Christopher Cook was appointed in 2022 as the Chief of Police for a suburb of 21,000 residents in Western Tarrant County and nestled in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area, the 5th largest in the U.S., with almost 7 million residents. White Settlement, known as the gateway to national defense, is home to major defense industries, including Lockheed Martin and the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base-Fort Worth. The fifth-generation strike fighter F-35 is being built in the community, with the neighboring military base being home to 40 major military commands. In July 2022, the City Manager appointed Chief Cook as the Director of Public Safety, overseeing both the police and fire departments, along with animal services.
One of only 186 agencies across Texas out of 2,700, Chief Cook's current police department is accredited by the Law Enforcement Agency Best Practices Accreditation Program, the gold standard for recognition, through the Texas Police Chief’s Association. The department, nationally recognized with awards, is a full-service law enforcement agency with 54 team members.
In May 2024, Christopher became a traditionally published author with The Art of Strategic Communication, a Police Chief’s Guide to Mastering Soundbites, Storytelling, and Community Engagement. This book culminated a three year project that started while working as a Deputy Police Chief in Arlington, Texas, including writing and pulling resources together to assist law enforcement leaders and strategic communication advisors.
Christopher Cook was appointed in 2023 to the Caruth Police Institute Executive Advisory Board, also appointed as an Associate Advisor to the Advisory Board of the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration and appointed to the Executive Board of the FBI National Command Course Association. He was also elected in 2023 to serve as a member of the Fort Worth Airpower Council, which provides support to military members and families. On December 6, 2023, Chief Cook was appointed to the International Association of Chiefs of Police – Police Professional Standards, Ethics, and Image Committee by IACP President Wade Carpenter.
Christopher Cook began his law enforcement career at the Tarrant County Criminal Justice Training Center in 1995 and eventually worked at the Arlington, Texas Police Department, where he assailed through the ranks and retired as a Deputy Police Chief in 2022. While in Arlington, he served as the department’s Chief Spokesperson and Chief of Staff as a member of the executive team. Prior to being appointed to Arlington’s command staff that accompanied a 12-year assignment on the executive team, Chief Cook worked in patrol, traffic operations, fatality crash investigations, and commercial motor vehicle enforcement. Many of his ancillary duties and assignments included working at world-class attractions including the NFL Dallas Cowboys football franchise, MLB Texas Rangers, Six Flags Over Texas, Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, and the International Bowling Museum & Hall of Fame.
As a Police Chief, he has experience in overseeing federal task forces, school resource officer programs, jail operations, crime scene, intelligence, criminal investigations, and patrol operations. He has managed municipal budgets in the range of millions of dollars under his commands as a police chief and deputy police chief.
Recent published works include the Branding Guidebook for Policing (2023) by the Department of Justice – Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, Thinking Outside the Box to Address Common Nuisances and Crime Issues (2023) by the Texas Municipal League Magazine, Amplifying the Speakers, article (2022) produced by the RAND Corporation in coordination with the Police Executive Research Forum, and AMBER Alert Best Practices for PIOs (2022) by Department of Justice – Office of Justice Programs. Over the past two decades, Chief Cook has been published in several high-profile journals and magazines including the IACP Police Chief Magazine, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Police One, and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
Chief Cook has a wealth of experience in public relations and traditional media management, having overseen media relations, branding, community engagement, graphic design, video production and social media. He has served as the President of the National Information Officers Association (NIOA), representing the largest group of government communicators in the world from 2019-2023. Chief Cook was appointed as Chair for the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) – Public Information Officers (PIO) Committee in 2018, representing 78 of the largest police departments in the United States and Canada. He was also elected as General Chair for the International Association of Chiefs of Police – PIO Section from 2015-2018. Chief Cook has also served as a Regional Vice Chair for the IACP.
Chief Cook testified before the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice-Community Trust and Respect for Law Enforcement (2020) panel. He also provided testimony to the IACP Police Professional Standards Ethics and Image Committee (2022) on the state of policing related to the value that public information officers provide to communities amid calls for police reform and defunding media teams. Chief Cook is a veteran instructor on a multitude of topic areas. Speaking and executive training engagements include the IACP, NIOA, MCCA, FBI, Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, Texas Crime Prevention Association, Institute for Law Enforcement Administration, Caruth Police Institute, Government Social Media Conference, the Social Media Internet Law Enforcement Conference, and numerous other law enforcement-centric organizations.
Chief Cook served as a lead planner and PIO for several large-scale events, including the MLB World Series in 2011 and 2020, NFL Super Bowl in 2011, College Football Playoff National Championship in 2015, and the National Finals Rodeo in 2020.
Chief Cook holds a Master of Arts in Criminology & Criminal Justice from the University of Texas at Arlington and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice at Tarleton State University, a member of the Texas A&M University System. He maintains a Master Peace Officer Certificate from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Chief Cook graduated from the FBI National Command Course Session #4 in 2023, Institute for Law Enforcement Administration 96th School of Police Supervision in 2009, the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas 67th Leadership Command College in 2012, and the Senior Management Institute for Police Session #63 from the Police Executive Research Forum in 2016. He is a member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and American Society of Criminology. Chief Cook has been accepted into the 2023-2024 cohort of Leadership North Texas and 2024 Certified Public Manager Program hosted by Texas State University.
Recent accolades and awards include the Flock Safety Award (2023) for contributions to better policing and management of technology, the Tarrant County Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Leadership Hero Award (2023), the Community Builder Award (2023) bestowed by White Settlement Masonic Lodge, Officer of the Year Award by the Peace Officers Angels Foundation (2022), National Night Out Award (2022) from the National Association of Town Watch, and the Distinguished Service Medal (2021), Arlington’s third highest honor, for his continued contributions to the policing profession. He was nominated for the prestigious Gary P. Hayes Award with the Police Executive Research Forum in 2020. He received the 2018 Leadership in Public Information Management Award from the IACP. He received the 2013 Connected COPS Social Media Leadership Award for his distinguished and exemplary leadership in the use of social media.
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