Dallas Tx PD

[cane12548]

I am thinking about flying out to Dallas in March to apply and test for the PD. Any one here currently working for Dallas? I'm wondering what the deal is for the large number of positions and why it's been so difficult to fill them. Is the morale low, is the city that bad to work, etc.?

Also, any advice on good areas to look at buying a house? I have never been to the area and will be completly lost when I get there. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[TXCharlie]

I don't work for Dallas, but I follow the news and have an extended family member in the DPD... Morale hit a low point under former Chief Bolton (who many including the Mayor considered to be a total joke and had him fired), but a lot of people love Chief Kunckle, and he's making a big effort to rid the force of bad apples, which benifits everyone.

They are still severely understaffed, from all indications, but that means you will probably not get a chance to be bored like you would in some of the 'burbs like mine

Everyone says that the "DROP" retirement plan in Dallas is great - I don't remember the details of how it works, but it sounded great when it was explained to me.

If you're looking for a place with very low crime and excellent schools away from the shit going on in Dallas, look north toward the Lewisville/Flower Mound/Highland Village area, west of I-35. Street crime is almost unknown west of Lewisville. That's a 30-45 minute commute to northwest Dallas during rush hour, though... And rush hour is actually about 3 hours long.

The Carrollton area used to be crime-free when I first came to the Dallas area in 1979, but it's not anymore. Still much better than Dallas, though, and better schools.

The Plano area is also very nice, and PS - Plano has the highest pay of most areas, and their Chief is great (I voluntered there while I was working in Plano at Ross Perot's company). There's some tough standards though, and competition is tremendous - It's not unusal for Plano to have a couple of hundred applicants for a handfull of openings. The saying is to train in Dallas and then work in Plano... lol.