6 November 30 - December 6, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents a meaningful pursuit. “I think it’s very important that we do this,” Jawad said of the name change. He added that a street name change has been promised to Rodriguez’s mother many times but it never happened. “This family has been betrayed over the last 50 years repeatedly,” Jawad said. Jawad concedes that Jim Miller Road is not an ideal street to rename for Rodriguez. “We would have preferred the street to be in the neighborhood where he grew up, which is Uptown now,” Jawad said. Nonetheless, he was pleased to hear about the proposal. “My initial reaction was ‘We’ve waited 50 years for this. Finally, something is on the ta- ble,’” Jawad said. “I was quite pleased with that. Finally we might see a street named af- ter Santos Rodriguez. He richly deserves that. We need that marker in Dallas.” ▼ POLICE FRENEMIES DALLAS POLICE ASSOCIATION, COMMUNITY POLICE OVERSIGHT BOARD BUTT HEADS. BY JACOB VAUGHN A lison Grinter, a new appointee to the Community Police Oversight Board, said she didn’t expect any confrontation at her first meeting. But that’s what she got from Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association, when he stepped up to the mic during the public speaker session of a board meeting on Nov. 7. “We are trying to get members of the po- lice department, members of the associa- tion, to believe when they step in here they’re going to get a fair shake,” Mata told the board. “How are they supposed to be- lieve that when some individuals who I’m facing with right now have been part of or- ganizations that have spoken harshly, that have said things that are not true, have been adversarial to the police department and members of our association. It violates the agreement we made.” Mata didn’t name anyone specifically at the meeting but he later told the Observer he isn’t happy with two new appointees to the Com- munity Police Oversight Board. Specifically, he said as long as local activist Changa Higgins and Grinter, a local attorney, are on the board, the police association won’t work with it. Last week, The Dallas Morning News published an interview with Mata in which he announces he will leave the DPD in January to accept a position with an energy company. For now, however, he’s advocating for Higgins and Grinter to be taken off the board. “They can leave them on the board,” Mata said. “Sure, leave them on the board. But you’re going to get no cooperation from the Dallas Police Association and its mem- bers. I can promise you that.” The Community Police Oversight Board, made up of 15 members appointed by the City Council, is responsible for reviewing complaints against police officers. The board can also recommend policy changes and conduct its own investigations. The police association president doesn’t like that Higgins has activist roots and that Grinter has worked with activists like Domi- nique Alexander and his organization, Next Generation Action Network, a social justice advocacy group. “If you’re going to have two individuals like that on the committee, how’s an officer supposed to feel like he’s going to get a fair shake?” Mata said. Mata said he’s not sure if there’s a process for getting board members removed. “But it’s their choice,” he said. “They either want to have a cooperative relationship or they don’t. “Since this thing has been created, you haven’t heard me come out and blast whoev- er’s on the committee,” Mata said. He be- lieves some members in the past have had an agenda, but it usually wasn’t so obvious, he said. Things are different with Higgins and Grinter, Mata said. He wants there to be more vetting in the appointment process. “Somebody should have to look at it to make sure that they’re not super pro-police and not anti-police,” Mata said, “just level-headed, everyday citi- zens who do not have an agenda.” Having Grinter and Higgins on the board creates a bigger hurdle of mistrust for peo- ple in the department, Mata said. “From the rank and file, it just revalidates their opinion that they didn’t have a fair shot in the first place,” he said. Higgins could not be reached for comment. Grinter isn’t sure why her appointment to the board would be so controversial. “The thing I’m confused about is why anybody would be upset about people on the board who have been active in civil rights or who have participated with civil rights groups,” she said. “I think that if the police association believes that they are adverse to even the concept of civil rights, well that’s problematic, because really the police and civil rights should not be adverse parties. The police are there to protect us and make sure that everyone is treated equally and with civil rights. So, it’s kind of upsetting to me that Mr. Mata feels that that is a threat to him or the police association.” According to Mata, the relationship be- tween officers and the board hasn’t been good for some time. He said the last community po- lice oversight monitor, Tonya McClary, rou- tinely overstepped her bounds. He also said previous appointees to the board made