Denton police are being asked to weigh in on Prop B as Decriminalize Denton criticizes ‘misinfo’
The tweet about insider information from an anonymous person purporting to be a Denton police employee appeared on Decriminalize Denton’s Twitter account Friday morning.
“We received these emails from a whistleblower in DPD, confirming the rumors that Chief @DShoemakerDPD is trying to influence a Council vote & override your democracy by spreading misinfo about Prop B & encouraging cops to attend the 6/6 Council mtg out of uniform to protest it,” the local advocacy group posted.
🤬We received these emails from a whistleblower in DPD, confirming the rumors that Chief @DShoemakerDPD is trying to influence a Council vote & override your democracy by spreading misinfo about Prop B & encouraging cops to attend the 6/6 Council mtg out of uniform to protest it. pic.twitter.com/XVHL3shWhg
— Decriminalize Denton (@DecrimDenton) May 26, 2023
Screenshots of the purported emails were attached with the tweet and appeared to show that Denton Police Chief Doug Shoemaker had been contacting community leaders in the Black community and asking them to attend an upcoming City Council meeting to show support for his non-enforcement of Proposition B, the misdemeanor marijuana decriminalization ordinance.
Proposition B requires officers to neither cite nor arrest people for misdemeanor marijuana-related offenses except in limited circumstances, such as a felony narcotics or violent felony offense. Critics of the measure say that would violate state law, while Decriminalize Denton and other supporters claims the ordinance was specifically written to not violate state law. So far Denton police have cited more than 100 people since voters passed the proposition on Nov. 8, according to police data.
“How can this chief or department claim to be a community policing department if they literally go against the stated wishes of the people they claim to serve?” the anonymous police employee said in a response to Decriminalize Denton on Thursday.
The emails also appeared to show that Shoemaker had contacted the two police associations in Denton and they, in turn, sent emails to their members, requesting that they attend the June 6 council meeting and share any stories related to marijuana enforcement.
“We are asked not to wear a uniform and to share any marijuana-related cases with council,” the Denton Municipal Police Association claimed in the screenshot of its email attached to Decriminalize Denton’s Friday post via Twitter.
DMPA told members in the email that Proposition B “would allow Officers to be punished if they make a Marijuana arrest in violation” of the new ordinance’s guidelines but within state guidelines.
Section 21-85, regarding discipline under the late November ordinance, states that police may be disciplined as provided by the Texas Local Government Code or city policy.
“In practice, a Denton Police Officer will continue to have the authority to enforce state laws relating to marijuana,” City Manager Sara Hensley wrote in a Nov. 9 news release. “Neither the City, the City Manager, nor the Chief of Police has the authority to direct officers to do otherwise or to discipline an officer when they are acting in accordance with state law.”
Decriminalize Denton reiterated its request for the chief’s termination and encouraged Proposition B supporters to reach out to council members and attend the June 6 council meeting, when they said the council will be deciding whether to implement Proposition B fully.
But it’s unclear if Proposition B will be discussed since it wasn’t included as an item for discussion on a draft of the June 6 council meeting agenda included in the city’s latest staff report, released Friday.
Deb Armintor, a Decriminalize Denton board member and a former Denton council member, pointed out that police officers have the right as individuals to attend a council meeting in their free time to speak about community issues.
“That isn’t the problem,” Armintor said. “The problem is when it comes from the top down and that puts tremendous pressure on his subordinates to either do as he says [or] if they don’t agree with it, to be quiet.”
The Denton Record-Chronicle requested through Armintor to speak with the anonymous source, but the person declined.
In a Friday afternoon statement, Denton police said it is common practice for police chiefs to make officers and associations aware of council agendas that impact the department.
“The associations and their membership are part of the community, and many are residents, and may wish to have their voices heard,” a Denton Police Department spokesperson wrote. “I can confirm it has not been mandated for associations to speak out on any issues, nor has it ever been said that officers should misrepresent themselves.”
The city manager sent a statement Friday afternoon through a city spokesperson:
“Denton City Council discussions like this affect individuals and groups within the community, and the city as a whole,” Hensley said. “No matter the item being discussed, the City of Denton has always encouraged broad public participation in the process, from all sides of an issue, to share experiences that will affect the collective community.”
Both the DMPA and the Denton Police Officers Association (DPOA) sent emails to their members, encouraging them to attend the June 6 meeting, DPOA President Rachel Valarezo said.
An email addressed to members and signed by the DPOA board says: “In reference to the ‘press release’ from Decriminalize Denton and Proposition 2B, the DPOA is going to be releasing a memo opposing the proposition and the claims they are making. Furthermore, we are asking members to attend the June 6th city council meeting. We are also asking members that have investigated violent crimes related to the sale/possession of marijuana to speak at the meeting. An RSVP is going to be sent out soon. We would love to have a good turnout for this meeting. Please consider attending this meeting.”
