"No Confidence" in Chief Kunkle
Submitted by History on Tue, 05/29/2007 - 11:04.
Let's see what Chief Kunkle has done since he started that might have ticked off the "rank and file" causing them to vote "no confidence"...
How about disciplining the TAC officer that was parking his patrol car to go off with a hooker?
How about firing the officer that hadn't show up for work in more than a year?
How about firing the officers that had been caught driving drunk?
How about firing the officer that had been flashing people?
How about firing the officers involved in making threats against a reporter who was actively investigating the DPD?
How about firing the officers involved in the fake drug scandal?
Hmmm....seems to me that until Chief Kunkle showed up being a Dallas Police Officer was a pretty cushy job. Heck, you didn't even have to show up to get paid. If you did show up, no one seemed to care if you were actually doing your job or not. Getting paid to pick up hookers sounds like every frat boy's wet dream to me. And if any of the local reporters get nosy about what's going on, you can just threaten and blackmail them with impunity. The public never has to know. What a nice way to run the police department. You never have to worry about breaking a law yourself, because, heck, you are the law. As for the "fake drug" scandal, I have my own ideas and if they pan out, firing will be the least of their worries.
Now Chief Kunkle has come in and changed all that. You have to show up if you want to remain employed. You aren't allowed to park your car and go off with prostitutes or playing basketball. You, as a police officer, are expected to uphold the law and now you get punished for breaking it even if that means you're held accountable for exposing yourself or driving drunk. You're also not allowed to threaten the press and a whole host of other things that's been going on the DPD for quite some time.
Of course the officers are upset. They're mad that their "perks of position" are being taken away. The thing is, it's stuff they never should be allowed to get away with in the first place.
Stupid Comment re DPD
There is more to commanding a department than firing officers. You need to stick to what you do.
[Ed Note: Very true. However, hiring and firing goes with the territory too. Glad I'm not Chief. The city should be glad too!]
No Confidence in DPD Officers
By the end of the first month after newly arriving in Dallas in the spring of 1967, my single parent mother & I had already learned to deeply fear the DPD. Two creeps in DPD uniform had literally shaken her down for her pocket money in broad daylight at Ross & Peak. This culture of corruption & the associated sadism that perpetuated it were the DPD hallmark for many years, from headquarters to substation to squad car, and it has taken it's toll upon Dallas citizenry.
Bad elements have unfortunately persisted over decades in giving the DPD it's (some say well deserved) abhorrent reputation. I've often wondered myself about the effectiveness of hiring criteria at DPD after personally witnessing many incidents of what I've come to call "Perpetrator Basketball". I visibly shuddered upon hearing in the news a few years back that DPD was having difficulty filling the ranks, becasue it's a simple exercise in logic to postulate that a less stringent candidate selection process would surface.
It's truly a breath of fresh air watching Chief Kunkle 'cull the herd' & clean house. Chief Kunkle has this citizen's full confidence. And Crusier & Bruiser? IMHO, they both need lots of alone-time to think about the crimes they've perpetrated and the errors in their ways. Say...23 hours per day perhaps?
No Confidence in Kunkle?
The citizens of Dallas are not getting what they deserve in a LEADER from Kunkle. He might (stress might) be a fair manager, but fails to measure up as a Leader. He is so far out of touch it is incredible.
He disciplines employees based upon personal or media interest. He has not taken any action against the idiot who had his weapon stolen while playing basketball.
Why? Political Correctness.
Why doesn't someone look into the million dollar fiasco called "CAD" that was "rolled out" this week to improve police and fire response. The system is a failure and will only reduce response times. The Chief issued an order for no one to talk negatively about this CAD failure at the comptat meeting. If he was a true and effective leader, why the need to silence the critics.
Wake up and realize that the majority of cops want a clean and well managed department, one that is run by an effective and respected leader not a puppet.
[Ed Note: Heavily edited. Usually I prefer to see things like this go to Underground Cop, but you make a few interesting points. First, I have a question: why do incidents gain media attention? Is a police officer, in commission of a DWI, worthy of media attention? What about the security camera incident we talked about?
The follow-up question is: are these things worthy of discipline? Better yet: is there any reason any such actions would not be worthy of discipline? Perhaps you believe: "hey, we're police officers, and anything we do is between us and our peers--not us and the public we serve?"
When someone grabs the spotlight because of something he or she does, it is usually because it's something that needs to be dealt with.
Now to the CAD system.
It's not going to slow you down--quite the opposite. It will end up being a huge help just like it is in other cities.
I'm an instrument-rated pilot. I didn't get that way overnight. The CAD system operator's position is complicated--and it's going to take weeks for a dispatcher to gain the proficiency needed to properly utilize the features.
Give it some time, and I think you'll like the difference it will make to the officer on the street.
Back to Kunkle: lay off him. He's a cop's cop, and the first decent manager you guys have had in a long time.
Do your thing, don't hold yourselves to a lesser standard than you expect from the public, and you'll succeed on your own merits. Too bad we haven't found a way to pay you guys a decent salary. Maybe that's something I need to work on here at Dallas.Org.]