Mayor Eric Johnson launches Task Force on Safe Communities

By: Ruth Ferguson, NDG Editor

The death of 9-year-old Brandoniya Bennet last Wednesday, shot while sitting in her East Dallas apartment admiring her back-to-school freshly painted nails, broke the heart of many.

Local and national headlines were filled with the news of how she died when allegedly an Instagram argument between two teens who considered themselves rappers took a tragic turn.

City of Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson stated that because of her death and that of many others, he formed a task force with a described mission of “curbing violence in communities throughout the city.” 

Earlier that morning on the first day of school for Dallas ISD students, the mayor with his wife and youngest son, together took his oldest son to class for his first day of kindergarten.

“It was not lost on me young Brandoniya should have started school too,” the mayor reflected at his afternoon press conference. 

The Mayor’s Task Force on Safe Communities should gain community and stakeholder input; combine this with data to build consensus on next steps. The goal is to stop and prevent violent crime in Dallas without exclusive reliance on law enforcement action.

“I believe in the Dallas Police Department,” Mayor Johnson said. “And I believe that the Dallas Police Department’s focus on guns, gangs, and drugs is both smart and necessary to help reduce violent crime in our city. 

“But we can’t ask or expect law enforcement to do it all. To paraphrase one of our former police chiefs, we already ask cops to do too much. Police have to be social workers. They have to deal with mental health and drug addiction and cycles of abuse. And we’ve asked law enforcement to do all of these things in an environment where illegal guns are far too easy for criminals to obtain.”

The mayor is seeking an official report with recommendations by the end of the year. 

Trio selected to lead the task force

To lead the task force, the mayor introduced three co-chairs:

• Pastor Michael Bowie, senior pastor at St. Luke Community United Methodist Church;
• Rene Martinez, a longtime educator and community activist; and
• Alan Cohen, President & CEO of the Child Poverty Action Lab.

“I’m grateful to all three of these dedicated community leaders for their service,” Mayor Johnson said.

More members of the task force are to be named later. 

The co-chairs did not speak during the brief City Hall press conference, issuing statements individually to the press. 

“Ending this scourge of violence will start with taking steps in our communities and being willing to carry each other’s burdens. The work ahead will be challenging, but I am confident the collective wisdom and spirit of this task force will serve this city well,” Pastor Michael Bowie stated. 

“I have seen over many years the ups and downs of crime in Dallas over many decades. I have always tried to be part of the solution. In my lifetime of community public service and leadership, I have learned how much we can accomplish when we unite around a cause. So I’m honored that the mayor has asked me to once again serve my community by helping make Dallas a safer place to live in,” Rene Martinez said. 

“I am honored that Mayor Johnson has asked me to co-chair this Task Force. To achieve lasting impact on issues as complex as crime and public safety, I believe strongly in taking an inclusive approach that combines the use of data-driven insights with the lived experience of community members. So I look forward to hearing from citizens and stakeholders seeking actionable solutions to improve safety for all Dallas residents,” Alan Cohen shared. 

Recent deadly headlines

Shortly before Mayor Johnson’s June election, Dallas witnessed 41 murders during the month of May. As a result, Governor Gregg Abbott sent Texas State Troopers to the city to help support the efforts of a short-staffed Dallas Police Department.

The involvement of the Troopers has been a subject of debate in the Southern Dallas community. Recently, City Councilman Adam Bazaldua at the request of residents in District 7, called for their removal. In about seven weeks, they claimed to have between 9,000 – 12,000 traffic stops, which resulted in the discovery of 70 illegal guns, and hundreds of arrests. 

Over the weekend, the Troopers shot and killed a suspect who reportedly aimed a gun at them after resisting their attempts to pull him over for a traffic violation. 

The formation of the task force follows daily headlines for nearly a week filled with announcements of more shooting murder victims. 

In addition to the death of young Brand   Thursday, Christopher Whitfield Johnson, the son of Dallas ISD Trustee for District 5, Maxie Johnson died following an overnight shooting. 

Last night 59-year-old Gerald Wayne Harris was killed shortly after midnight. The suspect then stole Harris’ bicycle as he died from his wounds in a shopping center parking lot.