Editor's Comments:  Harry Trujillo was the first to advise District 6 residents their councilman had appointed his two sister-in-laws to the Park Board and Plan Commission, even though they live in District 7 in the same house.  How do we build leadership in a very poor district if our councilman blocks opportunities for our residents to serve on important boards and commissions?

September 17, 2003

Dr. Elba Garc?
Dallas City Hall
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FS
Dallas, TX 75201-6390

Subject:  Current Police Deployment

Dear Dr. Garc?:

With Dallas having the unfortunate distinction of having the nation's highest crime rate and with the recent machine gun slaying (ambush) on Greenville Avenue on Monday, September 15, 2003, I hope an examination of the current Dallas Police deployment formula might lead to adding police resources to communities where they are most needed.  

As my councilperson and chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee, I urge you to please take the initiative to introduce a city ordinance that requires disclosure of current deployment of field officers and detectives by areas as well as the detective deployment formula and its correlation to crimes?which are the most serious in nature.

It?s time to examine the manner in which the resources of our police department are being deployed.  We pretend all communities throughout Dallas experience the same level or seriousness of crime, when we know the opposite to be true.  To use that as a premise to deploy the exact same numbers of resources to each division of the city makes no sense.  There is no crime more serious than homicide.

You should move that the City Council direct the Dallas Police Department to report back to the Public Safety Committee within 60 days with the following information:

1. Current deployment of field officers and detectives by area.
2. Detective deployment formula.
3. Correlation between deployment of detectives and serious crimes.
4. Status of the patrol deployment formula and if this standard is being met in all divisions.
5. Number of unsolved violent crimes by areas
6. Number of detectives serving in non-investigative assignments
7. Status of backlogs in support functions which impact solving crimes.
8. Copy of any detective workload studies conducted over the past 5 years.
9. Ethnicity of detectives assigned to each division who are responsible for responding to the scenes of crimes, conducting preliminary and follow-up investigations, preparing the required investigative reports, apprehending the suspects, and preparing the cases for successful prosecution.

I am requesting that you respond in writing by October 1, 2003.  Complaints about time and cost don?t cut it.  It is time to hold the Dallas Police Department accountable.

Respectfully submitted,

Harry O. Trujillo