Ahead of protests, Dallas City Manager allows police oversight board to continue meeting

Ahead of planned protests Friday night in Dallas, City Manager T.C. Broadnax announced the Community Police Oversight Board would be allowed to reconvene virtually amid the pandemic.

The board — and other advisory boards — will be able to meet beginning on June 8.

The 15-member board was on the cusp of some its first major actions in police oversight when it held its last meeting on March 10, but Dallas’ emergency declaration did not allow advisory board meetings to meet — even virtually.

The canceled May meeting brought tension at Wednesday’s City Council meeting. The outcry follows deadly police use of force incidents across the country. Houston native George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis on Monday after an officer pinned him down by placing his knee to Floyd’s neck — a procedure not used in police training. And 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, who worked at a Kentucky hospital, was shot multiple times in March.

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said on Friday he was pleased with Broadnax’s decision to allow the board to meet virtually.

“It is vital to our communities to have a forum to communicate with our police department and air out concerns and issues that should be addressed,” he said. “That is especially important now considering the understandable outrage over the brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.”