LARGO, Md. — Malik Aziz said when he was a kid, he used to run from the police.
But after his dad introduced him to a sharp-dressing motorcycle officer, he decided the cops weren't so bad. Aziz spent 29 years in Dallas Police Department, working his way up from patrol officer, and focusing on community policing.
Now, Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks has named him the new police chief for the nation's wealthiest majority Black county.
Aziz steps into plenty of challenges here in Prince George's County: a murder rate that's climbing, a lawsuit by Black officers alleging the department has discriminated against them and the nationwide call for social justice and police reform.
However, Alsobrooks said she was just blown away by this guy the first time she interviewed him.
Alsobrooks seemed to have an easy rapport with Aziz, laughing and joking with him after the Friday news conference announcing his selection. But it took nine months for her to settle on him.
Aziz said he led the investigation in 2016 after five police officers were shot and killed and nine others wounded at a Black Lives Matter protest. As deputy chief, he's overseen a section of Dallas large enough to qualify as a medium-sized city. He said he's focus on strengthening police ties to the community.
Former President Barack Obama invited him to the White House to speak on 21st century policing. And, he's served as executive director of the National Black Police Officers Association.
"The community demands the right to be policed in a certain way. We have to deliver that way to the community which we serve," Aziz said. "It's like the elders in my family. They deserve dignity and respect and when problems arise you give them a voice."
Aziz has been a finalist for chief jobs in Milwaukee, Miami -- and Dallas. Alsobrooks said Prince George's was lucky to get him before someone else snapped him up.
"Deputy Chief Aziz strikes the perfect balance of caring for the officers who are under his supervision and caring, and for the community members that he serves," Alsobrooks said.
"There is no us versus them. There is only us," he said.
Aziz is going to have one other big challenge here. At the news conference less than two miles from FedEx Field, he proudly declared he's a lifelong fan of the Dallas Cowboys.