Dallas announces 8 finalists for new police chief

DALLAS - The Dallas city manager has revealed eight finalists for a tough job – the police chief for the Dallas Police Department.

New City Manager T.C. Broadnax has been on the job a few months now and he has conducted a nationwide search. He has been steadily narrowing the field of candidates to lead the department.

His list includes three people from within the Dallas Police Department itself: Deputy Chief Malik Aziz, Assistant Chief Gary Tittle and Deputy Chief Rick Watson. Also, Grand Prairie Police Chief Steven Dye is among the finalists.

From outside of Texas the list includes Seattle PD Deputy Chief Carmen Best, Detroit PD Deputy Chief U. Renee Hall, Los Angeles PD First Assistant Chief Michel Moore and Montgomery County (Maryland) Assistant Chief Luther Reynolds.

Broadnax is planning to meet with each of the candidates in July and let a panel of various community stakeholders interview them.

Whoever is hired will be taking over a department with some serious staffing issues. The number of officers at DPD has fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade.

Higher pay at other local departments has been a factor. Also, many veteran DPD officers have taken early retirement amidst all of the concerns about the troubled police and fire pension fund.

The city’s last police chief, David Brown, retired last October after serving as chief for about six years. For the last nine months, the department has been led by Interim Chief David Pews, who has indicated he’s not interested in the job on a permanent basis.

The new chief could be announced next month and possibly sworn in by August.