David Brown, the newly named police chief in Dallas, says he generally wants to stick to the path predecessor David Kunkle started, he doesn’t “want to be inflexible,” the Dallas Morning News reports. Among issues on the table: Easing Kunkle’s restrictive chase policy to allow officers to pursue suspects in deadly conduct cases, such as when they are seen firing a gun in the air; creating more opportunities for officers to advance beyond patrol jobs by imposing term limits of between five and 10 years for some assignments other than the homicide unit.
Also, bolstering stagnant crime-watch efforts by launching a 21st-century model of community policing. Similar to the iWatch program developed by the Los Angeles Police Department, Brown would seek to better educate residents on how to identify suspicious activity and offer ways for them to report it other than calling 911, including via social media. If he is to make changes and improve on a historic six-year drop in crime, he must first overcome negative perceptions among some in the rank and file who say he has an abrasive style that can squelch open debate. As Kunkle’s chief crime fighter, Brown is infamous for taking fellow officers to task in meetings and is referred to by some as a micromanager.