"You were worth All the sacrifices....."

This is a special message from Dallas Chief Eddie Garcia as he is retiring, after nearly 33 years, from the law enforcement profession.

It is a sad time for the Dallas Police Department as we are losing a true innovator and a “Cop’s Cop” natural leader for the Department.

Eddie Garcia started his law enforcement career, age 21, at the San Jose Police Department and he rose to become Chief of that Department in 2016. He served in Narcotics, SWAT, the Homicide Unit and then began to climb into leadership, setting the path to Dallas Texas.

The City of Dallas was reeling from skyrocketing crime, low Department morale and on the heels of covid and the defund the police movement and there was an opening for the Chief of Police position.

The Department was in need of a strong leader, the community demanded a transparent Chief, and the City prayed for a figure that could turn around a much-needed police department.

In February of 2021 Chief Eddie Garcia took over as the Department’s 30th Police Chief and the first Latino Chief in its 140-year history and quickly went to work building his command staff, connecting with the community and building trust in the Department.

Eddie was and always will be an old street cop masquerading as a four-star chief and the City of Dallas if lucky to have had a glimpse of true leadership that we hope that other future Chiefs will take note.

Chief Garcia will leave the Dallas Police Department on November 1st to start a new journey in the State’s Capital as the Assistant City Manager of Public Safety.

***Update***

Chief Garcia returned to policing, after less than a year, to become Fort Worth PDs Chief of Police.

Garcia’s administrations accomplishments:

Four straight years of violent crime reduction.

Greenlighting the implementation of the Wellness Unit.

Better relationships with community and city leaders.

Alcohol Leave Policy that has assisted 14 officers to date.

Authorizing the usage of blocker trucks to protect officers.

Improved recruiting from outside the State.

Creation of lateral transfer policy.