New University Heights police chief has Iowa City roots

University Heights Police Chief Chris Akers knows this is the last job in his career.

He was offered a patrol officer job there in 2019, after spending 30 years with the Iowa City Police Department, by then-University Heights Chief Troy Kelsay — another former Iowa City officer. Akers, 60, stepped into the chief role earlier this summer after Kelsay retired. Akers is the third University Heights police chief who spent the majority of his career on the Iowa City force.

“He convinced me to come here. And probably one of the better decisions that my wife and I have made. I don't know how he did it, but he did it,” said Akers.

University Heights has a population of a little over 1,000 and gains thousands of visitors every home Hawkeye football game due to the city’s proximity to Kinnick Stadium.

The department has four-full time officers, with the expectation that a fifth will be added, and four part-time officers. Akers is paid $90,000 a year to lead it.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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Q: Why did you want to take this job as police chief?

A: The community, plain and simple. This community is very easy to use for law enforcement, the calls for service. As you can imagine, there are 1,200 people, roughly here in town, yeah, there are relatively few calls for service, and even less that are critical. We do occasionally have some that are critical. But by and large, this is the epitome of community policing. If you can't do it in this town, you can't do it anywhere.

Q: University Heights has had problems in the past with officer retention. Is that still a concern?

A: Former Chief Kelsay has done a wonderful job prior to make this a very attractive place to stay. If you live in Johnson County, you're allowed to take your car home. We have a competitive wage, competitive benefits and a relatively low amount of calls for service, which feeds back into our community policing aspects. The one officer that's working with me today is in his mid 20s. He's the youngest one we have, most of us are 35 years or older. At that point in your career, you figure out the important things. Those are the benefits that we offer. A relatively low number of calls for service per shift makes it easier all of the officers. And I've worked for Iowa City, you're busy. We don't have that issue and that's attractive to a lot of people, especially as you progress in your law enforcement career. When you run into a lot of young officers that’s what they want — the excitement, they want what they've seen on TV. They think that's an important aspect of law enforcement, and it is. But here, the slowdown in community policing and interacting with our community is another facet that we find more important.

Q: In your new job, are you out on patrol? Or how does that work?

A: I enjoy the patrol aspects of work because I get to see people. I get to interact with people, I know when people are having babies, I interact with, the dogs — I could go on and on. There's a lot of aspects out there that I enjoy. This job makes that more difficult, because there are administrative things that have to take place. There's always computer work that needs done. There's plenty of desk work, and answering emails. Answering emails is many people's primary form of communication. So email takes up a lot of time, and most of it is answering members of the community, and I'm OK that way. I'd love to go out and see people in person, but sometimes it just isn’t an opportunity. There's a balance.

Q: Do you have any specific goals for the last part of your career?

A: I would like to just enhance the things that (Chief Kelsay) did. You know enforcement around here, if you've read anything, University Heights has been known as the speed trap. Is it a speed trap? If you know what the speed limit is, I mean, is it really? People get upset because they get caught speeding, and I get it but, I'd like to see our officers be more active. It makes our streets safer. If you were to come here at, say, 7 o'clock in the morning, you will see the street littered with pedestrians and bicyclists and people riding scooters, things of that nature. And the more we slow people down, the safer it gets for everybody involved. I want to see the officers out working with the community, knowing where people are. It took me about a year to know probably 70 percent of our residents. It's only 1,200 people, so it's not that hard, but I want all the kids to know them. I want them to be able to come up to the car and absolutely not fear the people in police cars. I want to go back to the way it was, you know, 50 years ago, when I was growing up, you know, I want that back. And I think this is a perfect community to have that — I just really, really do. I would say to can, you know, continue what Troy built and to make it as good as we possibly can for our residents, for people that are visiting.

Comments: megan.woolard@thegazette.com