DALLAS — The board in charge of reviewing citizen complaints against the Dallas Police Department can't initiate an investigation without the department first completing its own internal inquiry, the interim director of the Office of Citizen Police Oversight said the city attorney's office told her.
The announcement of the limitation at a board meeting in February was met with concerned outrage from members of the oversight board and a demand to speak with city attorney representatives at a meeting scheduled Tuesday.
"I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that it does not fit into the spirit of the law or the spirit with which the ordinance was written," committee board member Brandon Friedman said. "We are certainly headed in the direction of [the board] becoming toothless."
At issue is a 2019 ordinance from Dallas City Council establishing the oversight operation. It says the board has authority to direct an independent investigation into a complaint against an officer "investigated by the internal affairs division."
"At the close of the internal affairs division investigation, if the director disagrees with the findings of the investigation, the director may initiate an independent investigation," the ordinance also reads.
According to Office of Citizen Police Oversight Interim Director Elaine Chandler, the city attorney's office says the ordinance does not allow the board to direct an investigation if internal affairs designates the complaint "no investigation" -- meaning the department doesn't conduct its own inquiry.
"If the city attorney’s office is telling us that we can't do that, then there’s essentially no point in having the board," Friedman said.
He said the opinion on the ordinance from the city attorney's office came after the board asked for an investigation into the case of Dynell Lane, an Army veteran who said DPD officers laughed at him after denying him access to a pizzeria restroom causing him to soil himself due a disability he developed during his military service.
"I think Mr. Lane was treated very shabbily by the Dallas Police Department," Friedman said.
DPD initially marked the case "no investigation" because it was "unable to establish a violation of departmental policies or procedures," according to a city memo.
After the board asked for an independent investigation, Friedman said the conversation about the ordinance's limitations began.
"Ever since the Dynell Lane case happened, things have changed significantly for the worse," he said.
DPD has now launched its own internal inquiry into the Lane case, although action was delayed because an officer involved was on leave. The department declined to comment Tuesday on whether it believes the oversight board should be able to investigate complaints its own internal affairs unit declined to review.
The City of Dallas did not respond to a media request Tuesday afternoon asking whether the city manager believes the board should have the ability to review such cases either.
If the city attorney's direction on the ordinance limitations stands, Friedman said the board is prepared to ask city council to change the ordinance to add to its remit.
NOTE: The following video was uploaded in Feb. 2024