Fort Worth Police Department Strategic Plan
How Growth Affects the Fort Worth Police Department As mentioned in previous sections, population growth, development, and service expectations affect every area of FWPD operations including staffing, facilities, technology, and equipment. Significant development growth is projected to continue in an outward, sprawling pattern primarily to the north, south, and west where undeveloped land is available and where more major residential, commercial, and educational developments are currently in the planning, design, or construction phase. The outward, leapfrog-style pattern of development and sprawling city limit growth particularly affects FWPD staffing and facility needs. Patrol officers responding to calls for service travel longer distances, which can adversely affect response times. Specialized service personnel like divisional detectives who investigate property crimes, or SWAT responses to barricaded person calls, also suffer adverse impacts from greater travel distances. The growth of Fort Worth simply equates to greater demand for police services, and as currently authorized, in comparison to FWPD sworn strength, workload, and the level of service expected from the community, findings are imbalanced.
The City of Fort Worth’s 2016 Comprehensive Plan recommends annexing potentially 12.5 more square miles of unincorporated land over the next five years, and an additional 13.5 square miles of limited purpose annexations that could become full purpose annexations. That equates to a potential 25 square miles added to the operational service area. Figure 3.1 displays potential annexation areas within the next five years and the areas experiencing major development. The City currently has legal authority to annex approximately 300 square miles. To respond to the recent growth and projected future growth, FWPD must also plan for additional facilities to provide timely service to the northern, western, and southern
Figure 3.1. Annexation Growth
communities. The 2017-2021 Strategic Plan recommends the necessary staffing, facilities, and technology, as described in the following sections, and among the Goals and Action Items in Part 6.
How Growth Affects the Fort Worth Police Department
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