Ex-Dallas cop facing capital murder charges was kept on the job to not arouse suspicion of investigation

An ex-cop in Dallas who was arrested this week for capital murder was not placed on administrative leave so the officer wouldn’t realize he was under investigation.

Bryan Riser, 36, a Dallas Police officer since 2008, was ultimately put on paid administrative leave Thursday, following his arrest, a department spokeswoman confirmed to the Daily News Friday.

Though Riser was earlier named a “person of interest” in the 2017 deaths of Liza Saenz, 30, and Albert Douglas, 60, he was kept on the force so he would remain unaware that he was the subject of the murder investigation, Former Dallas Police Chief U. Renée Hall told The Dallas Morning News.

This photo provided by the Dallas County Sheriff's Office shows Bryan Riser. Authorities say Riser, a Dallas police officer, has been arrested on two counts of capital murder, more than a year and a half after a man told investigators that he kidnapped and killed two people at the officer’s instruction in 2017. ((Dallas County Sheriff's Office via AP)/)

By keeping the allegedly dirty cop in the dark, a tactic approved by federal law enforcement, Riser would hopefully not attempt to cover his tracks, Hall told the outlet.

She had been made aware of the allegations against Riser back in 2019 and left the department in late 2020.

“Doing anything different, we may not have been able to bring justice to the families today,” Hall told the local news source.

Chief Eddie Garcia, middle, speaks with media during a news conference regarding the arrest and capital murder charges against Officer Bryan Riser at the Dallas Police Department headquarters on Thursday, March 4, 2021, in Dallas.

Riser had been investigated multiple times for breaking policy, according to records obtained by the outlet.

He was also arrested in May 2017 on a misdemeanor count of family violence assault causing bodily injury, the outcome of which is unknown, according to the publication.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie García spoke about Riser’s arrest at a press conference Thursday.

“There’s an old adage in police work that says that no one hates a bad cop more than a good cop. We hire individuals from the human race. And when we find individuals such as this, it’s the actions that we take afterward that we should be judged by. We will hold ourselves accountable to the highest level,” he pledged.