David Brown

Few Dallas Police Live in Dallas, and That's Not Changing Anytime Soon

Policing a city like Dallas, even as crime falls, never goes smoothly. But it's been an especially rocky year for the Dallas Police Department, where, in the wake of Ferguson's violence, the city saw string of officers shooting and sometimes killing citizens. The violence led to multiple town hall ... More >>

Dallas Police Chief David Brown Sent Drug Tip With a Free Sample of Suspected Crystal Meth

With the mountains of tips the Dallas Police Department fields on any given day, and with finite resources forcing the department to prioritize and decide which leads to follow up on and which to put on the back-burner, it's only reasonable for a concerned citizen to wonder how to make his or her co ... More >>

Rifle-Toting Huey P. Newton Gun Club Delivers Report on Police Shootings to Feds

In hopes of raising awareness of police brutality, two groups walked single-file together through downtown Dallas Monday afternoon with rifles slung over their shoulders. The Huey P. Newton Gun Club, which marched down Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in August, and the Indigenous People's Liberation Pa ... More >>

Jason Harrison's Father Sues Dallas and the Police Officers Who Killed His Son

David Harrison, who's mentally ill son Jason Harrison died at the hands of Dallas police in June, filed a lawsuit on Friday claiming two officers used excessive force when they shot his son six times within minutes of arriving at the son's home on Glencairn Drive. Linda Turley, David Harrison's la ... More >>

Craig Watkins' Second Town Meeting on Police Violence Calmer, But Long Road Still Ahead

District Attorney Craig Watkins' second town hall meeting on police violence following the killing of an unarmed black teenager in Missouri was much more subdued than the first, though the message was much the same: I'm one of you, and I understand where you're coming from, but things have changed. ... More >>

Dallas' Cops Should All Wear Body Cameras, Pretty Much Everyone Agrees

In the midst of a string of recent police shootings, the Dallas Police Association, the city's largest police union, has called for all officers to be outfitted with body cameras that record the officers' every move. And the union's receiving support from a group not generally considered an ally: th ... More >>

Dallas' Police Union Really Doesn't Want DA Craig Watkins to Investigate Police Shootings

Last week, Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins announced the formation of a new Civil Rights Unit, a two-person team that will investigate shootings by officers independent of the police department. Chief David Brown supports the unit. "You can't have enough oversight when it comes to police-invo ... More >>

In Ferguson's Wake, Dallas' Law Enforcement Leaders Faced an Angry Crowd Last Night

Zion Hayes, 14, stopped wanting to become a police officer last month. Until then, he had so much enthusiasm that he had his mom, Audrey Hayes, threw him a police-themed birthday party. But a run-in with a real Dallas officer changed Zion's career goals. Following a noise complaint at the house wher ... More >>

The Voice of the Dallas Police Department Has Some Things to Say about Violence in Ferguson

In Ferguson, Missouri, this week, as police officers began to look more like soldiers, and as the lack of transparency about the Mike Brown shooting continued, a police officer in Dallas took to his smartphone. Major Max Geron heads the Dallas Police Department's Media Relations Unit, Community Aff ... More >>

Why Are Dallas' Police Officers So Pissed?

Ron Pinkston, the Dallas Police Association president, says the results caught even him off guard. According to a survey the DPA commissioned, 80 percent of the nearly 1300 members who responded to the online questionnaire rated the Dallas Police Department's morale as either "low" or the "lowest it ... More >>

If You're in Jail Without Charges, Dallas Cops Want More Time To Build a Case Against You

For 25 years, people arrested in Dallas County but not sure why have been protected under more or less the same rule. Dallas cops have three whole business days to figure out what to charge an arrested person with and get the paperwork in, not including the day you were actually arrested. (Booked i ... More >>

New Cities Summit Dallas Panel Is Boring, Not Particularly Helpful

At the only Dallas-specific session of the three-day New Cities Summit being held at the Winspear this week, a panel highlighted by Police Chief David Brown, former Dallas City Council Member Veletta Lill and former Dallas Assistant City Manager Ramon Miguez discussed living in and developing a tran ... More >>

Dallas Police Want Cops to Tweet More. Oh Man, So Do We.

