Plans for the Dallas Police Department’s new training facility on the UNT Dallas campus are beginning to take shape, as new records show the city has filed several new buildings for the project with the state.
According to filings from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, plans for the new campus, being built on the UNT Dallas campus in southern Dallas, include a criminal justice center, an academy, a physical training pavilion and “reality based training.”
The costs for these projects amount to more than $155 million, according to the filings. In April, it was reported that the overall cost of the project has ballooned to nearly $400 million. This comes after voters approved a bond in 2024 to allocate $90 million toward public safety facilities, including $50 million for the proposed training center. At that time, the city had projected the academy would cost about $140 million.
Included in these costs is a second facility, called the Public Safety Training Complex, that itself is expected to cost as much as $169 million. Potentially located near Dallas Executive Airport, the facility would include a driving track and a gun range.
And now, the city may have to ask the public to approve another bond to further fund the project in the upcoming November election.
The long-overdue facilities would replace the existing DPD training center on Redbird Center Drive. They are viewed as key to recruiting as the city faces a voter-approved mandate to add hundreds of officers.
If Council approves the bond election, it would represent the fifth time since the 1980s that the city has asked voters for money to pay for a police academy without ever turning dirt.
Not everyone is on board with the new facilities. A local organization, “Stop Cop City Dallas,” advocated against the 2024 bond and raised concerns about the new academy being built in District 8, a district that — according to city data from 2022 — is made up of 51% black residents and 45% Hispanic or Latino residents.