Fort Worth Hires Eddie Garcia as New Police Chief

(WBAP/KLIF) — WFAA News 8 — Fort Worth has named the city’s next chief of police, and he’s a familiar face in North Texas.

Former Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia was selected to lead the Fort Worth Police Department’s nearly 1,900 officers over Fort Worth Interim Police Chief Robert Alldredge Jr. and former Dallas Police Deputy Chief Vernon Hale, who most recently served as Prince George’s County Police Department assistant chief of police in Maryland.

Garcia’s return to law enforcement in North Texas, despite his previous statements that a Dallas police badge would be the last one he’d wear, comes after he retired from law enforcement last fall to join former Dallas City Manager (and current Austin City Manager) T.C. Broadnax as an assistant city manager in Austin. Ahead of his retirement, he’d told WFAA’s Rebecca Lopez in a one-on-one interview that he’d made the decision to retire to spend more time with his children.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Garcia was hired Dallas’ Police Chief in February of 2021, becoming the first Latino to lead the ninth largest police department in the country. He served as chief of the Dallas Police Department for more than three years, and his efforts to reduce violent crime were widely celebrated.

Prior to his tenure in Dallas, Garcia served as police chief in San Jose, Calif., where he began his law enforcement career in 1992 and served as chief until 2016.

Garcia has a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Management degree from Union Institute and University and also attended the De Anza College in Cupertino, Calif., where he studied Administration of Justice.

Garcia will replace former Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes, who retired in May after 25 years with the department. More than 50 candidates applied for the job before Garcia, Alldredge, and Hale were announced as being among the top four finalists for the job earlier this summer.