Michele Andre, who most recently served as the program manager for the community police review board in Albany, New York, is the new director of the Dallas Office of Community Police Oversight.
Andre will begin in her new role Sept. 3, according to a city of Dallas press release.
“This opportunity allows me to bring my passion for equitable policing, transparency and accountability to the vibrant Dallas community,” Andre said in the release. “I look forward to working collaboratively with stakeholders to build trust and drive positive change."
In a memo to Dallas City Council members, Tolbert wrote Andre has more than eight years of experience in public administration and police oversight management.
“She has a proven track record of transparency and accountability by holding public meetings to review body camera footage, publishing comprehensive reports, and ensuring their timely delivery to stakeholders,” Tolbert wrote.
While on Albany’s police review board, Andre helped develop fair disciplinary standards, initiated investigations into complaints about police and helped make administrative systems more efficient and reviews more impartial, according to Tolbert’s memo. Andre also has experience as an auditor for the city of Albany’s Office of Audit and Control.
As director, Andre will lead the office providing support to the city’s Community Police Oversight Board, a group made of 15 city council-appointed individuals reviewing citizen complaints about Dallas police officers.
“I am delighted by the news Michele will lead the Dallas Office of Community Police Oversight Office,” Board Chair John Mark Davidson wrote in a statement. “She has the background, experience, professionalism and drive to lead this oversight effort. She is the right person at the right time.”
The role has been vacant since last year, shortly after video footage was released of four Dallas police officers mocking a disabled veteran. Dynell Lane said he urinated himself after two of the officers didn’t allow him to use the restroom at a Deep Ellum pizzeria.
Police oversight board members told The Dallas Morning News that the board’s former director Tonya McClary was pushed out after the video of Lane’s incident with police became public. Elaine Chandler has been serving as the office’s interim director.
Months later, the board was thrown into confusion and concern when a confidential legal opinion from the city attorney’s office seemed to strip the board of its power to investigate complaints if they haven’t first been investigated by DPD’s Internal Affairs Division.
Board members said that would have precluded them from opening an investigation into Lane’s case, which had initially been closed after a DPD investigation.
Ultimately, Tolbert told the board the city’s rules were clarified to take away any potential limitations on the board’s abilities. Tolbert also deemed the punishment given to the four police officers in Lane’s case — a written reprimand and sensitivity training — sufficient.
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