Residents meet finalists for Coralville police chief

CORALVILLE — Residents who came out this week to meet with four finalists for the new Coralville police chief say they’re looking for someone who is a natural leader and will prioritize community relationships.

A hiring decision is expected to be made in late August to succeed Chief Shane Kron, who retired at the end of July after seven years as chief and 34 years with the department. City Administrator Kelly Hayworth and the civil service commission chose the candidates, and Hayworth will make the final appointment subject to approval of the City Council.

The city announced in July it had narrowed down the national search, assisted by Cayler Consulting, to four Iowa finalists — two of whom are Coralville police lieutenants. The Omaha-based consultants have led searches for police chiefs in other Iowa cities such as Council Bluffs and Waukee.

The job oversees a department with about 40 employees — most of them officers — and pays between $126,885 to $165,103 a year.

Community members were invited to speak one-on-one with the finalists at a public reception Tuesday, and fill out comment sheets for city leaders to reference in their decision-making process. The candidates also are participating in assessments and multiple interviews.

What are residents looking for?

Kathy Hotsenpiller, chair of the citizen’s community policing advisory board committee in Coralville, attended the reception hoping to find candidates willing to engage with the community, especially with marginalized groups who don’t always feel comfortable with police.

“My big thing is, I want everyone in the community to feel like the police department is here for them. I want everyone to feel safe calling the police department,” Hotsenpiller said.

Rex Brandstatter, a lifelong Coralville resident who attended, said he’s also concerned with the relationship that the new police chief will have with the other police officers in the department.

“The city has to do their very best to hire someone who can lead. Who can work with people,” Brandstatter said. “Who here is someone who the people on the police department with work with and work for?”

About the candidates

The finalists include two internal candidates — Lt. Kyle Nicholson and Lt. Deborah Summers — and two external candidates: Paul A. Haase, a captain in the Pella Police Department, and Benjamin J. Boeke, chief of the Oskaloosa Police Department.

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Nicholson has been with the Coralville department since 2014. He was promoted to investigations/administrative lieutenant in 2023. He has a master’s degree in criminal justice administration from Columbia Southern University, based in Alabama.

He said he hopes to bring new, innovative ideas to the department, focusing especially on peer support and ways to be more efficient in the use of department resources, as well as encouraging officer to form strong community connections.

“We have to protect our officers who protect and serve,” Nicholson said. “I think the vision is just to carry on, continue to exceed expectations of the community we’ve sworn to serve and protect.”

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Summers has been with the department since 2005. She was promoted to sergeant in 2010 and became a lieutenant in 2013. She previously served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army, and she has a bachelor’s in public administration from Upper Iowa University.

She said she hopes to continue where Chief Kron left off and focus on keeping the strengths that the department has while continuing to grow with the community and build greater connections.

“I’ve been in the upper command staff for the majority of my career here at Coralville, so I helped build what we have. I helped with the hiring process. I’ve probably had influence in hiring or training half the department,” Summers said.

“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and I want to continue to build upon that. … What can we do more to go out and find different areas of the community that maybe aren’t coming to us.? Let’s go to them and try and build relationships.”

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Haase has worked for the Pella Police Department since 2002 and was promoted to captain in 2020. He previously held positions as a patrol officer, a detective, a lieutenant and the interim police chief. He has served in the Iowa Army National Guard, earning the rank of sergeant, and has a master’s degree in public safety from the University of Virginia.

The Pella Police Department has 19 officers, about half the 35 officers that the Coralville Department has. Haase said he’s excited for the challenges that working in a larger community could bring. His main priority as chief in Coralville would be to take care of the members of the police department by making sure they have the resources and support that they need.

“A well officer can take care of the community well. That’s so important to me — making sure that the community is cared for and that the officers in the agency are cared for as well,” Haase said.

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Boeke has been police chief in Oskaloosa since 2018. Before that, he worked as an investigations supervisor for the Rockford Police Department in Illinois for 21 years. He has a master’s degree in business administration, also from Columbia Southern University, and is a doctoral candidate in criminal justice leadership at Liberty University, based in Virginia. He is an adjunct criminology instructor at William Penn University in Oskaloosa.

The Oskaloosa Police Department has 16 police officers. Boeke said that while all departments are different, his approach to running any department is to first analyze the quality of supervision and training, and examine the accountability, transparency and equity of the department as a whole.

“If you have those three things (accountability, transparency and equity) then the department’s doing some really good things. A lot of departments are working on that, but it’s always a work in progress,” Boeke said. “My goal coming in here would be this is going to be the best department in Eastern Iowa, hands down.”

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