The agreement expands the land the city of Dallas is leasing for the project from 4 acres to 20 acres, documents show.
DALLAS — A lease agreement with UNT-Dallas for part of a proposed new Dallas police training academy there was approved by the Dallas City Council Wednesday.
The new facility will house the Dallas Police Department’s Basic and In-Service Training Academy with classrooms, indoor simulation labs and more, as well as a Criminal Justice Center.
The project caused controversy, though, as the expected cost for it jumped to at least $275 million from $140 million initially projected in 2022 amid a new proposal to build two separate sites, as WFAA previously reported. The timeline for the construction of the academy was also bumped from 2027 to mid-2028 for a grand opening for the first phase of the project and 2029 for the second.
The agreement expands the land the City of Dallas is leasing for the project from 4 acres to 20 acres and stipulates that no live ammunition can be used for training at the academy.
“This is a very important part of the future of public safety in the city,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said during the meeting.
“I am excited to see the Law Enforcement Training Center move one step closer to becoming a reality with today’s approval of a 20-acre lease with the University of North Texas at Dallas. Public safety remains my highest priority, and I am proud to continue supporting this transformative initiative,” Johnson added in a statement. “This academy will equip hundreds of officers with the training and tools they need to keep our city safe. This state-of-the-art facility will also strengthen our Police Department’s recruitment efforts, helping us hire more officers and provide them with the best training possible to ensure that Dallas is the safest major city in America.”
The lease was approved as part of the consent agenda during the June 11 Dallas City Council meeting.
“This partnership reflects our commitment to preparing officers through modern, state of the art, community-connected training,” said Dominique Artis, Dallas Chief of Public Safety. “The combination of a police academy and Criminal Justice Center at a university campus enhances recruitment, education, and public trust.”
A speaker during the meeting had called for the vote on the lease to be delayed, and others called for the city council to vote against it.
“It pains me to see a project that has been put together with little regard for my taxpayer money potentially going forward,” one speaker said.
Construction on the project is expected to begin in 2026, with funding provided by the 2024 Bond Program voters passed in May 2024, as well as state and other public sources and private philanthropic contributions.
The vote Wednesday came after a public briefing on the topic last week was canceled after an hours-long, closed-door meeting that was scheduled in part to discuss the training academy, as WFAA previously reported.
Initially the entire project was envisioned for the campus site, but staff revealed earlier this year that the university cannot support a vehicle training track or a gun range. Now, the city proposes building a second public safety complex to house those elements of the training officers need. The location for the second facility hasn’t been announced.
The city previously said $96.5 million in funding for the first phase of the project was secured from a previous bond package, private fundraising and a state legislature commitment, and said last week it will consider another bond election to ask voters for permission to raise additional funds to pay for the facillities.
The second phase of the project, called the “Public Safety Facility,” is estimated to cost $90 million, city documents show. A footnote to a recent presentation reveals similar projects completed across the country have a much higher cost range — with the average of three at roughly $330 million.
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.
In all, the city estimates it needs $124 million more to pay for the facilities. One option would be to consider in January whether to call for a May bond election, city documents showed.