>>Yep, Bolton had already been promoted from sergeant to one of a dozen or so assistant chiefs by Mack Vines, who was later fired for perjury. Some genius later put Bolton in charge of the whole place.<<
I used to hang out in Deep Ellum quite a bit (live music at Club Dada, The Bone, etc). I never felt I was in any danger, ever. Very peaceful.
But there was a sudden crime wave when all hell broke loose. I went to eat at Angry Dog after being away for about six months and spoke to a manager I knew. He said that it had gotten so violent that business owners were scared for their livelihoods.
Violence, assaults, robberies (you probably know all this)...the manager said his own car had been broken into twice in a month.
It got to where they shut down Main and Elm on weekends. I'm no expert, but my first thought was "this is nothing a strong police presence couldn't fix."
Then I remembered Terrell Bolton was in charge, and it all became clear.
Don't know how it is since Bolton left; I haven't been back.
Were you in Dallas when he got on TV and bawled about being fired? Quite a strong, masculine image. And good for a few laughs.
I forgot to mention, once I was in Adair's and about a half-dozen DPD officers had met off-duty to hang out. I heard them ranting and raving about how the department was getting, and after a while I had to pipe in..."Pardon me, but you gentlemen aren't talking about Terrell Bolton are you?" I got a good laugh from them. I can only imagine what the entire department thought about that moron.
No, I was long gone by the time Bolton left, so I missed the theatrics.
My wife and I loved Deep Ellum, but we went for the food and the shops, not for the music (which we hate, except the jazz spots). So, we never stayed much past 10 or 11 pm.
I remember that, on occasion, skinheads used to like to cause trouble in the area, but they usually ended up getting their asses kicked in the process. I'm not surprised the place has since gone downhill. I imagine there's still places worth going there for, but I would recommend carrying concealed.