Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia he plans to retire from law enforcement and take a new position with the city of Austin, WFAA TV reports. Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax said Garcia has been appointed to an Assistant City Manager role overseeing the city's public safety departments, including police, fire and emergency services. The move means Garcia would join Broadnax, Dallas' former city manager who took the same role in Austin this year. Garcia told Dallas police employees, "After much reflection and consideration, I have made the difficult decision to retire from my career in law enforcement."
Garcia's departure from Dallas comes just months after he and the city reached an agreement for him to stay on as police chief. Garcia said Dallas was the "right place to complete my service." After his Austin appointment was announced, Mayor Eric Johnson and Interim City Manager Kimberly Tolbert said, "Chief Garcia was the right leader at the right time for the Dallas Police Department ... Our city has achieved three consecutive years of violent crime reduction that bucked national trends. We have built greater trust between our communities and our police department. We have improved morale among our hardworking men and women in blue...While we are sorry to see him go, we also know that big city police chiefs never stick around forever." Garcia has led the Dallas Police Department for more than three years. Born in Puerto Rico, Garcia was Dallas' first Latino police chief. He was previously the police chief in San Jose, Calif., where he had spent nearly 30 years with the department. In Dallas, Garcia replaced Chief U. Renee Hall, who resigned in 2020.
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