Edna Harrison praises Oak Cliff’s progress against crime and hopes new Police Chief Daniel Comeaux will further improve community safety.
DALLAS — There’s no other neighborhood that Edna Harrison would live in except in Oak Cliff.
“Since 1969 up until now,” said Harrison. “It’s always been a Harrison here at this house.”
She has seen her neighborhood change a lot, from residents coming together to crack down on drug homes to vehicles speeding.
“They had to work with a group that came into the area, and they showed us how to get rid of those drug houses. That’s what we did, and that one is gone. They renovated it,” said Harrison. “It’s been getting much better, much better.”
That is the progress she hopes continues, especially as Dallas welcomes its new Police Chief, Daniel Comeaux.
“I wouldn’t say I was disappointed, but I really thought that the interim chief was going to be the chief,” said Harrison.
Comeaux was appointed out of a pool of five top candidates following a nationwide search. He is a 33-year law enforcement veteran, having started out with the Houston Police Department and spending almost three decades with the DEA.
While serving as DEA’s Special Agent in Charge in Houston, he now returns to local law enforcement.
“We can improve on the entire command staff being in the community, and it’s going to be a priority that not only the high ranks in the community, but we peel off some time for officers to actually be in the community,” said Comeaux as he spoke with WFAA during the interview process.
Harrison would like to see that as well, along with organizations such as Urban Specialists.
The group has spent more than 20 years in the community addressing violence, poverty, and connecting residents with healthy resources. The CEO, Antong Lucky, said he’ll be watching Comeaux’s first day as chief closely.
“The way he come in, the way he leads, the way he shows up on the first day is going to be indicative of what his tenure is going to be here. If he’s showing up the first day saying hey man, I want to connect with people in these communities, I want to understand from a community perspective how they see it, how we can bridge the gap and have a relationship I think that’s going to be important,” said Lucky.
Residents said they are also concerned about the city’s ability to hire more officers after Proposition U passed in November as part of the so-called “HERO amendments.”
“The thing that we just voted for is to get more officers. We kind of have to. We didn’t really understand, but we’re still working on that,” said Harrison.
“So first of all, I want to try to put in a plan where we start hiring maybe some contract officers. Some officers are retired, but they can come back on hourly salaries so we can get more of a visible present on officers that have experience,” said Harrison. “You really have to be laser-focused on recruiting the right way.”
With the city’s violent crimes down more than 12% as of March and down 16% as of February in the DPD’s South Central Division where Edna lives, she just wants continued progress.
“I just want to feel safe. I don’t want to move anywhere else. I love my neighborhood,” said Harrison.
