Black White and Blue

Trust... You always wish this, Mathias! What's up, folks? It's the opposite of what we're talking about. Dallas has been gripped by racial conflict for decades. And the police department has frequently been blamed for much of the discord. Now, racial tensions polarize the police force itself. Tonight, KERA takes a look at these issues in black, white, and blue. The Town Hall Special. These skyscrapers have drastically changed the face of Dallas over the last 20 years. Unfortunately, change for the people who live here, especially its minority citizens,

has not been as speedy or as dramatic as the change in the skyline. And the little progress that has been made has come only after demonstrations in the streets or petitions in the courts. There is constant conflict in this city. It seems more acute today because the fight is not limited to community groups and politicians, but it's made its way inside the police department. Officers are divided along racial lines over issues such as affirmative action. When police wonder if other officers will protect them in battle, and there are those who say they're afraid to go into certain communities, the problem becomes so large that the entire community is threatened by it. The question we have to ask is, if police are fighting each other, can they protect us? You know we've got to fight.

To bring some love here today, pick it up and pick it up. Don't punish me with brutality. Talk to me so he can see. Oh, it's cool. These scenes are quite familiar to me. I've observed the people and the issue for more than 20 years. As a young reporter, my first major assignment for KERA was to cover a confrontation between the African-American community and the Dallas police who have long been at the center of this city's discontent. Do you remember the first time we ever met face to face? I think I had seen you on Channel 13 with Jim Lear and different ones. But I saw you, my first time seeing you in person,

we had a body on a meal train taking the city hall. You were doing a play-by-play description of what we were doing as you walked. I think. I had a tape recorder on my shoulder. Do you know when that was? I don't remember the year, but that's when I first laid eyes on that young round face at Articolid Man. You got it. I didn't think you would remember that because that's what we're starting. October, 1972. Is that what that was? James Charles Brown, the young veteran, the young Korean veteran that had been murdered, a shot, a keel slain. With his hands in there, he had stopped and turned his hand just like that. And he was shot right through. That October and the wake of too many young black men having been shot by the police, Lipscomb and members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference led a march to city hall.

A mule drawn wagon bore the body of Brown. The Dallas police tactical squad wearing their new riot gear stopped the demonstrators three times. I remember we got on top of the car with the Bullhorn and said, cool it. Dr. Abanath is here. And we are going to go to city hall. He got up on top of that car and said, you said, oh, it's far and far ahead. And we did that to make a point. 20 October's later, Dallas police dressed again in their riot gear overreacted to a group of black demonstrators who had come to protest racial discrimination within the police department. And all the years in between, minority leaders continuously protested against a city and a police department. They considered not just insensitive, but racist. A city they claimed would not listen to them. People who have died and who have fallen in this country have been taken away from us. And how behind the hill can you ask us to be quiet

if it's a sick sign? If it's not mental, you do not actually describe anything. You're making you point. I, I regret going homeless like St Dallas, living in Dallas, growing imparts. So that's not for fat. How much is your $10 bill? I'm going to let you get this. Don't treat the head. It's my meal. It's with you to work with your left hand. If you don't like it, then don't remove yourself. Dallas was a city that was just ingrained in the institution, but you had some wise heads that would always release the pressure gauge a little bit. And just when that pipe was swelling, they had that barometric reading out, the antennas, and they could release it just in a very sophisticated way. And it would ease it.

And then we would go on. And we would go back to the business usual. The pipe did burst in the summer of 1973 when the most controversial police shooting in the city's history occurred, igniting the closest thing to a riot Dallas has ever had. Santos Rodriguez, a 12-year-old boy, was shot by a Dallas officer as he set handcuffed in a police squad car. The second of two protest marches to City Hall erupted. Police motorcycles were set afire and several downtown shop windows were shattered. Officer Daryl Cain was indicted and tried in the case, and he served less than two years of a five-year sentence. That 1973 disturbance took place here. Dallas Tactical Squad officers were standing in formation on this parking lot when some of the demonstrators began to throw rocks and bottles. The officers wanted to retaliate, but had orders from then police chief Frank Dyson not to. Those orders angered the officers,

and they wanted Dyson out. And he left, becoming one in a long line of police chiefs to be forced out of office. Dyson now owns a small ranch in central Texas where he raises of all things, e-mews. And he doesn't want to talk about the Dallas experience. I have mixed emotions at this time. Neither does Billy Prince want to talk about his days as chief of police in Dallas. In the 20-year period between 1972 and 1992, he would be the fourth of eight police chiefs, two of them interim, who served an average of less than four years. Although he was a veteran of the force, he would quickly learn that in Dallas, police chiefs are caught in the middle between a posturing city council, a two-powerful city manager, and uncompromising minority leadership, a minority community in dire need of police protection, and his own too often too selfish police force. During Prince's six-year tenure,

