Off-duty Dallas police officers in uniform working security at Serious Pizza wouldn’t look at Lane’e medical paperwork either. Lane called the police over the incident but left the restaurant because of his urinary and bowel issues before two on-duty police officers showed up to the scene. “So you guys made a guy pee himself?” one of the on-duty officers said with a laugh.
Since the video went viral, DPD’s internal affairs division has been investigating the incident, but the Community Police Oversight Board isn’t satisfied with how the investigation has been going.
On Jan. 11, Jose Rivas Jr., the board’s vice chair, sent a memo to the chief of police expressing concerns over the Lane investigation. The entire City Council was copied on the memo, which provides a timeline of events, beginning in June 2023 when Lane filed a complaint with DPD. In July, the department determined that no investigation was warranted based on Lane’s complaint, the memo explained. Then, Lane filed a complaint with the Office of Community Police Oversight, which took the complaint to the board in August. The review of the complaint and the subsequent body-worn camera video resulted in the board voting to conduct its own investigation.
The memo goes on to explain that in September, the board learned that DPD had chosen to reopen the case. At the direction of the city attorney’s office, the Office of Community Police Oversight halted its investigation to wait for the conclusion of DPD’s investigation.
The process has been slower than expected.“At this point, it’s unacceptable." – Changa Higgins, Community Police Oversight Board
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“Both the board and Mr. Lane anticipated the prompt and reasonable resolution of the complaint,” Rivas' memo said. “However, the most recent [Dallas Police Department internal affairs division] investigation progress update provided to the board on Jan. 9 has raised apprehensions and dissatisfaction among our board members. The board perceives the progress and updates as unresponsive and lacking transparency, causing unease for the board, the complainant, and the residents of Dallas.”
Rivas wrote of a particular concern revolving around a DPD employee taking leave during the department’s employee review process, “which board members believe is needlessly prolonging the investigation.”
The memo added, “While recognizing the existence of an established administrative investigation review process within DPD, the board unanimously expresses displeasure and disappointment with the perceived delay in achieving a timely and reasonable conclusion to this investigation.”
Reached for comment, the department said, “The administrative investigation is ongoing. The investigative process follows our policy to prioritize accuracy and the integrity of the investigation.”
This has all played out in Community Police Oversight Board meetings over the last few months.
Internal affairs division Maj. Irene Alanis explained at the Dec. 12 Community Police Oversight Board meeting that the investigation into Lane’s case was in the employee review process at that point. That means that the internal affairs investigator had submitted their investigation, it had been reviewed by Alanis and the board’s interim director and it was then being reviewed by the officers involved in the case. Asked how long the review process could take, Alanis couldn’t give a definitive answer, saying the division works around officers’ schedules.
Board member Jonathan Maples also asked about the timeline of the review at the December meeting.
“We’re roughly 90 days out and you are going to work around the schedule of the employees so that they get the opportunity to tell their side of the story," Maples said. "Is that correct?”
Alanis said that was not correct.
Maples continued, asking, "Then what is the board waiting on the officers to do?"
Alanis explained that the board and the division are waiting for the officers to review the case. Asked to estimate a date for the results of the review, Alanis said that the department tries to get the officers in as quickly as possible and did not have a timeline for when the whole process would be concluded.
As part of the employee review process, officers have the opportunity to review the investigation. From there, the officers can agree or disagree with the investigation's findings and provide any additional information if they wish. After the review stage, the chain of command makes a recommendation based on the investigation. From there, it goes to the officers’ assistant chief for review and disciplinary action if necessary.
One board member steered clear of making accusations but noted that it seemed like there was major foot-dragging going on with this case. “It’s disheartening if anyone is putting that narrative out there because we have been working diligently on this case,” Alanis replied.
At the board’s Jan. 9 meeting, Alanis explained that one of the officers involved who needed to review the investigation is out on medical leave and is expected to return to work by the end of the month."The investigative process follows our policy to prioritize accuracy and the integrity of the investigation.” – Dallas Police Department
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“These are the things that become frustrating to me as a citizen first and as a member of the oversight board second,” Maples said at that meeting. “I thought that with the black eye this presented, this would’ve been wrapped up in 90 days. But we’re pushing further and further toward a year. … This is extremely frustrating because when you know right from wrong, it shouldn’t take forever to get things resolved.”
Changa Higgins, board member for District 3, said he agreed with Maples. “At this point, it’s unacceptable,” Higgins said. “We do have powers. We do have things we can do.” He said the issue should be brought to the full City Council or its Public Safety Committee. “At this point, it needs to be escalated,” he added.
The board voted unanimously to send a memo to the chief of police and full City Council outlining their frustration with the case.
Higgins recently told the Observer he feels the board is being purposefully weakened.
“They are trying as much as they can to block any real, meaningful action from this board,” he said. “It’s so obvious.”
Higgins didn’t notice this sort of thing when he wasn’t on the board, but now, he says he sees this new picture clearly.
“You guys [Dallas police] are trying to keep this board from doing anything, and I’m not going to be silent about it anymore,” he said. “I’m not on this board to waste the taxpayers and residents of Dallas’ time, and we could be doing things and making decisions that could save somebody’s life, or keep somebody from experiencing violence by the cops or just bad policy period.”
Board member Alison Grinter told the Observer she, too, didn’t understand why Lane's case was taking so long. “It is frustrating because this is not a complicated issue,” Grinter said. “It’s embarrassing, not complicated.” Grinter hopes that the department will take a look at its processes, see it from the community’s perspective and make changes.
She said the board was set up to bring transparency about the police department, but she doesn't think that's happened yet.
“We don’t feel like we’ve been able to do much of that,” she said. “Either the department is delaying for some reason, or, and I suspect that this is the case, the processes that the department has set up don’t really prioritize speed and transparency. And when I say speed, I mean good God. We’re not asking for the Flash.”
She said she thinks a reasonable conclusion on the case could have been reached in three hours. “I understand that there are a lot of people that have to take a look at this, but I mean, we started this in August,” Grinter said. “Whatever the process is, it’s taking too long.”
