Fort Worth residents demand action on policing as city council locks in union deal
The Fort Worth City Council Tuesday approved a four-year contract with the city’s police union despite calls from residents to delay the vote and gather more input from policing experts.
Those speaking Tuesday saw the contract as a concrete way to impose police reform. Since late May, a renewed interest in police tactics has drawn protesters to Fort Worth’s streets and into the council chambers. They have called for substantial changes to policing and criticized the council for being disengaged.
James Smith, a neighbor of Atatiana Jefferson, kicked off a string of speakers Tuesday urging the council to delay the contract vote. Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean killed Jefferson in her home last October. He resigned and has been charged with murder.
Smith said provisions of the contract needed to be tweaked to provide more accountability, calling the current contract “a miscarriage of justice.”
“As we approach the anniversary of Atatiana’s death, I’m hopeful that some substantial changes will be made in honor of our victims and in hopes of a better Fort Worth,” he said.
The contract would have expired in September, though a one-year grace period prevents it from lapsing immediately. Though negotiations take place between city staff and the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, the City Council must vote to accept the contract.
Manny Ramirez, president of the officers association, said the union was willing to meet with anyone, but the contract was not the way to push police reforms. The contract simply governs pay and benefits, he said.
“Meaningful change happens whenever we collaborate and whenever we all come to the table and sit down and we do it with respect,” Ramirez said. “Meaningful change does not happen through demands and threats. “
The vote was originally scheduled for June 4, but Councilwoman Ann Zadeh urged a delay. Coming off a week of tense clashes between demonstrators and the police, protesters packed, as much as they could with social distancing, into City Hall. Protests have continued on and off throughout the summer.
Zadeh was the lone “no” vote on the contract Tuesday, noting that the city was not up against a deadline to approve the agreement. The city has roughly 13 months to hash out changes that should include input from the city’s new police monitor and an independent expert policing panel.
“We now have additional tools in our toolbox that we didn’t have at the start of this process,” she said.
Zadeh almost missed a chance to speak as council members in the chamber moved swiftly to call for the vote. Zadeh appeared via video.
Fort Worth United, and others, wanted the city council to delay the vote and consider asking the police department and legal staff to renegotiate.
The coalition wanted the contract to:
▪ Eliminate the rule that gives officers accused of misconduct 48 hours notice before being interviewed. The provision also allows officers to see all witness statements and evidence in advance of that interview.
▪ Do away with across the board raises so “bad cops” do not receive raises.
▪ Create a mental health incentive for officers which would provide $1,000 to white officers or $1,500 to officers of color who visit mental health professionals.
▪ Allow internal investigations of misconduct beyond the 180-day window provided in the contract
▪ Confirm that complaints received anonymously, online, by mail, telephone, through the police department or via the independent police monitor will be deemed “official complaints.”
▪ Make public all disciplinary records, including written reprimands, suspensions and demotions.
The city manager’s office and the police union say many of these demands are either out of the city’s control, because of state law, or can be remedied without delaying the contract vote.
Provisions like the 48-hour notice, across the board raises and when disciplinary records can be made public are governed by the Texas Local Government Code, Deputy City Manager Jay Chapa said. When it comes to investigations of misconduct, the rules apply only to internal discipline, not criminal investigations. The law provides officers accused of misconduct the right to know the nature of the allegations against them if it could result in internal discipline, he said.
Many speakers urged the council to delay the vote noted preliminary findings of an expert panel on policing that were made public last week.
Earlier Tuesday, the city council heard from Theron Bowman and Alex del Carmen, the two leaders of the expert police reform panel. The panel was convened after Jefferson’s shooting.
The panel’s early findings indicate that while the department has robust policies, officers don’t always follow them. Accountability measures are spread across multiple divisions instead of centralize. Data is not analyzed in a meaningful way and re-escalation is not a part of routine training.
“There is a disconnect in what happens on the street sometimes and what the policies require,” Bowman said.
Thomas Moore, from No Sleep Until Justice, wanted the council to delay the vote until changes based on the report were implemented and a citizen review board was organized. That panel should oversee contract negotiations, he said.
Zadeh agreed, offering a substitute motion to delay the contract vote for 30 days to hear from the panel again as well as Kim Neal, the city’s police monitor.
“We are spending a great deal of money on all of these efforts and these folks to provide us with ideas,” she said. “It strikes me as a little bit short sighted and even a touch fiscally irresponsible for us to be paying for these folks and their opinions while simultaneously entering into a four-year agreement without at least hearing those expert opinions.”
The contract strips a provision that awards extra points to candidates who live within the city of Fort Worth. According to the most recent data, 60% of officers live outside Fort Worth.
Chapa said this move should help diversify the department. While the force has increased the number of Hispanic and female officers, the number of Black officers has remained stagnant at around 10%, he said. About 18% of the city’s population is Black, so broadening the geographic pool of candidates should help recruit more Black officers, he said.
Speaker John Greer was critical of this, saying officers should not live in the suburbs or “God forbid Dallas.”
“Our police force should represent our city,” Greer said. “The simple way to do this is by hiring from within our city.”
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 10:02 PM.
