Dallas officers reprimanded in incident mocking veteran at Deep Ellum business
DALLAS — Dynell Lane told CBS News Texas he had no comment on the punishment of four officers disciplined in an incident where he endured embarrassment and massive public support.
"It looks like a written reprimand was issued for all four officers. In addition to having them attend training," Major Irene Alanis said.
Alanis works in the Internal Affairs Division of the Dallas Police Department. She said the four officers had a hearing Tuesday with an assistant police chief where they learned the discipline.
Her report on the officers was to the Community Police Oversight Board. On March 7, the group sent a letter to the Dallas City Council citing their frustration with the adjudication process for Lane's case and others.
In Lane's case, the retired Army Sgt. said he was not allowed to use the restroom at Serious Pizza despite trying to get off-duty officers to look at medical documentation reflecting a disability covering emergency restroom use.
Lane said officers would not look at his paperwork on his phone. The retired soldier said he called 911 after soiling himself.
Body camera footage shows two more Dallas officers coming to the Deep Ellum eatery and laughing about the call. Public outrage accompanied Lane's complaint to Internal Affairs, which found the officers did not violate policy.
Lane filed a complaint with the Community Police Oversight Board. The group was disturbed by the DPD outcome and voted to launch an internal investigation. Then, Dallas Police reopened the investigation.
"So the issue that we had previously was a video that was missed in IAD," Alanis said. "And that situation has been handled here in my office."
In its letter to council members, the CPOB said, "It is clear to the eye of any reasonable citizen that what allegedly transpired in the recorded video is a violation of the standards we hold for our officers."
The letter expressed the board's discontent with DPD disclosure in Lane's and other internal affairs cases.
"The current restrictions on disclosures to the Board and the public leaves the Board ill-equipped to accomplish its mandated duty of transparency in cases like the Lane case. The delay and lack of information provided has been unacceptable," the document said.
Police Chief Eddie Garcia is copied on the correspondence and, according to the interim director for the Office of Community Police Oversight, acknowledged receipt.
Alanis said Lane would get a letter from the police department when the investigation ends.