The table in the squad room in the Dallas Police Station pulls triple duty: It’s a place to eat lunch, attend pre-shift briefings and process evidence for cases.
“It not very sanitary, but there’s not other space,” said Britneigh Hammill, the community liaison for the Dallas Police Department.
“No other space” could be used to describe the entire police station, which is divided up into three different locations in Dallas City Hall. Hammill said there’s no private place to take an initial complaint or report from citizens. The only private interview room has two-way glass and may be intimidating for someone filing a report.
Then again, so is reporting a crime in a busy hallway in Dallas City Hall, but that is often the only option, said Dallas detective Josh Calef.
“It’s tough interviewing someone, and some other worker in city hall walks by,” Calef said.