“It’s important that we allowed the medical examiner to complete his review of this case. Now, the case will be turned over to a grand jury. It will be put in the hands of the citizens. I believe this independent body will be able to provide a rational judgment on what actions should be taken to address this tragedy. Our police officers have a duty to provide a high level of service that our citizens deserve. If the chief’s investigation finds that adjustments are needed, this community will count on him to make the necessary changes to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Jacobs family, and we hope that they might find closure sooner rather than later.”

A lot has been said over the past several days about the accident involving the death of Michael Jacobs Jr. in east Fort Worth, and rightly so. Every life is precious, and no one should take this lightly.

That’s why I’m pleased to hear that our Police Chief Jeff Halstead along with the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office have committed to giving this case the due diligence it deserves. Since Saturday, there has been a great deal of speculation and accusations, but few facts. Nothing good can come from speculation. This builds fear and anger instead of finding solutions. We need the facts.

Once a thorough and fair investigation is complete, we can be confident in the facts, which will allow this city and this community to take the actions deemed necessary to assure—to the best of our ability—such tragedies are not repeated. The citizens of Fort Worth deserve to have confidence in their police department, and they deserve to have the facts when it comes to situations like this.

Today, during the city’s Council Meeting, Chief Halstead provided the council with the following statement. I’d like to share it with those of you who may have missed the meeting. I’ve pasted the Chief’s remarks below this message.

This is a difficult time for the family of Mr. Jacobs Jr. Much more difficult than anyone could imagine. The thoughts and prayers of the city are with the Jacobs family.

As always, the District 5 Office is open and ready to hear your questions or concerns about this and other issues in our communities. You can reach us at 817-392-8805 or by e-mail at michelle.reynolds@fortworthgov.org.

Statement from Police Chief Halstead
Pre-Council Meeting, April 21, 2009

Mayor, Members of the Council,

As you know, there was a great deal of coverage over the weekend about the incident involving the death of 24-year-old Michael Jacobs, Jr. I want to update you on the facts as we know them today.

At 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, officers were summoned to a residence on Ava Ct. in Council District 5. They were asked to assist with the caller's adult son, Michael Jacobs, Jr., who was reportedly causing problems. Mr. Jacobs had a history of mental illness, and the officers were told that he had not been taking his prescribed medications.

Upon arriving on scene, the officers were met by Mr. Jacobs who was hostile and uncooperative. Because Mr. Jacobs was an obvious threat to himself and others, the officers’ intent was to take him into custody for a mental detention and transport him to JPS Hospital. However, Mr. Jacobs became combative and, despite warnings by the officers to stop his threatening behavior, he continued to be confrontational. One of the officers deployed her Taser as trained to do in such circumstances. Shortly after the arrest, Mr. Jacobs began to have difficulty breathing. Officers summoned Med Star who transported Jacobs to JPS Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

This was a tragic event, and I ask that we keep the Jacobs family in our thoughts and prayers. All of us in the police family—especially the three responding officers—are deeply saddened with the outcome of this situation. But we are professional, and we take this very seriously. With that, I want to assure the Jacobs family, this council and our citizens that this matter will be fully and fairly investigated by our department and the Medical Examiner’s Office. In the meantime, I ask for your patience as these investigations are complex and take time. Once the facts are properly weighed, you can be sure that this department will take the actions deemed necessary given the results of the thorough investigations. We will certainly report back to you at that time.