Dallas police Chief Daniel Comeaux speaks during a press conference at the Jack Evans Police Headquarters on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026 in Dallas. Comeaux told Sgt. Daylon Grandberry he had a “strong opinion” about the allegations against him and it was his “lucky day” before giving him a 15-day suspension.
Juan Figueroa/Dallas Morning News
Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux told a sergeant who copied a colleague’s explicit video that it was his “lucky day” before suspending him for 15 days, according to an audio recording reviewed by The Dallas Morning News.
An assistant chief had recommended Sgt. Daylon Grandberry be demoted after borrowing the phone of a female officer he sometimes supervised and sending himself a sexually explicit video of her. The sergeant said it was accidental. Some command staff suggested he was lying.
“I’ll tell you, listening to you, reading this,” Comeaux said, addressing Grandberry after conferring with command staff behind closed doors, “I have an opinion — and a strong opinion — on what took place on this day.”
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“But it’s just not enough for me to push me over the edge,” he said. “So today is your lucky day.”
Grandberry’s 15-day suspension was a harsher punishment than what three officers in the sergeant’s chain of command suggested but short of demotion.
The chief’s remarks, captured in audio recordings of the Aug. 2 disciplinary hearing, offer insight into his thinking in a case that has drawn public criticism from the Dallas Police Women’s Association and council member Adam Bazaldua.
Grandberry didn’t respond Thursday to messages seeking comment on the recordings, which were provided to The News on Wednesday.
The female officer, whose name is redacted from the recordings, told internal affairs that Grandberry had asked her out repeatedly. Grandberry told investigators he didn’t know he had made her uncomfortable.
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The hearings also gave Grandberry an opportunity to explain his side. In his remarks before Comeaux, he said the “optics are terrible” and that he and the officer had an “ongoing cat-and-mouse relationship” that spanned years.
“A lot of how I am being portrayed is not who I am,” Grandberry said, “and so I would really like to get to a position where this doesn’t necessarily affect my career at the Dallas Police Department.”
In a statement submitted to internal affairs months before the hearing, the officer said she and Grandberry had never had a romantic or personal relationship. She described their interactions as strictly professional and work-related.
She said the explicit video was in a password-protected folder titled “Hidden.” Accessing the folder requires the phone’s password.
The allegation was first examined as a possible crime. The female officer signed an affidavit of non-prosecution and declined an extraction of her phone, telling investigators she did not want the explicit video included in the record.
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The case was then referred to internal affairs, which concluded that Grandberry violated a section of the department’s code of conduct prohibiting behavior that “adversely” affects departmental morale or efficiency or tends to diminish public respect and confidence in the department or officer.
Related: Dallas Police Women’s Association aims to change department culture
Comeaux through a spokesperson said such a violation has a “wide range of discipline.” In Grandberry’s case, the chief said, the severity of the allegation was a consideration in the decision.
Comeaux did not answer a question about whether Granberry’s conduct could affect his fitness to supervise other officers — one of the concerns Dallas Police Women’s Association raised after the hearing.
“I respect the Dallas Police Women’s Association and their right to express concerns, but my responsibility as Chief of Police is to make decisions based on the facts, department policy and what is in the best interest of this organization,” Comeaux said in a statement Thursday, adding he welcomed discussions but would not allow outside pressure determine “how I lead this department or make personnel decisions.”
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In a July hearing with Assistant Chief Teena Schultz, whose recommendation for demotion triggered the August hearing with Comeaux, two other assistant chiefs questioned Grandberry’s account and suggested he was lying.
“I’m just disappointed in you,” Assistant Chief Mark Villarreal told Grandberry. “No one believes this story that you’re putting out. It sounds like something my kid would make up.”
Assistant Chief Israel Herrera echoed Villarreal, saying Grandberry, as a supervisor, had violated the trust a subordinate had in him.
“Instead of admitting to her that, ‘Hey, I did this and I’m sorry,’ you’re sitting there sticking to a lie,” Herrera said. “I’m disappointed.”
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Assistant Chief Richard Foy, who also questioned Grandberry’s account, said one of the two was lying. He appeared to doubt it was the female officer.
“Grandberry, I don’t know what we’re going to do today,” Foy said at the earlier hearing, “but this don’t look good.”