After long search, Fort Worth police chief selection may be soon

By his own account, David Cooke’s search for a new Fort Worth police chief has “taken longer than I thought.”

The city manager started looking for a replacement in January, when Jeffrey Halstead stepped down.

“When you sit down and say, ‘What would it take?’ ” Cooke said, “it looked like we were going to finish in May or June.”

Cooke was patient, though, and after narrowing the field to six finalists and having a community forum with the finalists last week, he said he could be nearing a decision by the end of the month.

“What we'll be doing is more follow-up interviews in person and over the phone, and we'll do more reference checks, too,” Cooke told the Star-Telegram this week. “So we’re in that process.”

A challenge will be projecting how the new chief will be able to lead a department of Fort Worth’s size. Two finalists are Fort Worth assistant chiefs, two have chief experience in smaller cities, and the other two have had lengthy careers in Houston and San Antonio.

Cooke, who as city manager presents his selection to the City Council, doesn’t plan to publicly narrow the field again. He tentatively targeted the council's next meeting on Sept. 29 as a potential date for naming the new chief.

The six candidates, who participated in a community forum last week, are:

▪ San Antonio Assistant Police Chief Jose Banales, a 32-year veteran of the department who heads the operations bureau.

▪ Fort Worth Assistant Police Chief Kenneth Dean, a 23-year veteran of the department who commands 1,000 sworn and civilian personnel and manages a budget of $106 million.

▪ Allentown (Pa.) Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald, who previously was the police chief in Missouri City and a member of the Philadelphia Police Department for 17 years.

▪ FBI senior instructor Anne Kirkpatrick, who has been the chief deputy in King County, Wash., and police chief in three Washington cities, including Spokane.

▪ Kirk Munden, who retired in 2014 as executive assistant police chief in the Houston Police Department.

▪ Fort Worth Assistant Police Chief Abdul Pridgen, a 23-year veteran of the department who oversees finance and personnel and has been an assistant chief over patrol.

Cooke said he doesn't want to strictly compare resumes and choose a winner.

“I want to look at their motivation, what their personal goals are, what their whole view of policing is,” he said. “There’s more to the depth of a person than whether they’ve been a chief in a city or in a big police department.”

Said Mayor Betsy Price, “We’re looking for Superman, I guess. … We felt like, and David in his talks with us, he feels like all of them can make that jump.”

Transparency when possible

The City Council ratifies the chief, but the selection is solely Cooke’s decision. His office has worked with a search firm gathering applications and conducting background checks.

Councilman Dennis Shingleton, who represents District 7 in north Fort Worth, said Cooke has been tight-lipped about the process, but not secretive.

“I’ve been involved in several higher-level hires here, and I think this has been the best process yet,” Shingleton said. “He’ll listen to what you have to say, but he won’t divulge or release any information on an individual.”

Still, Cooke has emphasized transparency, when possible.

He organized the community forum, something that didn’t happen in 2008, when Halstead was hired. This time, citizens were able to submit questions in advance online, and they were read at the forum.

Councilwoman Gyna Bivens, who represents District 5 in east Fort Worth, called the forum “quite unique, quite innovative and so very transparent.”

“People may not have really grasped it: They literally had a chance to sit in on an interview,” Bivens said.

It was a head start, Bivens said, on healing what she called “some fractured relationships” stemming from Halstead’s time as chief.

In January, a week after Halstead retired, three officers filed a federal lawsuit against Halstead and the city, alleging their civil rights were violated.

Another African-American officer filed a similar federal lawsuit against the city, Halstead and retired Sgt. Dave Stamp in December.

One of the officers who sued in January was Sgt. Roy Hudson, president of the Fort Worth Black Law Enforcement Officers Association. Hudson could not be reached for comment.

Bivens said the new chief will have to work to establish trust where perception might have weakened it. For her district, Bivens proposed bringing a police storefront to the Stop Six neighborhood.

Maureen Beaucond is a volunteer in the Code Blue Citizens on Patrol program, which has more than 730 members who observe and report crimes in their neighborhoods. Citizen involvement helps the department, Beaucond said.

“The chief knows that Code Blue helps to alleviate the overload on officers in the areas,” Beaucond said.

If Cooke can pick a candidate who will maintain and grow community relationships, it will be worth the wait, Shingleton said.

“Has it been too long? You can make that case,” he said. “But I would trade the takes-too-long for finding the right candidate.”

This story was originally published September 20, 2015 at 2:14 PM with the headline "After long search, Fort Worth police chief selection may be soon."