Nydia Cardenas and Adrianne Collins came to Fort Worth City Hall to evaluate three men vying for the position of police chief: Robert Allredge Jr., Eddie Garcia, and Vernon Hale.

During a meet-and-greet on Thursday, the two friends had the opportunity to meet all three and ask questions.

“My question’s kind of focused just around leadership,” Collins said. “Each one of them had kind of some similarities in their background with some differences.”

Collins believes Fort Worth is in a good place, and she wants to see it advance. Cardenas had concerns about how the chief would handle the new, intense ICE apprehensions.

“I feel like each candidate is very different in their style,” Cardenas said. “And I felt like each of them had a very different sort of reaction and way of thinking about that.”

Candidates share experience and commitment

Allredge is the interim chief of police for the Fort Worth Police Department. Garcia, a former Dallas police chief, is an assistant city manager. Hale, a past deputy chief at Dallas PD, is the assistant police chief in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

All three met with Mayor Mattie Parker and City Council members before Thursday evening’s meet-and-greet and forum.

During the forum, city organizers narrowed down more than 80 questions submitted by community members to at least 12 categories: crisis media management, data-driven success, community relations and civil rights, police oversight, priorities, and commitment to staying on the job.

“My commitment is I’m an old man now, so this is the last police chief job I will have,” Hale said. “I can assure you that. But if the relationship between me and the community and the elected officials is still mutually beneficial for both of us, then we’ll be here for the long haul.”

Garcia and Allredge reflect on roots

Allredge spoke of his love for the FWPD and the city.

“I wasn’t looking for another chief job. That’s not what I’m about. My career is here in Fort Worth, that’s what my commitment has been,” Allredge said. “I’ve been here for 26 years and I don’t plan on going anywhere else. I love this community. I love the officers. I love our professional staff, I love our volunteers. I love the city leaders. I love everything about it.”

Garcia retired from the Dallas Police Department less than a year ago to take a step up as an assistant city manager overseeing public safety. Now, he said, quality of life is calling him back to North Texas.

“I’m a cop. I want to come back to North Texas. This is where I first was shown Texas when I got here from California. My daughter lives here,” he said.

Garcia said his mother also lives in North Texas.

“She’s getting older. I need to be closer. I want to be here. I want to stay here. I have no limit to how long that I will be here,” Garcia said. “I’m not as young as I used to be, but I still have a lot of energy and I have a lot more to give.”

Community members want deeper engagement

The candidates will meet with the city manager and other city leaders on Friday. In the meantime, Cardenas and Collins are evaluating their choice.

“I still feel like there’s more information,” Collins said. “Beyond in the three-minute conversation, there’s some more digging, I feel like, that I need to do.”

Cardenas wishes the city had taken the candidates into the Fort Worth community beyond Thursday’s event.

“I think if they were actually trying to have a process informed by community, there would have been more of these and more in community centers,” she said.

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