Dallas Police Chief Fired - An act of racism?

[UnrepentantSinner]

http://cbs11tv.com/dfwnews/local_story_238221310.html

Of course the "community activists" were all over the City Counsel meeting today. When one was asked to step away from the podium, he gave some smart*** retort and the crowd started chanting "No Justice, No Peace."

We all know what they really mean.. :rolleyes:

[a_unique_person]

So what the heck is the politics of the whole deal. Why is there a Dallas Police Association and a Fraternal Order of Police?
Why would they want to sack him, if they did not give a reason?

[UnrepentantSinner]

Originally posted by a_unique_person
So what the heck is the politics of the whole deal. Why is there a Dallas Police Association and a Fraternal Order of Police?
Why would they want to sack him, if they did not give a reason?

More on the Controversy.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2070110
That offers insite into why he was fired.

A recent federal crime report showed Dallas would have the highest crime rate among the nation's largest cities for the sixth year in a row if projections held true through the end of the year.

Bolton maintained that the crime rate in the nation's eighth-largest city, with 1.21 million residents, had fallen significantly in the past decade, despite an apparent spike in crime for the first half of the year.

Assistant Chief Randy Hampton was named interim chief while a nationwide search for Bolton's replacement is conducted.

The department has been plagued with problems. Last year, the FBI began investigating how paid confidential informants allegedly set up dozens of innocent people, mostly Mexican immigrants, on charges involving drugs that later turned out to be a white powder that looks like cocaine.

One officer was fired and another remains on paid leave. Drug charges against more than 80 victims were later dismissed by Dallas County prosecutors.

The city has paid $5.65 million to settle lawsuits by police commanders demoted by Bolton after his hiring in 1999. Bolton didn't cite reasons related to their performance but spoke of the need for diversity in his top staff.

The Dallas FOP and the Dallas Police Assn. are largely resultant from the development of efforts to integrate the police force and resistance to doing so by both white, black and Hispanic officers.

What's funny about race politics in Dallas is that it's usually cast in black and white, but our City Manager (and the one who actually let Bolton go) is Hispanic as are about 1/3 or more of the cities population.

[Charlie Monoxide]

It always saddens me to see the "race card" played. I firmly believe that non-whites in positions of power can screw up just as well as any white in the same position.

I'm not aware of all the details in the Dallas case, but in Houston the chief of police (black) just recently resigned due to a number of problems in his department. I don't recall there being any issue as regards to his "race" or some "white" conspiracy to get him dumped.

Charlie (skin colour is only a fashion statement) Monoxide

[DrChinese]

Funny, Bolton himself called the firing "a slap in the face" of the black community in Dallas. That would mean he viewed his firing as nothing but racism, but his getting the job in the first place was "merit". Black civic leaders imply strongly that they should have been consulted before he was fired. Wouldn't that make it racism?

But as soon as he took office, he demoted a number of his top (and very senior) commanders without giving an explanation. The sword swings both ways, doesn't it? When he did it, he said it was his right to choose his key staff. When he gets axed, it's now a different standard to be applied.

In fact, Bolton is the biggest clown I have ever seen in a public office (I know, I am prone to a bit of exaggeration). It is a joke that he would lead a large police force.

Just a few days ago, a columnist in the local paper said his record - after 4 years - was dismal. An understatement, to be sure, but a very public expression of what was commonly thought. He was fired the following week, after meeting with the mayor.