FORT WORTH, Texas — Fort Worth's top cop is slowly but surely making the much-needed changes at the department after coming under fire by a scathing independent report that outlined major problems with the police department.
Police Chief Neil Noakes announced several appointed positions recently:
- Corporal J. D. Johnson, public information officer
- Sgt. Amelia Heise, chief of staff
- Commander Andre Smith, South Division
- Commander Christopher Daniels, Central Division
- Commander Jason Kim, Northwest Division
- Deputy Chief David Carabajal, tactical command
- Deputy Chief Roy Hudson, community program command
- Assistant Chief Robert Alldredge, executive assistant chief
During the Fort Worth City Council Meeting on Sept. 9, 2022, council members received a presentation about the Fort Worth Police Department Expert Review Report.
Presenters Dr. Alex del Carmen and Dr. Theron Bowman shared the findings from their review panel. Both men highlighted how Fort Worth Police Chief Noakes not only remained open to giving them access to people, staff, information, and investigation findings in the department, but how also Noakes is committed to the recommendations from their outside independent organization.
They also shared that they found some of the recommendations were either already in progress and/or worked on immediately prior to even finalizing their report for the council.
The report revealed that the Fort Worth Police Department has more than 1700 sworn officers and more than 450 civilian employees. The department is responsible for providing services to a 359-square-mile area which is divided into six geographic divisions, Central, East, North, Northwest, South, and West.
According to the report, department policies and practices should be designed to ensure that it attracts, hires, retains, and promotes individuals who are equipped to perform their jobs safely, effectively, and in accordance with the law and departmental policy.
The department should also be fully committed to promoting individuals who are capable of providing effective supervision, guiding officers under their command on lawful, safe, and effective policing, and holding officers accountable for misconduct, the report said.
Here's what the report's findings are for the racial makeup of FWPD:
"The department has improved its representation of Latinx police officers. However, African American representation as a percentage of total officers has declined. African American and White female officer participation has markedly declined since 1999. Recruiting efforts are not tracking community diversity.
"According to data provided by the Department, from 1999 to 2020, there has been a decline in its overall percentage representation of African American males (7%) and African American females (45%), White females (34%), and White males (11%). There have been corresponding representation increases in Hispanic males (84%), and Hispanic females (117%).
"The Review Panel offers the following recommendations as a result of our review of the Department’s recruitment efforts. 6. The Department should invest in continuous recruitment While the Department has produced documents demonstrating an awareness of what other successful agencies are doing to effectively recruit, it is not apparent that the Department’s recruitment effort is coherent or robust. The Department should be in an 'always recruiting' mode, even when not anticipating an approaching entry-level hiring process. Sworn recruiters should be used to recruit sworn officers. The one sergeant and one police officer assigned to recruitment duties in Fort Worth are fewer than resources deployed at other major city agencies, especially when enhancing diversity and quality are goals."
Commander Jason Kim is among the promotions announced by Chief Noakes. His promotion is history-making as he becomes the first-ever Asian-American to serve as a commander for the Fort Worth Police Department. Commander Kim will oversee operations at FWPD Northwest Division on North Riverside Drive.
During the presentation of the report at the Sept. 9 council meeting, Chief Noakes took full responsibility for what needs to be corrected not only within the police department but also what corrections are needed to improve the agency's service to the community and its relationship with the people of Fort Worth.
"This all falls on me," said Chief Noakes. "I take full responsibility for improving Fort Worth Police Department."
