The Dallas Community Police Oversight Board may be limited in how it can carry out one of its chief responsibilities 鈥� to investigate complaints made against police officers.
A legal opinion shared during a recent board meeting basically said the oversight board can only investigate certain complaints.
Office of Community Police Oversight (OCPO) Interim Director Elaine Chandler told the board that people have two options when submitting a complaint: either through the police department or though the community oversight office.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just that OCPO nor the board can vote to investigate something that hasn鈥檛 first been investigated by IAD,鈥� Chandler said.
But complaints classified as "no investigation" by the Internal Affairs Department are also off limits to both the OCPO and the board.
"In the unofficial discussion with CAO, it was communicated that uninvestigated complaints are ineligible for board review," Chandler said in a memo to the board prior to Tuesday's meeting.
Chandler said during the meeting the official opinion echoed that earlier discussion.
鈥淭his seems to fundamentally change what the board is,鈥� District 14 Board Member Brandon Friedman said during the meeting. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the point of a citizen filing a complaint with the police oversight board, if IAD can override that complaint?鈥�
When pressed by board members who from the City Attorney鈥檚 Office handed down the opinion, Chandler wouldn鈥檛 say.
The opinion document is confidential. It wasn鈥檛 shared directly with the board 鈥� only summarized by Chandler. And no representative from the City Attorney鈥檚 Office was present at the meeting.
四虎影院 reached out the City Attorney鈥檚 Office to ask about the opinion, why it was confidential and why a representative was not at Tuesday鈥檚 meeting but did not receive a response before this story was published.
鈥淲here does the secrecy come from?鈥� District 9 Board Member Alison Grinter Allen said during the meeting. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that we get pushed around by secret lawyers who aren鈥檛 here and didn鈥檛 write us anything, and whose names you won鈥檛 tell us.鈥�
The interpretation of the ordinance that dictates what the board can 鈥� and can鈥檛 do 鈥攃omes amidst an investigation into Dynell Lane, a veteran living with disabilities that was reportedly forced to urinate himself after being denied access to a restroom in Deep Ellum.
鈥榃e are being played鈥�
Chandler said her office figured this out late last year while trying to secure documents pertaining to three complaints submitted. She didn鈥檛 say if the request was denied by the department 鈥� only that the ordinance was brought to the attention of OCPO while in the process of trying to review a complaint.
The ordinance says the board can 鈥渞eview the facts and evidence鈥� of a complaint against an officer following the 鈥渃ompletion of all findings and recommendations of the internal affairs division鈥� 鈥� and after the final determination of the complaint is made by the department.
鈥淏oard, we are being played,鈥� District 3 Board Member Walter Higgins said. 鈥淲hat we see in that ordinance is not what we agreed upon or we would have walked out of the meeting and burned the whole process down.鈥�
Higgins was a part of the negotiation process that led to creation of the ordinance initially.
鈥淲e either have investigatory ability from it or we do not,鈥� Grinter Allen said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 not sure that even as the ordinance stands, that it can be interpreted by the City Attorney鈥檚 Office in secret to say that we have no authority.鈥�
Chandler said after she reviewed the ordinance 鈥� she says the ordinance is clear about when the OCPO and the board can step into the process. And again 鈥� that鈥檚 after IAD has completed their investigation.
Grinter Allen said during the meeting that in the past, the board has interpreted the ordinance to mean that if IAD is not going to investigate that has satisfied the investigation requirement.
鈥淭hat was covered as well, and it was stated that that is not considered an investigation,鈥� Chandler said.
A "no investigation" determination can happen a few different ways including the complaint not meeting the department's criteria or if a "preliminary investigation is able to determine, based on evidence available, there is no violation of department procedures."
鈥榃hat we can and can鈥檛 investigate鈥�
Nearly all board members said they did not approve of the interpretation of the ordinance.
鈥淭he power of this board is to conduct independent investigations,鈥� Friedman said. 鈥淚f IAD is telling us what we can and can鈥檛 investigate, then we are not conducting independent investigations and my understanding, the entire time I鈥檝e been on this board, is that is what we do.鈥�
Board Member Deatra Wadsworth has been on the board since the beginning and says the body was always tasked with taking complaints directly from Dallas community members, reviewing them and voting on whether to initiate and investigation.
鈥淐ity Attorneys Office has been present in these meetings over and over and over again,鈥� Wadsworth said. 鈥淎nd never ever, not one time, voice some anonymous opinion that we could not vote to have an independent investigation.鈥�
Wadsworth told Chandler that she should have brought this news to the board earlier so they could spend time discussing the possible discrepancy in the ordinance.
At least one board member said the former police monitor, Tonya McClary, said she could request an investigation 鈥� without any action.
City Manager T.C. Broadnax attended Tuesday鈥檚 meeting virtually and said the ordinance is 鈥減lainly written鈥� in the board鈥檚 duties 鈥� but it also said IAD needed to investigate the complaints first.
Broadnax told the board that he would try to make sure someone from the City Attorney鈥檚 Office was at the next meeting to give some clarity to the issues brought up by the members.
四虎影院's Toluwani Osibamowo contributed to this report.
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