A ROAD MAP FOR RENEWAL

The Dallas Morning News

Sunday, April 18, 2004

Page 11W

Dallas residents say crime is the citys No. 1 problem. And what has City Hall done in recent years? Reduced the number of ofcers per resident, ignored the citys worst-in-the-nation crime rate, and gave the police chief a glowing review one year, then red him the next.

the move. But in subsequent budget years, he said, the council eliminated many of those same officer-to-civilian positions. The bottom line: He had to bring sworn officers back into offices to do administrative tasks, creating a net loss of officers on the streets. Unless you were paying close attention, an outsider would not ever recognize that, said Mr. Click, who spent about six months as an interim Dallas assistant city manager. That was truly a work of art. In his recent interview, Mr. Benavides pledged that the city would put more police on the street acknowledging, in essence, the fact that Dallas number of police officers per capita has fallen during the last decade. To determine the percentage of police officers in each department devoted full time to answering calls, Booz Allen examined budgets from the peer cities and filed open-records requests. Booz Allen found that Dallas was at the bottom of the pack. Police officials dispute that conclusion. Responding to Booz Allens survey, they contacted the peer-city departments and received different numbers. Council member Elba Garcia suggested that it might be premature to conclude now that the department needs to be expanded to confront Dallas crime problem. The efficiency study of the department now being conducted by Austin-based Berkshire Advisors Inc. will help determine the departments manpower needs. As a council we need to have a road map to know, Do we need to have more officers? said Dr. Garcia, who heads the councils public safety committee. We dont know that. Or do we need better management? o o o MEANWHILE, CITY HALL TUGS the Police Department in three directions. The mayor, for example, has weekly meetings with the Police Department,

the City Council members have discussions with substation commanders, and the city manager has established [the] operational review of the Police Department even while the city searches for a new chief, the Booz Allen report found. Interviews and the departments internal review confirm Booz Allens finding about crime-fighting confusion and the cost that it exacts. You get a city manager and the mayor-council, and youve got to answer to both of them, said Mr. Johnson, the former head of the police management research unit. You end up funneling resources toward specialized problems or political problems that are perceived as important to a council member. One council member requested that the Northwest substation investigate an old toilet in the alley, according to the departments internal review. Another asked the Southwest substation to check on a guy honking his horn in front of a constituents house. Youve got guys on phantom special assignments everywhere, said Mr. Johnson, a retired sergeant. Theyre not answering calls. Mr. Benavides, asked about the police complaints of council interference, said: I think what the officers are telling me is that maybe its out of whack. And I have to go back and look at it and say Push back. Most recently, the mayor and some council members thrust themselves into the police-chief search, a task that the charter reserves for the city manager. Some council members publicly lamented the quality of the candidates, causing at least one applicant to bow out. That stance earned a scolding from some of their colleagues, who said the council should butt out. Ms. Miller responded to the applicant-bashing by phoning at least three potential candidates to beg them to stay in the running. Many rank-and-file officers view that activity as unproductive at best, and destructive meddling at worst. The mayors involvement stirs an even deep-

er, visceral dislike. Shes become the unofficial police chief of the city of Dallas. Shes solving all the crime. Whatever we do is going to be wrong, said Officer Michael Walton, president of the Dallas Fraternal Order of Police. Many rank-and-file officers remain furious over Ms. Millers drive to reject a 17 percent police pay raise in a 2002 election. She labeled the boost a budgetbuster, and the city offered three 5 percent annual raises instead. Cuts in benefits and even the mayors launch of the

weekly crime meetings rankle, too. Asked about any hard feelings among the police, Ms. Miller responded: The vast majority of police officers that I go up and talk to on the street are extremely nice. And we have good conversations and they say, We understand your job is tough. And then they tell me a couple of things about their job that they want me to know. o o o THIS IS THE POLITICALLY CHARGed environment awaiting Mr. Boltons

Caution: rough road ahead

The next police chief in Dallas faces a series of daunting challenges and thats even before the job of crime-fighting is put on the table.

Money

I The city pinched the police with its handling of a $1.2 million federal grant nearly six years ago. The money was earmarked for buying extra patrol cars. Instead, the city bought its usual allotment and put the money in the general fund. Uncle Sam made the city pay back the grant. I Litigation from the 2001 fake-drug scandal could cost the city millions.

People

I A Dallas Morning News investigation found that the department has hired a number of officers with questionable backgrounds, including some with legal troubles or repeated difficulties in completing training. I Prosecutors asked to examine the personnel files of all 3,000 Dallas officers for adverse personal actions that involved any crimes of moral turpitude. The Dallas County district attorneys office recently released a list of 26 officers who have incidents in their backgrounds that might compromise their ability to testify in criminal trials.

Racial divisions

I The departments racial history is long and strained. It made a contentious transformation from a mostly white department in the 1970s and 1980s and faced allegations of police brutality in the late 80s. I In recent years, the department took a big credibility hit with prosecutors and the public over the arrest of Hispanic suspects in the fake-drug scandal. I Still roiling the community is the firing of Terrell Bolton, Dallas first black chief. Black leaders have sought to recall Mayor Laura Miller.

Morale

I Officers are upset that the city has put a 13-week limit on the time for which employees injured on the job can continue to get their full salaries. Full pay used to continue for a year. I The City Council has approved two of three promised annual raises of 5 percent for officers. But two years into the process, the city has sharply raised insurance deductibles and eliminated a service-longevity incentive.
SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research

successor, who will command a department that represents the city governments largest operating budget and employs nearly 30 percent of the municipal workforce. City leaders hope to have a new chief by late May. That deadline will come long before the city could make any of the governance changes recommended by Booz Allen, if changes are ever made at all. Could a new chief be successful, then, in the existing municipal structure? Of course, city officials say. Mr. Benavides has called the hire a big deal, saying his reputation was on the line. Ms. Miller said Dallas needs a charismatic, secure, self-confident leader as chief. Dr. Royce Hanson, author of the 2003 book Civic Culture and Urban Change: Governing Dallas, gives a qualified maybe to Dallas prospects of police chief success. The right leader say, a forceful figure such as Ben Click or his predecessor, Bill Rathburn could get the department going in the right direction, Dr. Hanson said. In a paramilitary organization such as a police department, he said, a strong leadership presence can be decisive because directives flow downward through a clear chain of command. But as proved by the examples of Mr. Click and Mr. Rathburn, the change wont be lasting without a more farreaching overhaul of city government, Dr. Hanson said. Mr. Click was less optimistic. After five years as Dallas chief, he considers City Hall to be a barrier to successful policing. The next chief needs to be prepared for micromanagement to the point of not being able to make a move without being told to, or, if they do, theyll be told to undo it. If you get a competent person, he said, youre going to frustrate the hell out of them.
E-mail teiserer@dallasnews.com

LESSONS
Public safety is the single most important quality-of-life issue for residents of Dallas. But

accountability for public safety is vague and diffuse.

A strategic plan for the city, and one for the Police Department, would help city leaders make policy

choices that match their verbal support for public safety.

Dallas hasnt kept up with police best practices; embracing them in a systematic way should help the city improve its crime-fighting performance.
SOURCES: Booz Allen Hamilton; Dallas Morning News research