By James Ragland
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — It didn’t take Dallas Police Chief David Brown and City Manager Mary Suhm long to get back on the same page.
They just needed to get in the same room.
The two finally did that Tuesday, on the eve of a joint public appearance before the North Texas Crime Commission, at which Brown is expected to outline his vision for the police department.
Brown’s visit was scheduled weeks before his 27-year-old son fatally shot a Lancaster police officer and another man on Father’s Day. Brown’s son was killed during the rampage.
Many people are anxious to hear the chief speak publicly for the first time.
“Oh, my God,” said Tina Yampanis, a spokeswoman for the commission. “We’re filling up the place. It’s packed.”
Given what Brown has endured, no one is quite sure what he’ll say or how he’ll say it.
“This is a very complicated dilemma the chief has to face,” said Russ Verney, executive director of the crime commission. “It’s the reaction to it that everyone is waiting to see.”
Those who’ve talked to Brown said he’s more than ready, if not eager, to get back in the saddle. He’d been telling confidants that he would return to work on Tuesday.
But Suhm cast some doubt in the early afternoon when she said Brown’s return date wasn’t firm. “We’re going to have a discussion about it and it’s going to be this week,” she said.
Lo and behold, the two apparently got together shortly thereafter, and Suhm disclosed hours later that Brown would return to his command post today.
It’s a day later than some expected.
“I’m expecting him back today, in the capacity as chief, with his eyes focused on crime in all of the city of Dallas,” council member Dwaine Caraway, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said early Tuesday.
In fact, when I called Caraway to inquire about the chief’s return, Caraway’s initial reaction was, “He should be in his office.”
That timeline certainly jibed with what the chief had told other people with whom he’s chatted, including Lancaster Police Chief Keith Humphrey.
“I spoke with David last week,” Humphrey said. “He basically said he was going back to work Tuesday.”
Suhm had confirmed to me last week that Brown likely would return this week, perhaps as early as Tuesday, saying the forecast was “probably right.”
However, it was also clear to me that Suhm and others at City Hall wanted to make sure that Brown, indeed, was not just willing to get back in the saddle.
They wanted to make sure he was fully ready, given all that he’s been through over the past 17 days.
Suhm apparently walked away from their meeting Tuesday satisfied with Brown’s demeanor and disposition.
“If he’s coming back to work, he’s ready,” she said before the private meeting.
And yet, you had to figure that Brown would be back either Tuesday or today once Suhm confirmed that she and the chief still planned to appear together at the crime commission breakfast. You can’t take a chief in limbo to that meeting.
Everyone who has talked to the chief, including Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, told me that Brown is dealing with his personal grief as well as could be expected. They’ve cited his faith, his character and his burning desire to be a successful chief in his hometown.
The chief also has visited with the families of Lancaster police Officer Craig Shaw and Jeremy McMillian - the two men slain by Brown’s son.
“He’s still affected by the fact that his son took the life of two people,” Humphrey said. “He’s going to still have to deal with it.
“But he has a job as chief, and he’s going to have to be able to multitask. That’s what leaders do. I have no doubt David’s going to be able to handle both.”
Still, I don’t blame Suhm for wanting to look Brown in the eye before sending him back into battle.
“Now, the chief can get back to being the chief of police,” Caraway said.
That’s what everyone has been waiting for.
Copyright 2010 THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS