The first Black woman police chief in Dallas has resigned after criticism over policing during recent protests.
The May 25 police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked protests across the country calling for the defunding of police. Some of the protests turned violent. In Dallas, the police were called out for how they handled protests from May 29 to June 1 in particular.
The Dallas Police Department (DPD) and Office of Community Police Oversight partnered to investigate around 50 use-of-force complaints about how police officers handled crowd control. Dallas Police Chief Ulysha Reneé Hall was grilled over her department’s response. She is one of a growing number of police chiefs across the country who have resigned recently.
Her resignation is effective Nov. 10, she said in a letter to the city manager made public on Sept. 8, NTD reported.
Chief Hall said that her three years as Dallas police chief “have been saturated with a series of unimaginable events that individually and collectively have never happened in the city of Dallas.”
“I am proud that this department has not only coped with an unthinkable series of events, but we have also managed to implement critical reforms that were clearly needed for the Dallas Police Department to meet our 21st Century Policing goals,” Hall wrote to City Manager T.C. Broadnax.
An 85-page “After Action Report” stressed a lack of planning and communication, Spectrum Local News reported. The police department will be rolling out new guidelines on additional training for mass arrests and how body-worn cameras can be used more effectively.
“The report, I hope, reflects our commitment to transparency, integrity, and critical analysis of our own actions during this difficult period of time,” Hall said. “Council members and the public will learn all that we know now about what happened and why, including errors and shortcomings in our service during the protests. We can only move forward if we understand everything that happened.”
The report criticized the use of tear gas on protesters by police. The DPD’s at first denied using tear gas when hundreds of protestors took to the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, a Dallas landmark, the night of June 1. According to the report, 674 people were taken into for trespassing on the bridge, but they were later released. Despite denials by police, firsthand accounts claimed tear gas had been used.
“I was a big champion for you chief, saying that there was no tear gas used on that bridge. I had to do a mea culpa publicly because I was told, and you also told us, that there was no tear gas used on that bridge,” said District 6 councilmember Omar Narvaez. “I can tell you that I’m outraged as a council member and I’m outraged as a person who lives in the city of Dallas that even in this report, I don’t know who to trust. Hall, you are our top cop. And I have lost the trust.”
Hall seemed to agree with the council members as she gave herself a C-minus when asked to assess her performance in handling the situation, The New York Times reported.
In the four days of protests in Dallas, two citizens and six officers reported serious injuries, a police horse was seriously injured, and three police vehicles were burned and others vandalized, according to the report. Property damage in the central business district was more than $5 million and DPD incurred costs of about $3 million.
The report also noted that Hall didn’t communicate to her officers that they were to show a “zero-tolerance policy” toward acts of violence, destruction of property, or civil disobedience and curfew violations until the third day of protests.
“It’s clear to me that we did have, indeed, a failure of leadership,” said deputy Mayor Pro Tem and committee chair Adam McGough. “At the source of many of our issues as it relates to the community and law enforcement is trust. And in many cases the lack thereof. Trust is built over time, and it starts with relationship, transparency and consistency. Our officers have spent real dedicated time and energy to form great relationships in many cases and for years, have been dedicated to productive community engagement. However, the communication that has taken place through the protests, directly after the protests, and in the over two months since the event took place, have served to further erode trust instead of building the trust we so desperately need. There are many things I was looking for in this after action report and I’m left with many unmet expectations.”
Because the “Use of Force” complaints are still under investigation, much of the specific interactions between law enforcement and protesters are not documented in the report. District 7 council member Adam Bazaldua said that lack of detail is what most concerned him. He felt the report painted a “biased picture,” which played out in a heated exchange with the chief during the meeting.
Hall is just one of various police chiefs to resign as the spotlight has become focused on police departments nationwide and how they are run.
Federal charges prompted Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez Police to retire, Albuquerque’s Chief Michael Geier announced his retirement, while Rochester police Chief La’Ron Singletary and his entire chief staff retired following scrutiny over his handling of the suffocation death of Daniel Prude.
Over in Tiburon, Calif., Police Chief Michael Cronin announced his retirement after 12 years as head of the police force amid allegations of racial profiling, Fox News reported.
Thomas Scully in Orlando Hills, Ill., was let go as the Chicago-area village police chief over a social media post about looting that some thought to be racist. Cobden, Ill., Police Chief B.J. Hale used social media to announce his departure late last month “due to some issues with how he and some former officers have been treated.” The Chief of the Lake City Police Department reigned, as did Marion police Chief Tony Flowers in South Carolina. Also in South Carolina, Pamplico police Chief Danny Brown left the department on Aug. 21, for personal reasons.
In Seattle, Carmen Best was unhappy about budget cuts due to the defunding the police movement and resigned as the city’s police chief.
Opa-locka, Fla., saw the dismissal of James Dobson as police chief after he failed to implement reforms. Steve Anderson, chief of the Nashville Metro Police Department, abruptly departed is job Aug. 6.
Las Cruces, N.M., police Chief Patrick Gallagher was set to retire in December but left the force Aug. 1. During his two-year tenure, there were eight fatal police encounters, the Las Cruces Sun News reported.
Rising Star, Texas, Police Chief Wayne Edgin was asked by city leaders to step down. And in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Rick Maglione, police chief since January 2017, was removed and reassigned in response to protests against police brutality.
Los Angeles school police Chief Todd Chamberlain put forth his resignation resigned July 1 after the police budget was slashed by $25 million.
Jefferson City, Texas, Police Chief Jason Carroll’s downfall was a series of Facebook posts some deemed insensitive to a Black Lives Matter protest.
In Maryland, Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski stepped down following the American Civil Liberties Union release of a 94-page report detailing allegations of discrimination and retaliation within the department.
Police Chief William Smith resigned suddenly in Richmond, Virginia, at the request of Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney after several nights of protests during which police officers used pepper spray and rubber bullets at demonstrators, Fox news reported.
Massive protests in Portland led to the resignation of Police Chief Jami Resch less than six months into her tenure.
And, in Louisville, Ky, Metro police Chief Steve Conrad was fired June 1 after officers involved in a fatal shooting did not have their body cameras on. Conrad was already under pressure after the March fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor.
Despite the resignation of many top cops, the public seems to remain skeptical of any major changes in policing in the U.S.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 73: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin makes the case for why this is a multi-factor rebellion vs. just protests about George Floyd. He discusses the Democratic Party’s sneaky relationship with the police in cities and states under Dem control, and why Joe Biden is a cop and the Steve Jobs of mass incarceration.
Seth Rollins’ theme music @ZZachp51 tweeted in response to Hall’s departure: “NOTHING fundamentally changes in US policing until we have actual gun legislation. Turns out, not having the constant REAL threat of getting shot in the face makes cops in every other developed country a lot more chill. Look for tons of resignations. Too hard to police here”
John Burnier @john_wice tweeted: “Skin folk aren’t necessarily kin folk.Bye Felicia.”
