First Female Police Chief In Dallas, Texas, Hails From Detroit

DETROIT, MI — Detroit Deputy Police Chief Renee Hall has been named the first female police chief in the history of Dallas, Texas, where several officers were killed last summer by a sniper. Hall, a Detroit native who directs Detroit’s neighborhood policing bureau, will take as Dallas police chief on Sept. 5.

Hall’s appointment the top Dallas police position is historic in the Motor City as well. Detroit Police Chief James Craig said at a Wednesday news conference in Detroit.

“This makes her the first executive, the first command officer to leave this department and take on — not just a police chief job in another city — we’re talking about a major city, and I will tell you that that is not a small undertaking.”

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In response to a reporter’s question about whether she sees herself as a “shining example” to other women in law enforcement, Hall said her appointment sends an important message that “anything is possible.”

“We do know that historically law enforcement is predominantly male, but so were so many other professions years ago,” Hall said. “This is a job that’s about passion. If you love people, if you love serving the community, this is the job for you, this is a career for upi/

“What I need women to know is that we kind of do it a little different, a little better,” she said. “We are more nurturing by nature, and I think bring that special something to law enforcement that truly calms the situation.”

Hall said she will apply the community policing skills she gained in Detroit, where she worked for 19 years, in Dallas.

“The most important thing that we need to know is that it takes the entire city to police any city,” she said. “Whether that is Detroit or Dallas we need everybody — all hands on deck, everybody working together. So one of the things that I’m so proud of is being able to build partnerships with the businesses, the clergy, the residential communities here along with others.”

Dallas City Manager T.G. Broadnax announced Hall’s appointment in a news release, calling her a “proven leader with a stellar background and a passion for public service.”

“These are qualities I believe are critical as we tackle crime to make our city safer while addressing organizational and policy issues within the department,” Broadnax said.

Hall, who was among seven candidates advancing to interviews before a 55-member panel, takes over a police department still in grief over the July 7, 2016, sniper attack that left five Dallas police officers dead and seven others injured.

She replaces David Brown, who retired in October and was the public face for Dallas in the days after the ambush that came at the end of an otherwise peaceful protest of police brutality. When he announced his retirement last fall, he said it was “time to go” and that he found effusive praise for his leadership “distasteful,” the Associated Press reported.

“I started hearing whispers after July 7 of me being untouchable, of me being powerful now since I had national notoriety,” he said at the time. “And it felt self-serving. The notoriety feels self-serving. The idea of being untouchable has not felt right to me.”

Though widely praised, Brown had a tumultuous relationship with Dallas police union officials, who opposed his plan to combat violent crime and said he hadn’t done enough to retain officers. Union officials called for his resignation and replacement before the sniper attack.

Watch the full news conference below.

Photo via Detroit Police Department