David Brown

Mother Can't File Complaint Against DPD for Her Son's Death Because She Doesn't Live in Dallas

Ever since 25-year-old Clinton Allen was shot and killed by Officer Clark Staller, Allen's family has been calling for action against the officer and the Dallas Police Department. Collette Flanagan, Allen's mother, filed an ethics complaint against police Chief David Brown claiming that DPD never in ... More >>

Everything You Need to Know About the Bush Center/Library/Theater/Museum/Thing

Journalists across the globe have been busy churning out copy about the looming Thursday dedication of the Bush Presidential Center at SMU. Some of the pieces wrestle with the Bush legacy, some describe the center itself. Others explore the practical effect that a massive ceremony featuring five pre ... More >>

At the Mayor's Rally Against Domestic Violence, Big Promises and Some Mixed Messages

The couple started arguing on Saturday, around 3 in the morning, in a house near Fair Park. The man told the woman he hadn't forgotten their past arguments, all the times she had "disrespected" him. He shoved his palm hard against her face and forced her down against a desk. She fought him, pushing ... More >>

Paul Quinn College President Says Dallas Police Targeted Him for Driving While Black

On Tuesday afternoon, shortly after hearing journalist Laura Ling address the Dallas chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women in Far North Dallas, Paul Quinn College President Michael Sorrell was pulled over by Dallas police. We know this because he Tweeted about it: Just got stopped by a D ... More >>

Dallas' City Council Continued its Love Affair with Horses and Golf Yesterday. Plus: Bikes!

The City Council's agenda yesterday was chock full of actually interesting stuff. You can relive it any time you want through the city's database of archived council videos. But just in case you have something better to do, we'll summarized the high points. It's Not Raining On Tennell Atkins' Parad ... More >>

Remembering Thabiti Olatunji, Fighter for Hope and Law in a Crime-Ridden Neighborhood

7-Eleven Romances Dallas Police Department With $300,000 For New Equipment

Safer Dallas Better Dallas is a local foundation that raises money to buy new equipment for the Dallas Police Department and, as they put it, "fund the priorities" of DPD, something they've done to the tune of $17 million since their founding in 2005. 7-Eleven is the place where you drunkenly, furti ... More >>

DPD Fires One Operator, Suspends Another After Botched 911 Response. Also: That Call Center is Way Understaffed

In the days after Deanna Cook was murdered while on the phone with 911, only to be found two days later by family members, DPD admitted that, yeah, things could have been handled a bit better. For starters, the dispatcher could have better communicated the severity of the situation with responding o ... More >>

Two Years After Oak Cliff Police Shooting, Victims' Families Unite in Suing the City

On the evening of October 29, 2010, Matthew Tate and other Dallas police officers were conducting a sweep of the Cedar Garden apartment complex in east Oak Cliff when they came upon Tobias Mackey. According to officers' accounts, Mackey began to reach into his waist band when ordered to show his han ... More >>

Over the Weekend, a Tense, Angry, Cabaret-Referencing Forum on Violence in South Dallas

The shooting death in late July of felon and suspected drug dealer James Harper by Officer Brian Rowden during a foot chase at a South Dallas drug house has re-opened some barely closed wounds, touching off a painful debate about crime, enforcement, and police presence in low-income black and Latino ... More >>

Man Says He Was Tased For Not Fitting In Squad Car. Police Say He Was Really High On PCP.

Bad things began to happen to Terrence Hill around this time last year. His troubles began when he went to move into a new apartment but was instead given a totally different unit, one with broken air conditioning. His bad week, he says, escalated from there. By 7:30 a.m. on August 8, 2011, he was h ... More >>

Dallas Police Chief Announces Policy Shifts After Fallout from James Harper Shooting

On the Dallas Police Department's Facebook page this afternoon, Chief David Brown announced in a lengthy post measures to "positively impact officer safety and improve public trust and confidence." The announcement comes in the wake of the July 24 shooting death of James Harper and a spate of other ... More >>

Medical Examiner's Report: John Harper Was Shot By Police In the Chest, Abdomen and Elbow [Updated]

WFAA is reporting that the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office has just released their report on the fatal police shooting of John Harper, whose death brought hundreds of people out into the streets in protest last week. Many in the crowd believed Harper had been shot in the back. The report s ... More >>

After a Deadly Shooting by Dallas Police, a South Dallas Neighborhood Shows Up and Speaks Out

A southern Dallas neighborhood flooded the streets in outrage late yesterday, after a 31-year-old man was shot dead by a Dallas police officer during a chase from a suspected drug house. Police say they believe the suspect-turned-victim, a veteran criminal named James "G-Code" Harper, was shot in ... More >>

Dallas Police Chief David Brown Slams Media Coverage of John Husband Shooting

When 21-year-old John Husband was shot in the back around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday after a traffic stop turned ugly, everyone assumed the worst. Dallas police officer Leland Limbaugh pulled Husband over for not hitting his turn signal as he pulled into the Spring Ridge Apartments at 3600 Folklore Trail ... More >>

Cat Lafitte, Police Officer Fired for Brawling and Bragging About It, Refused Help, Cops Say

