Dallas police chief’s resignation comes as law enforcement faces moment of disruption

With about an hour’s notice, Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall on Tuesday called an impromptu meeting with her commanders — an unusual move for the leader.

Her invitation said the gathering was related to ongoing budget discussions at City Hall. When nearly two dozen commanders logged in to the virtual meeting on Microsoft Teams, Hall broke the unexpected news: She had submitted her resignation but would be staying for a few months.

Her statement lasted just a few minutes, and it was followed by an awkward silence. Then came a few “congratulations” and “best wishes.”

After three years as the city’s first woman police chief, Hall did not publicly elaborate on her decision and said she would keep her next career steps confidential. She had initially planned to leave on Nov. 10 but decided to stay until the end of the year after City Manager T.C. Broadnax asked her to do so.

It was still unclear on Wednesday how involved Hall would be in day-to-day operations of the Police Department until she leaves. Neither Hall nor Broadnax responded to inquiries Wednesday.

Hall is among several police chiefs across the country who have stepped down after nationwide unrest over the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and calls to “defund” or rethink policing. Chiefs in Atlanta, Seattle and, most recently, Rochester, N.Y., have announced their resignations in recent months. In Austin, Police Chief Brian Manley faced calls from activists for his resignation after the department’s use of force on protesters.

Even before demonstrations in Dallas in late May and early June, Hall had received intense scrutiny and criticism over her handling of violent crime — including a sharp rebuke from Mayor Eric Johnson when she proposed in January to reduce it by 5%, which he said at the time was “not going to cut it.”

More recently, the Dallas protests and a subsequent DPD investigation that six City Council members said shook their trust in her leadership put Hall on the defensive again.

Timothy Bray, director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research at the University of Texas at Dallas, described the departure of police chiefs across the country as a moment of disruption for law enforcement. Protesters and community members have put pressure on policing over its militarization, tactics and accountability.

“It has forced a critical examination of what we do, how we do it and why we do it,” Bray said of policing.

In a letter to the 3,100-member department on Tuesday, Hall said she had mixed emotions. She thanked officers for their work during the pandemic, amid massive protests and in tackling crime.

“There is a lot of conversation throughout the country about who and what law enforcement is. Please do not let others define you,” she wrote. “Some, in our profession, are responsible for terrible acts. We must acknowledge that, change and move forward.”

Some say the Dallas protests and cases of police brutality were issues she could not shake. Last week, Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot said he was launching an investigation into the use of force and arrests of protesters, citing a Dallas Morning News investigation as a reason for the probe.

On Tuesday, Hall was absent from a Community Police Oversight Board meeting where members expected to get more answers about the Dallas protests — an issue still hanging over the chief three months later.

Jesuorobo Enobakhare Jr., chairman of the oversight board, said Wednesday that Hall had been given the option of sending command staff members to the meeting. He said he still had questions about the protests and has asked for the racial breakdown of protesters arrested on curfew violation and other charges.

Messina Madson, a former Dallas County acting district attorney who is now a criminal defense lawyer, said there may not be one direct cause for Hall’s resignation.

But she thinks the timing — after Creuzot stated last week that he planned to investigate the chief’s handling of some of the protests — is significant.

“That is not an easy decision for Creuzot to make,” Madson said. “They [the Dallas Police Department] are the largest law enforcement agency they work with.”

Some said Hall’s resignation should have come sooner.

David Villalobos, a member of the Texas Organizing Project, said the chief was asked to resign in June after officers brutalized people who were demanding an end to police brutality by exercising their First Amendment rights during protests. Villalobos was in the crowd of protesters who were on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge on June 1 when 674 were arrested.

“The proof that DPD actions violated people’s rights and further eroded the community’s trust was ample,” he said.