Dallas, TX
Dallas approves new system to manage police officers’ off-duty work
Six years after an internal audit found the Dallas Police Department needed a better way to track off-duty hours worked by officers, the city plans to pay for a new system to manage and track the jobs.
The Dallas City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a three-year, more than $815,000 contract with RollKall Technologies, a management scheduling software company that caters to law enforcement agencies. The Dallas Police Department getting a new automated system to track off-duty employment was one of the top recommendations of a 2018 city audit that criticized the agency’s lack of oversight of the program and found some officers were working extra jobs for more hours than their police work.
Off-duty jobs can include security work at large events, concerts, private businesses, parades and other events.
Kristin Lowman, a DPD spokeswoman, said the new third-party system is expected to streamline and simplify how off-duty job assignments are managed for officers, vendors and businesses.
“This includes job announcements, scheduling, invoicing and payment, compliance with department policies, and easy audibility of jobs,” Lowman told The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday. “The department is now planning the rollout of the platform, along with education and training for officers, vendors, and the public on the new technology.”
The police department estimated that officers work more than 135,000 secondary jobs outside of their normal police duties every year. The agency said that equals roughly more than 714,000 of extra work hours.
According to the 2018 audit, the benefits of an off-duty employment program include helping deter crime, supplementing police officers’ pay, and allowing for some reimbursement for the police department if assignments require the use of police uniforms, equipment or vehicles.
But the auditor’s office found the department didn’t follow its own rules when it came to overseeing requests and approval and tracking of off-duty jobs. The department couldn’t tell whether or not officers were working more hours than allowed, working at approved times and locations, or violating any other DPD regulations, the audit said. The police department at the time limited officers’ total work hours to 16 hours a day and 112 hours per week. The daily cap hasn’t changed since then, but the weekly limit is now 80 hours per week, according to the department’s general orders.
The audit also found that DPD’s automated system, called the Intelligent Workforce Management System, doesn’t include the actual off-duty hours officers worked, tell supervisors when work requests are pending approval, or allow supervisors to confirm whether officers aren’t working too many hours.
“It is virtually impossible to do accurate accounting and controls with the current IWM software that is utilized by the department until new software can be purchased and integrated,” said an October 2018 letter to the auditor’s office signed by then-acting police chief David Hughes and then-assistant city manager Jon Fortune agreeing to more than a dozen recommendations for improvements.
The department still uses the Intelligent Workforce Management System for requests and approval for off-duty police jobs, Lowman said.
Dallas, TX
Viral East Dallas coffee shop fears major sales drop amid six-week road closure
Construction plans disrupt business in East Dallas. Just a few days ago, the owners of Juju’s Coffee off La Vista Drive in Dallas were informed by Oncor that the street on which their shop is located will be closed.
One of the owners, Nick Rocha, said the closure will last six weeks, but if there are any delays, it could be extended until October.
The coffee shop, which opened in 2023, has recently gained a lot of popularity. One of their drinks, called the “do-si-dos,” has gone viral, and now they have lines out the door on a regular basis.
“It’s a peanut butter milk latte… We probably doubled our sales or more if I had to be honest,” said Rocha.
Since the drink’s release in April, the flow of customers has been nonstop.
“We were like, ‘We’ll go viral and then we’ll die out.’ Then we’re like, ‘Well, when is it going to be over, because we’re just getting slammed?’ We were both doing like 60- to 70-hour weeks… And it just kept going, and it turned from like, ‘Okay, we’re scared of it,’ to, ‘Okay, we can do this,’” said Rojas.
Rojas says that just as they were adjusting to the new normal, the notice from Oncor came.
“They were just like, ‘Yeah, so we’re going to close the street, sorry.’ That was tough… because we’re in the middle of dreaming and vision casting for what’s coming and what’s next,” said Rojas.
Starting July 20, La Vista Drive will be closed, sidewalk accessibility will be difficult, and street visibility will be too. Rojas believes the impact could drop their sales by about 50%. He says they’ve had meetings with the city and Oncor, but says there’s nothing they can do, and now their only plea is to their customers.
