Many homeowners on Swiss Avenue have been victims of patio furniture theft this summer. Exactly how many items of furniture were stolen, who the criminals are and who complained about it remain a mystery. There are no reports. We just know there were patio furniture thefts because people are saying ... More >>
Dallas Police Chief David Brown is once again denying accusations that DPD has watered down recruit training standards. The allegations were leveled recently by Dallas Police Association President Ron Pinkston, who said a recruit was allowed to retake and ultimately pass the police academy driving ... More >>
Generally speaking, the Dallas Police Department does Twitter pretty well. Helmed by a chief who uses it to live-tweet disciplinary hearings and set up lunch dates with reporters at Chili's, and who isn't afraid to drop a "cocksucker" every now and then, DPD's output is timely and detailed enough t ... More >>
Anyone who follows Dallas Police Chief David Brown on Twitter or Facebook knows that during the department's semi-regular disciplinary hearings he posts details about the punishment handed down to misbehaving officers. A Dallas Police Association attorney briefly raised a stink about it last March, ... More >>
Anyone who frequents the escort section of backpage.com probably already knows this. Ditto for anyone who has given much thought to how police vice units are adapting to an era in which much of the sex trade is orchestrated online. It bears mentioning nonetheless: The Dallas Police Department is pos ... More >>
Update at 11:20 a.m.DPD and the FBI told The Dallas Morning News the department has been informing the agency of officer-involved shootings: "They do notify us when there is an officer-involved shooting," Chaumont said. She further confirmed that the bureau had been notified about the Allen shootin ... More >>
Yesterday, the Dallas Police Department has blanketed its Facebook page with a portrait and brief biography of every officer killed in the line of duty over the past 121 years. The procession of 80 mostly young faces is a somber reminder of how dangerous a job policing is. A handful of the names ar ... More >>
It was the middle of the night when the girl, 12, peeked her head around her bedroom door and saw the man coming up the stairs. He was a stranger, tall and with a gap between his teeth. He made her take off her shirt before he tied her up and raped her at knifepoint amongst her stuffed animals. Then ... More >>
Ricky Carr, the man who police say bilked Dallas' elderly out of $100,000 by pretending to be a cop and asking to inspect their cash, remains in jail, leaving the title of most-shameless-exploitater-of-old-people up for grabs. We don't yet know who they are, but a pair of new candidates are vying f ... More >>
Last night, NBC 5 laid bare the truth about distracted driving and the Dallas Police Department. Over two years, the station reported, in-car computers and similar distractions were a factor in 13 accidents involving DPD vehicles. Over the summer, the department considered changing its policy govern ... More >>
There is good news to be found in the city's crime stats. For the ninth year in a row, Dallas is on pace to see a drop in its crime rate and, while violent crime is about flat, burglary and theft are down by 15 and 11 percent, respectively. The improving numbers are partly tied to a drop in crime n ... More >>
Dallas Police Chief David Brown sent word yesterday evening that Christopher Pasley, a five-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department died yesterday "as a result of an apparent accidental discharge while cleaning his weapon at home." "The Department's Employee Relations Team has been activated ... More >>
On Saturday morning, a Dallas Police Department helicopter was on routine patrol over South southern Dallas when officers spotted what appeared to be marijuana growing inside a deeply wooded area off the 1500 block of Wood Vista Court, just north of the intersection of C.F. Hawn Freeway and Lake Jun ... More >>
On the Dallas Police Department's Facebook page this afternoon, Chief David Brown announced in a lengthy post measures to "positively impact officer safety and improve public trust and confidence." The announcement comes in the wake of the July 24 shooting death of James Harper and a spate of other ... More >>
The Dallas Police Department is continuing to explain away -- and maybe overcompensate for -- their initial silence concerning the armed robberies on the Katy Trail and the dozen-or-so incidents police believe they're linked to.A pair of press releases from police hit the inbox yesterday evening, on ... More >>
Update, 9:42 p.m., Friday: An arrest has been made. From DPD: Darius Ewing, who was wanted in connection to the puppy who was burned, has surrendered to the Dallas Police Department. He surrendered to police while a candle light vigile was being held by area animal advocates for the puppy named Ju ... More >>
