Dallas City Hall says a pay raise is coming for Dallas police officers, but specifics are not yet known.
Negotiations between City Manager A.C. Gonzalez and police leaders have been underway for weeks, and in a statement Friday afternoon Gonzalez said there will be more officers in Dallas and they will be paid better.
The city has long been criticized over what it pays its officers.
Dallas officers start out up to $20,000 less than the same officers in some suburban departments.
There are no specifics in Friday's statement, but it reads like a promise by the city manager to do better on staffing, pay and equipment.
Gonzalez says his office is working with elected officials and private donors to get the support police officers need.
Police Chief David Brown says he appreciates the city manager's efforts.
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Earlier Friday, the Dallas Police Department announced it has seen an "unprecedented surge" in applications in the past three weeks, since the July 7 ambush shooting that killed five officers in downtown Dallas.
In the days that followed, Brown urged those who have protested officer-involved shootings to apply to the department.
DPD said it normally hires about 15 percent of the applicants who follow through with the hiring process.
Ron Pinkston, president of the Dallas Police Association, released a statement Friday evening in response to the statement by City Manager A.C. Gonzalez:
"Outgoing Dallas City Manager A.C. Gonzalez has repeatedly proven that he does not value the men and women in the Dallas Police Department. His misleading claim today that he is going to propose higher pay for police is an insult to every officer in our department.
"The fact is A.C. Gonzalez, the highest paid city manager in the country with an annual salary of $400,000, is not proposing to increase the pay for all of our officers. Instead, he is offering only a slight bump in salary for a select group of officers while ignoring our more experienced officers. For him to claim anything else is, simply put, a lie. Under his plan, the pay for our officers will still lag far behind just about every city in North Texas.
"If the City Manager successfully imposes his new salary plan on the department, the result will be a continued exodus of quality officers to other cities offering better pay and benefits like Fort Worth, Garland, Frisco and others. This will mean fewer officers patrolling our neighborhoods and a continued increase in our violent crime rate.
"The Dallas Police Association has attempted to work with A.C. Gonzalez for the past six months to negotiate fair pay and reasonable benefits for our officers. But during this process, he has repeatedly shown his contempt for those who wear the badge by skipping meetings in the meet and confer process.
"By his actions â just two weeks after the tragic murders of five law enforcement officers â A.C. Gonzalez has proven he cannot be trusted to develop an honest pay and benefits package that appropriately compensates Dallas Police officers. It is now up to the individual members of the City Council to do the right thing and take seriously the service and sacrifice of the men and women who work hard every day to protect the families, schools and businesses throughout our city."
