AUSTIN, Texas (Texas Insider Report) — “I was a Police Officer in Ft. Worth for 15 years, and I can tell you there are 4 key things, that if any Police Department does, it fixes 95% of their problems." said Texas State Rep. Phil King prior to detailing what all Police Departments need to do to stop events like the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota."The first one is, you’ve got to have really, really good recruiting. You’ve got to pick the right people, that have the right psychological disposition, the right education, and the right background to fit that job – It’s a unique and tough job,” said King (right, R-Weatherford) who serves as a member of the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee in the Texas House of Representatives.
“Second, you’ve got to have really, really good training. And, you’ve got to have training continuously throughout their career.
“Third, and probably the most important of all, is you’ve got to have really great, 1st-line supervision. The sergeant in the Police Departments, in the Sheriff’s Department, are the backbone of the those agencies. Right now they’re way to thin on those, because it’s a budget issue.
“And the forth thing is, building Community Relationships. Everyone has to work on building relationships in those inner-city communities – with the pastors, the business owners, all the City Council Members, the grassroots leaders – you’ve got to build those relationships years in advance, because once that flood comes, its way too late to build that bridge,” said King.
“Second, you’ve got to have really, really good training. And, you’ve got to have training continuously throughout their career.
“Third, and probably the most important of all, is you’ve got to have really great, 1st-line supervision. The sergeant in the Police Departments, in the Sheriff’s Department, are the backbone of the those agencies. Right now they’re way to thin on those, because it’s a budget issue.
“And the forth thing is, building Community Relationships. Everyone has to work on building relationships in those inner-city communities – with the pastors, the business owners, all the City Council Members, the grassroots leaders – you’ve got to build those relationships years in advance, because once that flood comes, its way too late to build that bridge,” said King.
Appearing on DFW's NBC-5 "Lone Star Politics" Program with King, State Rep. Nicole Collier, a Democrat from Ft. Worth who currently chairs the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee in the Texas House of Representatives, talked about possible future work the Texas Legislature needs to address in 2021 to prevent anything similar in Texas.
When asked about the idea to “defund the police,” Collier responded, saying:“We really need to look at the way they’re saying it. Technically, that’s not the exact way that people are looking at it.
"The policies they’re pushing for, is to re-allocate or re-distribute funding. We don’t want to see the police militarized, we want to fund more programming that can help in the communities.
“I would not advocate for 'defunding the police' completely. In fact, when I call 911 and ask for the police, I want them to show up.
"So I think the messaging should be that we want some of the money that’s going toward the weapons, or infrastructure, allocated and re-distributed to community programs” Collier said.
"The policies they’re pushing for, is to re-allocate or re-distribute funding. We don’t want to see the police militarized, we want to fund more programming that can help in the communities.
“I would not advocate for 'defunding the police' completely. In fact, when I call 911 and ask for the police, I want them to show up.
"So I think the messaging should be that we want some of the money that’s going toward the weapons, or infrastructure, allocated and re-distributed to community programs” Collier said.
