Theresa Comstock

My name is Theresa Comstock.  I am a member of the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in North Dallas, and a leader with Dallas Area Interfaith.  Dallas Area Interfaith is a multi-ethnic, multi-issue organization of 60 religious congregations in the Dallas metropolitan area.

 

Last April, 3,000 people from across the metroplex convened to ratify our DAI agenda on public safety, education, health care, immigration, and southern sector development.  We have been in conversation with many of you over the last year on these issues.  And we are here today to present to you our agenda in advance of your Retreat discussions on the upcoming budget and bond program.   We have a letter that we will pass out that outlines our priorities for the city of Dallas in 2006. 

 

But we would like to briefly highlight the following items:

We call on the city

  • to budget for 200 more officers in the 2006-2007 budget
  • to create an enhanced incentives and benefits package to attract new officers
  • to clarify that the police will not serve as an extension of the INS
  • and to focus bond projects on southern sector development and the priorities of residents

 

I will discuss the need for more officers.  Samanda Gonzalez and Carole Brown will conclude. 

 

We are happy to note that Dallas successfully reduced crime across the board last year for the first time in over 10 years.  Chief Kunkle and good management have made a difference.  But it is not nearly enough.  We will not rest until we are the safest big city in the country.  And the only way we will do that is by substantially increasing the number of police officers in Dallas – meeting or surpassing the goal of 3 officers per 1,000 residents set by the City Council.

 

We call on the City Council to budget for 200 additional officers in the upcoming 2006-2007 budget, as a first step towards reaching the 3 per 1000 ratio by 2010.  We have met with many police department officials over the last year, and have become convinced that it is possible to recruit and train enough officers.  To do this we must enhance our ability to recruit qualified officer applicants by creating an improved benefits and incentives package.  That, and efficient use of our existing police training academy will be sufficient to recruit and train about 400 officers a year, resulting in 200 new officers given the current departure rate. 

Samanda Gonzalez

My name is Samanda Gonzalez.  I am a member of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Central Dallas, and I am a leader with Dallas Area Interfaith.  DAI has had thousands of conversations with community members about their concerns, hopes, and dreams for their neighborhood and their city.  And we have heard story after story about crime and its terrific impact on our families.

We have discovered that too often there is a lack of trust between community residents and the police.  One unnecessary barrier to trust is the fear that the police will enquire into people’s immigration status and start deporting people.  We call on the City Council to clearly state its opposition to police or other city officials being involved in the enforcement of federal immigration law.  We must ensure that recent immigrants feel safe reporting crimes and working with police officers.

 

Also essential to building trust is community policing – by which we mean officers intentionally building sustained relationships with community members over time.  They need to be assigned to neighborhood beats, and be able to stay there, getting to know residents, business owners, and church leaders.  Officers need to be trained in building relationships, and in community problem-solving.  We have taken the first step by inviting officers to join us in small group meetings at churches and in homes.  Police officials we have met with are excited to work with us.  We look forward to continuing this collaboration.

 

Carole Brown

My name is Carole Brown.  I am a member of Holy Cross Catholic Church in South Oak Cliff, and a long-time leader in Dallas Area Interfaith.  Getting more police officers is essential to reducing crime, but there is more we must do.  In the southern sector we also need to seriously address the issue of development.  We will never have safe neighborhoods if there are no jobs and no opportunities. 

 

In order to succeed in southern sector development, the city must invest heavily in infrastructure improvements, job training, and economic incentives.  We call on the city to work closely with neighborhood and congregational leaders to shape investment and bond projects.  We see many unmet needs in our neighborhoods, and DAI leaders would be happy to work with city council members to identify priority improvements.  With the upcoming bond program we have a golden opportunity for Southern Dallas, if we make the most of it.

 

In DAI we know that change and improvement is not easy and requires persistence.  But we have succeeded in the past in our efforts to establish after-school programs in DISD, build affordable housing, and safeguard Parkland health services.  And we know that working with the city we can and will achieve our goal of substantially reducing crime. 

 

Thank you.