The city of Dallas is asking for public input in the next chief of police.
A survey is now available in English, Spanish or over the phone to gauge what people who live, and/or work, in Dallas would like to see in the city’s next top cop.
In September, Chief Renee Hall notified the city of her resignation, which was to be effective next week.
Hall has now agreed to stay on until the end of the year, as the city manager searches for her replacement.
The qualities and objectives Hall’s successor should possess differ within the community.
Patricia Allen, the founder of No More Violence Organization, spoke with NBC 5 after attending the funeral for an 18-year-old man murdered in Dallas.
“A mom who lost her 18-year-old son due to gun violence,” she said. “Just left the cemetery, supporting the family.”
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Allen is asking for the city’s next chief of police to address the city’s increased violent crime.
“We need support. We understand it comes from leadership on top,” said Allen. “Our community doesn’t feel safe.”
A short, anonymous survey is available online and over the phone.
It asks participants what is your ‘level of trust in the Dallas Police Department,’ what qualifications and qualities the next leader of DPD should possess and what priorities he or she should tackle first.
“It’s just going to be a new person to put pressure on, to hold accountable,” said Kristian Hernandez.
Hernandez, a community organizer, supports defunding police.
She demands a leader who’s willing to decriminalize minor drug offenses, in part to keep offenders out of the county jail amid the pandemic.
Hernandez supports increased transparency in police budgets and officer accountability, especially with more potential protests amid social unrest and the presidential election.
“We want to make sure that if people are out on the streets protesting, which is a freedom that they have to do, that they’re not being met with tear gas and they’re not being kettled on bridges. That we don’t have a repeat of what happened,” she said referring to summer protests in Dallas following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. “That type of harm to the community is really, really hard to get back.”
The city of Dallas is faced with more than 200 murders so far in 2010, nearly surpassing 2019’s total which had been the highest homicide count in more than a decade.
Allen argues the city needs more, higher-paid officers, properly trained and eager to build trust within the community, especially among Black youth.
She said families of homicide victims often complain about slow responses by detectives in their investigations.
Allen asks that the next Dallas Chief of Police “have the qualifications to be able to meet the needs of the Dallas community that’s what we’re needing. And I’m hearing too many cries out from families.”
The survey will be available until December 1, 2020.
To take the survey click here or call (214)671-5190
