On December 2, 2019, Michael Dean was shot in the head and killed by Temple Police Officer Carmen DeCruz following a routine traffic stop for speeding. Michael’s family and our community were given little to no information or narrative surrounding this tragedy for over two months. Instead, we received deafening silence from TPD. That is, until Officer DeCruz was arrested and charged with manslaughter on February 10, 2020 and the interim Police Chief held a press conference. In that press conference, when asked if TPD would release dash/body cam video of this incident, Police Chief Tobin said that they wouldn’t be releasing these at this time, partly to protect the identity of witnesses on scene. We live in the year 2020. There is ample technology available to censor the identity of any witnesses.

It should also be noted that in the report TPD filed with the AG, it was alleged that Michael was “evading arrest” and that “an altercation of some sort” took place prior to the shooting. However, they have not publicly released the distance he traveled before pulling over; there is a valid possibility that he could have simply been trying to find a safe place to pull over (like we’re taught in driver’s Ed). They also haven’t elaborated on the alleged altercation that took place while an unarmed Michael Dean sat in the driver’s seat of his car with his door closed before being shot in the head. Releasing footage would provide some insight into these alleged circumstances.

Police Departments across the country have released video evidence in officer-involved shootings in the spirit of providing transparency and accountability to the communities they serve. Temple PD and our city officials should do the same. Please join the Dean Family and the Central Texas Fighters For Change as we petition to release any video footage of this incident immediately to his family, and eventually, to the public. Mind you, this video footage was taken on dashboard and body cameras that the tax-paying citizens of Temple paid for. As such, we as citizens have the right to demand that they release this footage to the public, and especially, Michael’s family.

Transparency, followed by accountability and Reform, is the first step in rebuilding our community’s confidence in law enforcement. Thank you for your support.

To the Police Department and DA Garza:

Many citizens in the community you serve feel that up to this point, the Police Department, as well as other elected officials, to now include DA Garza, have NOT been transparent throughout this process. Now’s the time to start to repair the damage and make it right. The Citizens of Temple Texas are watching and waiting for you to do the right thing.

RELEASE THE VIDEO FOOTAGE

#JusticeForMichaelDean #SayHisName #PoliceOversight