DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News) – The Dallas Police Department is asking the public to help them solve murders.
Deputy Chief Thomas Castro says the department is hosting a series of community meetings to teach citizens about how murder investigations work and the importance of getting information from witnesses.
He said the department is working on doing a better job of engaging with the communities they serve, especially when it comes to working homicides.
“Just because a case is not in the media spotlight doesn’t mean these detectives are not working on it. These detectives, outside of the family members, want to solve the murders more than anybody else. So, they take it very personal and are very passionate about it,” he said.
Castro said the fear of being labeled a snitch puts a damper on a lot of investigations.
“These citizens live in these neighborhoods and they need to just come forward. I understand its scary and it may be very frightening for some of them but at the end of the day they really need to come forward and give us this information so that we can get these individuals that are committing these violent crimes out of the neighborhood,” he said.
Castro said witnesses can often be the key to solving a case.
“The relief factor. It will never bring their loved ones back but it does provide closure to these families that may not understand why their loved ones were taken from them,” he said.
Castro said a common theme among residents at the meetings is a fear of retaliation if they speak with investigators.
“I do get there is apprehension about the possibility of retaliation…that is a very small chance. Discussing it with other commanders that have served in this unit, we could only come up with one case where there was a threat of retaliation and that individual was arrested,” he said.
The next meeting is at Fretz Park Branch Library on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
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