Updated Friday with additional details about the hiring process.
For the first time, the public will be able to hear directly from the future chief of police in Dallas before they are hired.
District 13 Councilmember Jennifer S. Gates on Friday said the city council will interview all seven finalists during a livestream on Wednesday, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m.
Gates, chair of the Public Safety Committee, said the decision to shift from a pre-taped setting occurred after reviewing submitted questions from council colleagues and receiving a letter from Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson earlier this week.
"To help us prioritize the questions most important to the public, the city manager will send out a survey soliciting input from our residents later this evening," Gates said in a memo.
The finalists to replace departing Chief U. Reneé Hall were named by City Manager T.C. Broadnax on Thursday.
Earlier this week, city officials said they planned to name the new chief by the end of December.
The search comes at a critical time for the police department, with violent crime numbers on the rise and the Black Lives Matter movement has put increasing pressure on police departments.
Already, Dallas has exceeded last year’s murder toll of 198. To date, police say at least 227 people have been killed in the city of Dallas in 2020.
Hall, who became chief in 2017, announced she was planning to leave the department in September.
Thirty-six people nationwide applied for the position.
The applicants were screened by a recruiter based on input from the City Council, community and department surveys, and the city manager, according to Broadnax's memo that was sent to council members.
These are the seven finalists:
- Albert Martinez – director of security for Dallas Catholic Dioceses/Former Dallas deputy chief
- Avery Moore – assistant police chief, Dallas Police Department
- Eddie Garcia – chief of police, San Jose, Calif.
- Jeff Spivey – chief of police, City of Irving, Texas
- Malik Aziz – major, Dallas Police Department
- Reuben Ramirez – deputy chief, Dallas Police Department
- RaShall Brackney – chief of police, Charlottesville, Va.
Each candidate will be interviewed by City Manager T.C. Broadnax, the city said in a release.
Aziz was a finalist for the police chief position in 2017 before Hall was hired. At the time, he was a deputy chief in the department. Moore was promoted to assistant chief during Hall's tenure and Ramirez was promoted to deputy chief during that time.
Martinez left the Dallas Police Department last December to work for the Catholic Diocese of Dallas.
He was deputy chief of the Southwestern Patrol Division when five officers — four Dallas police and one DART officer — were killed in an ambush in downtown. Three of the Dallas officers killed were from southwestern patrol.
Broadnax named Lonzo Anderson to serve as interim chief beginning Dec. 15.
Anderson, a 23-year veteran of the force, said in a release he was honored to serve as the interim chief.
"I’m grateful to Chief Hall for her leadership and continued service ensuring a smooth transition and will likewise look forward to helping the new chief get up to speed in early 2021," he said.
The Fort Worth Police Department also announced their finalists for chief of police Wednesday.