New Dallas police chief greets oversight board; city attorney limits policy questions under Open Meetings Act

Chief Daniel D. Como introduced himself to the City of Dallas Community Police Oversight Board at a June 10 meeting and said his top priority is public safety and following the law. The board had scheduled time for an introductory conversation; after a brief opening statement the board and members of the public attempted to ask him policy-level questions about immigration enforcement, crowd response and department priorities but were blocked by the city attorney’s interpretation of the Open Meetings Act.

Why it matters: The exchange left board members and some community speakers frustrated and asking for a follow-up meeting. Board members said they had prepared questions and a letter for the chief and expected the chance to seek substantive answers in public. The city attorney’s ruling narrowed what the chief could answer in the posted “introduction” item, a limitation the board said it will press to resolve.

Como, who took the podium after an introduction by Dominic Artis, Dallas’s chief of public safety, described his approach to policing and…