Former Dallas top cop Eddie Garcia will take over the Fort Worth Police Department, city manager Jay Chapa said Thursday.
Garcia, who is currently serving as an assistant city manager in Austin, will be the Fort Worth department’s 28th chief of police, according to a statement from the city. The announcement of Garcia’s selection caps off a months-long search for the department’s next leader that began in February of this year.
Before being named Fort Worth’s chief, Garcia was best-known locally for a four-year stint as Dallas’ police chief. He worked to stabilize the department’s force amid an officer retention crisis and pushed to increase transparency with a use-of-force data portal for residents, the Star-Telegram previously reported. When he was hired in 2021, Garcia was the department’s first Latino chief, and violent crime in the city fell 19% during his tenure…