Arlington, Tex. Deputy City Manager Named Top Cop
By Lisa Falkenberg, The Associated Press
Dallas (AP) -- Nine months after scandal, high crime and plummeting morale led to the Dallas police chief’s ouster, the city has put its faith in a new leader: a veteran lawman who took a pay cut to return the department where he began.
David Kunkle, who joined the Dallas force in 1972 and became the department’s youngest ever captain at age 29, was chosen from 70 applicants in a nationwide search. Kunkle, 53, also was police chief for 17 years at nearby Arlington and Grand Prairie before becoming Arlington’s deputy city manager.
City Manager Ted Benavides said Kunkle’s record of reducing crime, reaching out to the community and diversifying other departments stood out.
“I have found the best leader, and that’s David Kunkle,” Benavides said. “When I talked to the community in Arlington, they said he was inclusive, sensitive. But when I talked to the police officers, they said he could be tough when he needed to be tough. ... He was the leader and everybody knew it.”
The Dallas job pays about $138,600 a year. Kunkle wouldn’t say how much of a raise he got, but said money wasn’t a factor in returning to lead the department he says helped define him.
“I did not put myself in a strong negotiating position because if offered the job, I would take it under any circumstances,” he said. “I’ve watched and observed the Dallas Police Department over 32 years, its history, tradition, what it’s done right, what it’s done wrong, and I thought at this particular point in time, I may have been the best choice for the chief’s position.”
Kunkle said he plans to meet with officers, government leaders and community leaders before developing a plan to deal with the department’s problems. He said his chief priorities will be getting the department “singly focused around crime” and restoring it to an organization where officers can be proud to work.
Dallas’ 2,900-member department has been without a chief since August, when Benavides fired Terrell Bolton, the city’s first black chief, for poor job performance.
Bolton’s tenure was marred by a fake drugs scandal, lawsuits by demoted commanders, questionable hiring practices and one of the highest per capita crime rates in the nation.
Officers, even those who had hoped a black or Hispanic chief would prevail, said they were impressed with Kunkle and looking forward to working with him.
“He’s more concerned about the job and the challenges that lay ahead,” said Malik Aziz, president of the Dallas chapter of the Texas Peace Officers Association. “Most men aren’t willing to take a pay decrease, especially in this harsh economic time that we’re living in right here. It shows you a lot about his character, that he’s ready to take the rains of a department and hopefully guide us to better days.”
Mayor Laura Miller, who had pushed for a thorough, national search, said Kunkle’s local ties don’t worry her.
“I think it’s refreshing that he’s been out of the department for 22 years. I think if it was somebody who had just left I might be a little concerned about that,” she said. “My greatest hope is that the rank and file will be very happy today.”
City leaders said Kunkle satisfies the department’s hunger for fresh leadership and its need for someone familiar with the department’s culture and complexities.
“This is a guy who came, interesting enough, from both the inside and the outside,” City Councilwoman Veletta Forsythe Lill said.
As chief of Arlington’s progressive force, Kunkle was credited for raising the department’s standards and reputation while increasing racial diversity and resident involvement.
Benavides said Kunkle is known for soliciting ideas and advice from officers, other law enforcement agencies and the community before making decisions.
In 1987, he established the Arlington Citizen Police Academy, the third such program in the United States, to promote better communication between police and citizens.
Kunkle begins June 28.