HOUSTON — Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia is staying put after reports that he was receiving interest from both Houston and Austin for chief openings there, officials announced Thursday.
Interim City Manager Kim Tolbert said in a news release that Garcia has agreed to a plan that will keep him in Dallas through at least mid-2027.
Editor's note: The above video aired before Garcia agreed to a new deal
Garcia's salary will remain $306,440.40 but starting this November he will receive a retention bonus of $10,000 every six months.
“If this was NFL Football, we were able to keep Chief Garcia on the Dallas Team; he’s the right quarterback to lead our police department. We certainly didn’t want to lose him to free agency.”
Former Houston Police Chief Troy Finner resigned earlier this month in the wake of the "lack of personnel" code scandal.
Finner's departure left an opening for a department that employs around 5,300 officers and more than 1,000 civilian staffers. The Dallas Police Department, by comparison, has around 3,200 officers and around 600 civilian staffers.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire named Larry Satterwhite as interim chief. He didn't comment on reports that Houston was wooing Garcia.
Dallas sweetens Chief Eddie Garcia's deal
When asked last week about the speculation that Garcia could get hired away, Tolbert didn’t hold back, telling Houston and Austin to “turn around and go back home.”
City leaders credit Garcia with lowering the crime rate, boosting public confidence in DPD and improving morale on the force.
"He's the best chief in America today and the entire country knows it," said Dallas Police Association President Jaime Castro. "We cannot afford to lose Chief Garcia."
He also won praise from the head of the National Latino Law Enforcement Organization in Dallas.
"Everybody's pretty happy right now, so that speaks volumes of his leadership," George Aranda told WFAA.
Aranda said it's the first time in his memory that the police unions have come together to promote retention of a police chief, rather than express their displeasure with one.
They said losing Garcia would be "devastating."
Garcia in a statement said Dallas is the "right place to complete my service."
“To live and work in Dallas is to love Dallas,” Garcia said. “This is the right place to complete my service, and I know your police officers are honored to serve Dallas residents. We will keep doing our jobs with excellence and results.”
His new deal says if a Dallas city manager decides to fire Garcia "for convenience" before 2027, he will be paid a year's salary.
If Garcia resigns from his role or is fired "for his individual work performance" or is convicted of a crime, he will not receive the payment.
RELATED: 'Go back home' | Dallas official reacts to report of Houston showing interest in their police chief
Who is Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia?
Edgardo "Eddie" Garcia became the first Latino police chief in Dallas in 2021 and he has 32 years of law enforcement experience.
Before joining DPD, Garcia served as head of the San Jose Police Department in Puerto Rico for four years where he started his career.
He had worked in SWAT, homicide, narcotics, fugitive apprehension and patrol in the department. Garcia worked his way through the ranks from captain to deputy chief to assistant chief before he was named chief in 2016.
According to his bio on the DPD website, Garcia "places tremendous value on public safety and community engagement with the understanding that it is a shared responsibility and that police cannot do it alone."
Garcia was recently elected president of Major Cities Chiefs Association, a professional organization of police executives from across the United States and Canada.
He is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Background of Houston Police Department 'lack of personnel' code cases
Finner's departure came amid the scandal surrounding the "lack of personnel" code that led to the suspension of thousands of cases. Below is KHOU 11's coverage on the code and the cases.
- May 7: Houston Mayor John Whitmire accepts Chief Finner's retirement
- May 7: KHOU 11 Investigates: HPD email shows Chief Finner knew about suspended cases code earlier than he claimed
- April 30: 45 suspects charged in HPD's review of suspended incident reports due to 'lack of personnel' code, Finner says
- April 18: ‘We remain laser-focused’ | HPD says all 4,000+ suspended adult sex crime reports have been reviewed
- April 11: KHOU 11 Investigates: 30 charges filed in HPD suspended cases
- April 8: HPD had named suspects in dozens of sex crime cases that were shelved
- April 2: Some charges filed as HPD continues to review cases suspended under department's 'lack of personnel' code, Finner says
- March 20: Independent review committee begins reviewing HPD's handling of suspended cases
- March 19: Police union calls for Houston Police Chief Troy Finner’s recusal in suspended case probe
- March 8: How does the statute of limitations impact HPD's suspended cases due to 'lack of personnel' code?
- March 7: Assaults top list of HPD cases suspended for lack of personnel
- March 7: Houston mayor calls for outside review into HPD after thousands of cases were suspended
- March 1: 2 HPD assistant chiefs demoted after hundreds of thousands of reported crimes were suspended, police officers' union says
- February 28: 'Things need to change' | Sexual assault survivors want voices to be heard
- February 28: 'I don't want to leave any victim behind' | HPD chief vows to clean up system that allowed 264,000 reported crimes to be suspended
- February 22: 'We owe them an apology' | HPD to thoroughly investigate 'suspended' sexual assault cases
- February 19: Mayor Whitmire weighs in on sexual assault cases that were suspended by Houston Police Department
- February 16: 'Should have never happened' | Houston police to review sexual assault cases that had been suspended