He served as Austin’s top cop from 2021-23
The former police chief of Austin — the fourth largest city in Texas — is Taylor’s new top cop.
Joseph D. Chacon was selected as the city’s next chief of police after a sixmonth search, officials announced Thursday. The 31-year law enforcement veteran replaces Henry Fluck, who retired in September after nearly 13 years overseeing the Taylor force.
“I am honored to join the city of Taylor as chief of police,” Chacon said in a prepared release. “My wife and I have both fallen in love with Taylor and its wonderful people and culture over the years, and I look forward to serving this community and ensuring residents remain and feel safe as the city continues to grow.”
Chacon currently serves as the director of emergency services for Pflugerville. Prior to that, he was chief of police in Austin from 2021-23.
Since Fluck’s retirement, Commander Joseph Branson has served as the interim police chief in Taylor. He looks forward to working with Chacon.
“I first met Chief Chacon during the interview process for the position. I introduced myself and told him that I was encouraged by his interest in the position, and that it meant a great deal that someone with his experience and background would want to come here and lead our agency,” Branson said.
Chacon
Branson was one of four applicants for the chief’s slot. The other two candidates included Albert Garcia and Johnny Siemens.
Garcia was the police chief in Levelland from 201724 and today is the dean of technical education at South Plains College in the same city. Siemens, a 14-year lawenforcement veteran, is the Universal City police chief and worked for the Boerne and Castle Hills police departments, all in the San Antonio area.
Chacon will be a good fit for Taylor, Branson said.
“I think that our entire agency can benefit from someone with a background like Chief Chacon. He will have my support, and I look forward to assisting him in any way I can to advance our great department,” Branson said.
The commander, who has been involved in policing for more than 25 years and served 20 of those years with the Taylor Police Department, reflected on his tenure as interim chief.
“My primary focus was stability, transparency and continuity of operations. I worked closely with our command staff to make sure day-to-day operations continued without disruption and that our officers had the support and resources they needed to do their jobs effectively,” Branson said.
“We maintained our focus on officer training, community engagement, and proactive policing strategies. I also made sure communication remained strong within the department and with city leadership, so everyone stayed informed and aligned,” he added. “My goal was to keep the department moving forward and begin to implement ideas that further strengthened our relationship with the community and the Taylor Independent School District.”
Chacon began his law enforcement career in 1993 and spent 25 years with Austin police. He is a native of El Paso.
“Mr. Chacon exemplifies what Taylor is looking for in a police chief,” City Manager Brian LaBorde said in a prepared statement. “With decades of law-enforcement and public-service experience, Mr. Chacon is uniquely equipped to lead the Taylor Police Department into the future.”
City officials point to Taylor’s rising prominence in the high-tech world, noting the multibillion-dollar expansion of local enterprises such as Samsung Austin Semiconductor, which recently inked a deal with Tesla.
According to a news release, Chacon will go through the standard law enforcement pre-employment screening process before his expected approval by City Council during the March 26 meeting.
Chacon’s expected start date is March 30 at a compensation level of $190,000.
According to openpayrolls. com, his annual salary in 2023 at the Austin Police Department before his retirement was $254,196.80.
At the time Chacon left the Austin force, the department was experiencing a sizable staffing shortfall, with sworn officer vacancies reaching nearly 20% — or 358 open slots out of 1,812 approved positions, according to media reports.
Many of the shortages were the result of the Austin City Council’s decision to defund the department in 2020 in which $150 million was trimmed from the budget following Black Lives Matter protests, according to 1stresponderjobs. com.
Various news accounts from that period also show the Austin department did not have a contract with the Austin Police Association for most of that year, which planners said affected recruiting and retention efforts.
The Taylor force has 34 members serving a city with an estimated population of nearly 18,000, demographers said. The city of Austin’s population according to government figures is more than 1 million.
