The police department in Dallas is at a critical place as it works to fight crime while also repairing a broken trust with the community. To help these efforts, the city has hired U. Renee Hall as the department’s first female police chief.

Hall comes from the Detroit Police Department, where she served for more than 20 years and was most recently deputy police chief. She’s a legacy officer whose father died in the line of duty when she was only six months old. Today, she continues to do the work he set out to do.

“I am honored to be chosen to lead the Dallas Police Department at this critical time in its history,” she said in a statement, according to the Washington Post. “I look forward to building on the successes of the past, preserving community trust and ensuring the safety of our officers and the entire Dallas community.”

Hall was one of eight finalists for the position, another of which was a Black woman. The position became available after David Brown retired in October.

“My belief is Renee Hall will be a dynamic chief and do great things in this community,” Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax said. “She’s going to have a great impact, not just on the police department, but the entire city.”

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings was one of many too congratulate Hall on the new position.

“We’ve done our homework on her. We were told that she was very strong in the community that even as a chief level officer in the city of Detroit she gets out and engages the community and actually gets involved in police incidents and maintains a presence in the community,” said Thomas Glover, president of the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas.

Hall is an alum of Grambling State University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and the University of Detroit Mercy with a master’s degrees in Security Administration and Intelligence Analysis. She’s also an FBI National Academy graduate among many other accomplishments.