Dallas police Chief Reneé Hall gave herself a C- for her leadership while handling the response to protests over a four-day period after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
The Dallas Police Department released an after-action report Friday about the police response to protests between May 29 and June 1. The report was finalized ahead of a special called public safety committee meeting Tuesday.
The committee chair, Adam McGough, asked for Hall and her command staff to present the report regarding what he called the "inexplicable use of excessive force in several circumstances."
”After all of this review, it was clear to me, we had a failure of leadership,” the deputy mayor pro tem said during the meeting Tuesday.
Hall said the report was a step toward transparency. She acknowledged that there was miscommunication among police leadership during the protest response.
“We recognize that this was a very tumultuous time,” Hall told council members.
Major Jim Lewis presented the report and answered many of the questions from council members. The after-action report says the protests started "peacefully" but spiraled.
“There was looting, significant damage,” Lewis said. “Eleven SWAT officers were injured.”
Several protesters were also injured during the four days. The report confirmed officers used tear gas, smoke and rubber balls as crowd control strategies.
Some council members said the report took too long to complete, coming eight weeks after the protests. Others said it portrayed Dallas police officers as victims.
“The report was underwhelming,” Councilman Adam Bazaldua said. "This report is something that paints a very biased picture to the public that is a picture and a narrative that is absolutely disingenuous and not fair."
Some council members accused Hall of cherry-picking details for the report.
The chief said she and her command staff "are being transparent.”
Hall says the report is already leading to departmental changes.
“We recognize that we will become better,” she said.
