Fort Worth officials promise transparency, ask for resident input in hiring police chief

As Police Chief Neil Noakes’ prepares to retire this month, Fort Worth officials have committed to following a transparent process inclusive of community voices to hire his successor. 

The city kicked off the public engagement portion of the process to hire Fort Worth’s top law enforcement post with an online survey that went live at the end of April. The survey, which closes May 16, asks respondents to rank safety in Fort Worth compared to five years ago and respond to multiple-choice questions about the most important characteristics and priorities the next police chief should have. 

City Manager Jay Chapa announced earlier this year that he intends to hire the next police chief by the end of summer. He named hiring the position as one of his top priorities, and City Council members around the dais have emphasized its importance as well. 

In a report to council members at their May 6 meeting, Chapa said the survey will be distributed to local chambers of commerce, neighborhood associations, homeowner groups and other community organizations to ensure “broad and representative input on the candidate profile.” 

“The city’s goal is to conduct a comprehensive, nationwide search to find a forward-thinking leader to serve as the police chief,” the report stated. 

Noakes, who was named police chief in January 2021 after serving within the department since 2000, announced at the end of 2024 that he would retire in May. Chapa previously said he will “more than likely” ask an executive assistant police chief to serve as interim chief before making the hire, but he did not explicitly name Robert Alldredge who holds that position. 

Assistant City Manager William Johnson, who oversees the police department, is leading the recruitment and hiring process alongside Chapa, who oversaw the police department during his previous tenure with the city. 

Fort Worth is paying consulting firm Mosaic Public Partners $55,000 to help “shape the recruitment strategy, define the qualities of an ideal candidate and identify key departmental priorities,” according to Chapa’s report. The city’s human resources department received proposals from nine of the 25 executive recruitment firms they reached out to before ultimately selecting Mosaic to lead the process. Last year, the city paid Mosaic $30,000 to lead the recruitment and hiring process to hire its next park and recreation director. 

In April, staff hosted “stakeholder engagement activities,” according to the report. Michael Bell, senior pastor at Greater St. Stephen First Church-Baptist in southeast Fort Worth, said city officials invited him and other Black faith leaders from across the city to a late April meeting with city staff to provide input on the police chief hire. 

At that meeting, Bell said, Noakes urged those in attendance to support an internal hire and bypass the public engagement portion of the planned hiring process. 

“He was literally pushing for an internal hire,” Bell said. “That’s when I spoke up — to their chagrin — and said, ‘Hey, there are too many tables that aren’t represented here today, and those tables really deserve to be heard.’” 

Joshua “Red” Johnson, chief of staff for police administration, confirmed via email that the department hosted a meeting with Black faith leaders, at their request, “as an opportunity to introduce City Manager Chapa, discuss community concerns and ask questions about Chief Noakes’ upcoming retirement and the process for selecting a new chief of Police.” However, he denied Bell’s claim about Noakes wanting an internal hire. 

“On the contrary, Chief Noakes supports a thorough and inclusive selection process that incorporates feedback from the department, the community and all interested stakeholders,” Johnson said. “He recognizes the importance of such engagement, having gone through a similar process himself four years ago when he was selected as chief.”

Johnson, the assistant city manager, said in a statement that the city manager’s office has outlined a hiring process that “prioritizes both thorough deliberation and community feedback.” The city is investing “considerable time and resources in ensuring an open, fair, and thorough national search” by contracting Mosaic to lead the search, he added. 

“A position of this type is expected to garner considerable interest from both internal and external applicants; there is no predetermined preference for either group in the selection process,” the assistant city manager said. 

He said city officials appreciate those who have contributed feedback so far, and they look forward to future community engagement with finalists as the hiring process continues. 

Bell and other community leaders have been vocal about their desire for residents to have the chance to provide input on the police chief hire, after criticizing the process used to hire Chapa at the end of last year. 

Bell was one of many Black faith and business leaders who, along with two City Council members, attempted to delay the council’s Dec. 10 vote to hire Chapa as city manager. At the time, they described the process to hire the city’s chief executive as unfair and lacking public input. City officials named Chapa as the sole finalist for the city manager position five days before council members voted to hire him. Council members privately interviewed Chapa and four other semifinalists they declined to name and did not ask to participate in public forums. 

Bell doesn’t want to see a similar situation play out with the police chief hire. By his retelling of the April meeting, Chapa was adamant that the hiring process include opportunities for public engagement, which Bell found encouraging. 

“I don’t want the people left out,” Bell, who has advocated for the city to create a community police review board, said. “I don’t want the communities ignored, because that has happened before.” 

City Council members are responsible for hiring the city manager, while the city manager hires the police chief. At the time of Chapa’s hire, the majority of council members defended the process they used and said constituents should trust their elected officials to make the right decision. 

A job posting for the position of police chief is expected to go live by the end of the week. The posting will close in June, at which point city staff and Mosaic Public Partners will review the applicant pool and select semifinalists, according to Chapa’s report. 

Staff will interview semifinalists for the position in July, and community members will be invited to meet and engage with finalists at a public forum that month. Stakeholders will also have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with finalists informally. Chapa expects to select a finalist in August and develop an onboarding plan that month before the hire is officially appointed in September. 

Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at [email protected]. 

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