the gulf between the police department and the minority community grew wider, with the major point of contention being the high number of police shootings of citizens. But an officer, Gary Blair, was killed that year also, in a confrontation with two black men. These off-duty police officers headed for city hall, they were upset because former perennial protester turned councilman Al Lipscomb and councilwoman Diane Ragsdale, aided in a legal defense bond drive for the man accused of killing officer Gary Blair. The then head of the Dallas Police Association, J.K. Ramsey, spoke for them. The most proper action for Mr. Lipscomb and Ms. Ragsdale to take after their apology would be for both the resign from the city council of Dallas. After a very tense trial in which office of Blair was portrayed as having a history of abuse, an all-white jury declared that defendant Charles Tillis

was not guilty of Blair's murder. We here are gathered here today to examine principally the Dallas Police Department's use of deadly force. A congressional hearing in 1987 on police use of force did not ease the tension, nor did it stop the shootings. Prince came under increasing pressure to deal more harshly with abusive police officers, and he did. But in the last five years, I'm fired over 67 people. Suspended without pay anywhere from one to 30 days, over 150, letters of reprimand, demotions. OK. Those statistics are not what the officers wanted to hear. The Dallas Police Association, the oldest employee group in the department, gave the chief a vote of no confidence. The chief predicted that the community's feelings toward the police would change, become more sympathetic when another police officer would be killed, and he predicted that would not be long.

Within six weeks of that prediction, Officer James Job became the first of five officers murdered in 1988. Two weeks after Joe's death, Officer John Chase was shot to death by a homeless man on a downtown Dallas sidewalk. His murder, with reports that some minority citizens had urged the man to shoot, galvanized much of the city, prompting demonstrations of support for police. But even with the city in mourning, racial divisiveness was evident. When councilwoman Ragsdale questioned why citizens had turned their car headlights on in respect for Chase, who was white, but had not done it for Joe, who was black. And after those, and after those, racist, and racist, you are, racist, that you are. You are, and racist, my child, and after those. That's the job, right here, our racist man. You are racist, you are a racist, you are a racist. You are a racist, you are a racist.

Come out here, that's why you're the terrible ex-sob. Get out, get out, get out. You are a racist, you are a racist, you are a racist. You are a racist, you are a racist. Joe was an ex-sob, man. You are a racist. Tensions malted, and Billy Prince was on his way out. In resigning, he quoted another former chief, Don Bird, who left under pressure in 1979. He said, as a young rookie, he had always wanted to be chief. And he equated it to a dog chasing a car. He said, you chase that car and chase it when you finally catch it, it'll run over if you don't watch it. And at some time, I feel kind of run over here, you know, after all this time. And it's just the nature of the job. Raise your right hand, please. I. I. Macbines. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. Or firm. The revolving door of chiefs brought in Macbines from Florida. Well, when you come in from the outside, Bob Raetz, it's either a mandate or it's understood the fact that change is necessary and is expected.

He wasted no time changing things, meeting regularly with community leaders, promoting minorities within the department, and pressing charges against officers who used excessive force. Because of this, he quickly came under attack from the Dallas Police Association. But his downfall came after firing an officer who had killed an undocumented worker. Vines was fired two and a half years after coming to Dallas. His chief assistant, Greg Holiday, told the city manager Vines had asked him to lie to a special panel investigating the chief's handling of the firing. Did you write the investigative panel as charged? I'm not guilty of anything. City manager Jan Hart decided to refer the case to the district attorney's office, which charged vines with seven counts of perjury, lying to the special panel. The grand jury indicted Vines own only one charge, a misdemeanor, and a jury leader found him not guilty. However, the search was already underway for his replacement

and Vines would not get his job back. I believe that the last police officer that was indicted prior to me being indicted was back in 1972 or three, involving the shooting of a juvenile. And a number of instances obviously had occurred within that 20-year period of time that could. I can testify that there were a number of incidents that could have been, that should have been taken to the grand jury. One incident that happened while I was there. Vines, who has a suit pending against the city of Dallas, is now director of the Criminal Justice Institute at St. Petersburg Junior College in Florida. Please move across the street, work for the open lock. Stand up, stand up, stand up, stand up, stand up, stand up. Dallas's newest chief, William Rathburn, arrived from Los Angeles at the height of new racial tension, both outside and inside the department. Following extended protest against area TV stations