Last week we told you about Cat Lafitte, the police officer fired for getting into a brawl with a Plano hospital orderly and bragging about it on Facebook. Lafitte filed a complaint with the city's Ethics Advisory Commission, alleging that her superiors had created a hostile work environment and the ... More >>

Dallas Police Adding Bait Houses and Businesses To Their Thief-Catching Technology

The City Council's getting briefed this week on "community policing," the Dallas Police Department's ongoing effort to get residents involved in preventing crime in their neighborhoods. This last came up in December, when Chief David Brown and McGruff the Crime Dog came to visit council members and ... More >>

7-Eleven: Scooting DPD's Downtown Patrol Into The Future

The Dallas Police Department's downtown patrol is about to get a whole lot more, well, motorized. That much we can safely say. DPD announced yesterday that 7-Eleven was donating four new T3's to the department, bringing the total to eight. They were so excited about the whole thing that we got no ... More >>

Dallas PD Loses Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson to Corpus Christi, Where He'll Be Top Cop

​A couple of years back Scott Goldstein wrote quite the flattering profile of Dallas Police Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson -- as in, "In a profession that demands toughness, Simpson embodies compassion." Simpson was former Chief David Kunkle's right-hand man -- the man Kunkle put in charge of the P ... More >>

DPD Chief Brown Fires Stormy Magiera, A Dallas Police Officer Who Lived Up to Her Name

Stormy Magiera, no longer a Dallas officer​In the end, the posting to the Dallas Police Department's Facebook page, made moments ago, probably comes as no surprise. But as of today, Stormy Magiera is no longer a Dallas Police officer. The announcement comes days after the officer, decorated by Chi ... More >>

Habitat's $100 Million "Dream Dallas" Initiative Will Uplift Neighborhoods, Not Just Houses

Photos by Leslie MinoraMayor Rawlings calls the $100 million Habitat investment "big news" for Dallas.​Dallas Habitat for Humanity, which already claims to be the biggest single-family home builder in the city, will knock down and build more than 500 more homes in a $100 million blitz on the c ... More >>

Come On, DPD Chief Brown, Don't Let a Few Curse Words Get in the Way of a Good Story

​Oh, come on, Chief Brown. Please. You've been great so far. Don't go all Bolton on us. Earlier this week the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas threw in with former Dallas city council member Diane Ragsdale and some other black community leaders to do a serious race-card attack on ve ... More >>

Police Officers Flock to Dallas to Learn How to Tweet Like Professionals (#thisisahashtagguys)

​If you're planning on doing anything illegal in the next three days (not that you would), may we suggest keeping well away from the Aloft Hotel on Young Street? That place is crawling with cops. This morning marked the start of the SMILE Conference -- Social Media Internet Law Enforcement -- whic ... More >>

Dallas PD Goes to Great Lengths to Defend Selling Its Biggest Helicopter For $1.4 Mil

​Back in mid-June we attempted to make an offer on a Bell 407 helicopter, which was being auctioned off by the city. But the bids piled up, and after 60 the $985,000 starting price climbed to $1,467,500, which was $1,467,500 out of our price range. And, besides, the Dallas Police Department, which ... More >>

What Does It Take to Get Fired From the Dallas PD? Let's Go to the List of the Dismissed.

​Yet again, the Dallas Police Department sends an email saying there's a press release on Facebook -- so many hoops, but so worth it. The department says Chief David Brown's fired three officers, including Senior Corporal Cat Lafitte, otherwise known as the artist who took to Facebook in February ... More >>

Caraway Rallies Troops to Shutter Hooker-Plagued Luxury Inn, Over Lawyer's Objections

Photos by Patrick MichelsMayor Dwaine Caraway, DPD Chief David Brown, City Attorney Tom Perkins, council members and other familiar faces gather to announce the closure of the Luxury Inn on S. Buckner Boulevard.​If the city's shutting down another hookers-n-drugs party shack around town, you can b ... More >>

Mayor Dwaine Caraway still doesn't get how he abused the system.

Mayor Caraway: "It's Time to Move On."

Sam MertenState Rep. Barbara Mallory Caraway, Dwaine and Dave Neumann at Dallas City Hall​Below, of course, you can listen to Mayor Dwaine Caraway's account of what happened between him and his wife on the night of January 2, per a recording made by Dallas Police after Chief David Brown sent offic ... More >>

Mayor Dwaine Caraway's Records and Tapes Are Private? Not By a Long, Smelly Shot.

​Yesterday a commenter wrote in to Unfair Park in reference to an item about Dallas Mayor Dwaine Caraway and the legal action he has brought against his own city to prevent the release of an embarrassing police tape. The commenter said, "It's hard to imagine the tape shows anything other than ... More >>

Dallas PD Uses Facebook to Post Videos of Officer's Assault, Chief Brown's Address

From the dash-cam video posted to DPD's Facebook page last Wednesday night​Late yesterday, Dallas Police sent word about a story you've no doubt seen plenty of since: Late on January 27, DPD Officer Quaitemes Williams kicked in the face and used pepper spray on a handcuffed man named Rodarick Lyle ... More >>

Dallas PD: No Racial Profiling Here

From the Dallas Police Department's 2010 Police Traffic Contact Data Report​City Hall and most other municipal facilities are closed till Tuesday, furlough day and President's Day and all. Which means council briefings normally posted on Friday night went live last night, including this one that'l ... More >>

Hey, Dwaine Caraway: You Can Be Either One of Us, or One of Them.

