Waterloo Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald is a candidate to become the new Chief of Police in yet another city, less than a year after he took the Waterloo job, according to KWWL. Fitzgerald is one of 25 candidates for the job in Austin, Texas. A report from KVUE and the Statesman mention that Fitzgerald was fired from his job in 2019 after a series of events where he demonstrated questionable behavior and was kicked out of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations in Texas because he was not a member of the union. He also was forced to withdraw his name for consideration for the Chief of Police position in Baltimore after he overstated his accomplishments on his resume. He was a candidate for the Chief of Police job in Albuquerque, New Mexico in January and in March was one of seven finalists for the Director of Police in Memphis, Tennessee. Fitzgerald has spent a majority of his time as the Waterloo Chief of Police in Texas, never moving his family to Iowa. Morale in the department is reported to be “at rock bottom”. City Councilwoman and candidate for mayor Margret Klein has called on Fitzgerald to resign. Mayor Quentin Hart, however, says he has complete confidence in Fitzgerald and that he has approved Fitzgerald’s trips back to Texas.
