New Fort Worth police chief coming from Pennsylvania

Ask Joel Fitzgerald about his strength as a police chief, and he’ll answer using the word “community.”

“I think I’m sensitive to all parties involved in interactions with police,” Fitzgerald said in an interview Wednesday. “I think it’s important that we’re a part of the community.

“It’s not us vs. the community. It’s us being a part of the community.”

Fort Worth City Manager David Cooke used the word, too, in announcing Wednesday that he has chosen Fitzgerald as the city’s next police chief.

Cooke called Fitzgerald “the best choice to lead the Fort Worth Police Department in this new era of community policing.”

The City Council will be asked to affirm the decision in a resolution Tuesday.

Fitzgerald, 44, will be the city’s first African-American police chief.

He is now police chief in Allentown, Pa., a city of 118,577 about 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

“I don’t know that I can verbalize how excited I am,” Fitzgerald told the Star-Telegram from his office in Allentown on Wednesday afternoon. “I’m honored to have this opportunity.”

Jumped at the chance

Fitzgerald has been chief in Allentown, with just over 200 officers, since 2013. He said the opening at the much larger Fort Worth department — with more than 1,500 sworn officers — caught his attention immediately when Jeff Halstead announced his retirement in November.

“I had to be one of the first people to apply for the job,” Fitzgerald said. “I know the department has had some challenges, but I also know the department has a tremendous reputation. There’s not a chief in the state of Texas that wouldn’t take advantage of this job.”

Among the challenges will be maintaining and developing the department’s relationship with the community, which includes the Code Blue Citizens on Patrol program.

Another task is improving trust between residents and officers, something that’s become a national priority in the past year. Fort Worth is one of six cities selected for a Justice Department program seeking ways to build community trust and justice.

Fitzgerald is well aware of the initiative. But to help facilitate it — along with the rest of his duties as chief — he’s not planning sweeping changes. The department, he said, is already in a good position.

“Coming in, I’ll really take a good look at the organization and assess where we are,” he said. “I know this is a great department. Sometimes you don’t need to make wholesale changes. I’m not in any way looking to make wholesale changes.”

Career began in 1992

Fitzgerald is returning to Texas. He was police chief in Missouri City, in the Houston area, from 2009 to 2013. While there, Fitzgerald earned the 2010 NAACP President’s Award for Community Policing.

But he started in his native Philadelphia. He joined that city’s force in 1992 and worked in various command positions until 2009. When he left, he was commander of the narcotics unit, responsible for 69 officers.

Going from Philadelphia to Missouri City was a transition from a large, “layered” department to a much smaller one, he said. He said he benefited from the experience.

“You deal with so many other things on a more global level as chief,” he said. “In a city like Philly, you may work in investigations or narcotics, but you might not touch other aspects of the department.”

When Fitzgerald left Missouri City for Allentown, the Texas House of Representatives honored him with a resolution: “His leadership and commitment have helped the community of approximately 70,000 residents remain one of the safest cities in the nation.”

In his statement, Cooke said, “In every position he has served, Chief Fitzgerald has been instrumental in those agencies becoming standard-bearers among jurisdictions seeking to promote community problem-solving and abate violent crime.”

Cooke did not respond to requests for further comment.

Rick Van Houten, president of the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, said, “It’s a new chapter. He’s got great qualifications, and I look forward to working with him.”

In Allentown, Fitzgerald is credited with helping the department get body cameras and acquire software for officers to receive real-time data.

Keith Morris, an assistant police chief, said Fitzgerald has a phrase that personifies him: “I’ve never had a bad day in my life.”

He said those same words shortly after answering the phone Wednesday.

He is expected to begin work in Fort Worth on Oct. 19.

Fitzgerald and his wife, Pauline, have three children and a grandchild.

This report includes material from The Wichita Eagle and the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 3:58 PM with the headline "New Fort Worth police chief coming from Pennsylvania."