DALLAS Their job is to protect and to serve, but some Dallas police officers may be afraid to act after now that one of their own has been charged with deadly conduct.
Senior Cpl. Mike Jones is accused of pulling his gun on a man who refused to follow orders, a charge that could end his law enforcement career.
Many officers tell News 8 they feel the charge against Jones sends a bad message to officers.
The incident happened at an East Dallas apartment complex. Jones was in plain clothes working as a courtesy officer when he spotted 22-year-old Brandon Schroder urinating on the side of a building.
According to a police report, the officer ...told him to stop and go somewhere else. The officer identified himself as a Dallas police officer by showing his badge.
He was in plain clothes, but he identified himself, showed the badge, said Sgt. James Bristo, a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police. I'm having really really tough time seeing what the problem is here.
The report says Schroder went on to ...disregard the officer, forcing him to point his service weapon to gain compliance.
The district attorney's office thinks Senior Cpl. Jones broke the law, and has issued a warrant for his arrest for deadly conduct for pointing his weapon and forcing the suspect to his knees.
I don't understand why when he did something we do every day and he ends up called on the carpet for this. I don't understand, Sgt. Bristo said.
Some officers say this will send a bad message across the department, and privately, Dallas police commanders are stunned the DA's office is racing forward with criminal charges.
Officers are scared to do their job because we are afraid to get in trouble, Bristo said.
According to the police report on the incident, Brandon Schroder feels the officer over-reacted. When asked why he didn't stop and comply, he told the officer, I had to go.
Law enforcement experts say officers are trained to draw their weapons when a suspect doesn't comply or physically take them down.
The district attorney's office declined to discuss the case other than to say, no one is above the law.
E-mail rlopez@wfaa.com
