Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus will retire by the end of the year
Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus will retire by the end of the year, the department said Monday.
The 28-year veteran of the department replaced fired chief Joel Fitzgerald in May 2019. Kraus told employees via email Monday morning he would retire, saying his wife, Angie, was also retiring from her career in education. Kraus said he will stay with the department until the city finds a replacement.
“I feel so blessed to have served our community with you over the past 28 years,” he said in a statement. “I will forever have fond memories of this department, our accomplishments, and especially the relationships shared.”
Kraus did not immediately return a call for comment Monday, and a department spokesperson said the chief was not doing interviews.
City Manager David Cooke said he was disappointed that Kraus decided to retire.
“I have really enjoyed working with Chief Kraus,” Cooke said. “He has always been a calming presence in the room dealing with some difficult situations.”
Kraus’ announcement comes after months of protests in Fort Worth, part of a national outcry for police reform following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Fort Worth activists have called for defunding police operations and campaigned against the police department’s special sales tax.
Cooke commended Kraus and said he was not looking to change up leadership in the police department.
“I wish he would stay longer,” Cooke said. “I think he’s doing some great things for our department.”
Kraus’ departure came as a surprise, said Manny Ramirez, president of the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, but one that he thought officers would understand.
“This is a tremendous loss for our city,” Ramirez said. “He has given his heart and soul to Fort Worth.”
In a statement to the Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price described Kraus as having “a servant’s heart.” Kraus has been eligible for retirement for a few years, she said, and city leaders knew he would likely leave “sooner rather than later.” Price said she appreciated Kraus agreeing to stay through the end of the year.
A national search will be done for a new chief, she said.
“I am looking for a candidate that can build upon the foundation that Chief Kraus has laid,” she said in an email. “My hope is to have someone who can continue to make our police department one of the most accountable and transparent departments in the nation.”
Kraus, 52, was hired in 1992 and rose through the ranks. He became chief in an interim capacity in May 2019 and was selected to lead the department permanently in December. Kraus made an annual salary of $215,000 as interim chief and $224,685 with the promotion.
He told the Star-Telegram in December his family took a long Thanksgiving holiday to consider whether the elevation was right for them. He and his wife have two grown sons.
“I feel like this is where God put me for now,” Kraus said at the time. “I’ll serve as long as I can and do the best job I can.”
The city did not conduct a nationwide search before selecting Kraus to take over the department. Cooke defended the decision to not hunt outside for a new chief, saying that Kraus, who was executive assistant police chief under Fitzgerald, quickly established himself and met challenges head on after taking on the role of interim chief.
Cooke expects to have public hearings when the city begins to look for a new chief, though he wasn’t yet sure of the details.
He fired Fitzgerald in May 2019 following a confrontation in Washington, D.C., with the head of the state police union during a memorial for fallen officers. The city has said Fitzgerald was fired because of the D.C. clash and his failure to exercise sound judgment and leadership.
Fitzgerald, who is now the chief in Waterloo, Iowa, has maintained his firing was unjust and related to a whistleblower lawsuit.
In an interview with the Star-Telegram in January, Kraus outlined several goals for the department, which included rebuilding “trust and the legitimacy of the police department.” He also committed to releasing body camera footage promptly.
In June, following calls from protesters to defund policing, he said the department would allocate more of its special sales tax to community groups that work to reduce crime or provide social services. Fort Worth voters re-approved the tax for a decade on July 14.
Kraus’ brief time leading the department has been trying.
In October 2019, Atatiana Jefferson, a 28-year-old Black woman, was shot and killed in her home by Officer Aaron Dean, who later resigned and has been charged with murder. The shooting sparked calls for Kraus and other city leaders to resign.
During weeks of protests focused on police brutality, Kraus drew national attention when he and Assistant Chief Julie Swearingin suddenly knelt with protesters on June 1.
During a demonstration the night before, police had used tear gas to disperse a crowd on the West Seventh Street bridge. It was the first time the city had used tear gas in 30 years. Officers had been pelted with bottles of bleach and frozen water, Kraus said, defending the use of gas.
The tactic, along with the arrests of dozens of protesters, drew criticism from community activists, including United Fort Worth.
Daryl Davis, a candidate for Council District 6, is among those who have called for police reform and greater oversight. Davis applauded Kraus’ leadership over the last year, calling him a “tireless listener.”
But Davis was critical of city management for selecting Kraus without vetting other candidates or holding public hearings, and called on them to do better when selecting his replacement.
“In this era of increased scrutiny and community demand for greater accountability of law enforcement, it is my hope and expectation that the City Council and city management take the opportunity to do what is right by the citizens of Fort Worth and allow the public to have a voice in the selection of our next chief,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Councilwoman Gyna Bivens said she believed Kraus brought a new level of trust to the department. Bivens complimented Kraus on his willingness to attend community meetings and engage with residents. On many occasions he walked neighborhood streets, she said.
“I certainly see him as an ally who wanted to improve those relationships,” she said.
Several changes are coming to the department.
Since March, Kim Neal has served as police monitor, a first-of-its-kind position for the city focused on reviewing police policies and hearing complaints. Neal will be tasked with developing a community oversight board for the department. Kraus has voiced support for the board and a separate independent panel of experts hired to evaluate the department’s procedures after Jefferson’s shooting.
The police monitor and community oversight board were products of the city’s Race and Culture Task Force, which formed in 2016 after the viral arrest of Jacqueline Craig. Kraus served as a liaison between the task force and the police department.
“He was the right chief at the right time for us when we were at our lowest to a certain degree with race relations and police engagement,” said Bob Ray Sanders, a co-chair of the Race and Culture Task Force who said he was saddened to hear Kraus planned to retire.
Sanders had advocated for hiring Kraus rather than someone from the outside, he said, because he believed Fort Worth needed a chief who understood the city. Sanders called Kraus one of the “most trusted and respected people inside the city.”
“We’re trying to be as open and transparent as we can be,” Kraus said during a January interview. “We’d like to be a leader of transparency among police departments across the country. And anything we can do to improve the department and make us more responsive to the community we serve is going to help.”
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 10:32 AM with the headline "Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus will retire by the end of the year."
