The Dallas City Council has received a donation to fund four new blocker trucks for the Dallas Police Department, expanding a program aimed at improving safety on some of the city’s busiest roadways.
Dallas police added blocker trucks to their fleet in 2023 after Officer Mitchell Penton was struck and killed while responding to a freeway crash in 2021. His death underscored the dangers officers face while assisting motorists on high-speed roadways. Before that, officers relied on patrol units or fire apparatus to divert traffic — resources that were often tied up for extended periods and costly to repair if hit.
In a news release, the City of Dallas reported that the Ford F550 vehicles, funded by a donation by QuikTrip, will be stationed at crash scenes and other emergencies along freeways and major roads, shielding officers and other first responders as they work in active traffic lanes. Each truck includes an LED arrow board to direct drivers and a crash attenuator built to absorb the force of an impact, reducing the risk to personnel on scene…