Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia has urged a committee of U.S. senators to provide additional support and funding for grants to law enforcement agencies.
Speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 2, Garcia argued that the additional support would help law enforcement agencies nationwide combat the rise in violent crimes.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Garcia argued that anti-law enforcement rhetoric has left officers feeling vilified.
“There’s been a false narrative, and it’s those in power believing the rhetoric that has been the issue,” García told the senators, referencing calls to defund or abolish the police, which went viral during the George Floyd protests in 2020.
Despite the anti-law enforcement rhetoric, Garcia told senators that he has yet to see any neighborhood in Dallas affected by violence ask for less policing. Garcia added that communities of color are the ones that mostly plead with him for more officers in their neighborhood.
When asked about the police’s need to have cooperative prosecutors, Garcia replied that communities need to call into question judges who allow violent criminals back into the community after their arrest.
Garcia noted that Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot does not have much say on bond or bail and that only the judges decide the terms.
“We have to control what we can control,” Garcia continued. “And the message that I give my men and women is that if another part of the system lets us down and you have to respond back to that house twenty times, then you respond back to that house twenty times because we’re not going to let our community down.”
However, Garcia later told The Dallas Morning News that his comments were not specifically referring to Dallas judges but represent the concerns of major-city police chiefs who also have issues with judges.