Four finalists named to succeed former chief Neil Noakes, with public forum scheduled at City Hall in August.
By Chase Rogers
Staff Writer
The field of contenders to lead the Fort Worth Police Department as its next chief has been narrowed to four finalists, a city spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.
The finalists are Robert Alldredge, the interim chief of the Fort Worth Police Department; Eddie García, assistant city manager in Austin who retired as Dallas police chief last fall; Vernon Hale, a former Dallas deputy chief who now works as an assistant chief in Prince George’s County, Md.; and Emada Tingirides, a deputy chief with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Messages seeking comment from the four finalists were not immediately returned. The search firm hired by the city, Mosaic Public Partners, also did not respond to a request for comment.
WFAA-TV (Channel 8) first reported the short list Monday afternoon. Sana Syed, the city spokesperson, confirmed the finalists Tuesday morning in an email to The Dallas Morning News.
The announcement of the finalists signals the end of Fort Worth’s search — and for García, hints at a possible return to North Texas less than a year after he left Dallas despite the city’s efforts to keep him.
The Fort Worth chief position has been open since the former chief Neil Noakes retired in May after more than four years. He now works at the American Warrior Association, a faith-based nonprofit in Fort Worth that supports service members, veterans, first responders and their families.
Fort Worth City Manager Jesus “Jay” Chapa plans to make a selection after a livestreamed public forum at Fort Worth City Hall from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 14. Chapa is aiming to make a final decision before Labor Day, Syed said.
Decades of experience between candidates
García helmed the Dallas Police Department from February 2021 to last October, when he retired to take on the assistant city manager position in Austin, where he oversees the city’s public safety agencies.
Alldredge, the interim chief, has been with the Fort Worth Police Department since 1999, most recently serving as executive assistant chief overseeing the department’s $450 million budget.
Hale, who left the Dallas police after 26 years to become chief of the Galveston Police Department, where he served for nearly four years, moved to Maryland to be an assistant chief for the Prince George’s County Police Department.
In 2016, before moving to Galveston, Hale was named police chief in Winter Park, Fla., but later withdrew from the position.
Tingirides has served 30 years with the Los Angeles Police Department, where she currently leads the Operations Central Bureau, overseeing a metropolitan area that includes downtown Los Angeles.
Tingirides has eyed a move to Texas before, with the city of Austin naming her a finalist to lead its police department in 2021. City leaders ultimately selected their interim chief, Joseph Chacon, for the position.
According to Syed, Mosaic Public Partners received 51 applications for the position. That is more than double the 25 the city of Dallas received when it was looking to fill its chief position earlier this year.
In April, Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert named Daniel Comeaux — then the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Houston Division — to succeed García as Dallas police chief.
García eyeing quick return to North Texas
García’s inclusion among the finalists raises the prospect of his returning to North Texas less than a year after leaving.
Last spring, Tolbert, then serving in an interim capacity, committed to keeping García among the highest-paid police chiefs in the state in an effort to keep him in Dallas.
At the time, an amendment to García’s offer letter stated that the city wanted to retain him through at least mid-2027. An examination by The News of the addendum revealed nothing showing García agreed to stay.
Months later, García was bound for Austin.
“Congratulations to former police chief Garcia and the finalists for this opportunity,” Tolbert said in a statement to The News after the finalists were announced Tuesday. “City Manager Jay Chapa and I share in the sentiment that public safety is a top priority to keep the region and its communities thriving. I wish all of the finalists much success!”
García’s hire in Austin, which made him the fourth high-ranking official the city had lured from Dallas, was roundly celebrated by Austin city leaders.
In a statement celebrating the hire at the time, Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax, who left the same role in Dallas earlier that year, said García’s “hands-on leadership style” and posture toward policing had “taken criminal elements off the streets in an unbiased way” and reduced crime.
Spokespeople for the city of Austin did not comment Tuesday on García being named a finalist for the Fort Worth police chief. Broadnax did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
García’s rationale for applying for the Fort Worth chief position is not clear. He has not returned messages seeking comment on Tuesday.
By Chase Rogers
Chase Rogers is a breaking news reporter at The Dallas Morning News. He grew up in Granbury and studied journalism at Texas State University in San Marcos. Before joining The News, he reported for the Austin American-Statesman and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. He can be reached at 361-239-6527 and Signal at crogers.95.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
