Dallas City Council and city staff on March 5 presented a reimagined plan for the Dallas Public Safety Training System, a two‑phase effort that would locate a Regional Training Academy and a Criminal Justice Center on property at the University of North Texas at Dallas (UNT Dallas) and later build a larger City of Dallas Public Safety Complex at a separate city site.

City Manager Kimberly Beiser Tolbert and project staff said the first phase at UNT Dallas is planned as roughly a $80 million, 14‑acre campus component to house larger classrooms, expanded reality‑based training, health and fitness space, ceremonial/community spaces and a separate Criminal Justice Center for UNT faculty and joint programming. "We are committed to delivering a world class state of the art 20 century police facility for our men and our women in blue," city staff said during the briefing.

The briefing emphasized the academic partnership. UNT Dallas interim president Warren Von Eschenbach described degree pathways and research collaborations the university expects to build with the Dallas Police Department, saying the colocation and programming would create a pipeline for students into sworn and non‑sworn city jobs and provide recruits and officers access to continuing education and research.

Funding commitments cited in the briefing totalled $91.5 million: $50 million from the 2024 bond program, $20 million from state appropriations, $10 million from the Carruth Fund at the Communities Foundation of Texas and roughly $11.5 million in private fundraising commitments. Presenters said the full project budget is $150 million, leaving an identified fundraising gap of roughly $58.5 million. "We have 50,000,000 committed from the 2024 bond program. Another 20,000,000 has been committed from the state. We have 10,000,000 from the Carruth Fund ... An additional 11.5 has been identified as private fundraising commitments. So our total commitment to date is $91,500,000 That leaves us a delta of 58.5 to to raise to get us to the $150,000,000 budget," staff said.

Council members pressed staff for specifics and for clarity about what will occur where. Several members said the public and voters understood the bond measure to replace the citys existing basic police academy, and they said the briefing left open whether recruit basic training would move from the current leased Redbird facility to UNT Dallas. Mayor Eric L. Johnson reiterated a broader governance point, saying the city must honor commitments to voters and the legislative delegation: "We went to our voters in a bond program proposing something to them...they trusted us by voting in favor of a project that they believe would deliver certain things. We have to honor that commitment first and foremost."

Staff described the reimagined approach as two phases. Phase 1 at UNT Dallas would host classroom instruction for recruits after they pass the Basic Peace Officer course (post‑BPOC), continuing education for existing officers and some regional training offerings. Phase 2 — described as a City of Dallas Public Safety Complex on roughly 60 city‑owned acres — would be studied for feasibility and would include the emergency vehicle operations course (EVOC), an outdoor realistic training village and indoor and outdoor firing ranges that presenters said are not appropriate for the UNT campus. Staff said the phase‑2 site study will evaluate available city land and that some city‑owned sites near I‑20 and JJ Lemmon are candidates.

Council members repeatedly asked whether classroom instruction now delivered at the Redbird leased site could be relocated immediately to a new city‑owned facility; staff responded that some recruit training components (EVOC, outdoor ranges, certain reality‑based scenarios) are not suitable for the campus environment and that scheduling, safety and security requirements influenced the proposed split. Staff also said the city will seek lease terms so the city owns the Phase 1 buildings while leasing the ground from UNT (reportedly for $1 per year) and that conversations are ongoing to finalize lease details.

Several council members urged more definitive analysis and asked staff to test options such as taller buildings or use of adjacent city‑owned parcels to accommodate the full academy on one site. Private fundraising leaders in the room and participating philanthropic partners said they paused broader fundraising until the council had clarity on scope and site; one philanthropic leader said donors would return once a concrete plan and lease terms are final.

Next steps identified by staff included completing the programming phase, beginning field work and design for Phase 1, finalizing lease terms with UNT Dallas, starting fundraising to close the identified gap, and commissioning a feasibility study for Phase 2. Staff projected a summer 2026 groundbreaking for Phase 1 and an approximately 18‑month construction schedule.

Councilmembers asked staff to provide clearer, written timelines and to return to council with options that prioritize moving the recruit/basic academy elements that voters expected. Staff said they would return with follow‑up materials and more detailed cost, schedule and site analyses.

Speakers quoted in this article appear in the "speakers" list below and all quotes are drawn from the March 5, 2025 council meeting transcript.