Joel Fitzgerald has been the first Black police chief in four U.S. cities. He says he’s never seen anything like the opposition he’s facing in Waterloo, Iowa, and that it’s driven by race.
“I don’t think there’s been any police chief in America in a small- or medium-sized department that have endured this for the reasons I have endured it and I think the reasons have to do with race,” said Fitzgerald, who previously served as the chief of larger departments in Fort Worth, Texas and Allentown, Pennsylvania. “This is my fourth job being the first Black police chief. I’ve dealt with pushback in other places but never so overt. Never so nonfactual.
It was the latest among several changes the department has made under Fitzgerald that have won praise from Mayor Quentin Hart, most City Council members and some community leaders — while angering the police union, retired officers and conservatives. Hart said Waterloo could have been a hotbed of racial unrest after George Floyd’s death given its history, but Fitzgerald helped ease tensions the day before he was sworn on June 1, 2020, in by meeting with protesters for hours to hear their concerns.Numerous changes soon followed: banning chokeholds, outlawing racial profiling, requiring officers to intervene if they see excessive force, and investigating all complaints of misconduct.
Supporters of the griffin, including the Back the Blue group, framed its removal as an affront to officers.
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