Dallas Police Association

If Dallas Cops Shouldn't Be Indicted for Running Over Bicyclists, Then What Should They Be Charged For?

When a Dallas cop shoots someone in the line of duty, you can count on Dallas Police Association leader Ron Pinkston to leap to the officer's defense. The cop who shot a mentally ill man who, as best a surveillance video shows, stood up from a chair? Shouldn't have been fired. Shoot an unarmed carja ... More >>

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 Are Better than Most in Dealing With Photographers and Cop Watchers

Max Geron, the Dallas Police Department's media relations officer, smiled and shook his head in disbelief. In the video, a veteran East Coast police officer approached a photojournalist, who was standing across the street from a traffic stop with multiple squad cars present, and told him to leave. T ... More >>

Few of Dallas' Cops Live in the City, and Chief Brown Says They Should Know More about It

At the latest town hall meeting held by District Attorney Craig Watkins, Dallas Police Chief David Brown, speaking to a primarily black crowd, said a program to educate young officers about the police department's history with the city was in the works. He seemed to think it was badly needed. "I'm ... More >>

Three Cop Watchers Get Arrested for Videotaping Arlington Police

Three people on a "cop watch" were arrested while videotaping a traffic stop by an Arlington police officer late Saturday night. The people are part of organizations Texas Cop Block and the Tarrant County Peaceful Streets Project, whose members tape police in a effort to hold them accountable for th ... 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 >>

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 >>

Police Chief David Brown Wants to Do Away with Dallas' Race-Based Police Associations

There are four major police associations in Dallas, each with its own slice of the force and its own interests. The Dallas Police Association is the biggest and oldest in Dallas, around since 1959. The Dallas Fraternal Order of Police is part of a nationwide organization that represents more than 30 ... More >>

Texas Cops Really, Really Hate Bedford State Rep. Jonathan Stickland

State Representative Jonathan Stickland is brash, young, and cocky, just as he was when Tarrant County voters sent the 30-year-old Tea Party favorite to the legislature two years ago. In one instance -- his trailblazing email privacy bill -- Stockland's irreverence served him well, earning plaudit ... More >>

Dallas PD Is Pushing Officers to Use Twitter

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 >>

Mixing Politics and Pensions

There are good reasons to check up on the police and fire fund. The Nasher isn't one of them.

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 Refuses to Stop Live-Tweeting Cop Firings

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 >>

Dallas Police Chief's Crackdown on Trigger-Happy Cops Leaves Many Fuming

Dallas Police Chief David Brown has started coming down hard on officers who are too quick to resort to deadly force. He fired senior corporal Amy Wilburn, who shot an unarmed carjacking suspect last month. Same with Carden Spencer, the cop who opened fire on a mentally ill man in a Rylie cul-de-sac ... More >>

The House Passed a Cell Phone Privacy Measure Yesterday. Police Say It's "Going to Kill People"

Digital rights advocates cheered yesterday after the state House passed a measure requiring police to obtain a search warrant before collecting personal cell phone data. Groups as diverse as the ACLU of Texas and the arch-conservative Texas Eagle Forum have expressed concern that current law, which ... More >>

Dallas Police & Fire Pension Chairman Decries Media Scrutiny, Pushes Back Against Nasher

The Nasher Sculpture Center has been feuding with Museum Tower, its shiny new neighbor in the Arts District, over light, heat and reflectivity for going on six months now. At the end of July, we published a story showing that the tower isn't the only risky real estate project the pension fund has ... More >>

Dallas PD Busts Up Fencing Operation ... But, Wait, Hang On, What's This About Not Answering Under-$50 Shoplifting Calls?

There's just one thing that will get us out of bed the day after the editorial staff's holiday party, on what is (ahem) supposed to be a day off: a City Hall press conference concerning organized retail theft. Mayor Mike Rawlings, Dallas Police Chief David Brown and Dallas County District Attorney C ... More >>

The Black Police Association vs. The Dallas Morning News (And a Few Others Too)

"Cocksucker?" "Asshole?" You're working for the wrong paper, Tanya.​The Black Police Association of Greater Dallas, which represents the area's black police officers, is waging a serious PR campaign against The Dallas Morning News and journalist Tanya Eiserer, a longtime criminal justice reporter ... More >>

This Ain't Detroit: Ron Natinsky Goes After Mike Rawlings For His Union Endorsements

