Here’s Who Could Be Waterloo’s New Chief of Police
After several months, the city of Waterloo might finally again have a new police chief.
We've kept you updated about Joel Fitzgerald, the previous Waterloo police chief and his multiple attempts to find another job outside of Waterloo. You can read more about that here.
Waterloo's first black police chief received a pay raise in May of this year, making his salary $165,000 a year, according to an earlier report. This made him the highest paid police chief in Waterloo city history and the second highest paid chief in Iowa, according to reports.
Several months after this raise, he resigned to take on another job in Colorado.
The Pennsylvania native was in the position for two years, assisting the city through the pandemic and nationwide police criticism. During his tenure, he also had the Waterloo Police department change their insignia due to its similarity to a Ku Klux Klan griffin.
Since Fitzgerald's resignation in August, the department has been led by Assistant Chief Joe Leibold on an interim basis. According to reports, he might be the one for the job. In a report done by KWWL, Mayor Hart has recommended that Leibold be the one to take on the role of Waterloo Chief of Police.
If the city council approves him at the Monday meeting, he could be sworn in that evening. A solution has been sent to the Waterloo city council regarding Leibold's employment agreement.
We will continue to keep you updated as this story develops.