Getting Into Retirement Shape On Dallas PD Chief David Kunkle's Final Day

Photos by Patrick Michels

​It's been six months since Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle gathered up friends and family at police headquarters to announce he'd be leaving his post. This morning, after cramming a mile run and 15 man makers into one last CrossFit routine, the 59-year-old chief sounded more sure than ever when he said, between heavy breaths that, yes, he was ready to retire. "This is a good send-off," he said.

This morning's workout followed an hour-long last-day interviews session with the press, before Kunkle hands over the keys to David Brown tomorrow afternoon. (We'll have Sam's chat with the outgoing chief later this week.)

Trainer Pam Starr kept time on Kunkle and eight other officers, shouting, "Let's go chief!" as he and a small flock of TV cameras ran laps around the parking garage's sun-baked top floor. If she was riding the cops a little harder today, Starr said she was "just making sure he's gonna enjoy his retirement, with his bikini body."

"He busted that workout in hellacious time," CrossFit trainer Kevin Campbell said after Kunkle finished in 12 minutes and 44 seconds. "He's in excellent shape."

Campbell said DPD's been running CrossFit at its headquarters for the last year, after a few officers began using the workouts on their own. Kunkle has been a regular at the workouts, which include as many as 60 officers in a day. "Society has changed," Campbell said. "You know, it used to be the doughnut-eating cop -- it's not like that anymore."

Jump for more production stills from the chief's workout video. ​

The chief's hard at work even when he's resting between sets.

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