Waterloo Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald is a finalist for yet another job, according to KWWL. Fitzgerald is one of five finalists for the Police Chief position in Vancouver, Washington. Fitzgerald has been the Waterloo Chief of Police since June of 2020 but has applied for many other jobs nearly from the start. He has applied for positions in Miami, Albuquerque, Memphis, and Austin, Texas. He has been criticized in his time in Waterloo for not moving his family to the city and spending most of his time in Texas. He released a statement last summer explaining that his son was receiving treatment for a brain tumor. It is unclear how that would affect his ability to be in Vancouver, Washington should he get the job. Fitzgerald came to Waterloo from Fort Worth, Texas where he was fired after a confrontation with the head of the state police union during a memorial for fallen officers and for his failure to exercise sound judgment and leadership. The Waterloo City Council recently delayed a vote on a new contract for Fitzgerald that would increase his salary from just over $141,000 to $165,000 a year. That would make him the second highest paid Chief of Police in Iowa. Waterloo is the 9th largest city in the state.
