Former EPPD Chief: “It’s a sad day in America today”
Law enforcement officers in the Borderland are grieving with others around the country after a gunman shot and killed five Dallas police officers Thursday night.
El Paso County Commissioner Carlos Leon, El Paso Police Chief from 1999 to 2003, provided some perspective on what it’s like for officers when some of their own are killed in the line of duty.
“It’s just one of those situations that’s going to ripple throughout the country and I think the world because things are changing,” Leon said, “It’s not like when I came on the police department in 1974. Now there’s high-powered weapons being used against everybody. It’s a very sad day in America today.”
Leon said the wound is deep and leaves not only surviving officers, but their families, concerned violence could escalate.
When asked about racial tensions between police and certain communities, Leon said the initial hiring process for police officers is crucial in order to weed out the potential that race becomes a factor in a potential officer’s decision making.
Leon also said its time to take a harder look at the practice of sending police officers out into the field without a partner. He said a lot of undermanned forces, like EPPD, are forced into the practice.
