Exclusive: Dallas Police Chief Eddie García says, ‘I’m leaving on my terms’

In his first public remarks since he confirmed he’s leaving for Austin, Chief Eddie García told The Dallas Morning News in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that he’s considered retiring since May but that no single event precipitated his decision.
“I’m leaving on my terms,” García told The News in an extensive sit-down interview at his office at the Jack Evans Police Headquarters. “I don’t think people truly understand how difficult that can be for police chiefs in this era.”
García, a popular city leader who has overseen annual drops in violent crime, is leaving his more than 30-year long career in law enforcement to become Austin’s assistant city manager under former boss T.C. Broadnax.
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On Thursday, news of his departure stunned city leaders, his own command staff and officers — and its timing frustrated the chief, who said he wanted to break the news himself.
“I do feel it kind of robbed me a little bit of my goodbye,” García told The News. “There has been a narrative portrayed because I didn’t have an opportunity to truly spell out what was going through my head.”
The chief said his decision was most linked to the window of opportunity that opened after the position overseeing Austin’s public safety departments became vacant. He said he signed Austin’s offer letter early last week and his last day in Dallas will be Nov. 1.
Just four months ago, Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert pledged García would stay in Dallas until at least mid-2027. The city committed to keeping him among the highest-paid Texas police chiefs with a $306,440 base salary and a $10,000 retention bonus every six months. He’ll leave without collecting any of the bonuses.
Even though the offer letter addendum does not explicitly say García committed to staying in Dallas, he said in June “that is the intent.”
“Home = @DallasPD,” the chief wrote on social media shortly after the agreement was announced.
He’ll now start in Austin on Nov. 4 — and questions have circulated widely in Dallas about what changed between May and the sudden news of his departure.
Almost immediately after he reached the agreement with Tolbert, García said, he began thinking about retiring from law enforcement. While at a retirees’ banquet later, he realized how much he envied them.
García said he began speaking weeks ago with Broadnax and former Dallas deputy city manager Jon Fortune, who now also works in Austin. He said it was before the fatal shooting of Officer Darron Burks, who was killed as he sat in his squad car Aug. 29.
García has emphasized his loyalty to Broadnax, who hired García as Dallas’ police chief in late 2020. In February, after Broadnax announced he was leaving Dallas, the chief said he’d “go through a wall for that man.”
The chief said he wants to mentor now, and in the new job, he’ll be focused on helping his directors be successful.
City leaders said García is leaving at a critical time. Dallas police have been in mourning after the death of Burks. Two other officers were shot but survived. Dallas is contending with proposed public safety charter amendments that have been mired in controversy. Police and fire officials have also been embroiled in tense discussions with the city over how to fix a $3 billion shortfall in the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System.
City Council members have blamed García’s decision on the proposed charter amendments brought by the nonprofit Dallas HERO. If approved by voters in November, one of those would mandate Dallas hire around 900 more cops. García said he is not allowed to detail his opinion on the ballot initiatives, but said the narrative “that I’m leaving because ballot initiatives and things of that nature couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“That did not play a role in me making this decision — in the least bit,” García said.
García became emotional several times during the interview with The News. He said none of the recent challenges caused him to leave, although “Darron’s murder weighed heavily,” as did every time he’s had to terminate an officer who was “a good person that made a very bad mistake.”
The real story, García said, is that he’s “hanging up my badge after almost 33 years.”
García said he understands some people are hurt that he’s leaving, but said it’s better to leave a department when it’s on a positive track — noting this is Dallas’ fourth year of violent crime reduction, improved officer morale and community trust.
“I don’t want to give the keys to a broken police department to set up the next leader here,” he said. “In this line of work, it’s better to leave the party early than leave the party late.”
He acknowledged that his departure comes at a painful time, but said he increasingly thought about the importance of playing a role in the lives of his three children, who are all young adults. They may well start their own families soon, he said, and he didn’t “want to miss those moments.”
He said he also didn’t want to feel the angst of being away from his rank-and-file officers while away with family.
“I only know how to lead one way,” García said. “There is no balance. Good, bad, or indifferent, the way I lead is — we come second, our lives come second. And anyone that says that it doesn’t, doesn’t really recognize the job.”
Asked whether he’d considered the city management role Fortune left in Dallas, García said it “would have been unfair” to the next chief. Everyone would’ve continued looking at him as police chief, he said.
Pressed on whether he would’ve stayed if Broadnax and Fortune still led Dallas, he paused for several moments and said: “You’re killing me.” Then he added: “Obviously, I probably wouldn’t be going to Austin. But it probably still would’ve been time for me to do something else.”
He stressed he “absolutely did not” change any of his leadership style after Broadnax left and still had the freedom to make his own decisions for the Dallas Police Department.
“Where I went was absolutely based on T.C. and Jon,” García said. “The fact that I left had very little to do with them not being here.”
The day before the news leaked on Thursday, García said he alerted the “proper people in city management” about his decision. Garcia declined to speculate on where the leak may have stemmed and would not specify who he spoke to at City Hall. He said he planned to alert everyone this week.
“A career of nearly 33 years — to not have had the opportunity to proactively do it myself when that’s what my goal was — it was awful,” García said. “I can’t sugarcoat it.”
Repeatedly during the interview, García thanked his rank-and-file, without whom he said none of this success would’ve happened, and expressed appreciation for the trust the community placed in him. He singled out Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, saying “the support that the mayor has given has been tremendous.”
He choked up and paused for nearly a minute as he thought about how difficult the decision to leave was for him. He said he’s sure he made mistakes, but more importantly, “at least I always learned from them.”
He wants residents to know that through it all, he took “personally” the task of making Dallas a safer city and establishing trust with the community.
“If I ever have a plaque on my wall, a shadow box that has all the badges of ranks that I had from San Jose to here,” Garcia said, “the last badge that’s going to be on there is Dallas police.”