Dallas has begun a national search to find its next chief of police. Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert announced the effort in a Friday press release.
In addition, city officials say they’ll start a regional and local search for the next chief of Dallas Fire Rescue in mid-February.
The announcement comes after several Dallas department leaders have resigned. That includes former Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia, who left the department last year to become an assistant city manager in Austin.
Former Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief Dominique Artis recently took on a new role as the city's chief of public safety. In that role, he's responsible for supervising his former department, as well as the police department, emergency services and the municipal courts.
“Filling these mission critical leadership positions is a commitment I made in my recent 100-Day plan,” Tolbert said in the press release.
“As Dallas evolves into a globally recognized City that sets the standard for excellence, it is imperative to have a visionary leader guiding DPD into its next chapter. Our next chief must have experience building trust and legitimacy, promoting innovation, fostering talent, and implementing meaningful strategies to reduce crime,” Tolbert added.
The city has hired Public Sector Search and Consulting, Inc (PSSC), a consulting firm that focuses predominately on finding public safety executives, to conduct the search.
“PSSC is an expert in robust recruiting for top talent, and we expect a diverse list of highly qualified candidates for this,” Dominique Artis, chief of public safety said in the press release. “Public Safety remains a top priority for Dallas, and we are confident that we will identify the right candidate to support our continued goal of being one the safest large cities in the U.S.”
Michael Igo has served as the interim Dallas police chief since Garcia’s resignation last year.
Dallas officials could pick semi-finalists for the police position as soon as early March, according to a timeline fo the search process released on Friday. No timeline was released for the fire chief role.
Finding the next person to lead the police department will include feedback from various entities like law enforcement partners, police association members, “peer” panels and a panel made up of police oversight officials, community members and cultural diversity partners.
The search for new public safety leaders begins as one to appoint Tolbert as city manager, comes to an end. That process was riddled with confusion, chaos and transparency concerns.
That included dozens of candidates being kept from elected officials until late last year, some finalists dropping out of the running — and dueling meetings due to transparency concerns.
"I would expect [the search for the police chief] to be different as it is being run by City Manager Tolbert's office," District 13 Council Member Gay Donnell Willis told KERA in a text.
Willis said it was Tolbert's idea to start the national search but added that she knew Interim Dallas Police Chief Michael Igo "is well-respected and would be a strong candidate, should he choose to apply."
Igo has been in the interim role since September.
Dallas has seen a decrease in violent crime over the last three years, according to police officials. Even so, public safety is still front of mind for some Dallas residents.
The issue sparked a controversial voter-led city charter amendment that requires city officials to hire hundreds new police officers. That amendment was passed during the November 2024 election.
Whoever is tapped as the next police chief will have to navigate the new policy, along with yet another voter-led initiative that decriminalized up to four ounces of marijuana in Dallas — and prohibits police officers for making some arrests connected with the substance.
Got a tip? Email Nathan Collins at ncollins@kera.org. You can follow Nathan on Twitter @nathannotforyou.
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