Valarezo said Decriminalize Denton and the anonymous employee’s interpretation of DMPA’s email was not accurate about the chief’s relationship with the associations.
“... In regards to the chief telling us what to do or having any influence on a stance we would take? That is not true,” Valarezo said. “These associations make up their own minds about what’s in the best interests of the members of the association.”
The associations’ emails to members arrived Wednesday, the same day Armintor from Decriminalize Denton sent an email to Hensley, Shoemaker and City Council members to address what the grassroots organization called misinformation.
In the email, Armintor said claims had been made that police officers would be fired if they didn’t follow the Proposition B ordinance.
Armintor then shared the discipline section under Proposition B, which reads: “Any violation of this chapter may subject a Denton Police Officer to discipline as provided by the Texas Local Government Code or as provided in city policy.”
“That’s it, from beginning to end!” Armintor wrote in her email to city leaders. “As you can see, Prop B’s discipline section is literally just 1 sentence long and does not dictate, recommend, or even hint at a single disciplinary measure, code, or policy other than the Texas Local Government Code or city policy.”
Since city leaders decide policy, Armintor explained that nothing in the ordinance precludes them from applying city policy as they see fit or from creating a new city policy to apply specifically to Proposition B violations.
“Therefore, any concerns about zero-tolerance disciplinary and termination measures attached to Prop B are 100% unfounded,” Armintor wrote.
Decriminalize Denton has been advocating for several years for the City Council to pass an ordinance that would bring relief to the marginalized communities who have been disproportionately affected by marijuana-related crimes.
Compared to the 70% of white people in Denton, people of color have received the bulk of misdemeanor marijuana-related citations since late November, when the City Council voted to accept and certify the election results for Proposition B, according to Denton police data.
“On average, a Black person is 3.64 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person, even though Black and white people use marijuana at similar rates,” the American Civil Liberties Union reported in a 2020 study.
In a news release May 22, Shoemaker pointed out that only a few arrests were made for marijuana possession from early November until mid-February. One was related to driving while intoxicated. Another was an alleged stalker found with marijuana. The final arrest involved someone who had a bottle with a few hydrocodone pills that hadn’t been prescribed to her.
According to Denton police data, two of those arrests involved suspects who were Black — a man in the DWI case and a woman in the hydrocodone case. The person accused of stalking was a white man originally arrested on a marijuana possession charge and later picked up on a warrant for stalking.
But it wasn’t only the arrests that enflamed Decriminalize Denton and the group’s supporters. It was also the nearly 100 citations that Proposition B was supposed to eliminate when it passed in early November, Armintor pointed out.
Last week, Decriminalize Denton released a news release about the racial disparity in marijuana arrests and citations and shared it via Twitter and with media. A Denton police spokesperson shared it internally with executive staff, and Shoemaker, in turn, contacted the associations about a response he was drafting, according to an internal email sent May 22 and shared with the grassroots organization.
In early December, shortly after Proposition B passed, Mayor Pro Tem Brian Beck proposed the idea to codify Proposition B with a duplicate council ordinance to give it “council power.” He wasn’t able to receive consensus from the divided City Council, which was short one member after her recall in early November.
Six months later, the issue is supposed to be returning to a full council on June 6, when some Denton police might be arriving in civilian clothes to share their experiences with marijuana arrests, possibly including violent crimes related to sales and possession, according to a DPOA email to members that Valarezo shared with the Record-Chronicle.
In a Friday afternoon email, Beck said that it was “responsible government best practices” for council members to hear all concerns and that he would be concerned if the “so-called whistleblower’s posts” withstand scrutiny.
District 3 council member Paul Meltzer won his election May 6, in part due to his support for the Proposition B ordinance. He too said he is “willing to hear what anyone who comes before council has to say, whoever urges them to do it.”
Meltzer said he expects Proposition B will appear on the City Council’s consent agenda for June 6 to be “ratified” into the ordinance with a 60-day implementation clock.
“I’m also extremely interested in hearing what the city managers, city attorneys, and police chiefs have to say in all the other Texas cities that have passed similar ordinances that have found a way to fulfill what the voters overwhelmingly prefer,” Meltzer wrote in a Friday afternoon email.
“At this point, we’re beyond debating yes versus no and need staff to help work out the how.”
Staff writer Brooke Colombo contributed to this report.
CHRISTIAN McPHATE can be reached at 940-220-4299 and via Twitter at @writerontheedge.