Trio

iWatch So You Don't Have To: Liveblogging Today's Public Safety Committee Meeting

​Afternoon, Friends of Unfair Park. Here I am in bristly cold City Hall prepared to bring you the latest in how Dallas is going to keep you safe. Or, how you're going to keep your damn selves safe with iWatch. Between that and Dwaine Caraway's magic crime-reducing cameras, we should be set. See so ... More >>

Appealing to "The Calmer Voices of the Community," DPD Chief Brown Releases Dash-Cam Footage of Beating

Patrick MichelsChief David Brown talks to press and police at DPD headquarters this afternoon.​Just got back from Jack Evans Police Headquarters for Chief David Brown's press conference accompanying the release of dash-cam video in which several officers assaulted Andrew Collins on September 5th. ... More >>

Cut to the Chase With Today's Liveblog of the City Council's Public Safety Committee

​Afternoon, Friends. I'm up here in City Hall's good old room 6ES for the council's Public Safety Committee meeting we told you about earlier today -- on the menu are that upcoming police women reality-docu show and the Dallas Police Department's pursuit policy. The cameras and media types are her ... More >>

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime So the Dallas Police Can Open Farmers Market Storefront?

​On Wednesday, Patrick went down to the Dallas Farmers Market, where Dallas police higher-ups met with neighborhood stakeholders about getting a DPD storefront down there pronto. Because, as we've noted in recent weeks, property owners are clamoring for a substation to deal with what they say is a ... More >>

Trying to Understand What Led to DPD Chief's Comments About Drinking and Date Rape

Illustration by Andrea Grimes​Update at 8:35 p.m.: The Dallas Police Department has sent a statement from Chief David Brown regarding his comments about the increase in the number of reported sexual assaults this year -- and the reaction to them. It reads, in full:Chief Brown wants to emphasize, " ... More >>

Grief Turns Needlessly Ugly as Storm Over Friday's Police Funeral Procession Rages On

​I know nobody asked me. But the latest development in the story of the police chief's son is just too much to ignore. Under relentless hectoring by Dallas police unions, City Manager Mary Suhm has hired attorney Terry Hart, a respected former federal prosecutor who worked on Don Hill's gag-order ... More >>

DPD's Chief Cato Defends, Apologizes For His Role in Decision to Send Officers to Accompany Friday's Funeral Procession

​I was out of the office Friday evening when the e-mail from City Manager Mary Suhm first came in alerting media to the fact several Dallas police officers had been called in by Deputy Chief Julian Bernal to provide a funeral escort for DPD Chief David Brown's son. By now you've no doubt heard: Su ... More >>

At DPD HQ Today, A Stop Along the 2,000-Mile Journey Across Texas to Honor Fallen Officers

Photos by Spike JohnsonAt DPD HQ today, a memorial for Senior Corporal Norm Smith included the presentation of a wreath to his wife, Lt. Regina Smith.​Not half an hour after David Brown was sworn in as Dallas's newest police chief at 3 p.m. sharp today, a caravan of police officers on bicycles rol ... More >>

Getting Into Retirement Shape On Dallas PD Chief David Kunkle's Final Day

Photos by Patrick Michels​It's been six months since Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle gathered up friends and family at police headquarters to announce he'd be leaving his post. This morning, after cramming a mile run and 15 man makers into one last CrossFit routine, the 59-year-old chief sounded ... More >>

Chief David Brown, A Familiar Face at Dallas PD HQ, Talks About His New Gig

Patrick Michels​Hours after news began circulating on Facebook that the Dallas Police Department's own David O. Brown would be taking over as chief next week, the city's new top cop stepped before cameras and reporters, and about 20 gathered police officers, to give the news a more personal touch. ... More >>

Planning for the NBA All-Star Weekend, From the Parties to the Dallas Police Department

​The in-box is filling up with NBA All-Star Weekend party announcements -- no actual invites, though, which is just as well, as that's the weekend I'm planning a spiritual retreat or a lost weekend of drinking, either/or. The most recent: a three-day "epic extravaganza" spread out at the Ghostbar ... More >>

DPD Chief Kunkle "Lucky to Have Choices" While Considering Post-Retirement Plans

Patrick MichelsWhy's Kunkle smiling? "I'm lucky to have good health and a wonderful wife, so it's pretty good."​Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle says he's not interested in committing initially to any of the numerous job offers he's received since announcing his retirement in November. He's be ... More >>

Talking Dallas Music With Texas Music Matters on KUT in Austin

Dangerous Moves

Liaisons steams up RTC; sexy, smart Devil's Disciple redeems Theatre Three

Capsule Reviews

Our critics weigh in on local theater

Break a Leg

Misery strips King's thriller to the bone at RTC; for Hypochondriac, take two aspirin

Surveillance Footage

Suzanne Weaver unmasks Matthew Buckingham