The History of the Dallas Area Response Transit Police Department Motorcycle Unit
To serve the needs of the riding public, DART created its own police department in September of 1989. The DART Police Department was founded and initially manned by one officer. Since its inception, it has grown to over 300 positions. Chief James Spiller now has two deputy chiefs, one captain, six lieutenants, four civilian managers, and twenty-seven sergeants to assist him in running the day-to-day operations of the department.
DART Police officers are vested with all the rights, privileges, obligations, and duties of peace officers in the state of Texas, which means that DART Police officers have the power of: arrest, serving arrest warrants, issuing citations, search and seizure, and filing criminal charges.
The DART Police department is separate from and wholly unrelated to any other police department, including the Dallas Police Department. DART Police officers are special-purpose peace officers created by the Texas Legislature (Texas Transportation Code §452.110) whose purpose is to safeguard DART, its customers, and employees by providing police services throughout DART’s transportation system.
Information and Photos provided by the Dallas Area Response Transit Police Department