The Dallas Police Department concluded the internal investigation and disciplinary hearings of 22 former Vice Unit detectives. These investigations and hearings were to address policy violations, misconduct and failures to supervise within the Vice Unit.
“Ethics and integrity define who we are as a police department,” said Police Chief Reneé Hall. “We must always operate with the highest level of integrity to ensure that we maintain trust and strong relationships with the residents we serve. Though not popular, these actions were necessary to create a more efficient department and bring us closer to our goals as a world-class department.”
Members of this unit admitted to replacing confidential funds with gambling winnings and failed to place evidentiary or seized money and/or property into the property room, per departmental policy. Due to poor, or lack of any documentation, this investigation was unable to verify how detectives accounted for monetary gambling winnings, confidential funds or how they disposed of gambling machines. They violated the General Orders found in Section 321.00 and DPD’s Standard Operating Procedures.
An investigation by the Public Integrity Unit (PIU) into the vice detectives and supervisors was conducted. The PIU detectives also met with the District Attorney’s Office at the time, however, it was determined that there was insufficient evidence to prove or disprove that any criminal offenses had been committed in connection with the unaccounted-for property or money discovered by the audit.
Upon conclusion of this nearly 3-year investigation, senior leadership made the decision to render discipline ranging from a written reprimand to suspensions without pay. The range varies according to the officers’ violations.
“We are disappointed in the actions of these officers, supervisors and the leadership team as a whole, but will use this experience to provide better oversight and efficiencies in the future,” said Assistant Chief Avery Moore of the Criminal Investigations and Tactical Bureau. “For our department to properly serve the residents of Dallas there must be trust, and our residents deserve to know that our officers are held to the highest of standards.”
The Vice Unit was disbanded in November of 2017 and completely overhauled with a team of new officers who underwent extensive training. The results have been successful in their quest to suppress prostitution, illegal gambling, human trafficking, sexually-oriented business enforcement, and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission code violations. This group of men and women have demonstrated a level of professionalism and dedication that is expected of all our officers.
Of the 22 officers, three were not present today to learn of their discipline.
For the executive summary on the Vice Unit, click here.
