Dallas Police Department Senior Corporal Keith Huber was arrested for Family Violence Assault – Bodily Injury. He was transported to the Waxahachie Jail.
Keith Huber photo from Waxahachie Jail. A previous picture incorrectly listed Stephen Vineyard who is subject of a second story forthcoming.
Senior Corporal Huber has been with the department for nearly two decades – coming on the force in May 2002.
Huber was also charged with assault causing bodily injury of a family member in October 2016 for a September 2016 incident. Huber turned himself into the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department on Friday in connection with that incident. Those charges were dismissed in November 2018.
Keith Huber – Not Only Officer With Incidents
Dallas Police have suffered numerous officers acting poorly in the past year.
Additionally, a DPD Officer arrested in Fort Worth has an interesting history. Dallas police officer, Senior Corporal Daniel Collins, was arrested Thursday on a charge of transportation of child pornography, officials said. According to his Facebook page he appears to also be a self avowed “ISIS hunter.”
Another officer, Brian Deininger, continues to lead field sobriety training despite his own issues with alcohol impairment behind the wheel.
Two people were shot Monday afternoon in a Pleasant Grove convenience store incident.
Dallas Police Department officials said it happened Monday afternoon at the Mini Mart on Scyene Road near North St. Augustine Drive.
The two victims are in stable condition at a local hospital and police are not commenting further on motive.
Pleasant Grove Convenience Store Incident – Just One More?
While the shooting was happening, D7 Council Member Adam Bazaldua was tweeting about race issues with COVID19 vaccination sites.
He was a leading voice on defunding Dallas Police Department in summer of 2020, but a campaign insider said he is terrified of Kevin Felder or Tiffinni Young jumping into the D7 council race.
“Adam is dismissing Not My Son’s Tramonica Brown,” said another source.
The final budget partially defunded police overtime, but removed some of the pork projects that had been substituted originally.
Who made the call to rescind yesterday’s memo about Dallas Police dispatch and who made the call to issue it unsigned? Those are the questions Dallas is asking this morning.
The second day of the New Year was a communications debacle as an unsigned memo came to light stating several calls with potential for violence would not be dispatched. Among them were burglary of a motor vehicle, runaways, and incidents involving child custody.
Rescind Statement And Investigation
Council Member Jennifer Staubach Gates issued her own statement against the dispatch orders stating the matter was internal and draft in nature. She said it was “premature for DPD to initiate these changes before briefing the Public Safety Committee and before the new Chief begins.”
Chief Garcia is scheduled to start work sometime in February and the next Public Safety Committee meeting is scheduled for January 11, 2021 at 1:00pm.
An internal call diversion memo intended for Dallas Police Department dispatch personnel was rescinded today after social media outrage.
The memo for 911 Call Center staff regarding KPMG’s recommendations to divert certain Priority 4 calls to the Dallas Online Reporting System (DORS) or an Expediter was released to the public on social media.
The memorandum was sent prematurely per Dallas Police. The department is still in the evaluation phase on this item and will have further dialogue on recommendations and next steps. Therefore, the actions set out in the memorandum have been rescinded at this time.
The controversy comes less than a week after Chief Eddie Garcia was introduced to the public in his first press conference.
Call Diversion Memo
The internal memo showed several types of calls which would go undispatch in most cases by Dallas Police.
There are several call types listed for nonresponse including runaways and interference with child custody that propensity for violence.
These efforts were made possible through the Texas Department of State Health Services’ allocation of 2,000 Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
Recent new infections have ranged from 1500 to 2000 per day. During the summer Dallas was a hot zone for COVID19 then with far lower infections per capita.
Dallas First Responder Vaccinations Process
The process consists of a check-in, vaccination stations, made up of strike teams (two paramedics and one documentation officer) specially trained to administer the vaccine, and an evaluation area where members can be monitored for potential side-effects before leaving.
The City expects 250 first responders to be vaccinated per day and expects this first Moderna allocation to be followed in the coming months by additional vaccines to inoculate remaining City of Dallas first responders.
In the weeks leading up to the vaccine allocation, DFR, DPD and the Office of Emergency Management put together a plan for a drive-thru style vaccination process using a parking garage at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
In addition to those that will be vaccinated with this allotment, there have been over one hundred DFR members to receive their first round of the vaccine through Parkland Hospital and Dallas County Health and Human Services.
Tracking is being done electronically; first responders will be automatically scheduled for their second round of the vaccine intwenty-eight days.
