Chief Lawrence will celebrate his 27th anniversary with the Dallas Police Department in October of this year.

With the recent announcement of his promotion Assistant Chief, we took the opportunity to sit down with the popular former top cop in Lake Highlands for an exit interview of sorts.

Lawrence's tenure with the department is distinguished and includes two years spent commanding the Homeland Security and Special Operations Division.


Most of us came to know Chief Lawrence during his time leading the Northeast Patrol division here in Lake Highlands.

How did the promotion come about?

Lawrence: Chief Brown approached me about a month ago and said he’d like to consider me for the Assistant Chief position in downtown. At the time, there were at least three other colleagues of mine being considered, but last week Chief Brown called to let me know I got the job.

You’ve considered and interviewed for at least two Chief positions in other cities. Was staying in Dallas important for you?

Lawrence: Yes, actually. It was. I was born and raised here and have been with DPD my whole career. I absolutely love what I do and love this city. I didn’t want to make a lateral move, so it was either wait for an internal promotion or interview for other positions around the country. I took the opportunity to interview for a couple Chief of Police positions, but my heart is here in Dallas, and I’m especially excited to have the opportunity to be promoted within DPD again.

Tell us about your new position – Assistant Chief of Police.

Lawrence: I’m one of five Assistant Chiefs in the department and report to the 1st Assistant Chief, Charles Cato. I now have three divisions under my command - Field Services, Narcotics and Vice and Compstat.

My relationships with Chief Cato and Chief Brown go back a long ways. Chief Brown and I actually worked together when we were rookies. We’ve both come a long way. Chief Cato and I worked together in the Southwest division some years ago. I have a tremendous amount of respect for both of them.

In looking back at your time in the NE division, what do you consider the single greatest accomplishment of your tenure?

Lawrence: Without question, improving the relationship between the department and the community has for a long time been a very important objective of mine, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that in the Northeast division. As a department, across the whole city, we need to rethink the concept of "community policing."

It’s our job to track down the bad guys, but just as important is the fostering of the relationship with the communities we work in. It’s critical to the success we have fighting crime. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in the NE division along those lines.

Do you have any thoughts on your replacement?

Lawrence: Well, I hope someone will be here in the seat in a few weeks. I will tell you this though, the interim Deputy Chief, Gloria Perez, is in my opinion one of the most capable Lieutenants in the entire department.

One of the accomplishments we had while I was Deputy Chief of the Northeast division was really because of her. We had some significant issues with our NPO Unit (Neighborhood Policing Unit) when I arrived. One of the first objectives I had was to clean up this unit, and Lt. Perez really did a great job of that. In fact, the changes she made to that unit could easily become a model throughout the entire city.

Looking back, what stands out during your time as Deputy Chief of the Northeast division?

Lawrence: It was obvious from day one that the LH community was involved. The level of community support is just incredible. It’s hard to explain, really. The people in Lake Highlands stand up and support what we're trying to do, instead of just complaining. If I could somehow transplant this community attribute all around the city, we’d all be better off.

On behalf of the Lake Highlands community, we wish Chief Lawrence all the best in his new leadership position with the DPD.

Stay safe, Chief, and stay in touch.