First Official Day On The Job For New Dallas Police Department Chief Eddie Garcia
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — Because of COVID there was no formal ceremony, but Eddie Garcia has been sworn in as the new chief of the Dallas Police Department.
Garcia is the first Latino police chief in the department's history -- the city of Dallas is 42% Hispanic.
The 50-year-old chief arrived in town last week and became a certified Texas peace officer after passing the state certification requirements.
Wednesday morning Garcia sent a tweet saying, in part, "Rise and Grind @DallasPD !!! Let's roll!" The message was accompanied by photos of him drinking from a Dallas SWAT Team mug, and riding an exercise bike.
Garcia spent his entire 28-year police career in San Jose, California. He began as a narcotics officer and spent his last four years with the department as chief.
In California, Garcia saw some 4,000 assaults, rapes and robberies and only 38 homicides for all of 2020. Dallas welcomes him with six times the number of murders and manslaughter cases — 245 — and double the number of other violent crimes.
Now, here in North Texas Garcia says his top priorities are building trust with the community and reducing those violent crimes.
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