With Dallas roundtable, Texas Sen. Cornyn and city leaders hope to begin long march toward police reform

Law enforcement and community leaders aim to rebuild community trust in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

By Marc Ramirez

 

Read the full story in the Dallas Morning News:

**excerpts below**

Officials, including U.S. Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas, seated right, and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, second from right, participate in a law enforcement roundtable on Friday at City Hall in Dallas. (Ryan Michalesko/The Dallas Morning News)(Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer)

Conceding the scope of the task ahead, Sen. John Cornyn and Dallas city leaders held a roundtable discussion Friday to begin the process of rebuilding trust in law enforcement locally and nationally in the wake of George Floyd’s killing last month.

 

“We’re at a dangerous tipping point in our country,” Cornyn said. “We need to regain the trust of the entire population in the people who put their lives on the line.”

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The roundtable event, held at Dallas City Hall, included a dozen law enforcement and community leaders invited by Mayor Eric Johnson, who described the issue of police brutality as “a branch on the tree of racial injustice.” It came a day after President Trump visited Dallas and hosted his own roundtable on race and policing that did not include the top law enforcement officials in the city.

 

Friday’s exchange featured calls for improved police training in dispute resolution and de-escalation techniques, as well as more social interaction between officers and the communities they serve.

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The mayor said he had convened the participants knowing they wouldn’t all necessarily agree on the path forward.

 

“We have to be willing to have our viewpoints challenged,” he said. “Policy change is not something to be made in an echo chamber.”

 

What they could all agree on was that the status quo was unacceptable after a history of police brutality brought to a head by Floyd’s very visible death.

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Cornyn did cite two things he hoped to achieve at the federal level after the day’s discussion, including the compilation of a national registry of “bad officers” so that those culpable of misconduct don’t simply move on to other departments.

 

He also said he hoped to convene experts to address Congress about best practices in law enforcement that could help influence national reform.

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“This is not the end,” Cornyn said. “We will continue to work together and hopefully heal our country.”

 

Cornyn Seeks Police Reform Input in Dallas

NBC 5 (DFW)

Cornyn has been asked to suggest possible changes in Federal law in the US Senate, so he asked Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson to assemble police, community and church leaders for Friday’s meeting.

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After hearing from all the speakers, Cornyn said the one recommendation he is prepared to make is appointing a national panel for additional discussion of police reform.

 

“I do think that would be useful in addition to everything else we are talking about to have this national, bipartisan commission. Look at our criminal justice system, come back to congress with concrete recommendations about what it is we can and should do,” Cornyn said.

 

Watch the full story here.

 

 

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