Fort Worth Police Chief Eddie Garcia outlined plans Tuesday to strengthen his department and better equip officers with tools to fight crime, nearly 90 days into the job. Garcia told NBC 5’s Shannon Miller that he has spent much of his time “out of the office.” “When you really take a look around, there are things that, whether it’s a state‑of‑the‑art training academy, state-of-the-art range, whether it’s a brand‑new helicopter. There’s just tremendous support in the city,” Garcia said. Before taking to Fort Worth’s skies, Garcia rode the streets with patrol units and the Directed Response Unit, confronting violent crime firsthand. “In the last four months, there have been dozens of individuals that my men and women have risked their lives to take off the street that have committed gun violence, that have been released in our back out in our streets, within four months, dozens,” Garcia said. Garcia said he hopes to raise those concerns with Texas lawmakers in 2026. Among the department’s new resources is an upgraded Real Time Crime Center, costing nearly $6 million. Garcia called the center a game-changer that will boost connectivity among law enforcement agencies in the region in the coming months. “There’s almost 30 agencies in the area that have signed tentative agreements. Our goal is to be a regional real-time crime center. Criminals don’t know boundaries. They don’t know city limits,” Garcia said. Garcia has participated in weekly meetings with local and federal partners ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which officials have described as one of the largest security operations for police chiefs in North Texas. “A lot of our focus is in assisting Arlington, obviously, with the event and what they will need from us, or if Dallas needed assistance or really any of our other agencies, but also we have to remember that we also all have cities that we have to police during the summer,” Garcia said. Garcia said the department expects to fill its ranks to 1,906 officers by the end of 2026, with room for future growth as Fort Worth continues expanding. “Now’s the time to talk to city leaders and have conversations about what does that growth looks like? In a responsible way. What can we recruit? What can we train?” Garcia said. Now, about 90 days into his role in North Texas, Garcia said he is reminded of why he returned to policing. “Calm seas never made a good sailor. Every morning I wake up, and I have the honor to be able to put this uniform on again,” Garcia said. ...read more read less