Some TV crime shows feature a killer who places a silencer on a gun before shooting his victim. The purpose of a silencer is to muffle the sound of gun-fire so a murderer could avoid detection. A criminal could invade a home, shoot someone and escape without the neighbors hearing anything. A silencer is most popular with Mafia hit men.

Nonetheless, Dallas County Precinct 4 Constable Roma Skinner believes that police officers deserve the privilege of using silencers, too. He mad a formal request to the Dallas County Commissioners’ Court to purchase silencers for members of SWAT or the Special Response (Entry) Team. He is the commander of a police training academy in Grand Prairie on Beltline. SWAT practices their maneuvers at the facility.

Constable Skinner made plans to purchase silencers, high-powered ammunition and smoke bombs with money from the precinct’s DDA account. A DDA is a discretionary account, in which money saved by the department in the fiscal year can be utilized to buy extra equipment.

Dallas County Judge Jim Foster said at the Commissioners’ Court public hearing this morning that he visited Constable Skinner’s training facility and he believes SWAT should use silencers, since nearby residents could hear the “echoes of gun shots.”

But Commissioner John Wiley Price appeared reluctant to endorse Constable Skinner’s proposal. Price also seemed concerned that SWAT wanted to use high-powered ammunition. The Commissioners Court will vote on the issue next week, and Price is calling for the precinct 4 constable to come to the next public hearing to answer his questions.

Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield voiced support for Constable Skinner’s plan to buy about a dozen silencers, but he agreed with Price that the constable must appear at the Commissioners’ Court to answer questions before he votes on the matter.

By the way, last week Price and Mayfield got into a rancorous argument as Price was cussing out Mayfield. This week the two County Commissioners appeared to be on friendlier terms, but Price never publicly apologized for using obscenities.

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