The Dallas Police Department officially unveiled plans this week to encourage officers to tweet more, as part of a wider social-media strategy that includes beefing up the department's blog and Facebook page and posting more photos on Pinterest. We welcome the DPD's expanded entry into the highly c ... More >>

Dallas City Council Is Fine with Free Speech, as Long as It's Not Close to a Freeway

For those who think free speech is an absolute right that shouldn't be lightly trifled with, this morning's City Council meeting offered an unpleasant spectacle. It wasn't so much that the council voted 10-4 to pass an ordinance outlawing "conduct that is intended to distract the attention of motor ... More >>

Discomfort Over Dallas PD's Crackdown on Cop Shootings Spreads to Politicians

On Monday, Dallas Police Chief David Brown briefed the City Council on changes the department's use-of-force training regimen. Before, training sessions were required once every two years; now, it's quarterly or bi-monthly. To oversee the training, Brown added several high-ranking officers to overse ... More >>

Dallas Police Chief David Brown Would Prefer Not to Be Called a "Cocksucker"

Dallas Police Chief David Brown engaged in a brief Twitter spat with DMN reporter Scott Goldstein Monday, which evaporated from the Internet like water in the desert. It all stems from an incident outside of Brown's office, when Tanya Eiserer, longtime crime reporter with The Dallas Morning News, di ... More >>

Dallas Police Chief David Brown Is at the Center of the Worst Email Scam Ever

Even for the most financially and technologically challenged, receiving a personal email from Dallas Police Chief David Brown asking for cash sets off all sorts of alarm bells, alarm bells like He's not the NSA -- how did he get my email address? and Wouldn't it be easier to shake down criminals ins ... More >>

Cops' "Person of Interest" in South Dallas Rapes is a Mild-Mannered Insurance Salesman

Van Dralan Dixson, the neighborhood watch volunteer now tied by DNA to four South Dallas rapes, is out of jail and on the run. Alan Mason, the silver Honda-driving, oval glasses-wearing man whom police publicly identified as a "person of interest" before the results of the DNA test came in, is not. ... More >>

At the Mayor's Rally Against Domestic Violence, Big Promises and Some Mixed Messages

The couple started arguing on Saturday, around 3 in the morning, in a house near Fair Park. The man told the woman he hadn't forgotten their past arguments, all the times she had "disrespected" him. He shoved his palm hard against her face and forced her down against a desk. She fought him, pushing ... More >>

Dallas' City Council Continued its Love Affair with Horses and Golf Yesterday. Plus: Bikes!

The City Council's agenda yesterday was chock full of actually interesting stuff. You can relive it any time you want through the city's database of archived council videos. But just in case you have something better to do, we'll summarized the high points. It's Not Raining On Tennell Atkins' Parad ... More >>

7-Eleven Romances Dallas Police Department With $300,000 For New Equipment

Safer Dallas Better Dallas is a local foundation that raises money to buy new equipment for the Dallas Police Department and, as they put it, "fund the priorities" of DPD, something they've done to the tune of $17 million since their founding in 2005. 7-Eleven is the place where you drunkenly, furti ... More >>

Over the Weekend, a Tense, Angry, Cabaret-Referencing Forum on Violence in South Dallas

The shooting death in late July of felon and suspected drug dealer James Harper by Officer Brian Rowden during a foot chase at a South Dallas drug house has re-opened some barely closed wounds, touching off a painful debate about crime, enforcement, and police presence in low-income black and Latino ... More >>

Dallas Police Chief Announces Policy Shifts After Fallout from James Harper Shooting

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 >>

After a Deadly Shooting by Dallas Police, a South Dallas Neighborhood Shows Up and Speaks Out

