Last night, neighbors gathered at Scofield Memorial Church for the ongoing listening session hosted by Dallas Police Department. Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam McGough answered questions and concerns raised by audience members.
The night began with a quick prayer and quickly turned into an interactive work session, where neighbors wrote on concern cards and post-it notes that correlated to the six pillars of the 2018-2019 plan and strategic priorities.
For twenty minutes, citizens wrote on their post-it notes and posted them to their allotted pillar poster board. The concerns discussed were:
- Police Training
- De-escalation
- Engaging volunteers
- Volunteers in Patrol (VIPs)
- March 21 for next VIP training
- Better security at schools
- Teaching young kids how to interact with police
- Diversity
- LGBT liaison
- Latino outreach
- Texts to 911
- Police response times
- They do not vary amongst areas
- Technology
- Starlight Pilot Program
- iWatch app
- Online reports
- Advisory board committee
For each of these topics, either Hall, McGough, or a sergeant with expertise in the topic spoke on its behalf. Following the concern cards and post-it notes, members from the audience asked questions.
One LHHS graduate asked how police would make a better effort in community outreach because her son didn’t like the police and got upset when she mentioned she wanted to join the force. Another neighbor said the police needed to be more forceful, citing efforts in New York City.
This neighbor said that the recent 5% goal for crime reduction is too low, watch Hall’s response here:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djov1DiqTp4]The other concerns ranged:
- Since the age requirement for police cadets is 19 years old, how are they preparing them and properly training them?
- 60 hours of college credit, 10 months of training and ongoing assessments
- Why are police being trained in Dallas and then leaving for other cities’ police departments?
- The rate of police leaving after training is actually very low
- How can we receive monthly 911 reports?
- Contact Neighbor Patrol Officer (NPO), everyone should know who their NPO is and keep contact.
Did you attend last night’s session? What were your opinions?
If the following topics concerns you, you would like to learn more or voice concerns, we recommend attending the next listening session, Saturday, Jan 25. with Mayor Pro Tem Adam Medrano.
