Fort Worth mayoral candidates show differences on police accountability
Candidates for Fort Worth mayor have diverging views on how the city should improve police and community relations, a weighty topic that has had a growing presence in politics across the country.
While admitting Fort Worth needs to be more proactive, Mattie Parker, a former chief of staff to Mayor Betsy Price and the City Council, championed a more hands-off approach, relying on city staff like Police Chief Neil Noakes and Kim Neal, the police monitor. Deborah Peoples, a retired AT&T executive, pushed more community involvement and some reform measures.
Parker and Peoples made it out of a crowded field in the May general election and are vying to replace Price, who after a decade in office decided not to run for reelection. Election Day is Saturday.
The city has been grappling with issues around policing for years.
The city formed a Race and Culture Task Force to explore a number of equity issues, including policing, transportation and economic development, after the arrest of Jacqueline Craig in 2016 brought national attention to Fort Worth and sparked calls for reform. In October 2019, a Fort Worth police officer killed Atatiana Jefferson in her home while responding to a non-emergency welfare check. The trail of former officer Aaron Dean is scheduled for August and Jefferson’s sister has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, Price and Dean.
The City Council, in December 2018, adopted all of the Race and Culture Task Force’s recommendations. Among key provisions was the creation of a civilian police review board that would provide a direct link between residents and oversight of the department. Though similar boards exist in other cities, Fort Worth has not created such a commission and the two candidates disagreed on how that should be done.
Parker, 37, said during a forum last week that Fort Worth has made significant progress since the task concluded its work and she was optimistic Noakes, who she described as a “police chief that is phenomenal, and leading with a servant’s heart,” would lead the police department in a new direction. But she wouldn’t commit to any form of a civilian board, saying it was up to city staff to make a recommendation.
In early 2020 the city hired Kim Neal, the former executive director of Cincinnati’s independent police watchdog authority, as Fort Worth’s first police monitor. Almost immediately Neal was tasked with collecting public and internal comments about what a civilian review board should look like and make a recommendation to the council.
“I really want to lean on the professionals that we’ve hired,” Parker said. “I think it’s irresponsible for elected officials or prospective (officials) to get out in front of those very people we hire to do that job. These are going to be incredibly critical moments in our city and the way we handle it.”
Peoples, 68, disagreed with notions that the council was the best review board for the police department. She said the two-year election cycle was too long for residents to wait to see accountability.
“The citizens need a vehicle to make their voices and opinions known,” Peoples said.
Nationally, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed the U.S. House in March, would offer some police reforms, but it has stalled in the U.S. Senate over a provision to curb qualified immunity for police officers. Republicans believe the measure would lead to widespread lawsuits against officers while Democrats contend limiting immunity offers a tool for greater accountability.
Asked for her opinion on qualified immunity, Peoples, whose brother was a police officer, said firmly that she supported doing away with it. Parker offered a dire prediction of a “mass exodus” of those willing to serve as police officers if qualified immunity was taken away. She said justice was playing out in the case of Jefferson’s death in the form of a murder trial and family’s lawsuit.
Parker went after Peoples for stances she took while chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party. Parker was critical of social media posts Peoples made that she argued could not be “clawed back.” Peoples said she stood by anything she posted online.
Last June when voters were being asked to renew a special police sales tax, Peoples and other progressives urged residents to vote against the proposal. Despite growing opposition, city voters locked in the special police sales tax for 10 years. Less than 56,000 voters cast a ballot in the election.
Since 1995 the Crime Control and Prevention District, which funds enhanced police patrols, equipment and a portion of school officers’ salaries, among other things, has grown from about $26.6 million to more than $85 million. That money is in addition to the $267 million the police department receives through the city’s general fund and it is expected to provide the department with an extra $1 billion through 2030.
Former chief Ed Kraus pitched changes to the budget, which included shifting more money to efforts like after-school programs and the creation of a 10-person team that relies on trained civilians to respond to non-emergency calls. Parker has said she supports these changes.
Peoples said she was not against the Crime Control Prevention District in general and believed the voters made it clear they wanted the fund. Instead, she said, she worried about locking the funding in for a decade rather than asking voters for input more frequently.
At the forum, sponsored by SteerFW, a nonpartisan, nonprofit young professionals group, Peoples said she had a unique perspective on policing. Because her brother was a police officer and her sister was a constable, she said she understands the tough job officers face and will applaud the department.
“But I also approach this as a person of color, and I live in a neighborhood, a community of color, a black and brown neighborhood,” Peoples said. “I know that there is a lot of mistrust in our community about the way some police stops are handled.”
Parker has rallied police support in the form of an endorsement from the Fort Worth Police Officers Association that touted her experience as a negotiator during the city’s pension crisis a few years ago. During an announcement ahead of the general election, association president Manny Ramirez heralded Parker as an ally of the department who would fight against budget cuts.
During the forum Parker said the next mayor should not take on divisive politics.
“I just fundamentally believe that right now in this country, where we have been through a historic four years of divisiveness and as we look forward as a community, you need a leader that is ready to focus on uniting not dividing,” Parker said.
This story was originally published June 2, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
