Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said ongoing work to improve the department’s gunshot detection software will extend across the city’s park system too. The comments came during Comeaux’s first meeting with the Dallas Park and Recreation Board on Thursday. Comeaux, who started as polic e chief eleven months ago, offered brief remarks before opening up the discussion to the 15-member park board. District 5 representative Grady McGahan, which includes the Pleasant Grove area, told Comeaux that random gunfire in parks is a persistent issue in southeast Dallas. “We have a lot of parks that attract illegal gunfire, they’re actually shooting ranges,” McGahan said. “Not just handguns but assault rifles, automatic weapons being used in our parks.” Comeaux cited DPD making recent arrests on random gunfire as part of a response that will include more tools for officers soon. “We’re working on some new technology that we’re pretty close to getting up when it comes to the random gunfire,” Comeaux said. Dallas Police is working to combine its existing gunshot detection software with drones and cameras to help improve response time for random gunfire calls, no matter where they happen in the city. DPD received over 12,000 calls for random gunfire last year, its lowest total in four years. Comeaux added that while technology advancements may lead to more random gunfire arrests, help is needed from state lawmakers in Austin too. “If we put the resources in and we go out and catch 100 people doing it, I can assure you 100 people will be back out in less than one day, so the punishment needs to be raised up,” Comeaux said. ...read more read less