The Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to approve an annual budget that increased spending on its police department, but only after amending the spending plan to cut $7 million from the $24 million that would have been marked for overtime pay for police.
Much of the overtime cuts were reallocated for other purposes in the department, including more than $3.8 million to hire nearly 100 civilian workers. Other new spending will go toward addressing root causes of crime and improving street lighting.
The exact amount that the police budget went up was not immediately clear Wednesday night due to amendments made to the budget late in the council meeting. Dallas’ current police budget includes more than $500 million.
While Kleinman voted for the cut, he voted against the budget plan as a whole, citing a failure by the city to go far enough. Still, the council passed the general fund 9-6. Mayor Eric Johnson voted against the budget, calling the overtime cut "egregious."
"After finding other sources of revenue for pet projects in the budget, the majority of the City Council seemed intent on cutting the overtime budget for the mere sake of doing so, and not for the benefit of public safety," he said.