A southern Dallas neighborhood flooded the streets in outrage late yesterday, after a 31-year-old man was shot dead by a Dallas police officer during a chase from a suspected drug house. Police say they believe the suspect-turned-victim, a veteran criminal named James "G-Code" Harper, was shot in ... More >>

Dallas Police Adding Bait Houses and Businesses To Their Thief-Catching Technology

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 >>

7-Eleven: Scooting DPD's Downtown Patrol Into The Future

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 >>

DPD Chief Brown Fires Stormy Magiera, A Dallas Police Officer Who Lived Up to Her Name

Stormy Magiera, no longer a Dallas officer​In the end, the posting to the Dallas Police Department's Facebook page, made moments ago, probably comes as no surprise. But as of today, Stormy Magiera is no longer a Dallas Police officer. The announcement comes days after the officer, decorated by Chi ... More >>

Come On, DPD Chief Brown, Don't Let a Few Curse Words Get in the Way of a Good Story

​Oh, come on, Chief Brown. Please. You've been great so far. Don't go all Bolton on us. Earlier this week the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas threw in with former Dallas city council member Diane Ragsdale and some other black community leaders to do a serious race-card attack on ve ... More >>

Police Officers Flock to Dallas to Learn How to Tweet Like Professionals (#thisisahashtagguys)

​If you're planning on doing anything illegal in the next three days (not that you would), may we suggest keeping well away from the Aloft Hotel on Young Street? That place is crawling with cops. This morning marked the start of the SMILE Conference -- Social Media Internet Law Enforcement -- whic ... More >>

Dallas PD Goes to Great Lengths to Defend Selling Its Biggest Helicopter For $1.4 Mil

​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 >>

What Does It Take to Get Fired From the Dallas PD? Let's Go to the List of the Dismissed.

​Yet again, the Dallas Police Department sends an email saying there's a press release on Facebook -- so many hoops, but so worth it. The department says Chief David Brown's fired three officers, including Senior Corporal Cat Lafitte, otherwise known as the artist who took to Facebook in February ... More >>

Caraway Rallies Troops to Shutter Hooker-Plagued Luxury Inn, Over Lawyer's Objections

Photos by Patrick MichelsMayor Dwaine Caraway, DPD Chief David Brown, City Attorney Tom Perkins, council members and other familiar faces gather to announce the closure of the Luxury Inn on S. Buckner Boulevard.​If the city's shutting down another hookers-n-drugs party shack around town, you can b ... More >>

Mayor Dwaine Caraway still doesn't get how he abused the system.

Mayor Caraway: "It's Time to Move On."

Sam MertenState Rep. Barbara Mallory Caraway, Dwaine and Dave Neumann at Dallas City Hall​Below, of course, you can listen to Mayor Dwaine Caraway's account of what happened between him and his wife on the night of January 2, per a recording made by Dallas Police after Chief David Brown sent offic ... More >>

Mayor Dwaine Caraway's Records and Tapes Are Private? Not By a Long, Smelly Shot.

​Yesterday a commenter wrote in to Unfair Park in reference to an item about Dallas Mayor Dwaine Caraway and the legal action he has brought against his own city to prevent the release of an embarrassing police tape. The commenter said, "It's hard to imagine the tape shows anything other than ... More >>

Dallas PD Uses Facebook to Post Videos of Officer's Assault, Chief Brown's Address

From the dash-cam video posted to DPD's Facebook page last Wednesday night​Late yesterday, Dallas Police sent word about a story you've no doubt seen plenty of since: Late on January 27, DPD Officer Quaitemes Williams kicked in the face and used pepper spray on a handcuffed man named Rodarick Lyle ... More >>

Dallas PD: No Racial Profiling Here

From the Dallas Police Department's 2010 Police Traffic Contact Data Report​City Hall and most other municipal facilities are closed till Tuesday, furlough day and President's Day and all. Which means council briefings normally posted on Friday night went live last night, including this one that'l ... More >>

