One of the Dallas Police Department’s highest ranking commanders is leaving to become an assistant city manager in San Marcos, capping a 27-year tenure where he recently played an instrumental role at the chief’s side.
Lonzo Anderson has been Dallas police’s executive assistant chief for the last three years, a rank just a step below the chief of police. Since 2021, he has overseen the department’s patrol and administrative operations, which includes each of Dallas’ seven patrol divisions as well as the police academy, recruiting and personnel.
He served in a key position carrying out the chief’s violent crime reduction plan, which has received widespread acclaim after year-over-year reductions in violence since 2021.
“Lonzo was my go-to that was working with the criminologists and getting things started with the crime plan,” Dallas police Chief Eddie García told the City Council on Wednesday. “He’s been my steady hand.”
A member of the department since 1997, Anderson worked in various roles, including as a financial crimes investigator, a patrol supervisor and a liaison with the city manager’s office, as he climbed the ranks. He was Dallas’ interim police chief for about three months before García began in February 2021.
Anderson told the City Council on Wednesday that he grew to understand how a city works when he was in the city manager’s office more than a decade ago. He wasn’t ready at that moment, he said, but he thought if he got an opportunity to serve in a greater role to impact a city, he’d take it.
“I’ll always be committed to the city of Dallas,” Anderson said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for me, but I also want to pay homage to the men and women of the department — we’ve got some of the best officers in the nation. There’s no doubt we have made significant strides over the last three or four years.”
“This will always be my destination. I’m just going to go serve in a much greater capacity.”
Anderson is one of two executive assistant chiefs in DPD. The other, Michael Igo, recently began overseeing the investigations and special operations bureaus — which includes SWAT, homicide and gang — after his predecessor, Albert Martinez, left in February to become the Dallas Independent School District’s police chief.
Anderson begins in his new position Aug. 5. The chief told The Dallas Morning News he hasn’t yet decided who will take Anderson’s place.
García told City Council members that Anderson “made this organization great” and will carry those talents to San Marcos, a city in Central Texas with a population of around 70,000.
Anderson will oversee public safety there, according to a city of San Marcos news release.
