Updated at 8 p.m. with comments from the live candidate interviews.
The leading candidates for Dallas police chief made their case Wednesday on why they should be the city’s next top cop, expanding in live interviews about how they would reduce crime.
Candidates were interviewed in a televised Q&A session that started at 2 p.m. a day after they met privately with community groups.
City Manager T.C. Broadnax will interview the candidates Thursday, and he has said he will select the next chief shortly after that.
While the selection process wraps up, Assistant Police Chief Lonzo Anderson is serving as interim chief.
In their cover letters, obtained by The Dallas Morning News, each candidate explained why he or she should succeed Police Chief U. Reneé Hall, who announced in September that she will leave this month after three years in the job.
In live interviews available for the public to view, the finalists also answered questions submitted by City Council members. The inquiries touched on issues such as crime as the city has topped 235 homicides this year and how they would build community trust.
Here’s a look at what the candidates said in their cover letters and how they responded to questions:
Malik Aziz, Dallas police major
Aziz, who was in the running for the top job three years ago and is also a finalist for Milwaukee police chief, described himself as a compassionate and goal-oriented leader. The 28-year veteran wrote that he grew up in southern Dallas and his family roots date back five generations in Dallas. With nearly 15 years of experience as a commander, Aziz touted how he led crime initiatives over patrol divisions and summer programs.
“I am the 21st-century police chief leader with nearly a decade and a half of command leadership the city is searching for,” Aziz said.
Here’s where he stands on curbing crime: Aziz said there are various drivers of violent crime, from drug trade to loosening gun laws that the gun trade “is exploiting.” Complex issues stemming from poverty, poor education or job opportunities create a vicious crime cycle, he said. He stressed the importance of beefing up the gang unit and a focus on risk-terrain modeling, which looks at areas that attract high incidents of crime. He also advocated for reentry programs for formerly incarcerated people to find resources to reduce recidivism.
Avery Moore, Dallas Police assistant chief
Moore, a 30-year veteran of the department, said he believes Dallas “can be the safest city in America.” Moore said that under his leadership, the homicide division’s clearance rate has improved. He said as a police chief he would be “fully engaged with those under his command, offering strength, support, honesty and integrity with my actions and my decisions.”
“I will lead the Dallas Police Department through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, systemic racism, political and civil unrest, and anything the future may challenge us with,” Moore said.
Here’s where he stands on curbing crime: Moore said he doesn’t think violent crime was going up because of the pandemic but said the real uptick in Dallas came after the George Floyd protests this summer. He said the police killing of Floyd led to deep mistrust of law enforcement. Moore said one of his key crime-fighting strategies would be hot spot policing, which is when police resources are deployed to high-crime areas. But he noted that enforcement should not be the sole focus.
“I believe that there’s not a single homicide in this city that someone didn’t know about,” Moore said.
Reuben Ramirez, Dallas Police deputy chief
Ramirez, a 25-year veteran of the department, said that as the son of a farmer, his father’s work ethic and his mother’s compassion have been the tenet of his law enforcement career. As police chief, Ramirez said, he would provide innovative strategies to fight crime proactively. Ramirez shared how he’s built his career with community policing in mind, especially after SB4 was implemented, which requires law enforcement to share information with immigration officials.
“Collectively, we share pain, pride and a desire to see Dallas thrive,” Ramirez said. “We must recalibrate with a sense of urgency, implementing a vision that is shaped by reimagining public safety.”
Here’s where he stands on curbing crime: Ramirez said he would discontinue tactics of hot spot policing that led to heavy enforcement — often as traffic stops — in predominantly Black and Latino communities. His approach would be a reversal of one strategy that Hall heavily leaned on during her time as chief, which included a traffic enforcement operation with Department of Public Safety troopers.
Ramirez said the tactic can lead to mistrust and people getting caught in the criminal justice system instead of finding violent offenders. His strategy would focus on the networks of criminals. For example, Ramirez stressed that he would focus on targeting drug houses.
“Our crime-fighting strategy would focus directly on drug houses,” he said. “They’re dangerous, they’re a nuisance, they create a culture and a influence that is corrosive.”
Albert Martinez, former Dallas Police deputy chief
Martinez, a nearly 27-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department, talked about the division around the role of law enforcement. Martinez is currently the director of security for the Catholic Diocese of Dallas.
“The police are admonished for the efforts and tactics used to reduce crime while also being criticized for not doing enough to reduce it. This has caused our officers and staff to feel demoralized and confused,” Martinez said.
When Martinez was a commander in West Dallas and the Red Bird Mall area, he said, he used collaborative solutions to build strong relationships with community members.
Here’s where he stands on curbing crime: Martinez said instead of making a one-size-fits-all crime-fighting team like the Violent Crime Task Force, which was created by Hall, he would decentralize power and have deputy chiefs at patrol divisions come up with their own strategies to fight crime.
“Our stations are vast in geography, they’re different in population, and everybody has different needs,” Martinez said. He pitched a unique plan to create an ordinance to solve the problem of the large number of apartment buildings that do not have playgrounds or soccer fields to help give young people a positive outlet and encourage them to create safety plans.
Jeff Spivey, Irving police chief
The nearly 33-year veteran said that after years of falling crime rates, cities across the country have seen “the plague of gun violence sweep across our communities.” He said he has worked to address the issue with proactive policing, community partnerships and working with the branches of the criminal justice system.
“Addressing violence in our communities, while ensuring just and equitable police service, requires strategic planning supported by strong and courageous leadership,” Spivey said.
Here’s where he stands on curbing crime: A focus on violent offenders is a key part of reducing violent crime, he said. The department has to focus on community policing to help build trust so people report incidents and serve as witnesses.
“If we’re talking long-term, then we need to address community trust and legitimacy first and foremost,” Spivey said.
RaShall Brackney, police chief, Charlottesville, Va.
Brackney, a 35-year law enforcement veteran with a Ph.D, said she has experience in community engagement, crime reduction, restorative justice practices and consent decrees, which is when the federal government intervenes in oversight on a police department. She was in charge when high-profile demonstrations unfolded for the “Unite the Right” anniversary, George Floyd and the presidential inauguration.
“It should be noted, Charlottesville did not experience a single incident of violence or negative police interactions during any First Amendment events,” Brackney said. The department has about 100 officers.
Here’s where she stands on curbing crime: Brackney said curbing violent crime requires an understanding of what led up to the violence in the first place. She said homicides are often the “outgrowth” of a particular issue or conflict. She said economics, a power conflict, mental health or emotional issues are key drivers. Brackney’s key strategies center on focused deterrence crime reduction efforts, such as Operation Ceasefire, and risk terrain modeling, which focuses on environments where there’s high crime.
Edgardo “Eddie” Garcia, retired San Jose police chief
Garcia, a 29-year veteran, shared his story of being born in Puerto Rico and learning English in San Jose, Calif. Garcia said he has reduced crime with proactive policing that is constitutional. He created a program about the history of policing that goes over “racial issues in our society, discriminatory laws and the use of the police over time.”
“I have been successful in fostering the development of department leadership and staff members with a focus on increasing morale,” wrote Garcia, who recently retired as chief of a force slightly less than half the size of the Dallas Police Department.
Here’s where he stands on curbing crime: Garcia said that to combat crime, police have to work on being data driven. A small percentage of locations are often responsible for a majority of calls for service, he said. “The goals are for less victims, the goals are for less perpetrators,” he said. “The goals are for an increased sense of public safety in a community because perception is our reality and policy.”
