New Dallas police chief hired in September now takes oath
DALLAS—U. Renee Hall has been Dallas' police chief for eight months, but it wasn't until this week that she completed the final step in making the role official: taking the oath of office.
The Dallas Morning News reports she was sworn in as the city's first female police chief in a ceremony at the Latino Cultural Center near downtown.
Police chiefs are typically sworn in soon after taking office, but Hall's ceremony was postponed because she first had to get her license to be a Texas peace officer. That happened in February.
The department hasn't said why her swearing-in ceremony didn't happen until May.
But the date was decided well before last week's fatal shooting of a Dallas officer, and officials decided to carry on with the ceremony though it was just one day after he was buried.
On Tuesday, Dallas police gathered to bury Officer Rogelio Santander, who was killed last week while trying to arrest a suspect at a Lake Highlands Home Depot. Officer Crystal Almeida and loss-prevention officer Scott Painter were critically wounded.
Hall paid tribute to Santander by having his academy classmates join her on stage, along with Mayor Mike Rawlings, City Manager T.C. Broadnax and members of Hall's command staff.
Hall immediately began making headlines when she moved to Dallas in September, but she's struggled to win over her officers.
She shook up the command staff and demoted a handful of well-respected veterans, a move that surprised many rank-and-file officers. She's also made decisions that she says have helped boost morale, such as allowing officers to have beards and considering letting them take home squad cars.
Hall told D Magazine recently that she has been unfairly criticized.
"She loves being a cop, and she loves being a woman," the magazine wrote. "It's the feminine stuff, she thinks, that has dogged her as Dallas' first female police chief. That and the color of her skin."
The chief said that she is a "woman of faith" who has grown from all of her experiences.
"I think every moment has led me to this moment," she said. "To err is human, and so if at any point I've erred in my leadership or along my way or if I err in the future, it's for my growth and not anything else."
Health issues kept Hall's mother, whom the chief calls her rock, from attending the ceremony, but her brother, former Detroit police colleagues and sorority sisters were there to cheer her on.
The chief also has the public support of the mayor and city manager.
Rawlings said that when Broadnax hired Hall as chief, he hired a "great servant leader."
After taking the oath, Hall acknowledged the risks her officers face daily.
"The circumstances surrounding our fallen hero and our injured officers epitomize one of the greatest challenges facing police departments across this country," the chief said.
Hall had planned to give Santander's badge to his family during Wednesday's ceremony, but when the relatives couldn't make it, she gave it to his classmates.
"I knew that the Dallas Police Department was not immune to tragedy," the chief said. "What I also knew was that the character of the men and women of this organization embodies strength, determination, courage and the desire to continue to make a difference."
She spoke, as she has in the past, of building bridges with the community. The Dallas police academy's graduation last month, for instance, was held at a church in Red Bird and the department's promotional ceremony last week was held at Fair Park.
Wednesday's invite-only event was held at the Latino Cultural Center, which tries to promote Latino art and culture, but there weren't many Latinos in the audience.
When The News asked Hall about the disparity, she said a member of the board of directors of the League of United Latin American Citizens attended the ceremony as a representative of the Latino community.
"Each and every day we continue to figure out what we need to do to build those partnerships," Hall said. "I'm not certain that them not being here as a group is not representative of anything other than they sent a representative."
She added that the department is willing to "do whatever we need to do" to strengthen those relationships.