Officers: Please Let the City Heal

I have a lot of friends who are officers in the Dallas Police Department, and some are officers in surrounding cities. I support police causes where ever I can. As you all know, I make mention on this blog of any officer or member of the Dallas Fire Rescue that passes while serving this City.

The deaths that occurred a week ago are all tragedies, and emotions are still running high. It has been said that some officers are planning a protest on Monday morning.  Since no one else will say it, I will.  I hope that cooler heads can prevail here, and no protest takes place on Monday or any other day.

No one is trying to minimize any of the tragedies that have occurred.


While I have never been an officer, I have had a family member shot in the line of duty as a police officer.  He got shot because he assisted on a arrest after his shift was over and and didn't have his vest. He lived because the bullet hit a couple of inches from where it would have been fatal. I sat in that emergency room wondering if our family member was going to pull through.  I've been to the funerals of Dallas Police Officers and Fire Rescue members who have been killed, and I sat with you. My brother has applied to be in the police academy back home. I am with you.

But while some of you are planning protests and the like, remember this: people in my generation are looking to you all as leaders, ambassadors, and protectors of this City. Your work is respected and valued, and we take our cues from how the older generation handles life in times of stress, grief, and anger.

This city needs to heal. I understand you are hurting. We all are. Please don't go through with this protest. Please let our City heal and move forward the best it can.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown's Statement to DPD on Lancaster Shooting

To the Members of the Dallas Police Department:

The past few days have been very troubling and emotional for all of us. My family has not only lost a son, but a fellow police officer and a private citizen lost their lives at the hands of our son. That hurts so deeply I can not adequately express the sadness I feel inside my heart.

My deepest sympathy goes out to Officer Craig Shaw's family, the Lancaster police Department and to the citizens that he was attempting to protect. I also want to express my sympathy to the family of Jeremy McMillian. I have reached out to both families. I pray that both families find comfort from their faith, family and friends during this difficult time.

As police officers we reach out everyday to people who need our help and guidance. It makes me proud to stand with you side by side and be part of such a recognized and accomplished police force. Public support and confidence in our department is strong and extends from the Mayor's office and City Council offices to the City Manager's office, and most importantly to the citizens we serve. This support derives from a variety of sources but none more important than the hard work performed daily by the men and women of this department. As you go about your daily duties protecting the citizens of Dallas, please be mindful of your surroundings and look out for one another.

I want to thank the many people who have emailed me or tried to call me. I have not been able to return your messages but I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers. I know many people are praying for my family and me and that gives me enormous comfort.

God bless you and your families and the citizens of Dallas.

Chief David Brown

Dallas Police Department

(h/t Scott Goldstein at the DMN)

Four Year Anniversary for Dallas Progress

Four years ago I started this blog.  It's hard to believe how fast time flies.

I still feel inspired to write.  I am humbled by the support and readership of Dallas Progress over the years,  I never expected to have a large audience or to be in some of the circles in which I participate.  There's a large group of younger professionals and citizens which I like to say are part of my crew.  There's too many to mention, so I'll just send a shout out to all of you.

I thank all of you for the e-mails and comments over the years. I thank the larger media venues for the links to the blog, which started from Day One.

As I said before, I'm expanding what I write about but still the main focus will stay the same.  We're still here, we never left.

Where I'll be this Weekend - on the Road with 350 Teens!

Every month, Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway has Teen Summits that draw hundreds of Dallas youth to City Hall and other locations for meetings, seminars, and forums on various important topics.

Once per year, Caraway takes teens on the road to get them out of their neighborhood and comfort zone to experience the opportunities that area available to them.

This year, he is taking 350 underprivileged teens on the road to Memphis and Little Rock. Among other stops there will be two college tours, a tour of the Stax Records Music Museum, the National Civil Rights Museum, and Central High School where the Little Rock Nine integrated Arkansas public schools.

College admittance and scholarships will be available for teens who bring transcripts and test scores along for the trip.

For any media interested in covering the trip, we will be gathering in front of City Hall this evening at 830 pm and leaving around 10. We will return at 2am on Saturday night.

The cost of the trip is free, and no City money is involved in this trip.  It will be fun and we may do some live-blogging along the way.

Twitpic and Tag Yourself! Also Event Grouping is now Live

Yes, it's finally here.  Twitpic has added the photo tagging feature that allows you to add twitter names of you and your friends to each pic!  People have been asking for this feature for some time.

Again, you can now tag your friends on twitpics to your heart's desire. Just don't twitpic and tag Lebron James getting dunked on, because you may be out of a camera or phone.

As shown on Mashable, it's pretty easy to use.

You have the option of sending an @ reply to the person tagged, which is always a good move out of common courtesy (since everyone doesn't want to be tagged).  This coupled with the recently announced feature of organizing photos by event (a la Flickr), shows twitpic is trying to separate itself a bit from others in this field.

Let me know if there are any glitches when tagging.

Apple iPhone 4 Rollout - Steve Jobs Speech and More

Here is the link to the Steve Jobs Speech from yesterday's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2010, during which the iPhone 4 was revealed.

Just like everything else Apple does, it has to be viewed in an Apple-owned format. In this case, that would be the awfulness that is Quicktime.  iHate Quicktime.

• Link to Apple's iPhone 4 promo video.

• Link to the promo for Apple's Facetime video chat service (which by the way can only be used if you're on WiFi and going to another iPhone 4).

iPhone lovers, rejoice!

Time to Let Go of Southwest Center Mall, unless...

This won't be as in depth as some of the other pieces I've written on Southwest Center Mall.

The time has passed. JC Penney is not coming back. Dillard's is not coming back.

I think what's left at this point is to pack up the tent and use the money proposed to hold the option on the former JC Penney space for something else. I doubt the owner has anyone else lined up. If they do, let potential suitors contract directly with the landowner for the space.  The new buyer will still come asking the city for incentives to purchase and redevelop.

I had an ideas to attract one of the high-end outlet malls to the site.  If people will go to Terrell to shop, they'll certainly drive down 67 in Oak Cliff. But even plans for future outlets are being shelved, as was the case a month ago for a high-end outlet mall near the old Texas Stadium site.

Monday's briefing to the City Council Economic Development Committee says that "discussions with potential redevelopment partners have not resulted in an immediate redevelopment opportunity or an identifiable short term solution for the JC Penney site." That's a problem, and it's rooted in the fact that the a lot of the same problems are still exist around the mall. Retail stores will not come to your area unless you have:

1) Income demographics to justify the location

2) The ability to prove up retail buying power in a given area.

3) A handle on the crime problem, unlike the environment that still exists since the last time I wrote about this area. When I lived in the Red Bird area, the Pizza Hut on Camp Wisdom wouldn't even deliver to apartments.

The city budget has major issues, and I don't think buying time on a dead space is a good use of scarce funds.

I wish I could write something more upbeat about the mall, but I have to be realistic. Unless the city pulls a rabbit out of the hat in their executive session on Monday (which is possible according to page 9 of the above-linked briefing), it's time to let market forces dictate what happens to the mall.

UPDATE: rumor has it that the new "news" is that Macy's is looking to leave Southwest Center Mall.  But now there's a push to shift focus and save the Macy's? I stand by this post.