A Dallas council committee on Tuesday signaled support for the Dallas Police Department to spend more on advertising in other Texas markets to help with recruitment of new officers. The comments came after Dallas PD presented its latest update on recruitment and retention efforts to the public safety committee on Tuesday. Dallas PD told committee members it has made 41 hires since the 2025 fiscal year started on October 1, with a net gain of five sworn officers. The presentation listed 36 officers who left the department. The most common reason listed for leaving was retirement, personal reasons and other jobs in public safety. Israel Herrera, assistant chief over personnel and training, told committee members the department is targeting 250 hires with an anticipated 205 officers leaving for the budget year that ends September 30. Cara Mendelsohn, chair of the public safety committee, suggested Dallas PD explore advertising on METRO buses in Houston. “We’ve called a number of those markets, Austin to be included as well,” Herrera responded. “Interesting, the pricing that they’re offering is not very friendly.” Mendelsohn added she thinks a majority of people in North Texas know Dallas PD is actively recruiting. “But, I’m not sure that other markets know how interested we are in them as a candidate,” Mendelsohn said. Councilmember Gay Donnell Willis added that increased advertising in other large Texas markets warrants a closer look. “I would certainly entertain ideas on where we could find money to do that,” Willis said. “I think those are some markets that could be super valuable to us and I don’t want to see us just turn that down because of the price tag.” Dallas PD says it has $260,000 allotted for advertising for police recruitment for its current budget year. Additionally, Mendelsohn said she will carry out a council resolution next month to increase Dallas PD’s stated hiring goal to 400 officers for 2025, up from the currently budgeted amount of 250. Interim Police Chief Michael Igo told NBC 5 Tuesday, it’s a hiring goal the department can meet. “We can make those adjustments to get those personnel in,” Igo said. “Our recruiting team is working hard and it’s showing by the number of classes that we have coming up and the number of recruits in those classes,” Igo said. “So, we can make it happen.” Dallas PD’s next academy class begins January 15, with an estimated 50 recruits.