Bob Ray Sanders believes the Fort Worth Police Department has seen significant change since 2018.
Sanders was a co-chair of the city鈥檚 2018 race and culture task force, which city leadership launched in response to public outcry over the police department鈥檚 treatment of Jacqueline Craig, a Black woman who called 911 in 2016 to report that her 7-year-old son had been assaulted. The call she thought would result in assistance from local law enforcement ended in Craig and her 15-year-old daughter being forced to the ground and placed in handcuffs with a taser pointed at them.
The incident prompted a reckoning over police bias and use of excessive force toward communities of color. Tasked by city leadership, the 25-member delivered a report of findings and to reduce or eliminate racial and cultural disparities.
Sanders said the report boiled down to three key recommendations: improving communication between the police department and community leaders, increasing transparency, and incorporating more oversight and accountability for officers.
Fort Worth has made progress, but as City Manager Jay Chapa prepares to hire a new police chief, those three items remain top of mind, Sanders said. He and other community leaders, as well as city officials, hope for a chief who can continue to build on the department鈥檚 trajectory of increased accountability and improved community relations.
The city鈥檚 top law enforcement post is up for grabs after Chief Neil Noakes stepped down in May, citing a . He held the role for four years, taking over from Ed Kraus, who was tapped to lead the department in December 2019 while the city searched for a replacement for former police Chief Joel Fitzgerald, who was .
Intergovernmental relations manager Bethany Warner said via email that 51 candidates 鈥� more than double the number of applicants the attracted last year 鈥� from across 15 states applied to be Fort Worth鈥檚 next police chief. Of that pool, 47 applicants are male, and 4 are female; 47% of applicants are white, 23.5% are Black, 23.5% are Hispanic, 2% are Asian or Pacific Islander and 4% are another race or did not disclose their race, according to demographic data Warner provided to the Report.
City officials have to select the new chief and hired a search firm to lead a national search for candidates. After soliciting community input through an online survey, officials plan to host community engagement sessions for residents to meet semifinalists for the position before a hire is made. Chapa has said he wants the new chief and working by September.
Community leaders are looking for a chief who understands the culture of the country鈥檚 11th largest city and is equipped to meet challenges that come with Fort Worth鈥檚 rapid growth and associated urbanization issues.
鈥淚 would hope the new chief coming in can actually imitate some of the things that Chief Noakes has been able to do,鈥� Sanders said. 鈥淗e took many of our recommendations and put them into play. We need that kind of hands-on chief, and not one who is just sitting back in an office.鈥�
Improving relations with communities of color
In the near-decade since Craig鈥檚 arrest, the incident remains a focal point in local conversations around police relations with communities of color. It was joined in October 2019 by the fatal shooting of Black woman Atatiana Jefferson in her home by a police officer dispatched to investigate an open front door at the property.
Ty Stimpson, an attorney who served on the race and culture task force, said the Fort Worth Police Department has made significant strides in improving its relations with communities of color since 2018. He wants that progress to continue.
He believes the department has become more accepting of criticism and willing to take accountability when police actions fall on the wrong side of the law. He pointed to the department鈥檚 work in recent years to more intentionally recruit people of color as another positive change.
The task force鈥檚 report ultimately resulted in the 2020 creation of the Office of the Police Oversight Monitor, a city-funded and city-staffed office aimed at providing additional oversight and accountability to the police department. The office was created after against the creation of the civilian-led oversight board recommended by the race and culture task force.
Stimpson and other community leaders of color still want a civilian-led oversight board. They鈥檝e pushed against Noakes鈥� previous argument that given the existence of the police oversight monitor. In 2023, Noakes of community leaders.
To Stimpson, a civilian oversight board would provide another layer of accountability to the police department. He wants to revisit its creation when the new chief comes on board.
鈥淎 community oversight board gives the community access to have grievances heard, and (it) convenes a panel of community members to bring forth those issues and complaints,鈥� Stimpson said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not to discredit what we have in police departments across the country with internal affairs and formal complaints, but I think it鈥檚 the accessibility to the police department that the community longs for, or the benefit that it could offer.鈥�
Last fall, the Fort Worth Human Relations Commission was expected to update the task force鈥檚 report with a new list of recommendations at the beginning of 2025. That effort was repeatedly put on hold as the commission faced a series of vacancies and uncertainty around . The Texas Legislature closed June 3, but it remains to be seen whether city leadership will reignite the project.
Uncertainty surrounding immigration
As cities across the nation respond to President Donald Trump鈥檚 deportation orders, council member Chris Nettles hopes to see a police chief who can balance the need to comply with federal orders, while maintaining compassion, dignity and respect.
He believes Fort Worth City Council members, although ostensibly nonpartisan, will be divided along party lines on how the city should best respond to immigration issues, and the new chief must be able to navigate competing desires of the council while first serving the city鈥檚 residents.
