Austin narrows police chief search to three finalists

The city of Austin has narrowed its search for a new police chief down to three candidates: Joseph Chacon, Austin’s interim police chief; Avery Moore, an assistant chief with the Dallas Police Department; and Emada Tingirides, a deputy chief with the Los Angeles Police Department.

The city named the finalists Friday.

KUT contacted the candidates by email and phone for comment. Moore and Tingirides did not respond. Chacon said he had no comment.

Brian Manley announced his retirement in February after 30 years with the department. He had been police chief for almost three years. Council members and activists had criticized him for being unreceptive to change within the department, but he denied that his decision to step down was related to those comments.

City Council confirmed Chacon, who had been an assistant chief with APD, as the interim police chief in March while the city searched for someone to fill the permanent role.

Moore has been working as an assistant chief in the investigations bureau of the Dallas Police Department since earlier this year. According to his resume, prior to that he oversaw a patrol bureau in East Dallas.

Tingirides has been with the Los Angeles Police Department for more than 25 years. She currently works as a deputy chief over a bureau tasked with reducing crime and building community relationships. She previously oversaw a patrol bureau in the city.

Austin, like much of the nation, has a history of hiring men to serve as police chief. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, only 3 percent of local police chiefs identified as women in 2013.

Among the finalists, Tingirides is the only one who identifies as a woman. (KUT reviewed the female- or women-specific organizations applicants said they belonged to in their resumes, plus the use of pronouns in news coverage of the candidates.)

Moore identifies as Black and Chacon as Latino. Chacon is the only candidate who said on his resume he speaks Spanish.

The city will hold meetings next week to introduce the candidates to the public. These meetings will be held Wednesday and Thursday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Residents can watch online or attend in person at the Palmer Events Center, although the city said it will cap attendance at 100 people.

This story was produced as part of the Austin Monitor’s reporting partnership with KUT.

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