Leadership Briefing: Dallas Police Chief Daniel C. Comeaux
Proactive policing and the path to safer neighborhoods
Leadership Briefing | Event Date: October 23, 2025
Dallas Police Chief Daniel C. Comeaux outlined his approach to reducing crime, improving response times, and rebuilding public trust during the NDCC Leadership Briefing on October 23. A 33-year law enforcement veteran and former DEA Special Agent in Charge, Comeaux took command of the Dallas Police Department in April 2025 and has moved quickly to implement changes that affect businesses, residents, and neighborhoods across the city.
Key takeaways
Felony warrant initiative driving results: The department has arrested roughly 450 individuals with outstanding felony warrants since launching an aggressive warrant enforcement program. Those individuals were connected to approximately 3,000 prior crimes. A targeted operation focused on felony sexual violence warrants resulted in 115 arrests and over 900 compliance checks.
Crime and traffic fatalities declining: Dallas is on pace for 40 fewer homicides than last year, continuing several years of reduction. Traffic-related deaths are also down by 40, a result the department attributes directly to expanded enforcement efforts.
Recruiting momentum building: The department launched its second-largest academy class in DPD history with 77 recruits, including 20 women, the second-highest female enrollment on record. The next class is projected to exceed 50 recruits.
Response time overhaul underway: The department has hired an outside firm to reassess call priority classifications and district boundaries, some of which haven’t been updated since 1997. Drone technology, video callbacks, and expanded online reporting are all in development.
Felony warrants and crime reduction
The department’s felony warrant program has become a central enforcement strategy. Comeaux described the rationale as straightforward: data consistently shows that individuals with outstanding felony warrants are more likely to commit additional crimes than those without warrants. Removing them from the streets reduces overall crime volume.
Federal partnerships are accelerating the effort. U.S. Marshals are working joint cases and funding overtime for DPD officers. The department also assigned four officers to a DEA task force focused on fentanyl distribution, which produced an arrest in its first week of operation.
Traffic enforcement expansion
Comeaux described a citywide traffic enforcement campaign that started in downtown Dallas and expanded to every council district. The department coordinated with council members to identify the top three problem locations in each district and deployed motor units accordingly.
The results extend beyond ticket numbers. Vehicle-related deaths are down 40 compared to last year, a reduction that tracks with the enforcement expansion. The department has written thousands of citations since the program launched.
Recruiting and academy growth
Officer retention has improved alongside recruiting gains. For the first time in several years, the department is adding officers faster than it is losing them, with a net gain of approximately 100 officers in recent months. The department’s 10-month academy, longer than the national average of six months, is producing officers with stronger training outcomes, including an officer-involved shooting accuracy rate that Comeaux described as extraordinary by national standards.
The department is also partnering with UT Dallas on a new training facility and working with Energy Transfer to establish a police foundation modeled on Houston’s, which Comeaux identified as a significant gap between the two cities.
Response times and technology
The department is conducting a comprehensive review of call priority classifications, district boundaries, and staffing models. Current priority levels date to a 1997 study, and population growth, geographic obstacles like White Rock Lake, and shifts in call volume have made the old framework unreliable.
Drone deployment as a first-responder tool is a near-term priority. The department envisions drones clearing low-priority calls, such as reported disturbances where no one is present on arrival, freeing patrol officers for higher-priority responses. Expanded online reporting and video callback options for non-emergency calls are also in development, designed to reduce the number of calls requiring a physical officer response.
FIFA World Cup 2026 preparation
Dallas will host multiple matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with games in Arlington but fan activity, hotels, and fan fest events concentrated in Dallas. Comeaux visited Qatar to study its security operations during the most recent World Cup and described the planning challenge as unlike typical large events. The department is coordinating with international fan group leaders and building intelligence around which national fan bases will be present, since rivalries between countries can produce conflict unrelated to any local conditions. Existing event security infrastructure from the State Fair, Red River Rivalry, and Cotton Bowl provides a foundation, but the international dimension requires additional cultural preparedness, which the department is addressing through virtual reality training developed in partnership with SMU.
Speaker information
Daniel C. Comeaux serves as Chief of the Dallas Police Department, appointed in April 2025. He previously served 28 years with the DEA, most recently as Special Agent in Charge of the Houston Field Division. Dallas Police Department
Event sponsors
Haynes and Boone | Cowles Thompson | Dallas College | Southwest Airlines | DART