Former Waterloo Police Chief, Joel Fitzgerald, has been placed on leave from his position as the Chief of Police of the Denver Regional Transportation District, according to Colorado Public Radio. It is unclear why Fitzgerald has been on leave since the beginning of July. The RTD says it is for potentially failing to adhere to all policies and procedures. CPR says they have obtained information that Fitzgerald routinely drove his agency vehicle over 100mph. They also say Fitzgerald has only averaged coming to work just nine days per month. In May he went in to work just three times. Fitzgerald rarely was even in town when he was the Waterloo Police Chief, instead spending most of his time in Texas with his family. He was hired at RTD with the tall task of growing the force from 18 officers in August of 2022 to 200 by this year. To date Fitzgerald has only been able to grow the force to 79 officers. His salary has also been a point of contention. He is currently being paid $250,000 along with a $10,000 moving stipend and an $8,000 bonus. That was the highest salary for a police chief in Colorado at the time. Fitzgerald recently applied for the Chief of Police job in Austin, Texas but did not get the job.
