DALLAS — On Monday, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia had for inmates at the Hutchins State Jail.
“I want you to succeed, because if you succeed Dallas is safer.”
Garcia gathered the heads of the FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to join him, along with community leaders, to talk to inmates about reentering society.
Garcia said it's all part of his crime reduction plan.
“Just because I wear a badge that says city of Dallas Police Department doesn’t mean that I’m against you,” Garcia said.
He said if inmates getting out can get help and resources, they won’t have to resort back to crimes.
”We want them to succeed," Garcia told WFAA. "They are not the enemy -- just don’t hurt our community, or you will end up back here. But if you want help, if you want a better life, a safer Dallas, a safer neighborhood, then let us help you."
The chief brought along Antone Lucky, who was once an inmate at this same prison. He shared his old mugshot with WFAA to show us how he was once a gang member but changed when he got out. He now runs an organization that works with police to clean up the streets.
”They gave me a second chance, and I never looked back,” Lucky said.
It’s the first coalition like this that anyone can recall where law enforcement came to a prison to give the inmates hope.
”When people come out and they’ve been redeemed and changed, they should be met with resources and people willing to give them a second chance,” Lucky said.
Ronald Johnson is currently doing time at the prison, in Hutchins, Texas, just south of Dallas off Interstate 45, and said he heard the message loud and clear.
"That was very surprising and exciting, and for Dallas to put forth the effort while we are in (Texas Department of Criminal Justice),” Johnson said.
He said he just wants to get back to his family and try to do better.
That’s one of the reasons that among the group were also nonprofits who can help the inmates with programs to get back on their feet.
Garcia said he also plans to visit more prisons, including the female units, because as he said: their success is our success.