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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Dallas Police Ask for Extra Security

DALLAS (CN) - After a brazen attack on police headquarters by a man wielding assault weapons and pipe bombs, the Dallas Police Association has asked the mayor for increased security for its officers.

Dallas Police Association President Ron Pinkston asked for bulletproof glass and 24-hour video surveillance at police headquarters and securely fenced parking lots at all police stations in his Monday letter to Mayor Mike Rawlings.

The request came 10 days after James Lance Boulware, 35, of Mesquite, riddled the front of the Jack Evans Police Headquarters with hundreds of bullets. He shot at police vehicles as he led them on a 12-mile chase to a Jack in the Box parking lot in Hutchins, where a police sniper killed him.

Remarkably, no one but Boulware was injured or killed.

All police substation parking lots are open to the public. "But Pinkston wrote: "In recent weeks, an unidentified man was caught videotaping officers in the parking lot of the Northwest substation. And victims of violent crimes often find themselves facing their attackers in our parking lots after filing complaints in our substations."

Pinkston said that while city leaders have listened to police security concerns for years, "little if any movement" has occurred.

"Dallas City Hall and the City Council briefing room has received more than $730,000 in new security upgrades since 2010, including bulletproof desks for Council members," he wrote. "We believe it is equally important to provide additional security for Dallas police officers, our civilian staff, and the citizens who visit our headquarters and substations on a daily basis."

Bullets narrowly missed at least two people at headquarters, and police tweeted an image of bullet holes in the front seat of one officer's police car. One police employee inside the building had left a desk to get a soda before the shooting started and just missed being shot.

Boulware had three family violence cases pending against him and was "very disgruntled against law enforcement and the criminal justice system," the police association said hours after the shooting.

Boulware's son said, "We lost him to mental health long before we lost him to death," according to Jeannine Hammon, Boulware's mother.

Hammond said the family tried to get him mental help "numerous times," but the system failed him because he was declared sane.

"He was very delusional. It was very obvious," Hammon said the day after her son was killed.

"We hope something good can come from this, and that people will reach out to hurting souls around them and unite to build up others, rather than tearing them down. We hope that people with mental illness will receive the care they need to avoid situations like this in the future. We apologize to the police for his behavior."

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