DALLAS — Dallas’ first Latino and bilingual police chief, Eddie Garcia, will leave an important legacy in the city. Garcia will retire after more than three decades in law enforcement.

“The last badge I will have ever worn will say Dallas Police,” Garcia said.

What You Need To Know

  • Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia will retire from law enforcement and start a job with the City of Austin 

  • Garcia's friends and colleagues say he had a dramatic impact in Dallas and fundamentally changed how the police department operates

  • Among other things, he apologized to a woman for the killing of her 12-year-old son by a police officer in 1973

  • Garcia has also made significant inroads with communities of color in Dallas 

Associate dean Alex Del Carmen, criminologist at Tarleton State University, explained Garcia’s impact on the city.

“He brought in other criminologists from the area to really help him understand what the crime issues were and where the concentric or where these hot zones were,” Del Carmen said.

In 2021 Garcia implemented the Violent Crime Reduction Strategic Plan to combat violent crime and crime-related conditions.

Dallas Police Department data shows Garcia reduced violent crime by 13% from 2022 to 2023.

Former Dallas Police Sgt. Robert Muñoz knows what it takes to make a change in the community. Muñoz worked in the gang unit in the '90s.

“You have to talk to the neighborhood, talk to las tias, the families, and just what’s going on. You’d be amazed at the information you get,” Muñoz said.

Muñoz retired in 2019, finishing his career with the department as the community liaison for its UNIDOS program. The program focuses on improving relations between officers and the Latino community.

“It’s always about communicating, it’s always having that intel of having good relationships with the community,” Muñoz explained. “If you don’t have trust and legitimacy, they’re not willing to help out.”

Garcia helped build that trust just months into the job with a historical moment. He apologized on behalf of the department to Bessie Rodriguez for the death of her 12-year-old son, Santos Rodriguez.

Santos was murdered in 1973 by a Dallas police officer.

Garcia said he was surprised the department had never apologized to Bessie.

“We have to admit our wrongs. There’s no one that supports law enforcement and the work men and women have to do more than I do,” Garcia said, “but I also recognize when we’re wrong, we have to admit we are wrong.”

Muñoz said that moment helped establish trust in the community.

Just two years into retirement, Muñoz was convinced by officers and the chief himself to return.

“We talked about our initiatives,” Muñoz said.

The former sergeant organized community walks, forums and events to engage the community. All which Garcia took part in.

“I only know how to do this job one way and that’s always putting the department and community first and me second,” Garcia said.

Del Carmen said the Dallas Police Department, like other police departments, has struggled with building trust in communities of color.  In his 27 years, the criminologist dean has never seen the department as strong as it is now. 

“Data shows that the morale is way up in the police department, that they’re hiring people and people are staying [with] the police department,” Del Carmen said.

Garcia begins his job in Austin on Nov. 4, but he says he’ll still visit Dallas. The chief is known to be a Dallas Cowboys fan.