Dallas held a Chief Eddie Garcia introduction press conference this afternoon as he prepares to take his new position leading Dallas Police Department. Questions he faced immeidately were how to bring down violent crime, the inter-office politics of working with other applicants for his job working in the office, and his focus on the night time economy that 24 Hour Dallas is working on.
He noted Dallas reminded him of San Jose – particularly its diversity. In a question about using relationship-based policing model Chief Garcia stated “we are open to any ideas that we can have to ensure residents and visitors are safe, but also businesses thrive.”
He stated that it is important to “ensure businesses are successful” and that in San Jose he had been contacted by the Chamber of Commerce to find out what they could do for San Jose police. His response was “what can the police do for them.”
Garcia also stated that his focus will be violent crime, but that he did not like the term petty crime. What is petty to one, isn’t to another.
Eddie Garcia Introduction
Chief Garcia said it is important that the police community acknowledge that their badges did not always shine as brightly as it should.
He specifically mentioned mistakes being made in a number of cities related to this summer’s protests. He mentioned specific goals of keeping the community, protestors, and officers safe. He did not make specific mention of the issues with the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge events or the accountability issues surrounding it.
Garcia beat out nearly forty other candidates, including current Dallas commanders. He will be tasked with leading a department that has seen a visible rise in violent crime and a lack of trust from members of the black community.
Tramonica Brown is the founder of Not My Son, a nonprofit group aimed at addressing racial injustice.
She said she wants open communication and says, “I want somebody that’s not afraid to have a dialogue with the community. We’ve lost trust.” Brown said.
“My hope is that this chief is going to come in and really do some things that I know he probably said in those interviews,” she continued. Brown is a candidate for Dallas City Council D7 against incumbent Adam Bazaldua.
Bazaldua meanwhile has had defunding DPD as his chief campaign issue since late May. He was part of the group that promised sweeping reform and a plan to defund DPD, but never attempted to get accountability from Chief Hall for her lack of leadership during the June George Floyd protests or specifically for the use of tear gas during the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge incident where Hall stated no tear gas was used.
In September, Bazaldua and others only defund action was to re-allocate $7M from overtime into other projects like bike lanes and solar panels.
Additionally, Bazaldua’s appointee to the Community Police Oversight Board posted in a social media post, “I’m confident he will serve and protect the residents of Dallas, while remaining open to reasonable and responsible police reforms that benefit the residents of Dallas and our police officers. I am supportive of those balanced goals. Doing > Talking.” He did not reference who was doing versus who was just talking, but this could be a hint of where things will go if public safety is the chief campaign issue across the city and not just D7.
Chief Campaign For New Police Chief: BLM and Race Relations
National headlines regularly highlight the strained relationships between big-city police forces and persons of color, but the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP branch has recognized Chief Eddie Garcia with its annual Cesar Chavez Award for his visibility and accessibility in the city’s neighborhoods.
Jesuorobo Enobakhare is chairman of the Dallas Police Oversight Board. Some critics suggest Enobakhare worked too closely with Chief Hall – interfering in his ability to provide proper oversight. Similar internal allegations came from officers within the department about Chief Hall and Dominique Alexander. It is unclear where Chief Garcia will draw the line.
Enobakhare said, “We can’t just think that a new police chief is going to come in and magically wave a wand and fix things that are wrong in the city,” he said. “It’s going to take leadership from the city council. It’s going to take the leadership of a lot of other entities in order to work together to solve some of these problems.”
Meanwhile D Magazine played grammar police to Chief Garcia’s statement noting he was “humbled by the thought of wearing the DPD uniform.” They described his statement as false modesty and suggested different emotions he should have used, but had no suggestions on lowering the crime rate.
Chief Campaign Issue for Mayor Johnson?
Mayor Eric Johnson’s office issued the statement below. While public safety was not a chief campaign issue prior to his election, he has re-focused attention after winning office.
“I spoke this afternoon with our new police chief, Eddie Garcia, and congratulated him on his selection by the city manager. I hope the people of Dallas will join me in giving him and his family a warm welcome. He will join us after spending four years as the police chief in the 10th-largest city in the country, and he was highly regarded by my counterpart in San Jose, Mayor Sam Liccardo.
“We should celebrate the fact that Chief Garcia will become our first Hispanic police chief. This truly is an historic moment for Dallas.
“But we both understand that what truly matters now is the work ahead of us: making our communities safer and stronger. I expect that he will immediately begin developing plans to fight the unacceptable violent crime increases we have seen in Dallas. We will need our communities’ help in those efforts. Too many lives have been taken in our city. Too many families have been devastated by violence. And too many people in our neighborhoods feel unsafe.
