Austin police react to Chief Eddie Garcia's plan to retire from Dallas PD, take job in Austin
DALLAS – Eddie Garcia is expanding his territory as a leader. First responders in Austin cannot wait.
A day before the November elections, Garcia will assume his new role as assistant city manager overseeing public safety in Austin. On Thursday, he confirmed his retirement as Dallas police chief to accept the Austin position.
"I will say it was a pleasant surprise. Don't always get that in public safety," said Michael Bullock, president of the Austin Police Association who leads 1,450 officers.
The men and women answer to Austin's new police chief, Lisa Davis.
"So it's someone who's responsible for being kind of the conduit between City Hall and then the police department, our fire department, and we have a standalone EMS department," Bullock said. "We have an emergency management division. So he's responsible for all of those entities."
Garcia, as Dallas' top law enforcement officer, is building a reputation as a fixer. Austin is his next challenge.
"On the public safety side, EMS is also dealing with a staffing crisis – so is the Austin Police Department," Bullock said. "Identifying ways that both entities can get out of a staffing crisis, and we can help reduce our crime rates, get our response times down."
According to a recent social media post by Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn, Garcia helped Dallas reduce violent crime, but there are still some staffing issues. Even so, the decrease in crime surpassed national trends.
"I mean, Dallas, obviously, is a major metropolitan city. It all has large department – big city problems," Bullock said. "The biggest thing that we need in Austin is someone who can come down here who's familiar with large issues."
Bullock said Garcia comes in with a reputation of respect. The soon-to-be-retired chief is also known for being willing to work with people, communicate, and listen.
"Those are the things that we need," Bullock said.