Christmas marks 100 days on the job as Fort Worth Police Chief for Eddie Garcia. He admits it’s not his tool of measure.

“100 days means nothing to me,” Garcia said. “If I saw something on week one. I’m gonna take care of it on week one. I’m not gonna wait till 100 days to do it.”

The 54-year-old said he’s enjoying North Texas, the support from city leaders, and the community. He said Mayor Mattie Parker and City Manager Jay Chapa have shown him action and not lip service.

“Whether it’s what you saw, a brand new helicopter. Whether it’s almost $6 million into a real-time crime center,” he said. “Whether it’s new stations that are going up. You know, the CCPD (Crime Control and Prevention) funding that the department gets. I mean, this is a special place.”

He spoke after taking an oath as the 28th chief of the FWPD to reduce violent crime, improve police accountability, restore community trust, restore department morale, and recruit more officers. None are overnight achievements.

Recruiting and retaining officers in a growing city  

Recruitment, Garcia believes, should be up to full staff at 1,906. Even he wonders if that will be enough as the city continues to grow to respond to its citizens. He believes Texas and Fort Worth are law enforcement-friendly enough to recruit and retain officers.

“These young recruits that are coming in, looking at what cities they wanna work for,” he said. “They’re looking at what departments have technology that they’re leveraging to make my job easier to protect our residents. That’s important, right?”

Technology, AI, and the future of policing  

Garcia is talking about artificial intelligence. He said he envisions a use that would make the officer’s job easier and help the crime victim. However, the technology would not replace boots on the ground as seen in movies.

“Nothing will ever replace the men and women that actually go and have to answer a call for service, that have to be empathetic to an individual,” Garcia said. “That has to be proactive on a car stop to take a criminal off the street, or give a citation for a traffic incident, or investigate the cases.”

He said the department is leveraging technology, trying to quell the fear associated with it, and ensuring police have policies in place for the community. The emphasis is on assisting with safety. It’s what, the chief said he’s witnessed since he’s been on the job.

Garcia admits he is a hands-on manager, actively managing. According to him, that doesn’t mean he’s a micromanager.

“Boots on the ground” still matter  

“I like to get out in the field. I like to talk to my officers. I like to practice Lincoln on Leadership Principles [Leading by example, deep connection with people, persuasion, adaptability] and get out of the office and get amongst my people that are doing the work,” he said.  “I get so much out of that. I think that’s the expectation, I think, that a community wants from their police chief. I’m not just an administrator.”

The proximity of leadership puts him closer to the officer and shared experiences.  

“I’ve been that officer that’s answered calls for service. I’ve been that officer that’s done undercover drug buys,” Garcia said. “I’ve been that officer that’s hit a house on a SWAT search warrant. I’ve been the officer that’s investigated and talked to a homicide suspect across the table from me.”

Now, he’s the police chief again. And it’s a job he said he plans to keep.

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