Dallas PD changes policies after convicted felon was allowed to broker off-duty work for officers

The Dallas Police Department will now restrict who can directly hire employees for off-duty work, according to a memo from DPD Chief Daniel Comeaux. 

This comes after police shot a convicted felon with outstanding warrants who reportedly operated a private security company that hired off-duty officers.

The department’s SWAT team shot and killed Diamon-Mazairre Robinson, 39, earlier this month while attempting to arrest him in the parking garage at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas.

For nearly a year, Robinson had profiles on the platform DPD uses to manage off-duty work — both as an eternal coordinator looking to hire and, fraudulently, as an officer, DPD said.

He used the alias Mike King to hire officers for off-duty security work at high profile hotels and banks — and worked himself as a security guard for Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. 

“It was shocking, very shocking,” Dallas Police Association President Sean Pease said. “I couldn’t imagine somebody working these types of jobs that hadn’t been vetted at the highest level.”

Starting Wednesday, DPD and RollKall — the platform it uses to manage off-duty employment — will make changes to prevent officers from working jobs created directly by an outside entity or business.

Instead, Pease explained, entities wishing to hire must coordinate with a DPD officer to post a job on the platform.

“This change will ensure that all off-duty jobs follow departmental policy and legal requirements while also making sure there are no interruption of off-duty services,” Comeaux wrote.

Pease said he believes these changes provide the reassurance officers need that the people hiring them for off-duty work won’t later be the same people they’re trying to arrest.

“I think these steps do make that happen,” he said.

RollKall didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment late Monday afternoon. In previous a statement, it said in part:

“RollKall remains committed to the security and trust of the law enforcement professionals and organizations we serve. RollKall actively cooperated with the Dallas Police Department’s investigation into the individual in question, and we will continue to work closely with them and any other relevant law enforcement authorities as their investigation continues.”