TEMPLE, TX — Mayor Tim Davis of Temple addressed the "human aspect" of the officer-involved shooting that took the life of 28-year-old Michael Dean.
During Thursday's city council meeting, Mayor Davis said it is the Temple community's responsibility to reach out to love and support the Dean family.
Mayor Davis said the Dean family lost a son and a brother, his children lost their father. Mayor Dean said the Dean family must go on without their loved one, which is why the Temple community must come together.
Mayor Davis said there is also a human toll on the police department as well as the officer involved. He said the men and women of the department "have continued to uphold the integrity of the department while facing intense public scrutiny."
Mayor Davis said the City Council wants everyone to know "that the decisions made so far have been in the pursuit of one overachieving goal: ensuring the investigation remained impartial and unbiased."
Mayor Davis concluded his remarks by saying, "we hope there can be a true community conversation as we move forward together after this tragedy."
Full statement:
“I would like to take a minute to speak on behalf of the City Council regarding the officer-involved shooting on December 2nd. We have talked about the process of the investigation. We have said many times that we must wait for the Texas Rangers to finish the investigation. All of that is still true, but what we want to address today is the human aspect of what happened on December 2nd.
I am a father of three. Jennifer and I have built our life around our children. We have rejoiced in their accomplishments and wiped tears in their failures. Psalms 127 says that children are “like arrows in the hands of a warrior…blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”
Many of our Councilmembers are mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. We know the loss of Michael is something from which the Dean family will never fully recover. The Deans have lost a son and a brother. His children have lost their father. They must go on without their loved one.
As the Temple community, it is our responsibility to reach out to love them and support them in any way we can. We hope you will lift them up daily.
There is also a human toll on our police department as well as the officer involved. These men and women of all races and ethnicities work together to ensure the safety and security of our community. They have continued to uphold the integrity of the department while facing intense public scrutiny.
We as a Council want everyone to know that the decisions made so far have been in the pursuit of one overarching goal: ensuring the investigation remained impartial and unbiased. It has been suggested this situation would have been handled differently if the victim was my son or another white member of the community. I can tell you, the system we have in place would not allow that to happen. All are treated equally in our pursuit of the truth.
We hope there can be a true community conversation as we move forward together after this tragedy.”
A few hours after Mayor Davis' statement, Temple City Manager Brynn Myers addressed the call for information regarding saying the Texas Rangers, the investigating agency, prefer if the City does not release information regarding the case.
