Cedar Park welcomes new police chief

CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) - Tuesday marked the the first day Sean Mannix, the former assistant police chief in Austin, suited up as the new police chief of Cedar Park.  The new top cop will be sworn in on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.

"Well I'm most excited about the opportunity given to me by the city manager and city council here to take on what is an outstanding police department and work with the men and women of the department to keep the city safe and for the residents to feel safe in Cedar Park," said Mannix.

Mannix brings more than 30 years of experience to the table. He started his career as a police officer in Alameda, Calif., and then started with APD in 1992 -- where he later became assistant police chief in 2009.

"I think some of the things I bring with me are - that I have always been a community policing-minded manager and have utilized that model, and I've also leveraged technology as a force multiplier and a way to assist in getting the mission accomplished," said Mannix. 

He said it's important to be involved in the community, with organizations and the city when it comes to community policing.

Cedar Park is known as one of the safest cities in Texas. The new chief said he wants to make sure to keep it that way by using technology, such as crime maps and more data-driven intelligence.

He said he plans on taking a look at the technology in place and looking to see how they can improve it.

In-Depth: Cedar Park crime statistics

Even though overall Cedar Park is safe, there have been some incidents that have made headlines. 

In the past seven months, CPPD worked some violent crimes including an officer-involved shooting in June,   a shooting at a Walmart parking lot in August and a controversial shooting involving the killing of a dog in September.

"Well the things that you just mentioned, there were some high-profile events and even some critical incidents that occurred in the city last year, and that's not necessarily something that should be unexpected in a growing metropolitan area," explained Mannix. "There's a lot of things that have changed in Central Texas. The communities are growing -- Cedar Park included -- the transportation system is changing with the advent of toll roads and that kind of thing. It's much easier for entrance -- in and out of smaller cities in the metroplex as well."

Mannix said he's also looking into population growth and plans on working with city Council and city manager on how to cope with the growing population in the future.

Cedar Park has changed in the last 40 years, according to the Census Bureau.

In 1970, the city reported 687 people living in the city. Some 10 years later, it increased by 3,000. 

The boom hit in 2000, and today there is an estimated 57,000 people living in Cedar Park. It's expected to jump past 94,000 in 2015.

Mannix also said he believes in open communication with regional partners -- such as the Austin Police Department, FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Marshall's Office -- to share ideas on what's working and for training purposes.

"I'm most excited about the opportunity given to me by the city manager and city council here to take on what is an outstanding police department and work with the men and women of the department  to keep the city safe and for the residents to feel safe in Cedar Park," said Mannix. 

He was one of 76 people to apply for the position. The city had an outside firm, Waters Consulting Group, to help in the process that narrowed down that number to five finalists.

City staff then interviewed and whittled that down to two finalists.

The new "top cop" is replacing Henry Fluck, who served as police chief for 13 years. Fluck resigned last February to pursue other employment opportunities in law enforcement.