After a nearly three-year internal investigation, Dallas police said Wednesday they have disciplined 22 former vice unit members for improperly handling evidence and misusing money seized in gambling stings.

But the investigation determined there was insufficient evidence to support criminal charges against detectives and supervisors who previously served in the unit.

Police on Wednesday said the former vice unit detectives and their supervisors were suspended without pay for anywhere from three to 20 days, according to a news release.

The investigation found that between 2014 and 2017, the vice unit seized about 4,000 gambling machines, $852,166 and other items.

Wednesday’s announcement raised questions about why top officials came down with suspensions — the most severe punishment before demotion and termination — and why it took so long to finalize the investigation.

Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall did not return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday about the investigation. The News requested an interview with officials but was asked to send emailed questions that had not been answered as of Wednesday evening.

Assistant Chief Avery Moore issued officers more severe discipline than what had been recommended by three high-ranking commanders, according to records obtained by The Dallas Morning News. Months ago, Moore issued one vice officer who was near retirement a written reprimand, which is a form of formal discipline but lower than suspension, demotion or termination.

Among those most severely punished were Lt. Robert Hart and Lt. Gil Garza, who had raised concerns about the vice unit dating back to 2016. At the time, David Pughes was interim chief after former Police Chief David Brown left the department. A nearly 700-page investigation obtained by The News shows that the vice unit lacked oversight and training on documenting evidence and case management long before Hall arrived in the department. Many of the top commanders have since retired or left the department.

Association leaders felt that many officers were unjustly punished and said lawsuits would likely come as a result of whistleblowing or employment discrimination.

Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association, said the discipline that was issued did not correlate with the violations found. He said the suspensions were handed down to “justify shutting down a unit.”

“What would substantiate such a variation in discipline? And if it was such an issue of integrity and trustworthiness for the public, then why did it take three years?” Mata asked.

Mata said he agreed that policy adjustments were needed in the unit but said disciplined officers became the scapegoat for an institutional problem within the department.

George Aranda, director of the National Latino Law Enforcement Organization, said the problems in vice were “a training issue” and a “culture issue.”

“This is a complete mockery of our discipline process," Aranda said. "It’s very obvious that the individuals who increased the discipline were doing it for a cover-up or to try to justify the disbandment of the vice unit.”

Some Dallas City Council members have been frustrated with the lack of communication from DPD about internal investigations.

Dallas City Council member Cara Mendelsohn, who is on the council’s Public Safety Committee, said she met with the Internal Affairs Division chief Tuesday, when she was alerted that the case would be finalized the next day.

At a council committee meeting earlier this month, Mendelsohn questioned how long DPD’s internal investigations took.

“Waiting 1,000-plus days to get disciplined for something is not effective management or leadership,” Mendelsohn wrote Wednesday. “We need to improve this process and hold ourselves accountable for swift correction of inappropriate actions to instill confidence in the community and integrity in the department.”

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson declined to comment through his spokesman, saying that it was a personnel matter.

Tristan Hallman, who used to work at The News, said Assistant City Manager Jon Fortune told the mayor’s office Wednesday morning that DPD would release the conclusions that day. He declined to comment further.

“We have to trust the Police Department to handle it,” he said.

Vice history

The department’s Public Integrity Unit, which investigates criminal misconduct of city employees, had concluded its investigation of the vice unit in 2017 and did not find any criminal wrongdoing.

But months later, Hall disbanded the unit and requested an investigation by the Internal Affairs Unit, which found that officers violated administrative policies.

Internal Affairs finished its review in 2018. They found instances when vice unit detectives replaced department money used to conduct gambling stings with winnings and failed to properly document evidence into the property room, DPD officials said Wednesday. It’s unclear why it took so long to discipline those officers.

Although officers will likely appeal to Hall about the discipline, she weighed in on the decision.

“Ethics and integrity define who we are as a Police Department,” Hall said in a statement. “We must always operate with the highest level of integrity to ensure that we maintain trust and strong relationships with the residents we serve. Though not popular, these actions were necessary to create a more efficient department and bring us closer to our goals as a world-class department.”

Hall announced in 2018 that a new vice unit would hit the streets, but none of the previous officers were allowed to return. The rollout puzzled council members who questioned why the unit was disbanded in the first place.

At a public safety meeting in November of that year, officials said the unit would focus on street-level prostitution, human trafficking and gambling in illegal game rooms. Officials said the new team would focus on helping victims by offering services to those engaged in prostitution as well as survivors of human trafficking.

Moving forward

Officers will have a chance to appeal the disciplinary actions to Hall. Robert Rogers, an attorney who is representing at least 16 officers, said if Hall upholds the decisions, they can still appeal to an assistant city manager. They would likely ask for the decision to be reconsidered by Fortune, who oversees public safety. Fortune didn’t respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Rogers said of the disciplinary actions that he “did not expect the department to go overboard" and it was inappropriate for Hall to comment on the disciplinary actions before an officer appeals.

“I never had a chief of police — in all my years of doing this — make public comments about a disciplinary action that can ultimately be decided at her level of appeal.”