Fate introduces new police chief as city growth accelerates

Fate introduced Ron Winegar to residents at City Hall as the city confronts the public-safety strain that comes with rapid growth. The new police chief, who recently relocated from Idaho, came out of retirement after 29 years with the Boise Police Department and said the move also brought him closer to his daughter and grandchildren.

Winegar was formally introduced at a community meet-and-greet on June 10 at Fate City Hall, more than a month after the city announced his hiring on May 4. City officials have described the police chief post as a key role in a department that must plan for more calls for service, more equipment and more training as Fate keeps adding homes and businesses.

That pressure is not theoretical. Fate’s leadership shift followed the November 2025 departure of Lyle Lombard, who had served as chief of public safety for 7.5 years. The city said on November 24, 2025 that Lombard was no longer with the Department of Public Safety effective November 21, 2025, and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Mark Hartley later publicly objected to the firing, saying the department had been successful and pointing to a statewide ranking that placed Fate ninth among Texas cities for safety and a resident poll showing 97% felt safe.

Winegar now inherits a department tied closely to a larger expansion plan. Voters approved a $20 million public safety bond on November 5, 2024 to fund a new police station at Tony Lane and Highway 66, along with fire station renovations and equipment. City documents later outlined a planned 20,000-square-foot, two-story police facility at 136 Tony Lane, a project meant to support the city’s growth.

That growth continues to reshape Fate, a community about 28 miles east of downtown Dallas along Interstate 30. Rockwall County says it remains one of the fastest-growing counties in Texas, and that reality will put Winegar under immediate scrutiny in his first year.

For residents, the key benchmarks will be visible ones: whether the department adds enough staffing to keep pace, whether response times hold steady as calls rise, whether traffic enforcement keeps up with busier roads, and whether neighborhood policing remains strong as new subdivisions and commercial space come online. Fate’s public-safety future now depends on matching its growth with a department built to keep up.