Dallas Police Chief Gets Personal Taking On Critics
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
DALLAS (CBSDFW) - Dallas Police Chief David Brown—known for being a soft spoken, exceptionally professional and intensely private leader—today invoked the personal as he addressed city council critics.
"I'm a Christian—and I believe our department needs prayer," was Chief Brown's opening statement as he addressed reporters following what was expected to be a tense public safety briefing with members of the Dallas City Council. "I'm asking for other people of faith in this city to pray for this department as well. I believe in the power of prayer and more than anything I'm trusting and believing in my faith as we get through this very challenging time, not only in my profession, but in my department."
Chief Brown, who grew up in Oak Cliff, admitted today that the job is often thankless, difficult and always personal. "I approach this job like my mother lives here… because she does. It's 24/7 and some days I have to encourage myself. I had to be encouraged today because I saw some of the challenges in the room."
Council members accused of orchestrating a back door meeting to oust Chief Brown, were not present at the public safety briefing. But, brown still faced criticism over a 7 percent jump in violent crime and slowed response times. And those concerns aren't limited to the council.
"We need to put the boots on the ground where the officers can respond," says Dallas Police Association President Ron Pinkston, "we don't need to be promoting more chiefs and sticking them behind desks. We need them out there on the streets, answering the calls."
Chief Brow acknowledged that response times are up on low priority calls—but, points to what he calls the pay off on the street: Excessive force complaints are down 81% and officer involved shootings have been cut in half.
"We just paid out $1.6 million to Bobby Bennett," says Chief Brown, "if officers had slowed down, maybe we would have had a different outcome…and so our training has resulted in better outcomes in interactions with the public—particularly with communities of color."
And that community is supporting Chief Brown, now… as are some council members who are backing the chief's call for better pay and pension benefits to help improve officer morale.
"We appreciate the fact that we are not in the position that many other cities are at this time, and I think that's a direct correlation to your leadership and your staff leadership," said Tiffinni Young, Dallas City Council member representing District 4, "I am committed to doing whatever I can … to support the blue. We need to do whatever it takes to make sure this city is safe and public safety is number one."
(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
