The Dallas Community Police Oversight Board declined to recommend an incident of alleged excessive force for further investigation, leading to frustration regarding the effectiveness and abilities of the board.
Michelle Spencer went to the Community Police Oversight Board’s meeting on Tuesday, November 15, to allege that Dallas Police Department (DPD) Officer Rokendrick Dwayne Allen threw her on the side of a breezeway last year.
“I busted my head open. I received six stitches, a torn rotator cuff, and three torn tendons,” she claimed.
Spencer said that she had not exhibited any violent behavior toward Officer Allen, suggesting that she had actually called the police after neighbors started beating on her door with bats and tasers.
Nevertheless, she said her brief encounter with one of the responding officers drastically changed her life.
Spencer was arrested but said she was acquitted of all charges.
“I lost everything: our home, my job –not one but two jobs,” she said. “Imagine having to experience homelessness, sleeping in your packed-to-capacity car, going from hotel to hotel, not knowing how you’re going to feed your kid or what’s next.”
The board, which was created “to enhance the public’s trust that complaints of misconduct against departmental employees are conducted fair and thoroughly,” ultimately voted against recommending an independent investigation of the alleged incident after hearing from a representative from DPD.
Officer Allen was not at the community board meeting, something that the various oversight board members admitted made it very difficult for them to process a complaint.
“We’ve seen some very emotional statements tonight,” said Brandon Friedman, a board member. Friedman explained that he felt it was “highly disrespectful” for police to continue to decline to come to the meetings. “I’m more inclined to side with the side that shows up.”
The oversight board holds subpoena power against citizens but not employees of the city, which includes the DPD.
However, DPD Lt. Joe Schutz virtually participated in the meeting and disputed Spencer’s claims. In a presentation to the board, he alleged Spencer was behaving aggressively and was arrested for resisting arrest, search, or transport.
Complicating the matter was the fact that there was no body-camera footage of the interaction because neither of the officers present, including Allen, had been issued them.
Because of the lack of evidence, an internal investigation by DPD Internal Affairs could not prove unnecessary force had been used during the incident, according to Schutz.
Furthermore, the DPD reported that one witness, Linda Evans, suggested Allen was “having a hard time with (Spencer),” while another asserted that she was the aggressor.
After hearing Spencer’s complaint and the presentation from Lt. Schultz, the oversight board voted not to call for an additional investigation into the incident.
Nevertheless, the situation revealed some frustrations the members had with how the oversight board functioned.
Jose Rivas, vice-chair of the board, suggested, “We’ll continue to be stonewalled, we’ll continue to be marginalized, and we’ll continue to be put in the corner,” Rivas said, urging those present to talk to their city council members, city manager, and other city officials before briefly walking out of the room.
Jesuorobo Enobakhare, chair of the board, claimed that the best thing people coming to the oversight board meetings can do is hold their elected officials accountable.
“90% of the population yield that power to the 10%,” Enobakhare said. “You get what you get. It’s that simple.”
After the meeting concluded, Spencer told The Dallas Express that she felt coming to the oversight board was a waste of time.
“I should never have come here,” she said.
