Traffic flows westbound on Interstate 30 near North Hampton Road in Dallas, Sunday, April 19, 2026. Dallas police say the department is set to patrol all freeways in the city as the department expands its traffic unit.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
Drivers pulled over on many of Dallas’ major highways may soon see a different badge at their window.
Dallas police are preparing to take over traffic enforcement and crash investigations on freeways long patrolled by Dallas County sheriff’s deputies or state troopers. The department expanded its traffic unit this month to cover every freeway within the city, including roads operated by the North Texas Tollway Authority.
The shift comes as two patrol deals end days apart. The county’s arrangement with the city to patrol certain Dallas highways ends Friday, while the Texas Department of Public Safety’s agreement to patrol NTTA roads expires Monday.
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The changes will give Dallas police a larger role on the city’s highways after years of relying largely on other agencies.
Dallas officers have already begun patrolling highways previously handled by sheriff’s deputies and will begin covering NTTA roads within the city next week, department spokesperson Allison Hudson said Thursday.
“By increasing the capacity of our Traffic Unit, we can provide specialized response on our freeways and tollways while reducing the need to pull patrol officers away from neighborhoods and emergency calls for service,” Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said in a news release announcing the change.
Related: DPS cites statewide demands in decision to end NTTA tollway patrol agreement
The traffic unit expansion comes as Dallas police work to reduce their response times, a persistent concern for the department. Although average response times have fallen so far this fiscal year, they still exceed an hour for every category except the most serious calls.
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Department officials don’t expect the change to affect 911 response times because the expanded traffic unit — rather than patrol officers primarily tasked with answering calls — would handle freeway calls.
The department will monitor call volume, staffing and response times and make changes as needed, Hudson said.
Traffic moves on a toll road. Dallas police will take over patrols on North Texas Tollway Authority roads within the city as a the highway system’s agreement with the Department of Public Safety expires.
Tom Fox/Dallas Morning News
City-county agreement
Dallas County Commissioner Andrew Sommerman said the traffic patrol arrangement no longer made financial sense for the county. He recommended against a new agreement unless Dallas adequately compensated the county for the work.
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“We were supplementing the city of Dallas’ budget by significant amounts,” Sommerman said, “and we couldn’t do it anymore.”
Hudson said Dallas police began planning the expansion earlier this year and that it was not prompted solely by the county’s decision to end the arrangement.
Sheriff’s deputies assumed primary responsibility for patrolling freeways in southern Dallas County in 2008, including stretches within Dallas. City documents say the arrangement allowed police to focus on neighborhoods and commercial areas while deputies handled highway crashes and traffic enforcement.
Related: What happened to the traffic lights on North Texas tolls? Curious Texas investigates
Dallas started contributing to the program in fiscal year 2012. Under the last agreement approved by both governments, which ran from October 2022 through September 2025, the city paid the county $600,000 in the first year and $1.2 million in each of the next two.
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But city and county leaders reached an impasse over a proposed three-year, $4.37 million extension. Dallas County commissioners passed over the proposal without a vote Oct. 21, and the City Council deferred its vote the next day.
The council ultimately approved the proposal on March 25 as part of its consent agenda, without public discussion. But county commissioners didn’t vote on it.
Dallas County Commissioner Andrew Sommerman listens during a Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, in Dallas. Sommerman said the arrangement for sheriff’s deputies to patrol Dallas highways in the city no longer made financial sense for the county.
Angela Piazza/Staff Photographer
Patrols for NTTA
The long-standing DPS agreement with NTTA expires Monday.
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In June, DPS Director Freeman Martin notified NTTA CEO James Hofmann that the state agency wouldn’t renew the arrangement when it expires Aug. 31.
NTTA spokesperson Michael Rey said Wednesday that formal patrol agreements with cities whose jurisdictions include toll roads had not been finalized but cities had said they were prepared to provide coverage in the interim.
DPS has said troopers will continue providing traffic enforcement and crash-investigation services at no cost until NTTA completes agreements with local agencies.
Hudson said the agreement between Dallas police and NTTA was not yet signed. It remains to be seen how much NTTA could pay the city for patrols.