Law and government

Main article: Law and government of Dallas See also: List of mayors of Dallas and Sister cities of Dallas Dallas City Hall.

The city uses a council-manager government, with Mike Rawlings serving as Mayor, A.C. Gonzalez serving as interim city manager, and 14 council members serving as representatives to the 14 council districts in the city. This organizational structure was recently contested by some in favor of a strong-mayor city charter, only to be rejected by Dallas voters.

In the 2006–2007 fiscal year, the city's total budget (the sum of operating and capital budgets) was $2,344,314,114. The city has seen a steady increase in its budget throughout its history due to sustained growth: the budget was $1,717,449,783 in 2002–2003, $1,912,845,956 in 2003–2004, $2,049,685,734 in 2004–2005, and $2,218,345,070 in 2005–2006.

National and state legislators representing Dallas:

Federal House of Representatives Senate Name Party District Name Party Jeb Hensarling Republican District 5 John Cornyn Republican Kenny Marchant Republican District 24 Ted Cruz Republican Michael C. Burgess Republican District 26 Eddie Bernice Johnson Democrat District 30 Pete Sessions Republican District 32 Marc Veasey Democrat District 33 State House of Representatives Senate Name Party District Name Party District Eric Johnson Democrat District 100 Bob Deuell Republican District 2 Stefani Carter Republican District 102 Ken Paxton Republican District 8 Rafael Anchia Democrat District 103 Kelly Hancock Republican District 9 Roberto R. Alonzo Democrat District 104 John Carona Republican District 16 Linda Harper-Brown Republican District 105 Royce West Democrat District 23 Kenneth Sheets Republican District 107 Dan Branch Republican District 108 Helen Giddings Democrat District 109 Toni Rose Democrat District 110 Yvonne Davis Democrat District 111 Angie Chen Button Republican District 112 Cindy Burkett Republican District 113 Jason Villalba Republican District 114 Bennett Ratliff Republican District 115

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which exercises original jurisdiction over 100 counties in North and West Texas, convenes in the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse in the Government District of Downtown. The same building additionally houses United States Bankruptcy and Magistrate Courts and a United States Attorney office. Dallas also is the seat of the Fifth Court of Appeals of Texas.

Politics

As a city, present-day Dallas can be seen as moderate, with conservative Republicans dominating the wealthy suburban neighborhoods of North Dallas and liberal Democrats dominating neighborhoods closer to Downtown as well as the city's southern sector. As a continuation of its suburban northern neighborhoods, Dallas' northern parts are overwhelmingly conservative. Plano, the largest of these suburbs, was ranked as the fifth most conservative city in America by the Bay Area Center for Voting Research, based on the voting patterns of middle-age adults.

Jim Schutze of the Dallas Observer said in 2002 "the early vote in majority-black precincts in Southern Dallas is the city's only disciplined vote. Especially in citywide elections on issues that are not entwined in the internal politics of the black community, the Southern Dallas African-American vote has a history of responding obediently to the call of leadership."

In the 2004 U.S. Presidential elections, 57% of Dallas voters voted for John Kerry over George W. Bush. Dallas County as a whole was closely divided, with 50% of voters voting for Bush and 49% voting for Kerry.

In 2004, Lupe Valdez was elected Dallas County Sheriff. An open lesbian, Valdez is currently the only female sheriff in the state of Texas. Despite controversies in her handling of county jails, she won re-election in 2008 with a 10-point victory over Republican challenger Lowell Cannaday.

Conservative Republican Tom Leppert defeated liberal Democrat Ed Oakley in the city's 2007 mayoral race by a margin of 58% to 42%. Though candidates' political leanings are well publicized in the media, Dallas' elections are officially non-partisan. The city's previous mayor was Laura Miller, a liberal Jewish woman who had previously written for the Dallas Observer, the city's most popular alternative newspaper.

Cathie Adams, named chairman in October 2009 of the Republican Party of Texas, is a long-time conservative political activist from Dallas.

Crime and law enforcement The Dallas Police headquarters in the Cedars neighborhood.

Policing in Dallas is provided predominantly by the Dallas Police Department, which has around 3,500 officers. The Dallas chief of police is David Brown (effective May 5, 2010). The Police Headquarters are located in the Cedars neighborhood of South Dallas.

According to the FBI, a city to city comparison of crime rates is not meaningful, because recording practices vary from city to city, citizens report different percentages of crimes from one city to the next, and the actual number of people physically present in a city is unknown. With that in mind, Dallas' violent crime rate (12.06 per 1,000 people) is lower than that of St Louis (24.81), Detroit (24.22), Baltimore (16.96), Philadelphia (15.62), Cleveland (15.47), Miami (15.09), Washington, D.C. (14.48), Kansas City (14.44) and Boston (13.39). However, Houston (11.69), Los Angeles (7.87), and New York City (6.38) have lower violent crime rates than Dallas.

Fire Department (Dallas Fire-Rescue Department)

The city of Dallas is protected 24/7, 365 by the 1,670 paid, full-time firefighters of the city of Dallas Fire-Rescue Department (DFD), providing both fire protection and emergency medical service to the city. The Dallas Fire-Rescue Department operates out of 57 Fire Stations in 2 Divisions of 9 Battalions, located throughout the city, and maintain and operate a fire apparatus fleet of 57 Engines, 21 Trucks, 40 Rescues, 3 Peak Demand Rescues, 1 Haz-Mat. Unit, 2 Haz-Mat. Teams, 2 Urban Search and Rescue Units, 9 Brush/Booster Units, 1 Marine Unit (based on Lake Ray Hubbard), 7 smaller Fireboats, 1 Swift Water Rescue Unit, and numerous other special, support, and reserve units. All DFD Paramedics are Firefighters, but not all Firefighters are Paramedics; but are trained to at least EMT-Basic. EMT-Paramedics and EMT-B's are trained through the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. The department also operates the Dallas Firefighter's Museum at Dallas' oldest remaining fire station, built in 1907, along Parry Avenue near Fair Park. In addition, the department operates in mutual aid agreements with several surrounding municipalities.

In 1995, the Dallas Fire Department Training Academy (now the Chief Dodd Miller Training Academy) began to host firefighter recruits from other Metroplex municipalities in its 22-week basic firefighter training school, effectively becoming a regional training center. The Academy is reverently known as "The Drill Tower" by instructors and graduates, referring to the facility's most taxing structure/activity, a six story tower whose staircase is routinely climbed three times in rapid succession by recruits in full gear and high-rise hose packs.

Battalion 1 is located at Fire Station #4; Battaion 2 is located at Fire Station #7; Battalion 3 is located at Fire Station #8; Battalion 4 is located at Fire Station #28; Battalion 5 is located at Fire Station #25; Battalion 6 is located at Fire Station #14; Battalion 7 is located at Fire Station #35; Battalion 8 is located at Fire Station #34, Battalion 9 is located at Fire Station #47; Battalion 10 is out of service as of Oct. 22, 2012. Division Chief 806 is located at Fire Station #55, while Division Chief 807 is located at Fire Station #1. The Swift Water Rescue Unit is located at Fire Station #34 and the Urban Search and Rescue Units are located at Fire Stations 33 and 19.