鈥淲e need a compassionate chief that can be able to definitively walk that narrow line of supporting all the residents of Fort Worth 鈥� not just the citizens, but residents as a whole,鈥� said Nettles, the only Black man currently on City Council. 鈥淚f you live here and you spend your dollars here, you should be treated fairly like anybody else.鈥�
Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez, who worked in the Fort Worth Police Department for 15 years, said the police chief will be tasked with carrying out the laws passed down to them. While they don鈥檛 control which laws are written, they control the communication stream between members of their department and with residents.
鈥淧olice chiefs are not always going to stand up and tell you what you want to hear; a police chief鈥檚 job is not to tell you what gives you the warm and fuzzies,鈥� Ramirez said. 鈥淭he police chief鈥檚 job is to effectively communicate the truth and to motivate the body to perform as well as they can to keep the public safe.鈥�
Fostering relationships with department, community
Bonycle Sokunbi, director of the Office of the Police Oversight Monitor, said she has had a 鈥渞emarkable鈥� working relationship with Noakes, noting that he has always been receptive to critical feedback she provided. She said it鈥檚 essential that the new chief continue Noakes鈥� trajectory of accountability and transparency.
鈥淚 want them to be able to have the tough conversations internally about (their) own staff and publicly with the community as well, whether it鈥檚 with council, whether it鈥檚 the neighborhood association 鈥� that鈥檚 important when you鈥檙e holding that position,鈥� Sokunbi said.
In a written statement to the Report, Mayor Mattie Parker said the incoming police chief must prioritize people and community, as she believes Noakes has.
鈥淭hey must lead with humility, integrity, transparency, and compassion 鈥� that is how we will continue to have one of the best police departments in the entire country,鈥� Parker said. 鈥淭he right candidate will continue the impactful work Chief Noakes has led while also realizing that the department will need to evolve in the future as our city continues to grow and move forward.鈥�
City Council member Michael Crain said the next police chief needs to understand the position鈥檚 鈥渄ual role鈥� in committing to community relationships and police officers.
鈥淭he ideal chief will run an efficient, effective department 鈥� one that prioritizes the safety of Fort Worth residents while also valuing officer morale and well-being,鈥� Crain said.
Ramirez, who worked under the past five police chiefs, traced a chief鈥檚 key to success to their ability to be 鈥渓aser focused鈥� on giving officers the tools and support they need to protect their city. To achieve that, chiefs need to keep politics out of their decision-making and display 鈥渦nwavering support鈥� for their officers.
鈥淲hen morale was the highest in the Fort Worth Police Department, it was when you had leaders who were unafraid to come out and champion all of the good work that their officers are doing day in and day out,鈥� Ramirez said.
Hiring internally versus externally
Before Noakes鈥� retirement, Chapa appointed Executive Assistant Chief Robert Alldredge as interim chief, with City Council members unanimously approving a . Alldredge joined the police department in 1999, gradually ascending police ranks alongside Noakes for more than two decades.
Alldredge has not been named as a candidate for the permanent role, but assistant chiefs are often considered frontrunners when their chief steps down. Nettles said he would be open to supporting Alldredge as permanent chief 鈥� but only if he emerges as the top candidate after a national search.
Bishop Mark Kirkland of Greater St. Mark Church, a Black faith leader, said he prefers the police chief to be 鈥渉omegrown,鈥� as those candidates already understand the community.
For these reasons, Kirkland approved of Noakes, and he said he鈥檇 support Alldredge taking up the role permanently, as long as he doesn鈥檛 鈥済o MAGA鈥� 鈥� a term he used to describe local government officials who use their authority more to appeal to Trump鈥檚 political talking points.
Sanders said he feels a new chief coming from outside Fort Worth would need to be aware of the city鈥檚 history with police controversy, or else they鈥檇 risk rupturing the trust Noakes has tried to build.
The department under Noakes has become efficient in releasing body cam footage and videos of controversial law enforcement incidents, Sanders said. Noakes entered the role acutely aware of the community鈥檚 concern over Craig and Jefferson, so he鈥檚 been intentional in approaching new potential controversies with transparency. If an external candidate misses this context, the department鈥檚 progress would suffer.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 need a boss coming in with a hammer,鈥� Sanders said. 鈥淲e need somebody who鈥檚 willing to work shoulder to shoulder, side by side with other forces within our community.鈥�
Ramirez agreed that an internal hire would have the advantage of familiarity with Fort Worth, but he said a qualified, external candidate would be able to handle whatever learning curve is thrown at them.
鈥淕ood police work and transformational leadership and visionary leadership, those are things that translate no matter what community you鈥檙e serving in,鈥� he said, adding that a police chief with the right focus on protecting the community will have a chance to be successful.
Cecilia Lenzen and Drew Shaw are government accountability reporters for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org and drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org.
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