Trio

iWatch So You Don't Have To: Liveblogging Today's Public Safety Committee Meeting

​Afternoon, Friends of Unfair Park. Here I am in bristly cold City Hall prepared to bring you the latest in how Dallas is going to keep you safe. Or, how you're going to keep your damn selves safe with iWatch. Between that and Dwaine Caraway's magic crime-reducing cameras, we should be set. See so ... More >>

Appealing to "The Calmer Voices of the Community," DPD Chief Brown Releases Dash-Cam Footage of Beating

Patrick MichelsChief David Brown talks to press and police at DPD headquarters this afternoon.​Just got back from Jack Evans Police Headquarters for Chief David Brown's press conference accompanying the release of dash-cam video in which several officers assaulted Andrew Collins on September 5th. ... More >>

Cut to the Chase With Today's Liveblog of the City Council's Public Safety Committee

​Afternoon, Friends. I'm up here in City Hall's good old room 6ES for the council's Public Safety Committee meeting we told you about earlier today -- on the menu are that upcoming police women reality-docu show and the Dallas Police Department's pursuit policy. The cameras and media types are her ... More >>

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime So the Dallas Police Can Open Farmers Market Storefront?

​On Wednesday, Patrick went down to the Dallas Farmers Market, where Dallas police higher-ups met with neighborhood stakeholders about getting a DPD storefront down there pronto. Because, as we've noted in recent weeks, property owners are clamoring for a substation to deal with what they say is a ... More >>

Trying to Understand What Led to DPD Chief's Comments About Drinking and Date Rape

Illustration by Andrea Grimes​Update at 8:35 p.m.: The Dallas Police Department has sent a statement from Chief David Brown regarding his comments about the increase in the number of reported sexual assaults this year -- and the reaction to them. It reads, in full:Chief Brown wants to emphasize, " ... More >>

Grief Turns Needlessly Ugly as Storm Over Friday's Police Funeral Procession Rages On

​I know nobody asked me. But the latest development in the story of the police chief's son is just too much to ignore. Under relentless hectoring by Dallas police unions, City Manager Mary Suhm has hired attorney Terry Hart, a respected former federal prosecutor who worked on Don Hill's gag-order ... More >>

DPD's Chief Cato Defends, Apologizes For His Role in Decision to Send Officers to Accompany Friday's Funeral Procession

​I was out of the office Friday evening when the e-mail from City Manager Mary Suhm first came in alerting media to the fact several Dallas police officers had been called in by Deputy Chief Julian Bernal to provide a funeral escort for DPD Chief David Brown's son. By now you've no doubt heard: Su ... More >>

At DPD HQ Today, A Stop Along the 2,000-Mile Journey Across Texas to Honor Fallen Officers

Photos by Spike JohnsonAt DPD HQ today, a memorial for Senior Corporal Norm Smith included the presentation of a wreath to his wife, Lt. Regina Smith.​Not half an hour after David Brown was sworn in as Dallas's newest police chief at 3 p.m. sharp today, a caravan of police officers on bicycles rol ... More >>

Getting Into Retirement Shape On Dallas PD Chief David Kunkle's Final Day

Photos by Patrick Michels​It's been six months since Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle gathered up friends and family at police headquarters to announce he'd be leaving his post. This morning, after cramming a mile run and 15 man makers into one last CrossFit routine, the 59-year-old chief sounded ... More >>

DPD Chief Kunkle "Lucky to Have Choices" While Considering Post-Retirement Plans

Patrick MichelsWhy's Kunkle smiling? "I'm lucky to have good health and a wonderful wife, so it's pretty good."​Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle says he's not interested in committing initially to any of the numerous job offers he's received since announcing his retirement in November. He's be ... More >>

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Our critics weigh in on local theater

Break a Leg

Misery strips King's thriller to the bone at RTC; for Hypochondriac, take two aspirin