The City Council's getting briefed this week on "community policing," the Dallas Police Department's ongoing effort to get residents involved in preventing crime in their neighborhoods. This last came up in December, when Chief David Brown and McGruff the Crime Dog came to visit council members and ... More >>
"That's right," Cat Lafitte wrote in an email to the Observer about a month ago. "I'm the idiot Facebook cop." If you don't remember Cat Lafitte's name, you may remember her actions: She was one of three police officers fired in June 2011 for violating department policy. Lafitte's offenses, accordi ... More >>
The Dallas Police Department's downtown patrol is about to get a whole lot more, well, motorized. That much we can safely say. DPD announced yesterday that 7-Eleven was donating four new T3's to the department, bringing the total to eight. They were so excited about the whole thing that we got no ... More >>
Scanning the city's inscrutable bids website this morning in the hopes of finding that not-there-yet Dallas Farmers Market RFP, I came across this instead: a 102-page request for proposals from the Dallas Police Department, which is looking to significantly step up its arsenal of video surveillan ... More >>
It's that time of the year -- time for the Dallas Police Department to release its annual by-the-numbers breakdown of traffic stops officers made in 2011. Chief David Brown himself will go to City Hall today to present the council's Public Safety Committee with the 2011 Dallas Police Depart ... More >>
The Dallas Police Department has many, many photos of the man you see at right. They were all taken a little after midnight on December 20, on R.L. Thornton just off Grand Avenue, site of a Comerica Bank branch. But DPD does not know his name, which is why it dispatched to media several of his pi ... More >>
A little while ago reports began to circulate that Dallas Police and Dallas Fire-Rescue were searching the Trinity River for a car thief who ditched out of his stolen ride and took a dive into the rain-swollen river. That search is over, despite the fact authorities have yet to find the man. Mome ... More >>
WFAAThe Dallas Police Department sends word this morning: It guesstimates 30,000 turned out for last night's Big D NYE in Victory Plaza, otherwise known as the Dallas Stars' post-game party that filled a few hours of Channel 8 airtime in between all that Dick Clarking. And while DWI numbers aren' ... More >>
Forthcoming: Anna's account of a morning presser with Dallas PD Chief David Brown about a crime-ring bust-up and Leslie's chitchats with Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins and a Tarrant County ADA about drunk-driving initiatives over the holiday weekend. Happy New Year! But first, the ... More >>
Well, maybe you don't, but several Friends of Unfair Park were curious why the Dallas Police Department sent out the vague message that starting at 9 this morning, "there will be street and sidewalk closures at 2014 Main Street [and] both Main and Commerce streets and sidewalks could be coned and ... More >>
This morning, the Dallas Police Department sent word: It's looking for two men who, over the course of the past few weeks, have been hitting the 7-Eleven at Walnut Hill and Marsh. There are videos, of course; they follow. In both it's hard to tell what's happening, but per the police reports, dur ... More >>
No doubt you've seen the signs like the one at right; they've been around since 2004. The Dallas Police Department was among the first in the country to launch the Auto Theft Tracking Program, which involves putting monitoring devices in bait cars that the DPD can track and control after they've ... More >>
Photo by Anna MerlanScott Griggs certainly appeared tickled by the appearance of a certain crime dog ...On Monday a few Friends of Unfair Park seemed a little humbugged to hear that the Dallas Police Department, along with the mayor and the Dallas County District Attorney's Office, would pref ... More >>
Two days after 22-year-old hairdresser Elizabeth Lightfoot was found dead inside her burning car along Preston Road between Keller Springs and Arapaho, her tragic tale became international news. Yet close to a month later, save for a few horrific revelations Dallas Police are still no closer to solv ... More >>
The Dallas Police report says, simply, "TRAFFIC FATALITY #78." There is a time and date: 10:30 p.m. Friday. A location too: 4100 Cedar Springs. But the DPD has no further information, which is why it's asking for help as it attempts to ID whoever was driving the SUV that struck and killed a 50-ye ... More >>
A few years back, Lt. Max Geron was one of the Dallas Police Department's spokespersons, but he's quick to remind in his missive to The Atlantic that what he has to say on the subject of Lt. John Pike's pepper-spraying of peaceful demonstrators on the UC-Davis campus last week are his views alone ... More >>
The video you see above was taken by surveillance cameras at St. Cecilia Catholic School on Mary Cliff, just off Davis and Hampton in Oak Cliff. It's a couple of months old -- from September 17, according to the Dallas Police -- and was shot during the early-morning hours that Sunday. And according ... More >>
