Joel Fitzgerald gets Philadelphia job, fights to regain Fort Worth police chief job
The former Fort Worth police chief embroiled in a struggle with city officials to get his old job back has accepted the chief deputy’s position with the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office.
Joel Fitzgerald, Fort Worth’s first African-American police chief, has been seeking new employment since he was fired in May following a confrontation in Washington, D.C., with the head of the state police union during a memorial for fallen officers.
City officials have said Fitzgerald was fired because of the D.C. clash and his failure to exercise sound judgment and leadership. Fitzgerald, who is represented by Dallas-based attorney Stephen Kennedy, is one of three whistleblowers suing the city and has demanded reinstatement to the chief’s position.
Kennedy said the Philadelphia deputy chief job is a temporary position that pays an estimated $150,000 less than Fitzgerald’s Fort Worth police chief job. Fort Worth paid Fitzgerald nearly $224,000 as of March 2019, according to the Texas Tribune.
Fitzgerald is not changing his residence and continues to seek reinstatement, Kennedy said.
“The man has a family and needs healthcare,” Kennedy said.
Earlier this week, a motion was filed in a Dallas district court to reinstate Fitzgerald as Fort Worth police chief on the assertion that city officials violated the city charter by denying ex-chief his right to have a public hearing regarding his firing.
Fitzgerald’s attorney filed a petition Thursday with State Office of Administrative Hearings to have his discharge designation changed from general to honorable. Fitzgerald testified during a hearing in Dallas that he had applied for more than 100 jobs but was blocked from consideration because now Police Chief Ed Kraus gave the ex-chief a general rather than an honorable discharge.
Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, who hired Fitzgerald, was sworn into the lead position at the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office on Monday and is the first African-American woman elected to serve in that capacity.
“I’ve known Fitzgerald for 28 years,” Bilal said during a telephone interview Friday. “He has the highest integrity and an he is an excellent choice to be my second in command.”
