Dallas Police Department Suffers Through Changes On Anniversary Of Sniper Attack — Investigation Still Open

It’s been a chaotic twelve months for the city of Dallas, one that began with the sniper attack that left five officers dead one year ago today. With the attack, the people in the city and the Dallas Police Department were broken and a community brought together by grief was left to pick up the pieces.

While the community has managed to keep moving forward, the Dallas Police Department has seen a lot of changes in the last year. David Brown, who was the police chief at the time of the attack, retired this past October as a result of a financial crisis in the pension program for firemen and police officers. He was not the only casualty of the crisis as many more chose to retire early to avoid seeing cuts in their pensions.

Hundreds of new hires were required to fill in the void of those who had chosen to retire. The new members of the Police Department — along with the remaining officers — are receiving new advanced training in the use of rifles, to avoid putting themselves, and the rest of the community in danger.

Purchases have been made by the police department to try and keep their officers safe. Among other stuff, the department has bought rifles with optics, bulletproof shields, helmets, and plate carriers — to stop high-caliber assault rifles.

Not only is the Dallas Police Department looking to protect their own, but since the heinous attack was the second deadliest that law enforcement has ever seen — after 9/11 — the department is still investigating as important questions remain to be answered.

Even though we know the identity of the now-deceased gunman, Micah Johnson, it is still a mystery why he chose to carry out the attack at that precise moment — during a pacific protest agains the killings of African Americans in Louisiana and Minnesota. The department has been collecting evidence ever since the attack one year ago, and while not much has been revealed of the case, the Dallas Police Department is getting ready to submit all the evidence they have to the Dallas County district attorney’s office.

Hopefully, once the evidence is turned over this case can come to an end so those people that haven’t recovered from the shock of the attack or the loss of a loved one can find some closure.

[Featured image by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images]