Who will be the next Austin police chief? City Manager Broadnax begins national search.

In his first major decision, Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax, whose first official day on the job was Monday, will conduct a national search for the city’s next police chief and hopes to name a leader to the position this summer.

The city is hiring the search firm Mosaic Public Partners, the same company that recruited Broadnax, for the search and to bring forward finalists for the job, city spokeswoman Michele Gonzalez said.

The position is expected to be posted within days, and the city is currently working with the recruiter to develop a profile for the type of police leader they say Austin needs.

Interim Police Chief Robin Henderson, who has held the position vacated by Chief Joe Chacon since September, told the American-Statesman that she plans to review the posting and evaluate her next steps.

Broadnax said immediately after his hiring in late March that the appointment of a permanent police chief is among his highest priorities. He reiterated that in a statement Monday.

The hiring process for the position, likely to pay in the $300,000 range, is expected to include a period of public input to give the community an opportunity to interview finalists.

Gonzalez said the city currently has no applicants because the job has not been posted.

Broadnax’s choice requires City Council approval.

The Austin Police Department has struggled in recent years with having fewer officers – it has 321 vacant positions among 1,812 positions right now – and the city and police union currently are in negotiations for a new labor agreement.

Michael Bullock, president of the Austin Police Association, said: “The priority should be someone who will first and foremost take care of officers currently with the department and their needs. You’re not going to recruit new people if you don’t take care of the ones already here. Chief Henderson has exemplified that and has worked diligently towards addressing the many challenges we have.”

Kathy Mitchell, senior adviser for civic group Equity Action, said Austin needs a police chief “who is ready to address the real problems with our department with transparency, tenacity and integrity.”

She cited high attrition from the Police Department’s cadet training classes for its vacancy rates and the neglect of criminal investigations as high priorities for the next chief.

“There are major management-level issues, and we need a manager who will make the needed changes, stand up to the internal resistance and show the community what is being done,” Mitchell said.

WFAA-TV, citing anonymous sources, reported Wednesday that both Austin and Houston had begun courting Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia to become its police leader. The station said that Dallas city leaders wished to keep Garcia, who also is president of the Major City Chiefs Association, in Dallas.

Broadnax was the Dallas city manager before leaving earlier this year and worked closely with Garcia.

Houston's police chief, Troy Finner, retired this week after a controversy that included suspending criminal investigations for lack of personnel. A newly surfaced email, obtained by KHOU-TV, indicated that he knew about the practice years earlier than he previously stated, an allegation Finner has denied.

Austin has typically conducted national searches for its police chiefs. That was the case when the city hired Chacon in 2021, and the only time it has deviated from that tradition over the past three decades was the hiring of former Police Chief Brian Manley in 2018, who led the city through a series of bombing attacks that killed two people in a 19-day span that year.

City officials cited his leadership during that time in appointing Manley.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin city manager begins national search for next APD chief