Cedar Rapids begins community outreach in first step of new police chief search

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Cedar Rapids, which has been without a permanent police chief for four months, will consult with the leaders of more than 30 local organizations — including the Cedar Rapids school district, Advocates for Social Justice and Willis Dady Homeless Services — and will survey the public to identify the qualities community members want in a new chief.

The city is looking to hire a new chief to replace Chief Wayne Jerman, who retired in April after turning 66 and aging out of his certification.

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Earlier this year, the city put out a request for proposals for consulting firms to help with the search. City officials have decided to partner with the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which will help market the position across the country, according to City Manager Jeff Pomeranz.

“One of the things we’re very pleased with is that they’ve taken on our job, because they do very few nationwide searches. They have a lot of other activities that they’re involved with, but they’ve taken this on because they recognize the strength of Cedar Rapids and that this is an important city and an important role within the community,” Pomeranz said.

The consulting partners from the association have worked with city officials to draft a plan for the hiring process, which was presented to the Civil Service Commission in a meeting Wednesday. The commission asked to clarify wording in a few parts of plan, but otherwise approved it.

The first step of the plan is to put together a candidate profile based on input from community members and stakeholders. To start this process, the city and the association consultants have identified a list of community organizations whose leaders will be invited to participate in interviews with the consultants to determine what qualities are important to them in a new police chief.

The city has started reaching out to these organizations, but more organizations may still be added to the list as discussions continue, according to assistant to the city manager Amanda Grieder.

“That really is what kicks off the process to help us determine what qualities are most important to Cedar Rapids,” Grieder said.

During the Wednesday meeting, Ed Roessler, one of the association consultants, performed an interview with the Civil Service Commission. He asked the four-member commission general questions about what they would like to see in a new chief, and some more specific questions, like how they’d like the new chief to view transparency.

The council identified a few key features it would like to see in a new chief, including that they be someone who is transparent with data, someone who is concerned with the mental health of officers and community members, someone who is supportive of diversity-focused recruiting methods, and someone who has experience working in an accredited police department in a city that is similar in size and industry to Cedar Rapids.

Beyond the interviews with organization leaders, the city will put out a survey that all community members can complete to address what they’d like to see from a new police chief.

The link to the survey will be published on the city’s website and on social media, as well as sent out to community organizations to distribute and it will be advertised in neighborhood meetings. The questions on the survey are still being finalized, but Grieder said she’s hoping to have it done by the end of next week.

“The (International Association of Chiefs of Police) was hired because of their extensive experience in hiring police chiefs. This is one of the things that they do regularly as a part of their organization,” Grieder said. “So, we’re really relying on them to let us know, what are the appropriate things to ask in this survey to find out who should be applying for our next police chief.”

The survey will include a question about ZIP code, but living in Cedar Rapids is not a requirement to participate in the survey. The city wants to hear from all stakeholders, including those who may own property or work in Cedar Rapids but aren’t residents, Grieder said.

After the city and consultants have put together a profile of who to look for as chief, they will begin the process of marketing and recruitment. The applicants will then go through several stages of screening and elimination. With the guidance of the consultants, the Civil Service Commission will put together a final certified list of candidates to present to the city manager, who will choose a single candidate from the list, and present that candidate to the City Council for approval.

The current schedule for the search aims to have a hiring decision made by the end of the year, but the schedule is not set in stone, Grieder said.

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