When it comes to the security of our community, rhetoric must match reality. Anyone who actively opposes the essential public safety bond proposal in this election is fundamentally failing to back the police, the fire department and the basic infrastructure required to keep our city safe. You can’t say you “back the blue” and then oppose this. It’s that straightforward.
True support for law enforcement and first responders cannot be compartmentalized or selectively applied when politically convenient. That happens in other places, and much too often.
Real support requires a solid, unwavering commitment to giving our frontline heroes the tools, facilities and resources they need to do their jobs and protect us. To claim support for public safety while voting against the very framework that delivers it is not just contradictory, it is hypocritical and an abdication of civic responsibility. And, opposing that investment, especially when the need is documented and the purpose is clear, is opposing the very first responders that we rely on to protect our community.
For too long, the physical infrastructure supporting Dallas public safety has lagged behind the demands and modern technology needed for a major metropolitan city. Our first responders are routinely asked to operate out of aging, outdated facilities that hinder efficiency and emergency readiness. Just this week, columnist Robert Wilonsky reported on the appalling state of the Dallas Police Department’s evidence room — a building council member Cara Mendelsohn said “might be the worst building that the city has.” Yet Mendelsohn is one among many voices who say they back the blue but oppose the bond program because they fear it might complicate or interfere with an entirely separate issue about the future of City Hall.
To profess support for law enforcement in public statements while working to defeat the funding mechanisms required for modern police training, evidence preservation and emergency response, just to leverage political collateral for an unrelated cause, betrays the men and women who wear the badge.
Public safety is not a bargaining chip. It is the absolute bedrock upon which all civic prosperity, economic growth and community well-being are dependent. We should never sacrifice the safety of Dallas residents and the operational capabilities of first responders for secondary political leverage.
We cannot ask our first responders to deliver first-rate performance while relying on substandard tools and decades-old facilities. This bond program will allow us to invest in 21st century tools and training facilities to recruit the best talent and ensure our officers are continually prepared for emerging threats and issues in the future. It will provide a modern tech-savvy, weatherized operations center that improves response times and ensures continuity of operations in all circumstances. And it will deliver upgraded and expanded crime labs and evidence storage that are critical to prosecuting violent offenders and dismantling criminal networks.
These are not luxury upgrades. They are foundational necessities for a secure Dallas. To delay these investments any further is to gamble with neighborhood safety and invite preventable risk.
A booming urban center like Dallas cannot attract new businesses, families and economic opportunities if families and businesses do not feel confident that emergency services can arrive swiftly and operate without systemic failure.
Supporting this public safety initiative is the ultimate litmus test for anyone claiming to stand with law enforcement and our emergency personnel.
To ensure that Dallas remains a secure, thriving and first-rate city, voters must cut through the noise, reject petty politics and vote to provide our first responders with the tools and resources they have rightfully earned and urgently require.
“Back the blue” is not a slogan. It is a commitment. A commitment means supporting the tools, resources and readiness that make police and first responders effective and safe.
Tom Leppert served as mayor of Dallas from 2007 to 2011.