Fort Worth residents demand action over words while seeking greater police oversight
For the third week in a row angry Fort Worth residents from diverse backgrounds pleaded with the city to address what they see as continuing injustices.
Dozens have gathered at City Hall weekly since the shooting of Atatiana Jefferson where they’ve told the city council they do not feel safe in Fort Worth and have lost trust in the city.
Jefferson, a 28-year-old black woman, was fatally shot by a white police officer in her home. Aaron Dean resigned from the Fort Worth Police Department and has been charged with murder.
The crowd Tuesday was the smallest since Jefferson’s shooting at a little less than 30 — down from between 60 and 70 the weeks before.
Arch Mayfield said the city needs to exemplify inclusion through action, not just words.
“People of color do not need to hear me say ‘I’m not a racist,’” he said. “They need to see me being anti-racist.”
Several speakers reiterated demands from the Tarrant County Coalition for Community Oversight. In the weeks following Jefferson’s shooting, the coalition has requested all of the police body camera footage related to the shooting, the names of all the officers who answered the call, the firing of City Manager David Cooke and the firing of Assistant City Manager Jay Chapa, who oversees the police department.
It also wanted additional charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and child endangerment to be brought against Dean.
The city declined to accept the demands, saying it had wanted to negotiate with the coalition. The coalition said no, arguing it had met with the city several times since March.
The city is the process of taking some steps to address racial division.
Following Jefferson’s death, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price directed staff to convene a third party panel to review the police department’s policies and procedures. The goal is to have that panel created by Nov. 19 with outside experts in bias, de-escalation, policing and officer training.
Cooke said the city received more than a dozen inquiries from national policing experts and would have a short list of five to seven for the panel shortly.
This third party review is separate from recommendations from the Race and Culture Task Force.
By the end of the year, the city will hire a diversity and inclusion director tasked with leading a 14-person department that is designed to address disparities in city services from streetlights and code enforcement to policing and hiring. Six candidates vying for the job were grilled with questions from a packed house at Morningside Elementary School on Monday night.
The city is also hiring a civilian police monitor. This person would report to the city manager and review police procedures and citizen complaints. Candidates should be selected before Thanksgiving. Once the monitor is hired, they will help form a police oversight committee.
Zac Thompson told the council the third party review didn’t have teeth.
He urged the city to support having the U.S. Department of Justice to take over the police review. Having city staff approve the third party panel made it less independent than a federal review, he said, and there are no clear ramifications if the city chooses not to go forward with that panel’s recommendations.
“They prosper a deeper understanding of culture, provide actionable solutions and promote accountability that can not be dodged,” Thompson said of consent decrees.
National politics also played a part in Tuesday’s comments.
Speakers last week and Tuesday were critical of Price for greeting President Donald Trump when he arrived in Fort Worth ahead of a Dallas rally the week after Jefferson’s shooting.
Cindy Fountain said Price should have turned down the visit with Trump. The administration has made it easier for police to receive military-grade equipment, which have sparked criticisms about police militarization, according to The New York Times.
“It seems you could have said, ‘I’m sorry, Mr. President my community is grieving and I need to grieve with them,’” she said.
Though city elections are nonpartisan, Price, a Republican, has had a close relationship with the Trump Administration, frequently visiting Washington, D.C..
Many speakers criticized comments Price made during an interview with NBC5. During the interview, Price said she didn’t believe Fort Worth police officers saw race when policing neighborhoods.
Speakers like Amber Shumake said the comments were an example of white privilege and ignore evidence of systemic racism.
“Pretending not to see race is not an effective treatment for racism,” she said.
