Former Dallas Police Chief Ben Click, 84, has died after an unnamed illness. He served as chief 1993-99 and left Dallas to run security at the Atlanta Olympics.
When he came to Dallas from Phoenix, the Mica England case had just been settled and DPD could no longer exclude candidates for the police force because they were gay or lesbian.
During his first week in office, representatives from a number of organizations representing minority communities throughout the city were invited to meet the new chief. Deb Elder and I were asked to the meeting representing Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance.
As he shook hands on a receiving line and we introduced ourselves and our group, he said to us, “Don’t worry. We’ll continue our affirmative action program to hire gay and lesbian officers just like we did in Phoenix.”
An aide standing next to him whispered something in Chief Click’s ear. The color drained from his face and he said to us, “We need to talk. Give me a few weeks to get settled.”
At the time, DGLA held monthly meetings with a featured speaker. Chief Click’s office called and arranged to speak at our next meeting.
At the meeting, he promised that qualified gays and lesbians would be hired by DPD. He promised to increase patrols in Oak Lawn. And he quickly appointed Lynn Albright as liaison to the LGBTQ+ community. (Hmmm … how did she sneak through under the previous chief who did everything he could to ignore the court order?)
Chief Click was the first Dallas police chief that the LGBTQ+ community could call friend.
— David Taffet