The public still has a lot of questions about the shooting death of Botham Jean, including: Why has Dallas police officer Amber Guyger not been fired?
That issue was brought up Tuesday night at a town hall meeting at Paul Quinn College, where Chief Renee Hall took questions from the audience and asked for patience and trust.
Community members asked why the Jean case – in which Guyger fatally shot the 26-year-old in his apartment, saying she mistook the unit for her own – was transferred to the Texas Rangers and why Guyger was not arrested the day Jean was killed.
Hall asked the community to be patient and to allow investigators to do a complete investigation, including talking to more potential witnesses. She said the community talks about not trusting DPD and then criticizing the move to bring in an outside agency.
But it was clear there was a lot of frustration, and attendees still wanted to know why Guyger has not been fired.
"I can’t do that because there are both local, state and federal laws that prohibit me from taking action," Hall said. "There are civil service laws we have to adhere to.”
The Dallas Police Department general orders do allow the chief to take action, saying, "The Chief of Police may circumvent all formal disciplinary procedures to render an immediate decision when it deems it necessary to preserve the integrity of the department.”
The general orders are the policies that officers have to follow and are governed by within the department.
It was unclear what laws chief Hall was referring to, but she promised she would release copies of the laws.
Police chiefs across the state and in Dallas have fired officers under criminal investigation. An internal investigation is typically conducted, but the chief can order that process to be expedited.