Correction: An original version of this story referenced media reports that UNT Dallas scrapped its plans for a police training facility. In an email, a UNT Dallas spokesperson said the school played no part in initiating changes to the plan.
Dallas leaders are scrambling to finalize details of a new police academy site after council members were caught off guard last week when it was revealed the city's initial plans with the University of North Texas at Dallas were scrapped.
The original plan, in place since 2021, included a 200,000 square-foot facility and would have cost $140 million. But last week, the Dallas Morning News reported a drastic change that would split the training facility in two — something city council members said they weren’t aware of during a briefing Wednesday.
City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert cited reasons like leadership changes at UNT Dallas and within the city led to restructuring the initially proposed plan.
“We realized that we really needed to stop and just kind of reimagine the way we're going to move forward,” Tolbert said. “Whether it was the space that we now had, the site that changed, the acreage, all of that became a part of the equation.”
Mayor Eric Johnson urged planners of the project to help clear the air by explaining what led to those changes.
“It's about how we will be perceived in the future in terms of people trusting the city of Dallas,” Johnson said. “We don't want the city of Dallas to suffer because we are perceived to not be able to follow through on our commitments.”
In an emailed statement, UNT Dallas President Dr. Warren von Eschenbach said the school was excited to continue working with Dallas and the police department, while noting it was the city's decision to look into splitting the facility in two.
"The city’s decision to consider moving part of the new police academy to another location in no way alters UNT Dallas’s commitment to this partnership and our plans to support high-quality, 21st century police training," Eschenbach said. "As the City Manager made clear at Wednesday’s meeting, the project has been ‘reimagined’ since the original 2021 plan. The proposed Criminal Justice Center at UNT Dallas will increase visibility of and recruitment for both the University and DPD. It will provide advanced training and education and foster high-quality research and evaluation of effective law enforcement to allow us to realize this vision.”
The new plan for a Dallas police academy
While there will still be a new in-service police training facility on the site, the plan will now include two separate locations instead of one location at UNT Dallas.
One 70,000 square-foot facility will take up 14 acres instead of seven acres at the university campus. The DPD Regional Training Academy and Criminal Justice Center will include basic police training courses, larger classrooms, reality-based training and a criminal justice center. The facility is also expected to serve other North Texas police departments.
It’s estimated to cost around $80 million and break ground by mid-2026.
The second facility would be called the City of Dallas Public Safety Complex — a separate 60-acre site owned by the city. It will offer classrooms for both the police and fire department, indoor and outdoor firearms training, a stimulated tactical village and an emergency vehicle obstacle course.
The timeline and location for the academy are unclear, but it’s expected to cost the city another $70 million.
In total, the new plan is estimated to cost around $150 million — a $10 million increase from what was originally planned. But some council members expect the total number to be closer to $200 million, citing issues like the increase in police hiring due to a new controversial charter amendment.
Who’s paying?
Dallas voters last May approved $50 million in bond funds to build the facility during the city election.
The city said it’s already secured $20 million in state funding for the project and $10 million through the Carruth Fund at Communities Foundation of Texas.
Another $11.5 million in private funding has been acquired, but in recent months, private fundraising was put on hold until the plan is finalized, according to Lynn McBee, a nonprofit leader who oversees raising those funds.
"Until we have clarity around what is being done, I do not feel like we can go out in good conscience and ask people to give to something that we don’t exactly know is concrete," McBee said at Wednesday’s meeting.
That leaves the city on the hunt for nearly $60 million to meet its new projected budget.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Monday said he would be holding off on an additional $5 million in funding to the police academy after he wasn’t notified of the changes made, according to The News.
Tolbert assured council members at Wednesday’s meeting the city just needed some time to confirm information to answer any questions Patrick may have.
“I have not spoken with him directly, but we definitely are working to ensure that we are involving the entire state delegation who's been behind this project and supporting the project to ensure that they have the most up to date information,” Tolbert said.
Concerned council
Council members at Wednesday’s meeting expressed concern about the changes to the original plan and the need to ensure a new facility meets the training needs of new recruits.
“Why can't that be relocated from this terrible rental facility to a new facility at UNT [Dallas]?” Council Member Paul Ridley questioned.
In response, Interim Assistant Police Chief Israel Herrera said there needs to be some separation between trainees and officers.
“The last thing I want is to have an officer from an outside agency in the parking lot handing out business cards to our recruits who are trying to go through our training and asking them to come over to their department,” Herrera said.
Ridley called that a “flimsy reason” to not have training all in one facility.
By the second hour of the Wednesday briefing, council members appeared more confused than at its start.
Council member Kathy Stewart questioned what the priorities were for the project – and told Tolbert it should be basic training for new recruits.
“That, to me, was the message to our voters,” Stewart said. “That has been the message for a long time. And I know what it's like when you're in the weeds and you're trying to work through this, but we need to stop, refocus, reset and we need to prioritize that group.”
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