The Waterloo City Council has voted to give Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald a pay raise that will make him the second highest paid police chief in the state, according to the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. Fitzgerald will now be paid $165,000 per year with the new contract ending in 2026. That is a raise of more than $25,000 a year. Fitzgerald has been criticized for applying for jobs elsewhere on many occasions, nearly from the moment he got to Waterloo, including currently being a finalist for the Chief of Police job in Vancouver, Washington. Fitzgerald has spent much of his time as Waterloo’s Chief of Police in Texas with his family. The council noted that Fitzgerald’s education was part of the reason for why he is paid so much. The new contract also includes severance pay for a year rather than the standard 90 days.
