Twenty six years after becoming a Dallas cop, David Brown is now the city's top one.
The 49-year-old South Oak Cliff High School graduate was named chief of the Dallas Police Department today by City Manager Mary Suhm, replacing retired Chief David Kunkle.
The announcement was made on Facebook just before 11:45 a.m.
Brown, who had been Kunkle's first assistant, said in a previous interview with The Dallas Morning News that his reason for becoming a police officer was simple.
"I was easily persuaded to go into law enforcement. I saw a need there."
Over the years, he did stints in most of the city's patrol divisions and worked in physical evidence, internal affairs and SWAT, among others units.
He rose to deputy chief under Kunkle in 2004 as leader of the Northeast Patrol Division. A year later, he had the No. 2 job, making him the department's highest-ranking black officer.
Suhm, the city manager, said today that the new second-in-command will be Assistant Chief Charlie Cato.
Some thought city leaders were grooming Brown for Kunkle's job when they brought him to City Hall in 2007 for a year-long assignment as an assistant city manager.
He has earned glowing reviews from city officials and neighborhood leaders, who say he is personable and accessible.
But he is also infamous for taking cops to task in front of their colleagues.
"Sometimes when he's in some of these positions, he's belittling and insulting to people when they don't answer his questions or they didn't answer his questions to which he was satisfied," said Dallas Police Association President Glenn White, a senior corporal who worked under Brown.
Brown makes no apologies.
"Amongst the command staff, I intentionally use peer pressure as a form of influence," he said. "One thing I know about cops … we want to be respected by other cops."