In order to keep Eddie García as Dallas’ police chief, the city committed to keeping him among the highest-paid police chiefs in the state.
According to last month’s amendment to García’s offer letter that the city said would keep him in Dallas at least through mid-2027, the city agreed to give García a raise if any Texas police chief in a city with at least 1 million residents makes more than him.
Besides Dallas, that list for now includes just Houston, which has more than 2.3 million people, and San Antonio, which has a population of almost 1.5 million. But that group could soon include other growing cities like Austin, which has around 980,000 residents, and Fort Worth, which has around 978,000 people. Dallas has around 1.3 million residents.
“The city is committed to paying you a base salary of $306,440.40 or the highest salary for a police chief of a Texas city with a population of over one million,” interim city manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert wrote in García’s offer letter amendment, which was signed May 16. “If a police chief of a Texas city with a population of over one million receives a higher salary than your base salary, your salary will be increased to a higher salary that will take effect on the first uniformed pay period 30 days after the effective date of that police chief’s salary.”
The city announced on the day the amendment was signed that García would remain as the leader of Dallas’ police department and was “making a commitment to stay in Dallas until at least May 2027.″ The agreement was reached at a time that city officials in Houston and Austin were interested in hiring García, who has received national acclaim for his violence reduction plan in Dallas. Houston and Austin each has an interim police chief.
“I’m honored that the city has valued the work we’ve done together,” García told The Dallas Morning News on Monday. “I’m tremendously grateful that City Manager Tolbert placed that provision in the agreement.”
Tolbert didn’t immediately respond Monday to a text request for comment. She told The News in May she believes García deserves to be Texas’ highest-paid police department leader.
“This was really about commitment, about demonstrated performance, and something that will hopefully keep those other cities from trespassing into our territory,” she said in May.
City representatives from Houston, San Antonio and Fort Worth told The News to file public records requests when asked for the current annual salaries for the heads of their police departments. The city of Houston invoiced a reporter $1.44 for “time to search and compile responsive information,” when The News requested the salaries of acting police Chief Larry Satterwhite and former police Chief Troy Finner.
An Austin city spokesman said the soonest they would be able to provide that information to The News is Tuesday.
Finner was earning $298,322 in 2023, according to the Houston Chronicle. He resigned in May amid a review into why Houston PD suspended thousands of criminal investigations.
Former Austin police Chief Joseph Chacon retired last year and was making $244,420 as of 2023, according to Austin city records.
García’s updated city agreement says he receives a $10,000 retention bonus every six months starting in November. If García is fired without cause before May 8, 2027, the agreement calls for him to receive a lump-sum severance payout equal to his annual base salary, according to the city. He won’t receive the payment if he resigns without any prompting, is fired due to his work performance, or is convicted of a crime.
The city in its May news release announcing García’s new agreement described it as “a plan that will keep the city’s police chief in Dallas until at least through mid-2027,″ but there is nothing in the language of the offer letter amendment that shows García agreed to stay until then.
The only mention of May 2027 in the two-page addendum is in the section that says García would get severance pay if he is fired without cause or ordered by the city manager to resign before then.
“Additionally, it is my goal to continue proactive succession planning and ensure a smooth transition to any future leadership within the police department,” Tolbert wrote in the offer letter amendment. “Therefore, if you voluntarily resign your employment from the city, you acknowledge that you will provide your continued availability to the city, as practicable, to assist in the transition.”
García told The News on Monday that despite the agreement not explicitly saying he is committing to staying in Dallas until May 2027 he said, “that is the intent.”
Staff writer Kelli Smith contributed to this report.
