Dallas hires retired San Jose police chief
The retirement for freshly departed San Jose police Chief Eddie Garcia lasted all of about a week, after it was confirmed Wednesday that he will become the next chief of the Dallas Police Department.
With his s ele c t ion, the 50-yearold Garcia becomes the first Latino police chief in the history of Dallas, which has the country’s ninth-largest city population and has a police department three times the size that of San Jose, which is the 10th-largest city in the United States.
“My story began as a young boy moving to a new city, learning to speak English in a community that promoted me to chief. It’s an honor to be welcomed into one of America’s greatest cities for the second time as chief,” Garcia said in a Dallas city news release. “I’m truly humbled by the thought of wearing the DPD uniform and working alongside such an amazing group of committed men and women. Together in partnership and collaboration with the Dallas community, we will meet the challenges of today and beyond.”
Two weeks ago, Garcia made the short list of four internal department candidates and three outside applicants, and was the only current or former chief who policed a city of comparable size to Dallas. The other external candidates were the chiefs of Charlottesville, Virginia and Irving, Texas, cities dwarfed by Dallas and its police department in sheer scope.
But in many ways the scope of Dallas police also towers over Garcia’s adopted hometown in the South Bay. San Jose has a million-plus population like Dallas, the latter has upwards of 3,100 officers and seven substations, compared to the roughly 1,200 officers and one headquarters — with a substation used primarily for training.
Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax, who made the hire, said in a statement, “Despite the challenges of the global pandemic, it’s an exciting time for him to come to Dallas and continue building on the foundation of R.E. A.L. Change we’ve built — advancing 21st century policing in ways that are responsible, equitable, actionable, and legitimate.”
Garcia announced his retirement from the San Jose Police Department in August, a month before U. Reneé Hall announced she was leaving Dallas police at the end of the year.
Hall’s resigned under pressure for not driving down violent crime to the satisfaction of city leaders. Homicides in Dallas, which has 1.3 million residents, have topped 200, and are up nearly 20% over last year, mirroring similar rises in other large U.S. cities during the COVID-19 pandemic. San Jose has seen a 26% increase in homicides this year, but at a far smaller scale, a jump from 34 in all of 2019 to 43 for the current year.
Dallas city leaders are also scrutinizing overtime spending for police officers under Hall’s leadership.
Hall was also criticized for her department’s response to June demonstrations protesting the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. Hundreds in Dallas were arrested and assailed with less-lethal munitions and tear gas during the protests, leading local prosecutors to probe police tactics used in those encounters.
SJPD has faced similar scrutiny over its aggressive response to protesters this spring, which prompted the department to conditionally ban rubber-bullet use and the city council to grill commanders over their tactics. So far, allegations over excessive force remain under internal investigation, and no formal discipline for any officers related to the protests has been disclosed.
Garcia told this news organization earlier this month that financial matters weighed on his retirement decision: In turning 50 this month, he has nearly topped out his city pension, which will pay him in the neighborhood of $250,000 annually. Garcia’s new salary in Dallas was not disclosed in the city news release, but Hall, his predecessor, earned a salary of of about $236,000 last year, according to public records.
Meanwhile in San Jose, the search for Garcia’s successor is still underway, with applications accepted online through Dec. 31. San Jose has contracted with Public Sector Search & Consulting — a recruiting firm run by former Martinez police chief Gary Peterson which conducted the Dallas search that ended with Garcia’s selection — with running its search.