Fort Worth Police Department | |
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Abbreviation | FWPD |
Fort Worth Police Shoulder Patch
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Fort Worth Police Badge
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Agency overview | |
Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction* | City of Fort Worth in the state of Texas, USA |
Map of Fort Worth Police Department's jurisdiction. | |
Size | 334 sq mi |
Population | 748,450 (2011) |
General nature | |
Operational structure | |
Headquarters | 505 W. Felix St. |
Police Officers | 1,510 |
Civilians | 441 |
Agency executive | Dr. Joel Fitzgerald, Chief of Police |
Child agency | Fort Worth Police Explorers |
Facilities | |
Police Stations | 11 |
Jail Services |
Mansfield Law Enforcement Center (Contract) Tarrant County Corrections Center |
Website | |
Fort Worth Police | |
Footnotes | |
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. |
Mansfield Law Enforcement Center (Contract)
The Fort Worth Police Department is the police department of Fort Worth, Texas, United States. Dr. Joel Fitzgerald is the Chief of Police.
FWPD is responsible for traffic and general law enforcement within the city limits of Fort Worth. Specialty divisions include investigation, K-9, bicycle patrol, and SWAT.
The Fort Worth Police Department was effectively begun on April 12, 1873 when E.M. Terrell was appointed City Marshal with a force of four officers. However, the force was disbanded a month later for economic reasons. The force was re-established in 1876 to cope with unruly cowboys and high levels of prostitution, with Jim Courtright being instated as City Marshal with two assisting deputies. Courtright's reputation as an Army scout and gunfighter led to an unprecedented term of nonviolence in Fort Worth. By 1887, the force had grown to six officers and a Chief of Police.
The early twentieth century saw many innovations to the FWPD, including motorcycles, traffic tickets, stoplights, and the city's first female officer. The mid-1900s saw even more technological advances, with the addition of a crime laboratory and radar speed detectors. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the department sought to establish better links to the community, instituting programs such as "forums," a series of monthly department-citizen meetings, and the Citizens on Patrol program.
In 2008, after the retirement of Chief Ralph Mendoza, Executive Deputy Patricia Kneblick was briefly appointed interim chief, making her the first woman ever to be appointed Chief of Police in Fort Worth. Jeffrey Halstead, a Commander with the Phoenix Police Department, replaced Kneblick in December 2008, making him the city's 24th chief.
In 2015, Joel Fitzgerald became the 1st African-American police chief of the city. Fitzgerald holds a Ph.D in Business Administration from Northcentral University; an MBA from Eastern University; and an undergraduate degree from Villanova University
==http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/tarrant-county/2015/09/23/fort-worth-names-new-police-chief/72700436/ |title==Fort Worth names first black police chief |website=WFAA.com |date=2015-09-23 |accessdate=2016-08-17}}</ref>