Renee Hall is not a stranger to unsolved murders.
Hall was just six months old when her father died in the line-of-duty in Detroit. His murder remains unsolved to this day.
Hall stated that her goal was to ensure no one else experiences the same trauma.
Hall continued her career in law enforcement despite the tragic death of her father. Hall, then 28, became a Detroit police officer. Hall went on to lead a force that included more than 3,600 officers and became chief of Dallas Police Department.
However, the pandemic and unrest in the country following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 shattered trust between Hall’s police department and the Dallas communities it served.
“If there is a breakdown in the relationship, how can I enter your home and tell you that I am committed to solving a crime?” Hall stated.
While Hall was chief of police, Dallas saw a spike in murders, a trend that was also apparent across the country. According to the Dallas Police Department’s statistics, Hall’s detectives solved over 70% of all homicides. This is 20 points more than the national average.
“One of the first things my group and I did was to meet with them and tell them that we don’t want them to go to any community without great relationships. I want to only go to communities that challenge our relationships. There is where I began.”
Hall’s next task is to tackle diversity within her rank and file.
“We went from 17% to 18% Latinos and Hispanics in the police station under my leadership, to about 24%, because the largest part of our community was Hispanic.”
Despite Hall’s best efforts to improve the police department, there were still homicides, some of which were quite shocking.
A 1-year-old boy named Rory Norman was shot to death in Dallas during a spike in homicides.
Hall stated, “I had gone to the hospital and seen his body, his very tiny body.” It was frustrating.
Hall says it is “disastering” that no arrests have been made in this case.
Hall stated that there is a lot of brokenness in the number of guns on our streets. Hall said that there is a lack of trust between the police and the community. So what can we do to fix it? It takes effort, as well as the ability to admit where you are wrong and fix it.
