Mesquite City Council discusses communication policy regarding officer involved shootings

Mesquite News
By Winston Henvey / Star Local Media
January 18, 2024

Following a Dec. 14 officer involved shooting, City Manager Cliff Keheley presented the city’s current communication policy in a Mesquite City Council work session on Jan. 16.

According to Keheley, several community members had concerns with the city’s process for releasing footage of officer involved shootings. In an effort to remain transparent, Keheley said he wanted to explore possible changes to the process of communicating officer involved shootings with the public.

Keheley said that the police department’s goal is to always release the video footage between 7-10 days after the incident. With exception to weekends or holidays, the city has met their seven-day mark.

Keheley said that the process involved an immediate criminal investigation from the department and an investigation from a response team from the Dallas District Attorney’s office. Mesquite officers will collect all evidence from the scene and turn it over to the district attorney, Keheley said. The department will carry out a 60-90-day criminal investigation and a 45-day internal investigation. The case will go before a grand jury within 90 days, Keheley said.

According to Keheley, the officer involved in the shooting is not required to make a statement.

The city will include community groups, including the Hispanic Forum of Mesquite, the Mesquite Tri-East NAACP, LULAC, pastors from local churches, the mayor and the city public information officer, when reviewing a video of the officer involved shooting, to ensure all necessary information is being communicated, and the police department does not present any bias.

While there was some suggestion to potentially expedite communication to the public, Council Member B. W. Smith said that his experience working with the Dallas District Attorney on officer involved shootings taught him that the investigation takes time, and he agrees with the current policy.

Council Member Elizabeth Rodriguez-Ross said that she would be more in favor of having at least three council members, including the mayor and two rotating council members, to ensure the department gets more diverse feedback, than they would from the same members for every case.

Council member Jeff Casper said he did not see a need for any elected official from the city to sit on the committee to review the footage.

The city will continue reviewing its policy to ensure better transparency, Keheley said.