Dallas bishop thinks proposed Dallas police policy changes go too far
UPDATE 9/26/18: Jahwar asked FOX4 to update the story, saying he's in favor of officers carrying liability insurance.
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The killing of Botham Jean in his own apartment by off-duty Dallas Officer Amber Guyger has increased calls for change, but one Dallas bishop said some policy tweaks could make things worse.
Bishop Omar Jahwar, who has grown from being in street gangs to now working to stop gang violence and better relations between people and police, disagrees with some of the proposed policy changes from chief hall and protesters.
“My mind is on what do we do for real, not what do we do for show,” Jahwar said.
Jahwar is not in favor of giving subpoena powers to the citizens’ police review board.
“That is not where I stand, not yet. Right now what we need, we need citizens who understand what this is about as opposed to trying to figure out who I can bring in,” Jahwar said.
He also disagrees with Hall’s idea to end the 72-hour waiting period before officers give a statement after a critical incident. He asks a different question.
“So I know that there are certain people who are trying to do the right thing, but they get thrown in the bag and what if all officers say well, then y’all got it -- we out y’all,” Jahwar.
He supports the idea of police officers, as some suggest, carrying liability insurance. Jahwar would also like to see some type of body camera system on every officer that records automatically when a weapon is un-holstered so no one can forget to engage the device.
He knows his opinions will be unpopular with some and he says he's okay with that.
“I’m not trying to appeal to the mob and to the ones who, you know, job in their mind is to create havoc,” Jahwar said.
Jahwar said the real question is how is trust improved between police and the people they are charged to protect and serve. He has a meeting scheduled with Chief Hall where he said he will express his doubts about the changes.