deci- sions through feelings, not facts. “That’s not the purpose of the board,” Mata said. Officers often have to be subpoenaed to appear before the board or they likely won’t show up. Regardless, the subpoena can’t force an officer to talk and, Mata said, they usually don’t. He thinks if there were more trust between the board and officers, maybe this wouldn’t be the case. “So, what’s the purpose here?” Mata said. “I thought the purpose here was to ensure that the officers felt like they were getting a fair shake, which would encourage them to not only appear but to answer the questions from the oversight board.” Mata, who has been with DPD for more than 25 years, thinks the board is taking the wrong approach to its job. “The whole creation of this board was so that there could be clarity,” he said. “There could be more transparency. There could be more, I don’t want to say accountability, but more understanding between why officers choose to do what they do and the citizens that still have what they feel is a very valid complaint that was not met through the in- ternal affairs division.” He added: “If that’s the whole purpose, then you should have a committee that is un- biased and is willing to bring the complain- ant, who is the citizen, and the officer together in that room and explain and just answer those hard questions. If the citizen still feels like they didn’t get a fair shake but the officer was found to have not done any- thing wrong, well you know what, as adults, there’s plenty of times that we don’t see eye to eye and each just has to walk their own way.” ▼ COWBOYS SPICY NEW STAR DARON BLAND PICKS UP WHERE TREVON DIGGS LEFT OFF. BY KELLY DEARMORE A lthough the Cowboys were catching rays in the glow of a 2-0 record and a pair of dominant defensive perfor- mances to start the 2023 season, a bad moon hovered over the Star in Frisco on Sept. 21. That’s when the team announced that All- Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs would miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL in practice. Three days later, the ‘Boys would lose for the first time in ‘23 at the hands of the pathetic Arizona Cardinals. The defense that had previously dominated looked clueless against journeyman backup QB Josh Dobbs. Even with the offseason ac- quisition of standout cornerback Stephon Gilmore, it was difficult to muster a posi- tive vibe for the future of the Dallas sec- ondary after Week 3. But beyond the upsetting headlines, a bright light had begun to grow with the emergence of backup cornerback DaRon Bland. The 2022 fifth-round pick from Fresno State University snagged intercep- tions in each of the first two games. After the Cowboys’ convincing 45-10 victory on Thanksgiving Day over the dismal Washing- ton Commanders, the second-year ballhawk leads the NFL in interceptions with seven. Bland’s breakout season shares some similarities with the man he replaced. Diggs was also in his second NFL season when he went nuts with a league-leading 11 interceptions in 2021. But perhaps more impressively, Bland has, in barely more than half the season, broken the all-time NFL mark for most interceptions with a touchdown with five. It’s not that Bland has become a true “shutdown corner,” at least not yet. Bland isn’t among the lead leaders in receptions al- lowed, nor has he forced any fumbles, for ex- ample. That’s for the whole season so far, though. The past three games suggest Bland is strengthening his shutdown cor- ner resumé. According to Pro Football Fo- cus, which offers advanced statistical analysis, the former backup has become an undeniable A-lister by allowing barely any catches and a microscopically low passer rating. Added to that is that the dramatic, game- swinging nature of a “pick-six,” which is tough to quantify properly. The impact is both logical and emotional. Picture a center- fielder leaping and snagging a sure home run from over the outfield wall. Not only does the fielder record an out, but he takes run (or runs) and morale away from the other team. The same goes for when a soccer goalkeeper stops a point-blank penalty kick. It’s not a stretch to say that Bland’s per- formance has already punched his ticket to the annual NFL Pro Bowl game, where the year’s best go against each other in an all- star format. Bland currently has the highest grade for cornerbacks from Pro Football Fo- cus, just ahead of New Orleans Saints CB Paulson Adebo and well ahead of estab- lished Pro Bowl types including Mar- cus Peters and Ronald Darby. Ouch. While the NFL bewgins to take notice of Bland’s surprise season, the man himself is just trying to process it all as it comes. “Honestly, it hasn’t hit me,” Bland said to reporters after Sunday’s game, according to ESPN. “I feel like I’m really just kind of do- ing my job. That kind of stuff, I feel like I’ve been doing. I’ve felt like myself, so it’s not re- ally ever hit me because it feel like it’s just another day.” Jim Schutze Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association, said officers have trouble trusting the Community Police Oversight Board. Unfair Park from p4
