Chief Dr. Joel Fitzgerald
Started June 1, 2020
- Read his Bio here.
- Contact the Chief at policechief@waterloopolice.com
- Chief Fitzgerald's Year 1 Accomplishments:
- Overhauled the training program adding diversity, de-escalation, cultural awareness, and implicit bias based training through the procuring of private donor funds.
- Aligned critical decision-making models with sanctity of human life standards in use of force policies.
- Cultivated CoP deployment by creating beat-based | accountable policing strategy.
- Secured, obtained financing, and implemented policy management, use of force-early intervention, quartermaster, and internal affairs RMS software packages.
- Streamlined and simplified the Internal Affairs Complaint process.
- Designated liaison officers to: Individual Neighborhoods, Homeless Persons, LGBTQIA+, & Main St.
- Diversified recruiting strategies, i.e., Police Explorer Post in Waterloo Schools Fall 2021, Changed Civil Service rules to augment scoring bones for Waterloo Residents, etc.
- Provided WPD pre-test training for candidates for hire
- Began working for the city before officially on payroll to defuse Geo. Floyd protests during the height of COVID-19
- Authored and executed contemporary police reforms in Use of Force, Biased Based Policing, LGBTQIA+ interactions, Racial Profiling, and policies critical to ensuring social justice and racial equity.
- Represents the City of Waterloo on the Executive Board of FBI-LEEDA as Vice President (elected by his peers)
- Published the first Annual Use of Force Report/Racial Profiling Report/ Internal Affairs Annual Report
- Waterloo Police Department Yearly IBR Statistics - 01/01/20 - 12/31/20- Group A Offenses: -8.08% and Group B Offenses: -8.75%
- Since 6/2020: No Police Related lawsuits under his tenure
- Adopted a new ethics policy
- Ended policy of allowing police officers to select the “area of the city” they work
- Entered into a potentially revenue-generating lease program that will replace 100% of an aging and dilapidated unmarked vehicle fleet.
- Leveraged ATS revenue to upgrade and replace all in-car video, body worn camera and cloud video retention software and hardware.
- Brokered a unique collaboration with private mental health providers to deploy a 24/7 CIT response.
- Initiated Mandatory monthly NPO Community Policing Reports
- Initiated Mandatory monthly IAD Case Updates
- Conducted a full 2020 Annual Inventory of Property/Evidence
- Initiated Mandatory Monthly Randomized Video Audits from all supervisors
- Enacted a Neighborhood Policing (NPO) Redesign
- Overhauled policies and procedures
- Created a new Emergency Notifications Protocol internally/externally (Atlas One)
- Created a Community Resource Guide (on MDTs) for all sworn officers
- Reassigned Watch Commanders to on street duties to maximize community coverage
- Per insurance vendor and City Clerk: 6 month changes led to a lower of insurance rate
- VCAT Unit moved to Detectives and sworn in as US Marshal TFOs
- Negotiated a $250k Racial Equity Fund (Donation)
- Created a diverse and inclusive Police Chief’s Advisory Board
- Renewed SRO contract with Waterloo Schools
- Renewed contracts with ATF, FBI, etc.
- Committed to a Mission, Vison, and Guiding Principles based on Procedural Justice and Sanctity of Life
- Created an online commend or complain link for the WPD website and provided all officers with cards and QR codes
- Instituted Training for all Supervisors in an online 40hr-FBI-Supervisory Accountability
- Conducted numerous Meet the Chief events
- CIT Training for all Officers-with a large portion of the department now possessing an advanced additional 40 hr. block of training
- Created at Downtown Security Plan
- Authored a 60+ page 5 year-Strategic Plan (awaiting edits/publishing)
- Partnered with the US State Dept. RA-Republic of Congo to discuss Policing Reforms in the U.S. (2021)
- Sits on the Goodwill Industries of N/E Iowa Executive Board of Directors, IOWA-JTTF Board
- Renovated the Police Crime Lab
- Worked to increase the number and cooperative use of city wide camera systems as a Smart Cities initiative
- Accelerated the NIBIN shell-casing entry process
- Resolved Incident-Based (CAD) reporting issues in call type classification and reporting
