{"id":232721,"date":"2025-09-17T02:07:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T02:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/232721\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T02:07:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T02:07:19","slug":"eddie-garcia-sworn-in-as-chief-of-fort-worth-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/232721\/","title":{"rendered":"Eddie Garc\u00eda sworn in as chief of Fort Worth police"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eddie Garc\u00eda reaffirmed his commitment to public safety and to building public trust with the city\u2019s 1 million residents as he accepted the responsibilities of leading the Fort Worth Police Department on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been less than a year since Garc\u00eda stepped down from law enforcement in November, leaving his role as Dallas\u2019 police chief to work in Austin as an assistant city manager.<\/p>\n

But as he was ceremonially sworn in to be Fort Worth\u2019s new police chief at City Hall, Garc\u00eda displayed his eagerness to reenter law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I was putting this uniform on today, I did get a little emotional because I was born to do this job, and this is my calling,\u201d Garc\u00eda said, wearing a perfectly pressed Fort Worth police uniform.<\/p>\n

Immediately before taking his oath to protect the city, Mayor Mattie Parker and City Council members welcomed Garc\u00eda to Fort Worth, expressing confidence in him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so pleased that you want to be here in the city of Fort Worth,\u201d Parker said to Garc\u00eda. \u201cThis is an amazing department that you\u2019re inheriting, but we\u2019re hiring you because we know you can make it even better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda, 54, will start as the city\u2019s 28th police chief Sept. 17 with a base pay of $306,000 a year<\/a>, according to a copy of his offer letter reviewed by the Fort Worth Report. That\u2019s about $43,000 more than his predecessor, former Chief Neil Noakes, earned in his final year of service, according to information from the city\u2019s human resources department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"(MariaIncoming police chief Eddie Garc\u00eda\u2019s silhouette appears as he answers questions during a press conference following his swearing-in ceremony at a Fort Worth City Council meeting Sept. 16, 2025, at City Hall. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n

Noakes retired in May<\/a> after just over four years of leading the department of nearly 2,000 officers. Since then, assistant chief Robert Alldredge served as interim chief and was named a finalist for the permanent role alongside Garc\u00eda.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Council members around the dais took turns addressing Garc\u00eda, with some adding what they hope to see him accomplish as chief.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy ask of you, as the next chief of Fort Worth, is to support our officers, make sure camaraderie is built within our officers, as well as bring accountability to the city of Fort Worth, be it whatever that may look like,\u201d said council member Chris Nettles, who joined other Black community leaders in calling for new accountability measures in the department<\/a> during the search for a new chief.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Council member Charlie Lauersdorf compared Garc\u00eda\u2019s return to law enforcement to his own two years away from the U.S. Marine Corps.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you took your uniform off, I have no doubt that you missed it every single day after that, but I\u2019m glad you came back to Fort Worth and put that uniform back on,\u201d Lauersdorf said. \u201cSo thank you for answering that call.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing reporters after his swearing-in ceremony, Garc\u00eda said he plans to measure success \u201cby the numbers.\u201d Like in Dallas, he said, his department will use data to constantly evaluate crime reduction strategies, emphasizing that police will collaborate with other city departments to drive success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll measure success by having less victims of crime,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Regarding ICE, he said, his department will target criminal activity<\/a>, saying undocumented immigrants should \u201clive your lives (and) don\u2019t become a priority.\u201d He reiterated previous remarks<\/a> regarding the possibility of implementing a citizen-led police oversight board, saying he\u2019s open to the idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"(MariaIncoming police chief Eddie Garc\u00eda answers questions during a press conference following his swearing-in ceremony at a Fort Worth City Council meeting Sept. 16, 2025, at City Hall. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n

The police department is the largest spending item<\/a> in the city\u2019s budget for the next fiscal year, which council members approved Tuesday<\/a>. The department receives about $460.1 million \u2014 a number that includes dollars from the city\u2019s general fund and its Crime Control and Prevention District sales tax.<\/p>\n

Fort Worth has long struggled with recruiting police officers, according to the city\u2019s drafted 2026 budget book. Many in the fast-growing city listed trust, transparency and accountability<\/a> as top priorities throughout the search for a new chief.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda told reporters he would emphasize recruiting young individuals, retaining officers within the department and trying to entice officers to stay past the day they become retirement eligible.<\/p>\n

The new chief is taking a pay cut of about $20,000 from his job as an Austin assistant city manager, which he took last year. There, he was offered a base pay of about $327,600, according to WFAA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His Fort Worth salary is on par with what he earned as chief of the Dallas Police Department, $306,440. Dallas city leaders had offered Garc\u00eda a $10,000 retention bonus every six months. They committed to having him be the highest-paid police chief in Texas in an effort to keep him from leaving<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda will be one of the highest-paid city employees in Fort Worth. City Manager Jay Chapa, who started in January, earns an annual salary of $435,000<\/a>. City Attorney Leann Guzman makes $309,580.96 per year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In addition to his base salary, Fort Worth will issue Garc\u00eda a vehicle for official duties and $10,000 to help him relocate. If Garc\u00eda leaves the job within a year, he must repay the relocation allowance. He must repay half if he leaves the post anytime between one and two years.<\/p>\n

Cecilia Lenzen and Drew Shaw are government accountability reporters for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org<\/a> and drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n

Republish This Story<\/p>\n

\"Creative<\/a><\/p>\n

Republishing is free for noncommercial entities. Commercial entities are prohibited without a licensing agreement. Contact us for details. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eddie Garc\u00eda reaffirmed his commitment to public safety and to building public trust with the city\u2019s 1 million…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":232722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,47193,7371,15138,8902,7372,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-232721","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-eddie-garcia","10":"tag-fort-worth","11":"tag-fort-worth-police-chief","12":"tag-fort-worth-police-department","13":"tag-fortworth","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115217199508087354","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}