Jacksonville police chief to head new department in Sunnyvale

Published 11:18 am Tuesday, September 3, 2019

The head of the Jacksonville Police Department is leaving to build a new department from the ground up in Sunnyvale, a suburb of Dallas.

Chief Andrew Hawkes has accepted the position as future police chief for the town of Sunnyvale, according to a news release from the city of Jacksonville.

Sunnyvale has contracted with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services for many years. Hawkes has been hired to start the Sunnyvale Police Department.

Hawkes has been with the Jacksonville Police Department as police chief since July 2016.

Under his command, JPD also began a bike patrol program, a canine team, a National Night Out program in both 2017 and 2018 that ranked 18th in the nation, and has recently purchased a drone for the department, according to the news release.

“The Jacksonville Police Department has outstanding employees that have come together and worked tremendously hard as a team to make an outstanding, professional law enforcement organization,” Hawkes said. “I will miss working with each and every member of the team.”

“We appreciated Chief Hawkes’ dedication and service to Jacksonville and wish him the best of luck in his new position as Sunnyvale’s police chief,” City Manager Greg Smith said. “Andrew has done a great job as police chief and has set the path for JPD’s continued success.”