DALLAS — Dallas voters have repeatedly approved bond plans for a new police training center, but a new academy has yet to be built. The most recent approval came in 2024, following a long history of failed attempts dating back to 1985.
In 1985, voters supported a $1.8 million bond to purchase land for a police academy in the northwest corner of Interstates 45 and 20, near Hutchins. However, the city’s plans were delayed in 1989, and nearly 40 years later, the land remains vacant, with no academy constructed.
Similarly, in 2003, voters approved $7.9 million to fund a new police academy in the Cadillac Heights neighborhood. Instead, the city used much of the money to buy homes in the flood-prone area, with plans to build the academy stalling. In 2006, voters authorized an additional $22.5 million for land acquisition in the same neighborhood, but that property is now slated for a public park instead of a training facility.
Now, with the 2024 bond, voters once again backed $50 million for a new police academy, initially proposed to be built at the University of North Texas at Dallas (UNT-D). However, a revised plan unveiled this week calls for an in-service training facility for current officers on the UNT-D campus, with a separate new recruits facility to be constructed at an undisclosed location at an undefined timeline.
Councilmembers have expressed concern over further delays in replacing the outdated, inadequate recruit training center, which is in poor condition. Former Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia emphasized the importance of the UNT-D campus as a key tool for recruiting new officers, which could become more challenging if the current facility remains in use.
Dallas Police Association President Jaime Castro voiced frustration, saying, “We’ve been waiting decades for this, and now that we’re so close, it feels like it’s slipping away again.”
City officials have committed to moving forward with plans for a police academy and aim to break ground by the summer of 2026. A memo from city leaders also suggested that new recruits could still receive classroom training at UNT-D under the revised plan.
Interestingly, one of the potential locations for the second facility is off JJ Lemmon Road — the very site originally purchased for a police academy nearly four decades ago.