In mid-June, a coalition of community activists and faith leaders in Dallas came up with a list of demands that challenged city leaders to rethink the role of police. Now, 鈥淭he Working Group鈥� 鈥� a group of North Texas city and county leaders 鈥� have come up with a new proposal guided by those recommendations. They plan to present it in the city鈥檚 next budget meeting.
The report called 鈥淭he Working Group on 10 New Directions for Public Safety & Positive Community Change鈥� considers how to improve the relationship between communities of color and the police.
鈥淭he hope is that everyone will look at these new directions and see places where they can improve the investment in the community and thereby the relationship between the community and law enforcement,鈥� said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, who leads the group.
The group includes Balch Springs City Manager Susan Cluse; Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax; DeSoto City Manager Brandon Wright; Irving City Manager Chris Hillman; Lancaster City Manager Opal Mauldin-Jones; Mesquite City Manager Cliff Keheley; Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot; Dallas County Administrator Darryl Martin; and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
The report closely examined the , like 鈥渃hange police use of force, particularly deadly force; and to change budget priorities away from policing in order to increase investment for unmet human needs in housing, health care, mental health services, employment, recreation [and] the arts."
Activists from groups like , and urged the city to invest some of the police departments鈥� budget into housing, health care and mental health programs. They want the city to shift their approach from policing to public safety and community well-being.
The report provided many alternatives to non-police intervention. One example was how to address mental health calls.
鈥淒PD shall not be the first responder to mental health calls, unless a firearm is involved," a plan outlined in the report read. "Jointly, the City of Dallas and Dallas County shall create a program that assigns teams of mental health professionals or, as appropriate, other professionals in counseling and social work as first responders to mental health calls.鈥�
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In 2018, the Dallas Police Department implemented RIGHT Care, a program that partners therapists and social workers from Parkland Health and Hospital System with police officers to respond to emergencies. This city wants to expand the program.
鈥淲e are providing grants to smaller departments and we are increasing our spend in larger departments to get trained professionals that are not law enforcement to respond to mental health calls where there is not an imminent threat. The person doesn鈥檛 have a gun for instance," Jenkins said.
But Jenkins pointed out that hiring additional mental health professionals to respond to emergencies and adding more programs takes money. The Working Group hopes to present this report at the city鈥檚 next budget meeting in early September, where they鈥檒l ask council members to direct $5 million to this program.