Via.Speaking of...too early? No. Never.​It'll be a shame to see this mayoral campaign season come to an end a week from Saturday now that it's getting so...campaigny. Take, for instance, this email that just arrived in the in-box with the all-caps subject header: "RAWLINGS PLEDGES TO SUPPORT THE R ... More >>

Police, Fire Associations Want to Know If City's Using Super Bowl to Violate Meet and Confer

​I was looking for something completely unrelated on the Dallas County Civil District Court website this afternoon when I came across the petition you'll find after the jump, which was filed one week ago today. In it, attorney Haakon Donnelly -- on behalf of, among others, the Dallas Police Associ ... More >>

Some DPD (and DSO) News & Notes While We Play a Little Early-Morning Catch-Up

​Between the weather and the Rosh a few things fell through the cracks yesterday. Like, oh, former FBI agent Terence Hart's report to City Manager Mary Suhm concerning the funeral procession for Dallas Police Chief David Brown's son. City Hall sent the 11-page doc, and Suhm's accompanying memo, la ... 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 >>

Buzz Gives '09 a One-Fingered Wave Goodbye

DISD's Most Famous Fifth-Grader Will Appear on Ellen Tomorrow

Now, how about some good news for the Dallas Independent School District. You recall Dalton Sherman, right? Course you do: Charles Rice Learning Center fifth-grader. Delivered the keynote at this year's back-to-school pep rally. Was suddenly everywhere. Well, Dalton will be on The Ellen DeGeneres Sh ... More >>

Who Doesn't Want to Be Sheriff?

At This Point, Feel Free to Write In "Unfair Park" on Your Ballot Tomorrow

So, Jennifer Gale, who probably had to get a ride, showed to the final mayoral forum, but Don Hill, Ed Oakley and Max Wells couldn't be bothered. That's nice. More than two months ago, I attended a mayoral forum hosted by the Dallas Police Association and left thoroughly confused about how the top s ... More >>

Don't Do the Crime If You're Drunk and It's Light Outside

The Elite Eight, or: Get Your Mayoral Brackets Ready!

Edward Okpa: If you aren't gonna take him seriously as a mayoral candidate, then we will. Of course, look what happened to the last guy bestowed that particular honor. On Tuesday the Northwood Republican Women's Club hosted a mayoral debate at a Luby's on Hampton Road. OK, not so much. Actually, the ... More >>

Zzzzz...Huh? Oh Yeah. That Mayor Thingy.

Have you heard? Tom Leppert is a businessman. There is the glamourous and consequential side of journalism: Covering a presidential race, writing about a war, detailing the side effects of a new cancer drug, profiling Maggie Gyllenhaal. And there is this: Attending a debate for Dallas mayor at 7:30 ... More >>

Wherein Max Wells Calls Himself "Max Wells" and Ed Oakley Says He's Already the Mayor

We love this photo of Max Wells, because it suggests Max Wells already believes he's mayor. Actually, Ed Oakley already has the job of pretend mayor. They made the WaMu Banker's Pen look like the cast of Lost. We're talking about the top-tier candidates for mayor, who last night gathered at a Dallas ... More >>

Better Homes

Plus: We Screwed Up and Reluctant Patient

It's a Dirty Job...

Plus: Play Nice

Union Suit

Plus: The Next Wave; Strand of Evidence

Color Code

Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle's honeymoon is about to end, if white, black and Latino officers have anything to say about it

Match Game

Get served at Spikefest

In Harm's Way

Changes to workers' comp law and city policy hit wounded police officers

Letters

PR Nightmare

Terrell Bolton didn't get much help when dealing with the media

Catfight!

Laura, Mary says you're a phony! Now now, girls.

Ticket to Ride

It's good news for bad people as low morale saps Dallas cops' will to work

Officer Wacko

Is it possible for Dallas police to behave any worse than this?

Those Poor Starvin' Cops

If Dallas cops are so destitute, how come police station parking lots look like the auto show?

Wolf? What wolf?

A humongous lawsuit knocks on the door at City Hall, and we're gonna end up paying--one way or the other

Bolton's blues

Dallas' new police Chief Terrell Bolton walks through a minefield as he tries to reshape the department. His strategy? Wear combat boots.

Lack of confidence

Highland Park officers would like to get rid of their chief, if they could only figure out how

Busted

Even in these boom times, Dallas is broke, thanks to a city council that has been giving away the store

Look back in confusion

Buzz remembers the year that might have been and proves that not only the winners write the history

The Race Not Run

Republican Bill Hill is running against Democrat Rick Reed for district attorney. Don't think you have a choice.

Copping out

Dallas turns down federal millions that would put more cops on the street