Message From
Mayor Mike Rawlings
The most important job of a mayor is ensuring that the citizens of his
city are safe. I am forever grateful to the men and women of our
Dallas Police Department for carrying out the challenging task of
patrolling our neighborhoods, and I thank their loved ones for their
tremendous sacrifices.
I am pleased to join the Dallas Police Department in presenting
its 2015 annual report. This report is one of the many ways DPD
communicates with our citizens. I hope that you will find this report enlightening as you read about
the accomplishments of DPD and our ongoing efforts to keep our citizens safe.
The last few years have been difficult for members of law enforcement. Protests against acts of police
misconduct in other cities stretched across our country and into Dallas. Balancing public safety with
civil liberties is immensely challenging. I stand behind our police officers, and I believe that the
people of our city should too. I am very proud to serve as mayor of a city known for a well-respected,
innovative and professional police force.
Despite the challenges, our officers continued to build upon their fine work of the past decade.
Thanks to the leadership of Chief David Brown and his officers, 2015 was the 12th consecutive year
of overall crime reduction in Dallas. Our community policing efforts have also served as a national
model. DPD’s community outreach has grown with initiatives such as Chief on the Beat and Let’s Talk
Dallas Police and Youth Forum.
Increased public safety breeds success in other facets of our lives. We’re seeing great progress in our
economy, our entertainment districts and our neighborhoods. More and more people are choosing
to live, work and play in Dallas. Those decisions are rooted in the confidence that our city is safer
today than it has been in decades.
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