After George Floyd killing, Fort Worth’s next police chief should be proven reformer
Police Chief Ed Kraus’ tenure has been short but eventful.
He took over as interim chief in May 2019 after the sudden firing of Chief Joel Fitzgerald. Kraus was immediately thrust into a summer of controversy over police shootings of civilians, which crested with the intolerable killing of Atatiana Jefferson. A few months later came the pandemic and then the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparking protests over police treatment of Black Americans nationwide, including here.
So perhaps it’s not as surprising as it first seemed that Kraus announced Monday that he would retire no later than the end of the year. It’s too bad, because his instincts for how to stabilize the department in tough times showed promise that he could lead it through the changes that need to come next.
With Kraus no longer in the mix, City Manager David Cooke should undertake a robust search for the department’s next leader. The next chief would ideally be a leader who is steeped in police reform, eager to implement the kind of changes the mayor and City Council talked openly about after the Floyd killing and during the campaign to extend the Crime Control and Prevention District.
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Cooke must consider a diverse field of candidates, too. Not just because of the urgency of changing police interactions with Black and Hispanic communities but also because it’s the right thing to do, especially in a majority-minority city.
It won’t be easy. It’s a tough time to be hiring in general, with the pandemic limiting travel and creating so much uncertainty. And few candidates will have the right mix of leadership skills and willingness to implement difficult changes.
That said, this is a prime position in one of the nation’s largest cities. It offers an opportunity to demonstrate a better kind of policing that can both prevent crime and promote community harmony. And it’s going to remain a well-funded department now that voters have agreed to continue the half-cent tax to fund crime prevention.
In promoting that ballot initiative, city leaders pledged to review funding priorities and focus on new programs with an eye toward community and social progress. In particular, they’ve talked about mental-health intervention programs that help de-escalate police interactions and route the ill to treatment and medication rather than incarceration where appropriate.
It may be that Cooke, Kraus and other leaders have been grooming internal candidates for serious consideration as chief. If so, they deserve a chance to prove what they can do. But the opportunity is too important to hand the job down without a significant national search. It’s the only way to ensure a diversity of candidates, views and ideas.
Kraus’ interim tag was removed without such a search. As it turned out, he was the right choice for the moment. His steady demeanor helped address the community’s anger over shootings, and his decades of experience in the department helped heal rifts that developed under Fitzgerald.
After the Floyd killing, Kraus drew national attention for his decision to kneel during a tense moment between protesters and officers. Such moments indicated, at a minimum, the good political instincts that the next chief would ideally have, too. The department needs a dynamic leader with a demonstrated record of confronting difficult issues, and willingness to drive change while maintaining morale.
It is possible to have an engaged police force that reins in crime without alienating much of the community. That’s the charge for the next chief. Cooke has his work cut out for him.