Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price Announces Special Panel To Review Police Use Of Force In Wake Of Deadly Shooting Of Atatiana Jefferson
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - A special panel will be formed to evaluate and review the Fort Worth Police Department's policies and practices tied to use of force.
Mayor Betsy Price announced Tuesday a directive issued to City Manager David Cook to craft an external panel to examine the FWPD.
"This is a top priority the city needs to address. As Mayor, I'm asking (the City Manager) to take immediate action to bring in a third party panel to review police procedures, use of force and processes we have in place," Price announced.
Dean shot Jefferson last Saturday, after being dispatched to a wellfare check at her house.
Body cam video released by FWPD shows Dean firing once through a window. Dean was arrested on a murder charge. He resigned from the department.
The shooting became the ninth officer involved shooting for FWPD this year.
The Texas Black Legislative Caucus has called for a review of police policy on use of force and police de-escalation procedures.
State Representative Nicole Collier of Fort Worth said Tuesday Jefferson's death made her angry, and she demands change.
"We shouldn't have people die as a result of a welfare check," Collier said.
The brother of victim Atatiana Jefferson, Adarius Carr, said the shooting death of his sister was a failure of police training, in concert with the officer who fired the shot.
"Whoever was with him, whoever sent him out there failed him. The training failed him. There's a lot that has to get fixed. The city failed him," Carr said.
