September 2, 2003

Robert Hinton, Jr.

Robert Hinton & Associates, PC
5015 Tracy, Suite 100
Dallas, Texas 75205-3400

Dear Mr. Hinton:

In response to your letter received in my office Friday, August 29,

2003, I am providing the following information regarding rationale for
the discharge of former Chief Terrell Bolton. This information was
presented in my meeting with the community leaders at which you
were in attendance on Thursday, August, 28.

As City Manager, I appointed Terrell Bolton in 1999 as Dallas' Chief of

Police. I selected him without conducting a national search. Almost
immediately after his appointment, there were a series of issues, listed
below, through which I maintained support of Chief Bolton.

Chief Bolton began contrasting his style and Chief Click's style. I did
not think this was an appropriate way to start an administration.

Budget cuts, made in the department and described publicly as cost

savings, were questions. Management was required to explain true
cost savings vs. cost avoidances.

Chief Bolton reassigned some officers to the streets. The reassignment

resulted in much criticism from some constituent groups. Management
stood behind the Chief. Eventually, most of the officers ended up back
in their original desk jobs.

Management defended Chief Bolton during his dispute with the FBI
over the allocation of resources. There was controversy regarding lack
of cooperation between the FBI and the City of Dallas. Charles Daniels,
Assistant City Manager and the City Manager met privately with the FBI
to mend fences. Former Mayor Ron Kirk also assisted. Chief Bolton was
not requested to assist or apologize. The City Manager, Assistant City
Manager, and Mayor ate the "humble pie."

Chief Bolton made some key executive personnel assignments to

refocus the direction of the department. The department came under
much attack externally and internally.

Fake drugs scandal brought tremendous negative attention to the

department and the City. Management supported the Chief's request to
handle the investigation internally. The investigation was eventually
turned over to the FBI.

The allegation of Chief Bolton's involvement in the SOBs [Sexually

Oriented Businesses] surrounding the Bachman Lake area raised many
concerns as to whether the Chief should be investigated. Management
supported him in light of the allegations and held a press conference to
publicly defend him.

The Chief was criticized for his delayed deployment of the new
Camaros (high speed vehicles). Many believed he was "sitting on" the
cars and would not let them be deployed. He simply wanted to roll
them out according to his own time frame.

Chief Bolton was criticized for a trip to Huntsville (similar to a trip he

took recently for his re-certification) where he expended additional city
monies to have special transportation and hotel accommodation in lieu
of staying in the dorms at Sam Houston State University with the other
conference attendees. At the time, management supported his
decisions.

Certain civilian executives were assigned unmarked police vehicles.

Due to budgetary constraints, the Chief was instructed to take those
vehicles away. He resisted this instruction but did eventually comply.

The Chief was also asked to give up his personal driver. The Chief did
not comply with the management's instructions and continued to make
use of a personal driver until the day of his termination.

Executive positions had been cut citywide, and Chief Bolton was asked
to cut two civilian executive positions from his 2002-2003 budget. The
Chief was informed of the rationale to eliminate executives in the same
percentage lower rank and file had been eliminated. Chief Bolton
disagreed and in a Council Budget meeting, told the Council he could
absorb that cost. This was absolutely the wrong thing to do.
Management made no public comment during the Council briefing.

The Chief resisted the implementation of the citywide Human

Resources Information System. Management postponed the
consolidation of the system for public safety (police and fire) for one
year. However, the Chief still resisted.

Management recently received comments from some police

department personnel regarding their concerns over the Chief's
management style and how things were not working within the
department.
During the month of July, Charles Daniels, Assistant City Manager and
the City Manager met with the Chief at his office to discuss things that
needed his attention and changes that needed to be made in the
department. Basically, the Chief argued for two hours.

Dallas was named the city with the highest crime per capita in the
country; the Mayor announced she wanted to have weekly meetings
with the Chief. Management met with the Chief to discuss this matter,
and the Chief refused to go to the meetings because he had concerns
that the meetings would undermine his authority. He stated the
process was disrespectful and that he would be given instruction to do
things that directly conflicted with the City Charter. The Chief was
informed that both the City Manager and Charles Daniels would be in
the meetings to guide the discussions. The Chief still refused to attend
the meetings. The City Manager told the Chief that if he did not want to
do what he was instructed to do he would then be asked to resign. The
City Manager's secretary typed a resignation letter for the Chief's
signature. Chief Bolton then called his wife and told her that he was no
longer going to be police chief. After hanging up the phone he then
asked for more time to check on his pension. Management denied his
request for more time, and the Chief changed his mind and did not sign
the letter. He was then told to proceed with the Council Public Safety
briefing, which was at that time about to begin.

The Chief's handling of Dallas' crime ranking was defensive. His

attempts to explain the ranking and justify crime levels by explaining
that in years past the numbers had been higher offered little in the
way of solution to the problem.

With the recent termination of Derrick Evans, the department used

overtime dollars to expedite the dismissal prior to the Chief's out-of-
town trip to Huntsville (re-certification trip). Some believed it was
unnecessary to spend overtime dollars. Assistant City Manager,
Charles Daniels, and other staff worked on this issue during the Chief's
absence.

Management decided that the Fire Department's Internal Affairs

Division (IAD) should handled [sic] the investigation regarding the
firing of Derrick Evans to ensure credibility in the investigation. This
decision was a result of the Chief's recent reorganization of the
department in which IAD reported directly to him. The chain of
command was violated when Chief Bolton went around Charles Daniels
and came directly to the city manager to request that he change his
decision. The Chief was informed that this process was best for the
department and the city.
Following this issue, the Mayor wanted to talk to Deputy Chief, Cindy
Villarreal regarding the hiring of Derrick Evans. The Chief was out of
town and management instructed acting Chief Shirley Gray to allow
the Mayor to talk with Chief Villarreal. The Chief was very upset about
this action.

Overall, throughout the last four years and through these incidents and
others, I've remained supportive of Chief Bolton. However, the
accumulation of issues and incidents are distracting from the Police
Department's work of ensuring the public safety. Public safety is the
primary function of government, and I have lost confidence in the
Chief's ability to move the department forward in successfully pursuing
this goal. We must reduce crime, lower our number one ranking and
provide the safe streets and neighborhoods that our citizens expect
and deserve. I feel that new leadership for the department is needed.

The hearing you have requested before the City Council has been
scheduled for Monday, September 15, 2003 in the City Council
Chambers. The hearing will begin at 3:00 p.m. You will have 30
minutes for your presentation.

Sincerely, (Signed)
Ted Benevides
City Manager