would receive classroom instruction, simulated police training and physical conditioning. The city held a ceremonial groundbreaking in September with funding available for initial portions of the campus. Additional facilities remain dependent on the proposed bond funding and private fundraising. 

City council put more of those previously identified funds into place Oct. 28, approving acceptance of $15 million in state grants and up to $17.5 million in private contributions from QuikTrip Corp. and the W.W. Caruth Foundation. The city emphasized that the money was already included in project funding assumptions and does not reduce the previously identified financing gap. 

The state grants complete Texas’ $25 million commitment to the project, following $10 million previously received. The awards came through appropriations from the Legislature’s 2023 and 2025 sessions. Dallas voters separately approved $50 million for the academy in the city’s 2024 bond program. 

Supporters have presented Proposition A as the investment needed to finish the academy and replace facilities that have housed police training since 1990. The Dallas Regional Chamber’s October explanation described the project as having secured $145 million, with the bond supplying the remaining $82 million. The pro-proposition Dallas Built for Tomorrow website similarly counts the full $70 million private fundraising goal among funds already committed. 

The city’s detailed funding breakdown distinguishes private commitments from anticipated donations. It lists $31.5 million in committed private funds and another $38.5 million pending, alongside the $50 million in previously approved bonds and $25 million in state grants. The proposed $82 million bond allocation therefore would complete the financing plan if Dallas also reaches its private fundraising target. 

The department’s Fiscal 2025–26 hiring plan called for seven academy classes of 50 to 60 recruits each, with a hiring target of 350. Several classes train simultaneously, and officials reported 300 recruits enrolled across the academy at a September Public Safety Committee meeting. One class scheduled to graduate that week had started with 60 recruits and had 47 graduating. 

The new center will occupy 20 acres at UNT Dallas, bringing recruit instruction, continuing officer education and university coursework onto one campus. Plans call for classrooms, buildings for simulated police encounters, physical training facilities and a Criminal Justice Center. The university expects the center to open in 2028, replacing an aging rented warehouse used for police training. 

UNT Dallas will be an academic partner as well as the site of the campus, with faculty teaching courses for academic credit through the planned Criminal Justice Center. Officers completing Dallas’ 10-month police academy can earn up to 42 credit hours toward a bachelor’s degree, according to the university, which offers undergraduate and graduate criminal justice programs. University faculty and staff also will help evaluate police programs, advise on policy and research the effectiveness of department initiatives. 

Existing funding covers limited site work, recruit classrooms, a recruit simulation building and a physical training pavilion, according to the city. The additional $82 million would support classrooms and simulation facilities for experienced officers, the Criminal Justice Center, remaining site work, furnishings and equipment. Those components would expand the campus beyond basic recruit instruction to support continuing professional development. 

Beyond the academy, Proposition A would provide $149 million for a public safety training complex at Dallas Executive Airport and $150 million for a consolidated police property room, evidentiary vehicle storage facility and crime lab. Another $40 million would relocate the 911 call center and Emergency Operations Center from the City Hall basement to an existing city-owned property outside the central business district, with a final location subject to review. The package also includes $22 million to replace downtown Fire Station No. 4. 

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