Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia’s abrupt retirement from law enforcement to join the City of Austin in a civilian capacity is viewed by many Dallas insiders as a black eye for interim city manager Kim Tolbert.
Tolbert doubled-down this past spring on retaining Garcia, as other cities expressed interest in poaching the police chief.
“Obviously, City Council members and I want to keep him in Dallas doing a good job. It will take flexibility, creativity with a hefty dose of accountability to accomplish that, but we are working tirelessly to develop solutions. I believe Chief Garcia wants to remain here,” Tolbert said in May statement, according to WFAA.
Then she appeared to publicly taunt other suitors.
“To the cities shopping in Dallas for a new chief, I have one message for you: ‘turn around and go back home,'” she told WFAA.
Despite Tolbert’s bravado, Garcia is now leaving and the city must scramble for a new chief, a costly endeavor for a major metropolitan police force.
Garcia’s decision has resonated across the city.
Garcia will start his new job in November as an assistant city manager in Austin, according to a memorandum from Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax obtained by WFAA. The job switch would end Garcia’s nearly four-year run as head of the Dallas Police Department.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, DPD has been laboring under a chronic labor shortage, fielding nearly 1,000 fewer officers than a prior City analysis advised.
Broadnax resigned as the city manager of Dallas in February after a troubled seven-year tenure, then shifted to the same role in Austin. He first hired Garcia to lead DPD in December 2020. The two will reportedly be reunited in Austin this year.
DPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Garcia will be one of four assistant city managers in Austin and will focus on public safety, according to WFAA. He will work alongside Veronica Briseño, Robert Goode, and Stephanie Hayden-Howard.
Dallas Police Chief Reneé Hall resigned in 2020 after facing criticism for her handling of the George Floyd riots and rising crime. The City then hired Garcia, who previously served as the police chief of San Jose, California.
Garcia headed the launch of Dallas’ Violent Crime Reduction {Plan in 2021, which led to decreases in certain categories of violent crime, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The City announced in May that Garcia committed to stay in Dallas as police chief for three more years. However, the addendum of the City’s agreement with Garcia did not mention such a commitment, according to The Dallas Morning News. It included a $306,440.40 base salary and a $10,000 biannual retention bonus.