Back in July we were first introduced to the "Handsome Guy" Bandit -- so called not because he's attractive, because who can tell, but because of the $800 mask he's clearly wearing in all the surveillance-cam photos taken of the bank robber during his various stick-em-ups in North Texas. And, say ... More >>
Say cheese, then cough up your $75 bucks, or else...If you've received one (or several) of the 125,000 citations issued to those who've run red lights under the watchful eye of those cameras perched over 66 intersections, you've faced two choices: Pay the $75 fine and avoid further hassle, or ... More >>
The 4300 block of Lively Lane, just off Midway and between Walnut Hill and Northwest Highway, is a nice, tranquil stretch of street -- so nice you wouldn't be surprised to find out that some of the folks living in that part of the NW have surveillance cameras keeping watch over their property. Like, ... More >>
What do you need to know about this video sent out by the Dallas Police Department? Well, let's see. The stick-em-up in question took place yesterday at around 5:25 in the morning at the Exxon TigerMart at 2503 Lemmon, which is right off of N. Central Expressway. And, per the DPD:The suspect is seen ... More >>
Last time I noted the Dallas Police Department's concerns over cat killings 'cross the city, the great Bud Kennedy of the Star-Telegram jumped in the comments and insisted, "Every 'cat mutilation' hoax nationwide has turned out to be the work of animal predators." Far as Bud's concerned, it's all ... More >>
Dallas Police DepartmentWhen the Dallas Police Department isn't using its Facebook page to post breaking news about missing persons or arrested officers, it's sharing quite a bit of departmental history via old photos. Already we've peeked at an illustrated history of the department's sweet rides ... More >>
Back in mid-June we attempted to make an offer on a Bell 407 helicopter, which was being auctioned off by the city. But the bids piled up, and after 60 the $985,000 starting price climbed to $1,467,500, which was $1,467,500 out of our price range. And, besides, the Dallas Police Department, which ... More >>
Twice last summer the Dallas Police Department warned it would enforce, on a limited basis, the once-litigated and gosh-how'd-we-ever-survive-without Section 31-33 of the Dallas City Code, which spells out when the under-17's can run amok on city streets during nighttime hours. Or, more to the po ... More >>
Late on July 3 Dallas Police sent word that two men had shot to death an Oak Cliff convenience store owner ... over two boxes of onions. As Byron Harris noted a day later, Quick Check Grocery's Jin Ha was beloved by folks living near the store at Illinois Avenue and Overton Road; said one customer, ... More >>
Per the Dallas Police Department, the hold-up you see above was captured three nights ago and just two blocks from Unfair Park headquarters, along the 2700 block of Welborn near Oak Lawn and Maple. You know the drill by now: DPD needs help ID'ing the driver of the car seen above and the man who get ... More >>
Speaking of the Supremes ...In January 2010 we listened in as the Supreme Court of Texas heard oral arguments in the case of City of Dallas. v. VSC, LLC, which is now close to a decade old. To sum up: In '02, tow company VSC was in possession of 326 the Dallas Police Department said had been "rep ... More >>
Bottle rocket. Get it?Beginning 'round 9ish last night, my Northwest Dallas neighborhood sounded like a war zone -- more than usual, anyhow. (As one Facebook friend put it, it turned into a parlor game: Firework or Gunshot?) Clearly, news of the countywide burn ban and threats of Class C misdemea ... More >>
Twice today, including just moments ago, the Dallas Police Department sent notes to media asking for the public's help in finding the driver of a red 1999 Ford F150 who police say was responsible for a fatal hit-and-run yesterday at Northwest Highway and the Dallas North Tollway. According to pol ... More >>
Dallas Police DepartmentOn its Facebook page this morning, the Dallas Police Department has posted an estimable visual history of its squad cars, beginning with the 1928 Model A. My father, a parts man his whole life, could do without the AMC Matador, wishes he had the '56 Fairlane pictured above ... More >>
Dallas County Sheriff's DepartmentMoments ago, the Dallas Police Department sent a note telling media types to head to its Facebook page for a very special announcement. OK. Let's see ... Ah. "Dallas Police Make Second Arrest in Biker Incident." And by "biker incident," of course, the DPD's refer ... More >>
I was going to post about something else presently up for grabs on Lone Star Auctioneers' website ... till I ran into this: The city of Dallas is auctioning off a Bell Helicopter Model 407, with the current bid sitting at $987,500. Sounds nice: "The engine is a Rolls Royce model 250-C47B, total e ... More >>