Dallas Police Officer Bryan Riser Terminated Following Capital Murder Arrest Last Week
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – New documents obtained by CBS 11 News show that a Dallas Police officer was under investigation for murder years earlier than previously acknowledged.
Last week Dallas Police confirmed Officer Bryan Riser was allowed to continue patrolling with a badge and gun for nearly two years after being suspected of soliciting the murders of two people.
Court documents now suggest authorities had been investigating Officer Bryan Riser for four years.
While Officer Riser remains in jail with a $5 million bond, new details are emerging that cast doubt on the department’s assertion that it only started investigating him for murder in 2019.
Officer Bryan Riser (credit: Dallas County Jail)
Last week, former Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall released a statement saying, “Riser was first identified as a person-of-interest in 2019” and that her staff recommended that Riser “…recommended not placing Riser on Administrative Leave” so he wouldn’t be tipped off about the investigation.
But a court transcript from a bond hearing in 2017 for Officer Riser’s father, Byron includes testimony from a federal prosecutor asking the father if he was aware his son was the target of a murder investigation.
Riser’s father answered that he was.
Byron Keith Riser – Officer Bryan Riser’s father
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson formed a committee Monday, March, 8, to investigate why Riser was still working as an officer despite accusations that he offered to pay three violent criminals to murder 2 people.
Some Dallas Police officers also want answers to that question.
“It seems problematic because then you‘ve got to worry about every arrest that Riser was involved in you’ve got to look at every call that he answered,” said Dallas Police Association President Sgt. Mike Mata.
The new timeline of this murder investigation now raises concerns about even more police contacts Officer Riser has had since 2017 and also questions the integrity of the cases he worked on since that time.