Fort Worth’s next police chief will be Eddie García, who formerly headed up the Dallas Police Department and is currently overseeing Austin public safety.
On Thursday, city officials announced García will serve as Fort Worth’s 28th police chief, succeeding Chief Neil Noakes who retired in May. Officials announced the hire in a news release, saying city leadership is unavailable to comment until a press conference Friday morning.
García has worked in Austin’s city manager’s office since November, taking a job as assistant city manager after leaving his role as Dallas’ top cop. García worked for the Dallas Police Department as chief from 2021 to 2024.
He previously spent three decades in San Jose, leaving his post as chief there to oversee Dallas’ force.
Finalists included interim Chief Robert Alldredge, who spent 26 years in the Fort Worth Police Department; former Dallas Police Deputy Chief Vernon Hale; and Emada Tingirides of the Los Angeles Police Department, who withdrew her candidacy after receiving a promotion in her hometown.
García, Alldredge and Hale participated in a public forum Aug. 14 to meet residents and answer questions during a moderated panel. During the discussion, García emphasized his experience leading the police departments of two major U.S. cities.
García stressed his commitment to serving Fort Worth, as his daughter lives in the city, and his mother lives in North Texas.
After leaving Dallas, he said, he gained valuable administrative experience as an assistant city manager but realized his true passion was in policing.
“At the end of the day, I was born to be a police officer,” he said.
Throughout the hiring process, some community leaders and council member Chris Nettles expressed skepticism that García was right for the role and how long he would commit to the job.
García left his Dallas job a couple months after committing to stay in the role until at least mid-2027, then was named a finalist for the Fort Worth job less than nine months after taking the Austin position.
During this month’s forum, García highlighted his past work with an oversight entity for the entirety of his career and how he looks forward to working with Fort Worth’s Office of Police Oversight Monitor.
“We are a profession that can legally take people’s rights away — we need someone to be watching us to ensure we’re doing it right,” García said. “I have no issue with that. And we have nothing to hide. When we’re wrong, we’re wrong. When we’re right, I’ll defend our men and women.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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