Pulpit Praise for Brown’s Handling of Dash-Cam Video

A prominent minister praised the police chief's handling of an excessive force investigation.

On Wednesday, the department released dashboard-camera video showing white officers assaulting a black man.

The Rev. Frederick Haynes, senior pastor of Friendship West Baptist Church, praised Chief David Brown for soothing tension over it in the black community.

"Thank God for Chief Brown," he said in a sermon Sunday.

Haynes said Brown informed community leaders about the investigation and met with them before and after the Wednesday release of the video.

"Chief Brown does not try to cover it up. Chief Brown said, 'This is wrong,' and he gave it a pre-emptive strike," Haynes told the congregation to loud applause.

News of the investigation broke several days before the release of the video. Haynes said some feared the video's release could unleash unrest such as what happened in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict in the early 1990s.

But Brown's approach has dissolved those fears, Haynes said.

"He's working with the community, and so the baggage, historically, between black people and the police department, he's checking that, so we will not have the kind of chaos that could have ensued," he said.

The Sept. 5 video shows a Dallas officer repeatedly using his baton to hit a man accused of driving his motorcycle on a sidewalk. A second officer is shown hitting the man with his fists.

Police officials said a total of 22 officers eventually responded to the scene. Patrol officers had been ordered not to chase the man, Andrew Collins, over the matter.

An officer who had not yet completed his probationary period with the department was fired. He and two of the other officers face criminal charges in connection with the incident.

Police are conducting an internal affairs review of all of the officers who responded to the scene. Five officers have been placed on restricted duty.