North Texas police leaders hold town hall to discuss policing after the death of Tyre Nichols
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - North Texas police leaders gathered to discuss the future of policing in the wake of the death of Tyre Nichols.
"What happened to Tyre Nichols? I just think that is tragic because no training asks the police to go and just pull somebody out the car and do what they did to that man," attendee Terry Harris said. Harris attended the town hall to learn what measures local law enforcement is taking in response
The event held at Saint Luke Community United Methodist Church and hosted by Project Unity included Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia, Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown, and Police Monitor Tonya McClary.
"We are painted with a broad brush so when something like that happens, it affects all of us," Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown said.
"I think the biggest takeaway is that there has been some advancements, improvements, progress," Project Unity Founder Pastor Richie Butler said.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said what happened to Nichols takes the profession back, "I will say this, nobody hates a bad cop more than a good cop."
Garcia told attendees that DPD is working to get recruits and cadets out in the community more. He said they want to do a better job at vetting and hiring officers and achieve better supervision.
Garcia explained that utilizing de-escalation tools and accountability are also big factors "One thing that I will tell you is coming into the new year you will see the times where officers in the Dallas Police Department are being held accountable and I think you will be surprised because accountability is big," he said.
Dallas' first Police Oversight Monitor Tonya McClary stressed community-led policing is also necessary for accountability.
"Hearing from you at a deeper level about what needs to change and what needs to happen in your communities in order to have more transparency, more accountability and to really have the gap bridged," she said.
Community members said they hope this is just the beginning of these town halls. They'd like to see more take place in other communities in Dallas in the coming months.