“Anybody that comes in and supports, it’s a genuine gratitude from us,” said Rojas.
Dallas, TX
3 unanswered questions before training camp: Dallas Cowboys edition
For the Dallas Cowboys and their owner, Jerry Jones, the hope is always that the changes made will improve the product on the field. Every team heading into training camp will have questions to answer, and the Dallas Cowboys are first on our list with 3 of the biggest ones. This will be an ongoing series for the next couple of weeks until camp starts, and answers start to reveal themselves in real time.
Another season of change for the Dallas Cowboys. Will it make a difference this time around to end the drought? Jerry Jones sure hopes so. Dallas hasn’t had a title in 30 years, and Jerry Jones promised to look in the mirror and make much-needed dramatic changes. The 34-year-old Christian Parker, who has no defensive coordinator experience, must embody the change upfront. Veterans were added, and Dak Prescott is back and healthy, running a new scheme. We shall see.
I wouldn’t worry about whether CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens can coexist long-term. I’m more concerned about whether you can keep them happy with the culture and get them to commit long-term. They declined to negotiate with Pickens and instead slapped him with the franchise tag. If Dak Prescott continues to spread the ball around, he should be able to keep them happy, but it comes at a cost: winning in the playoffs or a Super Bowl title.
Tight end Jake Ferguson’s role could diminish during the upcoming season. Even after signing a four-year, $52 million extension, former undrafted free agent Brevyn Spann-Ford is a better blocker and could have a major impact on the Cowboys’ offense in 2026.
Dallas, TX
Dallas weather: Widespread thunderstorms bring flash flood risks and brief heat relief
Dallas weather: July 12 morning forecast
An active weather pattern brings widespread storms, isolated flooding risks, and a welcome cooldown into the low-90s through mid-week for the Red River region.
DALLAS – A wave of scattered thunderstorms is expected to bring heavy rain, localized flooding risks, and brief relief from the July heat to North Texas and the Texoma region starting Sunday afternoon.
Severe weather risk
The Storm Prediction Center has placed the entire region under a low-level risk for severe weather. Forecasters warn that while widespread severe conditions are unlikely, any strong storm cells that develop could produce localized flooding, small hail, frequent lightning, and damaging wind gusts between 50 and 60 mph.
We have a lot of moisture on hand. The atmosphere is primed for highly efficient rainfall. This is where the isolated flash flood threat starts to come in. If these areas get another round of rain through the overnight hours, of course, then that threat starts to elevate.
Timeline:
The weather system began moving through Sunday morning with an initial cluster of storms focused heavily near Sherman in Grayson County, alongside isolated pop-up showers stretching east toward Delta and Red River counties. The broader Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex remained largely dry early in the day, with temperatures hovering in the late 70s to low 80s.
However, conditions are expected to shift rapidly as daytime heating pushes temperatures into the mid-90s.
Sunday Afternoon (3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.): Storm coverage will become more scattered and widespread across North Texas.
Sunday Evening & Overnight: Pockets of heavy, intense rainfall are projected to stall over parts of the region.
Monday Morning Commute: Lingering showers and light rain are expected to persist through sunrise, threatening to create slick roadways and slow down the Monday morning rush hour.
Live Radar
Temperature Outlook and Drought Relief
Despite the storm threat, the rain will be welcomed. The rainfall is expected to help alleviate the onset of the typical mid-summer drought conditions North Texas experiences this time of year.
The accompanying cloud cover and rain will provide a temporary break from intense summer heat. While Sunday’s forecast high of 95 degrees sits exactly at the mid-July average, temperatures will dip slightly below average to 93 degrees on Monday and Tuesday.
A gradual drying and warming trend will begin mid-week as the low-pressure system slowly slides out of the area. Rain chances drop to 30% by Tuesday and will continue to taper off through Thursday. By Friday and next weekend, the typical July weather pattern is expected to return, bringing hot and dry conditions back to the region.
7-Day Forecast
The Source: Information in this article is from the FOX 4 weather team.
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