“Law enforcement alone cannot solve the challenges we face, but the hardworking men and women of the Dallas Police Department are integral to combating violence, which disproportionately affects people of color in our city. As policymakers, we must give Chief Garcia the tools that his officers need to keep people safe and continue to push for solutions — such as the programs recommended by the Mayor’s Task Force on Safe Communities — that can prevent crime without placing additional burdens on the police department. The people of Dallas deserve a city government that puts public safety first.
“I want to thank all the candidates who embraced the challenge of working for the City of Dallas. I look forward to seeing Chief Garcia’s new strategies in action in the months ahead. Working together, we will strive to make Dallas the safest major city in the United States.”
Eddie Garcia is the new chief of the Dallas Police Department per a city press release. Chief Garcia has been police chief for the San Jose (CA) Police Department.
City Manager T.C. Broadnax Wednesday announced that Eddie Garcia will become Dallas’ 30th Chief of Police, making him the first Latino to preside over the ninth largest police department in the country. Garcia began his career with the San Jose Police Department in 1992 and has served as its Chief since 2016.
“My story began as a young boy moving to a new city, learning to speak English in a community that promoted me to Chief. It’s an honor to be welcomed into one of America’s greatest cities for the second time as Chief.” said Garcia. “I’m truly humbled by the thought of wearing the DPD uniform and working alongside such an amazing group of committed men and women. Together in partnership and collaboration with the Dallas community, we will meet the challenges of today and beyond.”
Chief Garcia holds a bachelor’s degree from Union Institute and University. Since he started as an officer in February 1992 in San Jose, the nation’s 10th most populous city, he worked in the Patrol, Narcotics, Special Operations – M.E.R.G.E (Mobile Emergency Response Group and Equipment) unit; was a patrol sergeant, night detective and homicide investigator; and commanded the Community Services Division and the Special Investigations Unit.
During Chief Garcia’s tenure in San Jose he led initiatives to help build community trust; increase transparency; and embrace fair, impartial, and constitutional policing. Among the department’s successes they implemented basic Spanish in the police academy, launched a Spanish language Facebook page and significantly increased minority recruiting.
There were four unrelated Friday night shootings in approximately twenty-three minutes that Dallas Police responded. The result is two people dead and two more injured.
Friday Night Shootings – A Reflection Of Larger Trend
Dallas has been a hotbed of crime all year long, prior to COVID19 becoming a contributing factor.
Earlier in the year members of City Council cut police overtime for arts and environmental projects despite Dallas’s murder and violent crime rates. Locally Dallas is on pace for more murders this year than last which broke local records.
Despite pledging to serve the remainder of 2020, her resignation was announced earlier today with Lonzo Anderson, appointed Interim Chief of Police starting December 15, 2020.
City officials from the Mayor’s Office and City Manager’s Office continue to avoid questions about her tenure or the most recent allegations.
Reneé Hall Runs Away Again
Hall has been under heavy criticism since it was learned she was not providing proper supervision to officers during the June Gorge Floyd protests and lied about the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge events both at the time and later in official After Action Reports.
Hall’s resignation has led to thirty-six applicants for the Chief of Police position.
City Manager T.C. Broadnax invited the group of seven candidates chosen from a pool of thirty-six applicants from across the U.S. The candidates named finalists are:
Albert Martinez – Director of Security for Dallas Catholic Dioceses/Former DPD Deputy Chief
Avery Moore – Assistant Police Chief, Dallas Police Department
Eddie Garcia – Chief of Police, San Jose, California
Jeff Spivey – Chief of Police, City of Irving, Texas
Malik Aziz – Major, Dallas Police Department
Reuben Ramirez – Deputy Chief, Dallas Police Department
RaShall Brackney – Chief of Police, Charlottesville, Virginia
Interviews between candidates and council members will be pre-recorded and published on the city’s social media and cable TV next week.
An additional fifty-five organizations ranging from police unions to neighborhood nonprofits will participate in stakeholder panel interviews with the candidates beginning December 15, 2020.
Broadnax says he expects to select and appoint the next chief before the end of the year.
Mayor Johnson has recently emphasized public safety including his state of the city address: “We need more robust law enforcement strategies,” Johnson said in his speech at Fair Park, in South Dallas. “The violent crime reduction plan that I asked for last year simply has not worked. … It is my expectation that whoever becomes the next police chief will be accountable to you and will work with you to make our city safer.”