over minority hiring and news coverage, Dallas County Commissioner John Wally Price and his self-proclaimed warriors began demonstrations this fall against hiring and promotion policies of the Dallas Police Department. You may find it convenient to try to blame me, but there are a group of people out there who says, hey, we're just not going to take it anymore. That group is the TPOA, the Texas Peace Officers Association, organized in 1975 to represent African-American officers. The emergence of the TPOA and three other employee groups is a distinct sign of internal racial division. Senior Corporal Monica Smith and ex-NON heads up the mostly white DPA Dallas Police Association. The three-year-old Dallas Patrolman's Union is led by President Jack Means, a police sergeant. Senior Corporal Gilbert Serder is president of the newly formed Latino Police Officers Association. And the TPOA is headed by Senior Corporal James Allen.

Everybody asks why there are four organizations. Each organization is a reaction. Based is a reaction out of an action. Okay. What is your organization of reaction to? Organization, when we first started in 89, it was really a frustration. Out of 1988, we lost five officers that were shot and killed in one year, two of them later died in the car crash. Seven dying less than 12-month period. And there was a lot of frustrations by the officers that maybe enough wasn't being done. And the fact that the city is now counting so complex that it was really a strong need for a labor organization that was tied to a national union labor organization. If that would give us more clout, more opportunity to achieve what we wanted to achieve. I don't think the DPA has ever made an aggressive move or tried to really make sure there's an equal number

of Hispanics or Blacks for that matter on the police department. And that's the primary reason we got together. Well, that's the reason that my chapter of Texas Peace套 Association formed in the first play in 1975 because the ultimate goal of purpose was trying to bridge the gap between the African-American community and the police department because even during the early 60s and 50s and so forth, you know, the police force has always been looked as the arm of the establishment, the arm to keep Black people in line or having a process. I think that that sounds really good. But the reality is that by the mere numbers of our members we represent all officers. The problem is that we have to represent them in total. We cannot just make decisions on what is good for a small group today. All the groups have their complaints with the department and have become more aggressive in their approach recently.

The TPOA, in addition to becoming official observers at demonstrations led by Commissioner Price, has filed a number of suits against the city and the department alleging racial discrimination. A state district judge recently ruled the police department's promotion practices for sergeants were unfair to African Americans. Yet while senior officers acknowledged that discriminatory practice and admit Black officers are disciplined more often and more severely than whites, the city council voted to appeal the judge's decision. At their annual banquet last November, the TPOA members resolved to fight even harder and to be more visible. Their keynote speaker, Fort Worth Judge Mary Ellen Hicks, echoed their feelings. It's time today, November 20, 1992, for each and every one of you hike each of his and other times to come out of the closet.

Let me say to you, let me say to you, people of color, not only African American police officers, but people of color and people who believe in our cause. Let us serve notice on this nation including Bill Clinton, including Chief Rathburn, including Governor Richards, including anybody else at the only clock that will ever be turned back. But Black folks will be daylight savings time. The TPOA stopped observing and began to join the picket lines and to call for a national boycott of Dallas. To some degree, the TPOA was using similar tactics as the Dallas Police Association and the Dallas Patrolman's Union. A few weeks earlier, those two organizations and the Latino group called a march and rally. They protested Rathburn's decision to release a suspect arrested at a demonstration outside the southeast sub station. Rathburn had tried to talk them out of the march,

but only the Hispanic Association withdrew. The situation worsened the following weekend. City Councilman Don Hicks was arrested after going to a protest led by Commissioner Price to, Observe. He refused to be ticketed after crossing a police barricade. I was there to see the official. I think that's a little different than just an observer. It cloaks me with the full color of my office. What I couldn't believe is that the lieutenants and sergeants were dealing with me. They were dealing with me after I had been out there a week before. Prior to, they're getting a hold of you. You crossed the barricades two or three times again. Now, in retrospect, was that a good idea? Yeah, and I'll do it again. Nobody's going to intimidate me out of my lawful office. They wouldn't have done the mayor like that.

