Cedar Rapids seeks community-oriented leader as new police chief after meeting four candidates

CEDAR RAPIDS — In Cedar Rapids’ search for a new police chief, some residents say they’re looking for a respected leader who focuses on community policing and fosters a police culture that promotes equity and trust among all citizens.

Residents had the opportunity to speak one-on-one Wednesday night with all four candidates for the Cedar Rapids Police Department’s top position in a meet-and-greet event at the city-owned Cedar Rapids DoubleTree by Hilton Convention Center. These candidates are the four finalists from a pool of 17 applicants.

City Manager Jeff Pomeranz, with the consent of the City Council, will make a decision soon on which candidate will succeed Wayne Jerman, who retired from the role last April after signing a severance agreement. Jerman was paid more than $188,000 a year and oversaw a department made up of 270 full-time equivalents.

The department now is being run by Tom Jonker, the deputy chief who was appointed interim chief until a replacement for Jerman is named.

Three finalists for that job — Jennifer Birkhofer, Jeff Coday and David Dostal — participated in media interviews before Wednesday’s event. Tom Whitten, chief deputy for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office in Texas, declined media interviews.

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Birkhofer, 43 — a lieutenant at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in Omaha — said she has experience in community services and was attracted to this position for its focus on police being engaged with the community. She said she would want to focus on transparency and communication in her approach to the role, and it seems the police department has done that well so far, she said.

From her work with road patrol, administrative services and community services, Birkhofer said she could offer forward mobility on community policing.

“Community policing is viewed very differently by different people. You'll have one person tell you that community policing means that your officers are on the street, are getting to know their community and working with the community. You'll have somebody else tell you that community policing means that you have a very positive community services division that gets out there and works with the neighborhood watch groups, does National Night Out, does very interactive type of services with the community.”

Coday, 49 — a captain at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in Nevada — said his overall vision for the police department and the community is to keep the community safe, reduce and prevent violent crime and promote officer wellness and transparency.

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“I think most officers agree with transparency — they want transparency, they want to build that relationship with the community,” Coday said. “I think just being open and honest and transparent with both the officers and the community builds that mutual trust and then mutual respect, and I think overall that is a positive for the officers.”

Dostal, 56 — captain in the Administrative Operations Division of the Cedar Rapids Police Department — said he would like to expand the department’s community service division. There is a community outreach sergeant, Jen Roberts, but he would like to create an even more in-depth relationship with the community.

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“Throughout my career, I've been involved with community-oriented policing,” Dostal said. “ … I firmly believe that we need to definitely increase the community involvement and community partnership. I see that as being an advantage to both the police department and the community itself, build trust.”

Linda Seger, a resident who has served on the police chief advisory board, said “the bar is quite high” for the person chosen to succeed Jerman. She said she wants someone who won’t bend under pressure from bosses, and who will stand by officers but not tolerate lying.

“I want somebody that has definitely got experience and that has the respect of their other departments that they’ve been in and has a lot of respect from everyone there,” Seger said. “ … They’re going to have to walk their own path and build their own respect.”

Anthony Arrington, a member of the Advocates for Social Justice and owner of Top Rank consulting service, said it is important that the next chief be able to police in underserved communities and build relationships with everyone from a church minister to a perceived drug addict. They should truly focus on community policing beyond a surface-level way.

“How do we help that person be a better person and how do we not depend on this person at the church to take care of that person?” Arrington said. “What do we do collectively in the community?”

Arrington, who does not support school resource officers being deployed in schools — like Cedar Rapids police officers are now at Kennedy, Washington, Jefferson and Metro high schools and Polk Alternative school — said he would love to see the police department create a relationship with the school district where there is a curriculum built and designed to grow officers internally from the community.

Overall, diversifying the department and increasing cultural awareness are top opportunities he sees for growth. He said the department will face a challenge navigating efforts to make reforms such as decriminalizing marijuana in a political environment that affects law enforcement agencies’ ability to make progress.

Jairo Munoz, a board member of Latinos Unidos for Community Inclusion, said it’s important that the next chief not be complacent after the level of trust it seems the department gained under Jerman. He said some neighborhoods — with more racial and socioeconomic diversity — may have different interactions with the police, but in his view “the bar has been raised” now that there’s an expectation of trust.

Community partnerships such as working with Foundation 2 Crisis Services to provide mental health crisis support are key to making sure the city does not rely on the police department to do the task of social workers, he said.

“We need to transform the police force from being a reactive, punitive group — and I’m not saying that’s what Cedar Rapids is, but in general — has to transform from that to an educational, preventive initiatives that need to come from that,” Munoz said. “They know what works and what doesn’t work in terms of enforcing the law.”

Monica Vallejo, a member of the police citizens’ review board that was created after George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police, said it is important that the department establish more programs that promote diversity and inclusion with all communities — African, Latino, LGBTQ, people with disabilities. She also is part of the community group that participated in candidate interviews.

The community overall feels comfortable and safe with Cedar Rapids police because of the “wonderful job they do,” Vallejo said, and Jerman left behind a stable community

“There are big shoes to fit,” she said. “ … They have to be working with trust a lot.”

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