I have not said you're guilty. Really what I said is you never should have been put in that position. She told you to talk to your provider in escort, taken you personally and escorted you around so they wouldn't have ever happened. And it shouldn't have happened. And it should not have happened. At a city council public safety committee meeting, the police chief apologized to Hicks and announced charges were being dropped. In return, Hicks agreed not to sue or call for a justice department investigation. The compromise caused Commissioner Price to call Hicks a sellout. Do you regret anything you said about the councilman Don Hicks since he compromised? Did you not call him a sellout? Sure. Do you regret that? No. What's wrong with compromise? Well, do you compromise for yourself? If they whip the councilman Hicks into the public official in front of God and everybody, what's happening to John Doe and Susan Cue, African-American, Mexican-American citizen out there? Because apparently their mentality is that, hey,

you're just another nigga. If you're noticing a throughout that old thing, I never see anything bad about the commission. And what I said about the commission is that I share in his frustration. If I said to you mayor that we still have an invited city in Dallas and part of that is due to the fact that we have a divided police department. What would you say to that? Well, I'd say that's not true. I would suggest that in fact in terms of our racial tensions in Dallas, we haven't solved it. But we're making enormous progress and have over this last year and we'll make more in 1993. The mayor's very sharp. He's astute. He's true. He's slick and he's smart. But possibly the mayor has not caught the full gravity of this explosive situation that we are involved in. What's happened is the situation has gotten so bad. In fact, in one week we had citizens and police officers alike marching in the street.

That's a clear indication that all of those groups have lost confidence that they can work things out at City Hall. Councilman Larry Duncan sits on the council's public safety committee. In recent weeks, the heads of the four police organizations have been voicing their complaints to the committee but none has any fate that the committee or the council will address their concerns. You scream and yell and if it's politically convenient, we address it if it is not then we disregard it. And I thought that the plan here was to change that, to cut off that environment. While the four employee groups have common concerns, they disagree on some major issues. The TPOA wants an aggressive affirmative action program, a police citizens review board with subpoena power and a residency requirement for police since two-thirds of Dallas officers live outside the city. The DPA and the DPU are in opposition to those proposals as currently outlined plus the union wants collective bargaining.

And the Latino group wants more Hispanics on the force at all levels. They all feel their concerns fall on deaf ears, which is why they have become more vocal and more active. I think it's very unprofessional when police officers have to take their problems to the street. And, you know, I think there are other productive ways to solve problems. I don't know of any problems ever been solved on a picket line. I'm not going to be pushed in anything. And the way to not get my cooperation is to demand something. I don't respond well to that. And I can't help it. That's just the way I am. Stop messing with me! Stop messing with me! Stop messing with me! Stop messing with me! Following a protestors at the Saudi sub-station, the Chief did respond! He reshuffled the top command staff replacing the Deputy Chief in charge with Lawal Kennedy, an officer with a better reputation in the department and the community. All we've seen is a shuffling

of individuals who are a problem at one place and they got mood to some place else. I mean, just because you move people around, you have not begun to care the problem. I didn't expect the changes to please him, and I'm not sure I expected them to please the community. I think in time, the community will be very pleased. They needed a more cohesive management team in Southeast. They needed a more productive police department there. I think they have that now. And as they get to know the new people that we've added there, I think they will appreciate that the changes I made were very positive changes. In the last year and a year and a half, the police chief has taken a strong discipline approach and said that any officer that abuses the public is not going to work there anymore. The City Council at long last, at the beginning of this year, changed our civil service board so that we back the chief up. We've increased the affirmative action plan. 34% of the new hires in Dallas, Texas, and 1992 are African-American. And 26% of the new hires in 1992 are Hispanic.

We've changed the diversity of the command structure. The officers from senior carpal all the way up to Deputy and Assistant Chief, chief, reflect the diversity of the city. So the changes that have happened within this department and between the department and the public in the last two years are overwhelming and staggering in their size. Despite any changes, there are still much conflict within the police department and the city. A high level of tension and a great deal of impatience. Although the mayor, the police chief, and the heads of the employee groups all have faith that police officers will serve the community well despite their differences, I worry. I worry because it's in the midst of this kind of confusion that many Dallas police chiefs have packed their bags and left. Have there ever been days here since you've been in Dallas where you said, boy, wish I hadn't taken this job? There might have been moments. I don't think there have been days I like Dallas. I like living here. My wife likes it here.

Are you telling me you're not going to be run off? No, I'm not going to tell you that. But I'm telling you, I think there were some people who thought I was going to leave a couple of months ago. In fact, there was a hot rumour going around one day. I was going to resign. I don't plan the retire on the pressure I plan the retire when I'm ready to retire. I'm not going to be a derogate, so I'm not going to stay nearly as long as he did. Hopefully I won't outlive my usefulness to this city and to this department. There are those taking bets that the chief will not be here long. Perhaps the only way to prevent that will be for the city of Dallas to deal seriously with this racial problem. The answers are into police.

A key person is making the way the public in fact, sitting outside that town is there at this time, anybody on the site isn't able to enter or could Course, they are trying and others make a river to change their minds to a greater space.